Our Little Secret

Chapter 26

"I don't know though," I said to Ava, continuing our conversation, "I think I'm pretty good not dating anyone right now."

"Well yeah," she said, "from what it sounds like you're thoroughly enjoying your single life."

She gave me a sarcastic grin and I shrugged in response.

"Yeah I guess you could say that," I said, "I mean I for sure did last night."

"Uh huh, exactly," Ava responded with a smirk.

"Just keep going on your work trips would you?" I asked her teasingly, "then I can continue on with my usual activities."

Usual activities had a different meaning than Ava thought it did, but what I was saying was still partially true.

"Yeah, I'll see what I can do," Ava said, shaking her head at me and smiling.

"Let's go out sometime soon and we can find you a date," I said to her.

"I guess I did kind of walk right into that, didn't I?" She asked.

"You kind of did, and maybe finding someone for you will make you less concerned with what I'm doing," I teased her.

"Don't count on it," she said as she walked out of the kitchen.

***

Over the next few days, Isabel and I didn't talk quite as much as we had been. I saw her a couple of times while I was doing things for work, but I could tell that there was still unresolved tension between us.

"Hey," I said as I walked up to her at a venue we were looking at.

"Hey Skylar," she said, barely taking her eyes off of the paperwork she was looking at.

"What are you working on?" I asked her.

"Just looking over what we need to order for this event coming up," she said.

"Oh, got ya," I responded quietly.

We both stood there awkwardly for a minute, trying to figure out what to say.

"Hey are we okay?" I asked under my breath.

We obviously had to stay professional at work, but I had to at least ask. Isabel looked up from her paperwork and sighed.

"Yeah, we're fine," she said, "I'm really just not sure what you want from me. It's kind of confusing."

"Yeah I - I know, I'm sorry," I responded, "I'm trying to get my shit together and figure this out, I promise."

Isabel nodded and looked back down at the papers in her hands and I could sense her frustration.

"Maybe we can do something this weekend?" I asked her.

"I actually have plans already, sorry," she said.

"Oh, yeah that's fine," I said.

"Sometime next week?" She asked as she looked up at me.

"Sure, that works," I nodded.

"Okay, I really have to take care of this," Isabel said, holding the papers in her hand up, "I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, talk to you soon," I responded as I watched her walk away.

I didn't really blame her for being frustrated, but it hadn't exactly been easy for me either. I needed to figure out a way to get clarity with all of this, and it was becoming more and more evident that I needed to figure it out sooner rather than later.

***

"Hey Ava, you want to do something tonight? Go out and find you a hot date?" I asked her.

After Isabel and I's conversation earlier in the week, I figured this might be a good distraction for a while. A distraction was probably the last thing that I needed, but I was going to do it anyway.

"Do something? Yes," Ava said as she walked out to the living room, "find me a hot date? Probably not."

"Aw come on, you're no fun," I said.

"Well maybe I'll find the next love of my life at the bar, but I'm not going to count on it," she responded.

"Fine," I said, "but we're still going to go, right? There's a place that has a band tonight I want to check out."

"I suppose," Ava said unenthusiastically.

"Damn, don't have to sound so excited about it," I said sarcastically.

"Sorry," she shrugged, "you know going out isn't usually my thing."

"I know, but this isn't like a big club or anything," I responded, "just a chill bar with some live music."

"I feel like you and the word chill don't usually go together when you drink..." Ava said with a grin.

"That's not - " I started, "yeah okay, I won't even try to deny that one."

"Exactly," she said.

"But I swear, I'm not trying to do anything wild tonight!" I insisted, "if I was do you really think I would've asked you?"

I gave her a sly grin as she tried to look shocked.

"Don't act like you're surprised," I continued, "you know I'm right."

"Maybe..." she said as she glanced over at me.

"Uh huh," I grinned, "just go get ready, would you? I know it takes you forever."

"Fine," she said as she glared at me.

She wouldn't know what to do if I wasn't a smart ass towards her ninety percent of the time.

I went back to my room and started to get ready for the night. It probably wasn't necessary, since I knew I'd take about half as much time as Ava would, but might as well start.

We left the house a while later and I drove us to the bar. Maybe now Ava would believe that I wasn't trying to do anything crazy.

When we walked inside, there was already a decent crowd that had gathered for the band.

"You want to find somewhere to sit or go and stand up front by the stage?" I asked Ava.

"Let's just sit," Ava said, "there's a table right over there."

She motioned to a tall table that was pretty close to where the band would be.

"Yeah that works," I nodded, "you want to go grab it and I'll get us something to drink?"

"Sure," Ava said as she walked off towards the table.

I made my way over to the bar and leaned against the back of a chair as I waited to order drinks.

My eyes scanned over the crowd, gradually checking back towards the bar to see if the bartender was coming my way.

I had to do a double take when I thought that I saw Micah sitting in a booth near me. I squinted in his direction and realized that it was actually him, although the girl that he was sucking face with made that a little harder to confirm.

Damn, I guess he was over Isabel.

I tried to avert my eyes and not stare at them too much, but when I surveyed back over in their direction, I immediately felt my stomach drop.

Micah wasn't over Isabel, he was with Isabel.

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