Confessions of a Workaholic

VII.

"You can let go of my hand now. I can't walk away from a moving car, Levi." Ava griped. "It's not like I'm going to jump out of the car, and I would feel a lot safer if you had both hands on the wheel."

They'd been driving for the past thirty minutes, and Levi had been holding her hand since she agreed to go with him. Levi chuckled. It took long enough, but she'd finally spoken to him. She hadn't uttered a word since she entered his car. Honestly, he was getting nervous with every silent second that passed. He turned towards her, seeing that she was already back to scrolling on her phone.

Ava rolled her eyes. She could feel him watching her. He'd been gawking at her every few seconds since she entered his car. This was a mistake, and she didn't even know who to be mad at more. Claire for convincing her that this was a good idea. Levi for being Levi. Herself for even being in this position. Why was she sitting in the car of the one man she vowed to never see again? It was like she was punishing herself by seeking out the thing that made her problems worse. She should have gone to a therapist like any normal person, but she just had to do it all by herself. It was Ava against the world, except this time the universe was conspiring against her. She was definitely mad at herself. Levi was a walking mistake, and she was the only one dumb enough to repeat it.

"So..." Levi uttered, trying to start a conversation again.

"Nope." She cut him off, before he could finish his sentence. After the conversation they'd had in the middle of the street, Ava was definitely not ready or in the mood for round two. 

"I..." Levi tried.

"I'm working." Ava answered, as she raised her phone up. If she was going to waste her precious time on this silly adventure, then the least she could do was answer emails.

Levi nodded. "Working to avoid this conversation, or working to avoid the fact that you admitted that you still have feelings for me?"

Ava scoffed, as she put her phone down and turned towards him. "Are we almost there? Some of us have work that we'd like to return back too."

"Sorry, I almost forgot. You're the busy one in this relationship. What do you do again?" Levi joked.

She rolled her eyes again, as she turned back to her phone.

Levi turned towards her. "Now, that was a joke. A sarcastic joke, but a joke. People usually laugh at those things." 

"I didn't realize you were changing careers. You should really take this act on the road." Ava snapped back.

He smiled. "My apologies. I forgot that you are too busy to laugh at jokes."

"Please tell me we are almost there." Ava mumbled under her breath.

Silence filled the car again, as Ava went back to her phone, and Levi kept his eyes on the road. He clenched the steering wheel tighter. They were almost there, which made Levi even more nervous. The idea sounded good in his head, when they were arguing earlier. But now that it was actually happening, he wasn't as confident anymore. He turned on to the street, slowing down his speed, as he reached his usual parking spot. 

"We're here." Levi squeezed her hand, before finally letting it go.

Ava looked around at the residential area, filled with brownstones, each lined up perfectly along the narrow street. "Did you move?"

"Kind of. I always try to find a space close to the studio when I'm in the middle of working on a collection. Cuts down the commute, and I can go to the studio anytime I want." He answered, as he parked on the street. "Don't worry. I still have my old place. Too many good memories to let it go."