Kissing In Cars

4

I decided to walk to work in the morning which means now that the day is done and I'm tired I now have to walk home. It's not a far walk, about 20 minutes, but its still not what I wanted after a long day. Plus, the sky looks likes its threatening to rain which means I need to hustle home if I want to stay dry.

I'm doing a good job at making it home before the rain starts, I'm halfway home until I hear the sound of a familiar voice calling my voice. I turn around and see Tony's mom coming towards me, a bag of groceries in her arms.

"Ava!" she says as we get closer. "I was hoping to see you this week."

"We were due for our once-a-week sighting." I joke with her. I grab the bag of groceries from her and hold it in my arms as we start towards her house, both of us falling quietly in step with one another. 

"Tony's been talking about you." she says after a moment.

I suppress the urge to groan. When Tony first left his mom still brought him up in some of our conversations, but overtime she grew to realize that I didn't want to talk about him so for the last couple of years we barely talked about him unless there was something big going on with him like winning an award or getting injured. Even then she would keep the conversation short for my sake. Now that he's back I'm guessing that most of our conversations will be about him.

"You sent him to my bakery." I say to her. It's not a question but a statement. 

"I did." she says with a slight smile on the corner of her lips. "Were you surprised?"

"I was. I didn't know he was back in town."

"He's here for a long time." she says giving me a pointed look. I try my best to ignore it.

We take cross the street and take a left turn to get onto her street. It's a quiet evening out, with only a couple of other people on the other side of the street. By this time most people are eating in their homes, not out walking on the street like us.

"Thats good for him. I don't know how much I'll see him, I'm a bit too busy with everything in my life right now." I say giving her the same pointed look back.

She ignores the look I give her, as expected. "What time are you coming Saturday?"

I laugh at this. "I don't know if I'm coming."

She waves me off. "You're coming. I can use help setting everything up, if you want to come at 1."

"I have a business to run, I have a-"

"You can spare one afternoon, no? For me?" she asks, giving me a pleading look that she knows will work with me. "Thats what you run your own business for, so you can hire people to work when you don't want to. Besides, are you really going to make an old woman like myself set everything up alone?"

"You're not old." I say, hoping this will start a new topic and she'll forget about asking me to come Saturday, but no such luck. She continues looking at me with the same expecting look she's been given me since we started walking. With a sigh I give in. "I'll come."

"And you'll come help me set up?" she asks hopeful. We find ourselves in front of her house, both of us pause at her front gate.

I nod. "I'll come at 1."

"Tony will be so happy to have you here." she says as she grabs the bag back from me and opens the gate and steps into her yard, closing it right behind her. "I'll see you Saturday, Ava! Wear something nice."

I look down at what I have on now and wonder what's wrong with this. I thought I always dressed nice...

I shake the thought away from me and start back on my way to my place. It's only an extra five minutes away when I go from Tony's moms, but of course the rain starts right then and there. I'm not an unlucky person but I'm definitely not a lucky one either.

I walk extra fast back to my place, mentally cursing myself for having decided to walk to work this morning.

I get in the door two minutes quicker than I thought it would take me. I shrug my sweater off at the doorway, kicking my wet shoes off to the side where my shoe rack is.

The house is quiet for a second but then I hear the floor creaking from approaching footsteps. A figure comes into the hallway with me. I smile up at Jordan, my boyfriend.

"Did you walk?" Jordan asks me.

I nod. "I thought it would be fun."

He laughs at me standing there all wet. "And was it?" he asks as he comes closer to me.

I pout. "No, I'm wet."

He grins down at me, giving me a quick kiss. "Lets get you out of those clothes then."