AVA
"Britney, wake up."
Early the next morning in her best friend's bedroom, Ava gently pushed Britney's shoulder, trying to rouse her.
So far, she'd been unsuccessful in her attempts.
Ava stopped and sighed, wondering how the hell Britney could still be sleeping. Not when she'd been the one kept up last night by the other girl's snores while they shared the bed.
"Come on, Britney," Ava said again, her irritation mounting when her friend still didn't respond. "Today's a big day, remember? Get up and prepare."
Britney groaned at the sound of Ava's voice, rolling onto her side and burying her face deeper into the pillow.
"Stop it, Aves. It's still so early," she mumbled. "Let me sleep."
Ava let out a frustrated sound.
"It's half past eleven, Britney. Half the day has practically gone by."
Hearing this, Britney released a frustrated groan while also cracking one eye open.
"Exactly. Eleven thirty on a Sunday," she said to Ava. "Too early for whatever this is."
Ava stood up from the bed and planted her hands on her hips, giving her friend a weary look.
She suddenly understood what it meant to be a teenager's mother.
"Brit, you told me to wake you up. Remember?"
"I-I did?" Britney asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.
"Yeah. You said you wanted to finish packing for our trip to your parents' cabin while I went over to see Blake."
That statement finally got Britney's full attention.
She sat up, pushing her messy hair away from her face before looking around the bedroom. The sight of the half-packed bags scattered around the room seemed to jog her memory.
"Fuck." She yawned. "You're right."
"I know that. It's what I've been trying to tell you," Ava said dryly.
Britney gave her a sleepy stare.
Then her eyes roved over Ava.
Unlike her, Ava looked as though she had been awake for hours. She was already dressed for the day in a white T-shirt and a long denim skirt, her hair loose over her shoulders.
Britney's eyebrows furrowed.
"Well, I see one of us is still taking this seriously," she said. "Is it already time to go to Blake's place?"
Ava nodded, her lips tightening slightly.
"Yeah. I called an Uber. It should be here soon."
Britney nodded, and as she continued looking at her, Ava suddenly became self-conscious.
She glanced down at her clothes, then back at her friend.
"Do I look okay?"
Britney paused, blinking rapidly as though the question had caught her completely off guard.
"Uh, yeah," she said slowly, but honestly. "I mean, that skirt is cute on you."
Ava's expression fell.
"Cute?" she repeated, sounding almost affronted by the word.
She immediately turned toward the luggage in the corner.
"Okay. I need to change."
Britney's sleepy, already-scrunched-up face scrunched even more at Ava's words.
"I'm sorry, what?"
Ava gave her a serious look.
"I can't break Blake's heart while looking cute, can I?"
She walked toward the bags.
Britney stared at her in utter disbelief.
"Ava, I highly doubt Blake is going to care what you're wearing when you're breaking up with him," she said. "There is absolutely no reason for you to bother changing your clothes."
Ava stopped, one hand resting on her bag.
For a moment, she seemed to consider arguing.
Then she let out a small breath, lowered her hand, and looked back at Britney.
"You're right. Of course he's not going to care about something so trivial." She shook her head. "He'll be too busy trying not to fall apart."
"You're nervous," Britney commented.
Ava didn't answer since, apparently, her feelings were more than telling.
Britney watched her for a long, silent moment before asking, "Is it you-know-who? Did he call this morning?"
Ava's expression became gloomier at the question.
"He hasn't called. Not yet, at least," she said, trying her best to sound casual. "So far, he's keeping his promise."
Even as she said it, Ava had a difficult time accepting the reality of Maxim's lack of communication.
She couldn't believe he was actually going to ignore her after all his claims about wanting them to be together.
A small wave of disappointment passed through her when she thought about this.
Ava immediately pushed the feeling away.
It was a good thing Maxim hadn't called, she told herself.
That was what she wanted.
Wasn't it?
"That's really good," Britney said, apparently oblivious to the battle taking place inside her friend's head. "It's a sign that he doesn't suspect you're about to go into hiding."
Ava nodded at her, lips pursed.
"It looks like the ball is in our court now."
"I'll finish packing while you go deal with Blake," Britney said to her.
Ava was just nodding along morosely when a loud thumping sound suddenly came from somewhere in the house.
Both women froze, registering the sound.
"What was that?" Ava asked warily.
Britney, however, seemed completely unconcerned.
"My tenant. Remember?" she said. "The one you met yesterday? She's probably waking up now."
"Oh."
Ava's body immediately relaxed, having processed Britney's probable explanation.
She had almost forgotten that it wasn't just the two of them in the house.
There was a third person—a woman Britney was renting her spare bedroom to.
Ava had been surprised to learn about the arrangement. Britney had never mentioned it before.
When Ava had asked why she was only hearing about it now, Britney had confessed that she was embarrassed to tell anyone something that might indicate her poor financial situation.
Ava had been shocked.
She didn't think Britney, normally so willing to tell people about everything happening in her life, was keeping secrets from her.
And while she had known her friend was having financial difficulties, she hadn't realized things had become serious enough for Britney to rent out a room in her house.
It worried Ava—not only because of Britney's financial situation, but because of the stranger now living under the same roof as her.
The tenant was a woman and, admittedly, had seemed decent enough to Ava when Britney had introduced them the previous night.
But then again, their interaction had been brief since the woman had been eager to get to her bedroom after a long day at work.
Though she hadn't raised any red flags at the time, Ava still didn't trust the stranger. She knew better than most that people could take a while to reveal their true nature.
She pursed her lips, looking at Britney and deciding to caution her about this.
"Hey, Brit, about your roommate—"
"Genevieve," Britney corrected.
"Genevieve," Ava repeated. "Is she safe to have around? I mean, what if she's not a good person?"
Britney gave her a look.
"Come on, Aves. She works as a boring secretary at some corporate company whose name I don't even remember. To me, that screams harmless. Although..."
"What?" Ava said, starting to sound concerned.
Britney let out a slow breath.
"She's revealed herself to be a tad demanding in the short time she's stayed here."
Ava smiled in relief when she heard this.
"Well, as long as that's all that's wrong with her, then I have no complaints."
"Well, that makes one of us," Britney said. "Most of the time, I want to strangle her. She is so annoying."
"That bad?" Ava said.
At that moment—
"Britney!"
A voice rang through the house.
Both women went still, looking at each other.
"Speak of the devil," Britney said.
No sooner had she said that than the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps approached the bedroom.
"Shit," Britney muttered, making Ava raise an eyebrow. "She's coming here. And I think something pissed her off."
"I'm sure it won't be a big deal," Ava said reassuringly.
Britney's look communicated her doubt.
It looked even more miserable when a figure finally appeared in the doorway.
"Can you two be any louder?" the woman said.
Both Ava and Britney stared at her.
The woman looked thoroughly annoyed. She wore an oversized shirt and nothing but underwear below it, her hair slightly disheveled from sleep.
Ava still couldn't help noticing how young and beautiful she was.
"Good morning, Genevieve," Britney said.
Her greeting lacked sincerity, which didn't surprise Ava.
Britney seemed to only tolerate someone sharing her personal space if that person was a lover or a friend.
"How are you today?"
"Extremely tired, actually," Genevieve replied dryly. "And you and your friend aren't helping, making that loud racket."
"Loud racket?" Britney said in a surprised voice.
"Yes. Her especially." Genevieve pointed at Ava.
For a moment, Ava was stunned, as this was news to her. But she accepted that although she hadn't meant to, she could've disturbed Genevieve. And she had to make it right.
"Sorry about that," Ava said quickly. "I didn't realize I was being so loud. Or that the walls were so thin."
"Yeah, whatever." Genevieve dismissed the apology with a wave of her hand. "Just keep it down from now on, okay? I was up all night, doing important work for my boss. I need my beauty sleep."
"You make being a secretary sound so demanding, Genevieve," Britney said, rolling her eyes.
"You'd be surprised," the woman replied.
There was a strange glint in her eye as she said it that gave Ava a slight chill for some reason.
Britney sighed, clearly tired of the interaction.
"You can go back to your room and get your beauty sleep, Genevieve. We won't bother you anymore."
"You can bet on that in regards to me," Ava supplied helpfully. "I'm about to step out of the house for a bit."
Genevieve turned toward her.
"Considering it was your efforts to wake Britney up that also did the same to me, that actually reassures me, Emma," Genevieve said through gritted teeth.
Ava just blinked at the name Genevieve had used.
She glanced around, perplexed, wondering where the person was whom the other woman was speaking to by that name.
But Genevieve was still staring at her.
Ava realized with a start that the woman actually thought her name was Emma.
She opened her mouth to correct her, but Britney beat her to speaking.
"Now that we've sorted this out, shut the door to my bedroom on your way out, Genevieve," Britney said.
Genevieve sucked in a deep breath. It was obvious even to her that Britney was trying to get rid of her, and she didn't like this at all.
Ava decided not to say anything that might prolong the tense interaction.
She was already enduring enough drama in her life, she decided. Also, she wasn't particularly fond of Genevieve either since the woman seemed weird and more than a little petulant.
As if to prove Ava's point, Genevieve clenched her fist before quickly releasing it.
Then she finally released her breath and turned away from them without another word.
The two other women breathed a sigh of relief when she gave them her back.
Genevieve had taken three steps when she abruptly stopped and turned back to Ava and Britney, wiping the looks of relief off the two friends' faces.
The two women tensed again, wondering why Genevieve wasn't leaving.
Instead, Genevieve was looking at them again, this time with a curious expression.
"Something wrong, Genevieve?" Britney asked in a voice that barely concealed her impatience.
In response, Genevieve crossed her arms again.
"Tell me," she said, regarding Ava and Britney. "What was that I heard through the walls about you two going into hiding?"
Ava was too stunned by the sudden question to answer. She and Britney then exchanged a startled look.
They had not considered that Genevieve could be listening in on their secret plans through the walls.
It hadn't occurred to either of them that the walls were that thin.
Damn it.
As Ava fought not to give their secrets away, Britney quickly turned back to Genevieve, maintaining a neutral expression beneath the woman's intense stare.
"I'm not sure what you think you heard, Genevieve, but no one said anything about that," she said slowly.
"Yeah," Ava said in a thin voice, forcing a smile. "You probably must've heard us wrong."
Genevieve, who the two other women were beginning to realize was smart in addition to being annoying, put on a face that made it obvious she didn't believe either of them.
Then, very suddenly, her expression changed again, and she smiled at them in an almost friendly way.
"Look, ladies, it's not that I particularly care about your plans," she informed them, "but as Britney's tenant, I need to know what she expects me to do about rent payment or any household-related emergencies if she really is going somewhere. That's all I'm interested in."
"Oh," Britney said, sounding surprised.
"Yeah. So, again, are you actually leaving?"
Britney looked at Ava, as if trying to get her permission to answer.
Ava hoped the silent look she gave communicated her response clearly: Do it, but be careful.
They couldn't tell anyone about their plans, she thought. The more people who knew, the greater the chance Maxim would find out. And telling a stranger like Genevieve was an even bigger risk.
"Well..." Britney hesitated, turning back to Genevieve. "Yes. I'm leaving with Ava for a little while."
There was a fleeting glint of triumph in Genevieve's eyes.
"Am I allowed to ask why you're leaving?" Genevieve asked, her gaze moving between the two women.
"It's just a little secret sabbatical," Ava said, forcing a smile. "We need a break from work and don't want anyone to be able to reach us and disturb our peace."
Genevieve nodded eagerly at this, but her dark brown eyes remained suspiciously blank, making Ava wonder if the woman really believed them.
"Sounds cool," Genevieve replied casually. "Where are you guys going?"
Ava froze when she couldn't think of a believable lie quickly enough.
Luckily, Britney cut in again.
"Like Ava said before, it's a secret, so we can't really tell you," she said in a voice that was cool as a cucumber.
"Come on, ladies," Genevieve said in a teasing voice. "Why are you guys being so mysterious about this?"
She looked at Ava when she asked that, clearly identifying her as the one more likely to break under pressure.
Ava felt pinned by her stare again, like a butterfly in a glass case.
Fortunately, her phone suddenly vibrated loudly in her hand, its ringing saving her from having to respond to Genevieve.
"It's my Uber driver," Ava said eagerly, glancing from the phone to Britney. "He says he's here."
"Well, don't keep him waiting. Hurry outside," Britney said, matching Ava's genuinely pleased tone.
She did so while giving Ava a quick look that clearly said, I'll handle Genevieve.
Ava nodded, readily agreeing.
"Okay. I'll see you guys later," she said, clutching her phone tightly.
She started walking toward the door, only to find Genevieve blocking her escape, her expression unreadable.
"Do you mind?" Ava asked, sounding only slightly nervous.
There was a moment of silence.
"Of course not, Anna," Genevieve finally replied, stepping aside.
Ava once again resisted the urge to correct her about her name.
Though this time, she refrained from it because she was eager to get away from the woman. Genevieve unsettled Ava for reasons she couldn't quite explain.
As she headed toward her ride, Ava took a deep breath.
She then decided to put the peculiar woman out of her mind and focus on carrying out the difficult task she'd set for herself for today: breaking up with her boyfriend.