Avi smiled as she approached them. Graciously she smiled back and shifted her gaze to the woman that stood beside him. The woman opened her arms wide and pulled her in for a warm and friendly embrace. She hugged her just as liberally. She was careful not to hit her in the head with her guitar.
"Rayne, is that you?" Rayne nodded happily. It had been a minute since she'd been asked that with such exuberance.
"Amanda. It's an honor to meet you." She felt like she was fangirling, and probably was, but she just didn't care. She was a fan. And this woman. This courageous and wonderful woman was simply amazing to her. She felt honored to be there. To meet her and to be invited. It was great to meet her.
"I am honored. How was your drive? You did drive and didn't you bring a friend with you?"
"I did. I brought my best friend Mel." Mel waved from behind Rayne where she had been hiding. She almost missed her cue to do so because she was so distracted by Avi's presence. It seemed everyone was. Looking at him standing there in a nice pair of black jeans, a black snapback and a black button down with his sleeves rolled, collar open and his long dark hair curling down in front of his shoulders in neat little ringlets, she could see why people were still fawning over him. Mel was certain she was drooling. Then he turned those lovely green eyes on them. Mel froze and Rayne's heart skipped beats, beats, not just one. His smile could have warmed the sun.
"This is Avi Kaplan, the vocal bass for Pentatonix. I'm sure you already knew that. But," she paused for effect, "did you know that we went to high school together?" Another pause.
"No. I didn't. But you went to school in California. I bet a lot of people went to school with him." Rayne replied in the tiny pause that was left to her.
Unperturbed, Amanda just carried on. "It's so nice to have him here this year." Amanda cooed and patted his arm. Avi didn't seem to notice the contact or the suggestive undertones in Amanda's voice. Maybe she was just being a bit paranoid. His eyes found Rayne's and just stayed there. Everybody knew that he was famous and what he was famous for. It was also clear that Amanda wanted everyone to know that they were old friends as if there were more to it than that these days. She tried hard not to roll her own green eyes. It was her turn to smile and time for his heart to try and beat out of rhythm, which it did. He spied the guitar case slung over her shoulder and smiled even more. She brought it.
"Avi," Amanda purred his name as she needlessly touched Avi's forearm again like she was trying to connect to him and display that connection, flaunt it and use it at the same time to boost herself, in a gesture that was far too intimate for him, "This is Rayne Robinson, world class marathon runner, advocate for People Against Texting and Driving and her friend Mel." Rayne didn't know what it was, but suddenly she wasn't so fond of this woman. There was something very condescending in the way she said Mel's name and the way she spoke in general. She gave off that 'I'm better than you' vibe that Rayne actually hated. She was also trying to exploit whatever connection she thought she had with Avi, throwing it in Rayne's face. Avi bowed deeply to Rayne, as she mimicked his gesture then reached for her hand and smiled a liquid gold smile as he took it in his. She felt that familiar spark at his touch. His hand was cold but soft. He gripped her hand firmly and reluctantly let it go a few seconds later.
"Pleased to meet you, Rayne, Mel." He nodded towards Mel peeking around Rayne's shoulder to flash a warm smile at her. He let Rayne's name roll gently off his lips as his eyes locked to hers for a brief moment and a tiny little smirk of a grin teased at the corner of his mouth. This should be fun.
"Avriel." She spoke his name softly it rolled off her tongue with practiced ease.
"Do you play?" He nodded towards the soft case on her back. She looked at him utterly confused, her brows creasing for a moment before widening her eyes in surprise and smiling a brilliant smile at him. She opened her mouth to speak and wound up smirking into his eyes and nodding.
"I guess that was a stupid question?" He fumbled, blushing hotly.
"I find that most people use the words silly, stupid, and dumb interchangeably when they clearly don't have the same meanings." Oh, by the stars, he was going to lose his shit, she was so damn adorable when she was flirting. "Yes. I play." Her eyes were smiling blue and green at him. He felt more than a little weak in the knees. Very fun.
"How long have you been playing?"
"A couple of years." Her eyes were still smiling and they wouldn't leave his alone.
"What kind of music do you play?" They had started to settle into a nice cadence.
"Generally, whatever is on the set list. Mostly classic rock, folk, and country. Occasionally some RnB. I love the RnB. Bill Withers. He's my favorite."
"One of mine too," Avi exclaimed a little too happily. Mel was still mesmerized and Amanda suddenly seemed deflated. Avi was actively flirting with Rayne.
"Do you jam?"
"Yes." Her smile could have melted the sun. His was no less bright.
"Do you want to Jam later, maybe before dinner?" and there it was, Rayne caught the look of jealousy in Amanda's eyes. The perky little red head with cow-brown doe eyes was jealous. She tried to dismiss Rayne and Mel out of hand.
"It was nice meeting you Ladies. I hope you have a wonderful time here at The Con. Enjoy your stay." Rayne tried not to laugh and rub it in. She let Avi steal her attention once more.
"Let me and Mel get settled. We are following each other on Twitter, you and I, yes?" she was as cool as he'd ever seen her, yet entirely flirty in a business-like kind of way. He rather liked it.
"Yes." He smiled again. Indeed, they were.
"I'll message you there okay?" She didn't pull her eyes away from his as she smiled up at him. He smiled back and nodded.
As they headed away to check in, Avi spied Rayne's best friend for the first time. She did have a warm and welcoming face.
"Hi, Mel!" He said very happy with himself. That went swimmingly well. They both waved like three-year olds before she left. Avi turned to watch Rayne walk away then returned his wayward attention back to his old friend Amanda when she touched his arm again.
Rayne looked back at Avi one last time and watched as Amanda touched his arm again, pulled his eyes from hers and moved closer to him. Avi, in typical male fashion, was completely unaware of the claim that woman was making. Did she just try to cock-block her? Anger started to burn in Rayne's heart.
Rayne was oddly silent as she and Mel checked in and headed to their room. She wasn't a particularly chatty person, to begin with, but her silence made Mel uneasy. She tried to fill the gaps with nervous banter.
"Was he flirting with you?"
"Yes." Her answer was distant and cold.
"Are you going to see him?"
"Of course."
"Who was that."
"No one important." Mel was just about to give up when she remembered she wasn't meek or mild. She would have stopped that elevator if it would not have set off an alarm. She shook off the daze Avi had put her in and looked to her best friend. She didn't like what she saw. "Rayne," she said anger on the edge of her voice, "seriously. If you don't want to talk. I get it, but honestly. I'm your best friend here. Why was that chic all over Avi? Why didn't he stop her? Did he say, 'nice to meet you?' Hadn't you two already met? Like years ago? I know you weren't lying when you told me about him. And I know you weren't talking about anyone else. So, what the fuck chica?" By the time she was done talking, her hands were on her hips, her eyes were blazing, she was nearly out of breath and the elevator doors opened. Rayne turned pale green eyes on her best friend, grabbed the bag she had let go of and stepped off the elevator. She turned to Mel.
"Come on let's get settled." Mel refused to cross the threshold.
"Not here, not now. I do not know. I am going to find out. I'm sure it's mountain out of mole hill. Yes, he did. Yes, we have. Yes years. No, I didn't. No, it's not. Let's go, please. I'll tell you in our room." Her exasperation was starting to show. "I was wrong. I don't like her." She started off to their room. She didn't know why she agreed to share a room. Well really, she didn't. She just helped Mel to pay for it.
She loved Mel and loved hanging out with her. She hated it when she noticed things like that. Mel was a consummate friend to Rayne, steadfast and true something Rayne returned tenfold. They walked in silence to their room each lost in their own thoughts.
Out of habit, Rayne opened the door slowly, as quietly as she could and stepped cautiously inside. She immediately set about systematically checking the room. Mel waited just inside the door. Would there ever come a day when Rayne didn't do that? She didn't know, she just accepted and understood. When Rayne relaxed and looked back at her she entered the room. She chose a bed and quickly realized that it didn't matter. Rayne wouldn't be sleeping in the room. One look at Rayne changed her mind.
Her stance was full of tension and possible anger as she stood looking out the window of their 5th-floor hotel room. It opened onto a balcony, but Rayne made no move to open the door.
"That bad huh, Hun?" Rayne gently moved her shoulders up and down then let her hands fall to her sides after touching her face. "It turns out fine." Mel gently reminded her as she slipped her arm around Rayne's narrow waist and just held on.
"It should not bother me this much, Mel," Rayne said as she turned and buried her face in Mel's shoulder. Sheltering arms, warm and strong surrounded Rayne and she let the tears fall.
"Honey. If it didn't, I'd be worried."
"I don't know how much longer..." she let the thought drop. She knew the answer, they both did; forever if it came down to it. She was certain he was clueless to most any advances that other women made towards him. Only the most obvious ones ever caught his attention, but she didn't like to see it. Still, there was no ring on her finger, none on his despite the loss of a child and countless adventures together. How long? Would she need to propose to him? She held onto Mel and took the love and strength she was given, then hopped out of her arms and shook it off.
"I'm done. Done with the negativity." She stepped away and threw the curtains open illuminating the room and damn near blinding them both. Their laughter could have raised the dead. The atmosphere lightened instantly as that laughter filled the room.