When I got home from dinner, I didn't see Ava around, but I thought that I heard her in her bedroom.
"Hey Ava, I'm back," I called out to her.
"Hey, how was it," she said back from her room.
I walked down the hallway to her doorway and found her sitting on her bed working on her computer.
"It was good," I said, "the food was really good actually."
"Nice, I've been wanting to try that place," she said.
"Yeah you definitely should," I responded as I leaned against her door frame.
"Oh hey I meant to ask you," Ava said, "what do you want to do for your birthday? It's coming up soon."
"Oh, yeah I don't know, I hadn't really thought about that yet," I said, "it's in the middle of the week anyway."
Actually I kind of wanted to spend it with Isabel, but we wouldn't discuss that just yet.
"We can celebrate next weekend," she said.
"And I'm not going to offer to take you out to get wasted or anything," Ava continued with a grin, "but we should do something."
"You know I don't always go out and get drunk for every occasion, right?" I asked her with a smirk.
"Right, just most of them," she teased.
"Whatever, I'll think about it and we'll figure something out," I said to her.
I jokingly flipped her off as I walked out of her room and over to mine.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket as I walked through my door and I took it out to see a text from Isabel already.
"Hey I think you're cute can we go on a 2nd date?"
I shook my head as I smiled to myself and shut the door behind me.
"I don't know...you're coming off as kind of desperate," I sent back to her.
I set my phone down on my dresser and changed my clothes as I waited for her to text back. Once I was changed, I grabbed it and laid down on my bed. It buzzed in my hand as I got settled and I looked at the screen.
"Yeah, desperate to get in your pants, help a girl out," Isabel sent.
I laughed as I read her message and started to respond.
"Thought I told you once tonight to stop being a whore," I responded.
"Can't help myself ;)" she said.
"Mhmm...well I'll see if I can help you out with that sometime soon," I responded.
"Can't wait," she quickly sent back.
I smiled again as I set my phone down and let my eyes fall shut.
***
A few days later, it was officially my birthday. I walked out into the kitchen to get my coffee and breakfast for the day, and Ava was there waiting with balloons.
"Happy Birthday!!" She yelled out when she saw me.
"Shit Ava, I appreciate the enthusiasm but you know I haven't had my coffee yet," I said with a grin.
"I know, I'm just making sure you're nice and awake without coffee," she told me.
"Thank you for that," I said.
"But really, happy birthday," she said as she came over and gave me a hug.
There were a number of things I'd been doing lately that made me feel bad around Ava, and whenever she was this nice to me, it made it that much worse.
"Thank you," I said as I squeezed my arms around her shoulders.
"Did you decide what you wanted to do this weekend?" Ava asked.
"Not yet, maybe we can find a fun restaurant to try or something," I said.
"Okay, well make sure you let me know when you decide," she responded, "we gotta celebrate!"
"I will, promise," I said.
"Are you sure you don't want to do anything today?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'd rather do something over the weekend anyway, and this is plenty," I said as I motioned to her balloon display.
"Good," she grinned, "I have to take off for work, but I'll see you tonight. Have a good birthday!"
"Thanks Ava, see you later," I said as I waved to her.
***
No one at work really knew it was my birthday, which I was thankful for. Celebrating with Ava was fine, but I really didn't like making a big deal out of it.
I was almost ready to leave for my lunch break, when a knock on my door startled me. I looked up to find Isabel standing there with flowers.
"Hello there," I grinned as I got up and walked towards her, "and to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
"You didn't really think that I didn't know it was your birthday, did you?" She asked as she raised her eyebrows at me.
"That was kind of my hope," I said.
"Well I like actually celebrating birthdays," she said as she handed me the flowers in her hand.
"Thank you," I said as I smiled and leaned in to give her a quick kiss.
Having Jen know about the two of us actually was kind of nice. We still weren't extremely out in the open about anything, but it gave us a little more freedom, and it made me feel better.
"You're very welcome," Isabel said as her hands rested on my waist, "and we'll celebrate more tonight."
She gave me a sly grin and I shook my head at her, feeling my cheeks turn red.
"Don't say that shit to me while I'm at work," I said to her.
She pulled me closer to her, and I glanced around quickly to make sure no one was watching us. Even if they did know, I didn't want to be throwing it in everyone's face.
I turned my attention back to Isabel and she still had the mischievous grin on her face.
"Okay, I'll try to save my suggestive comments for later I suppose," she said.
"Thank you for that," I grinned.
Isabel leaned in towards me, and when our lips were about to connect again, I heard the worst thing that I possibly could.
Ava's voice.
"What the fuck?"
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