Chapter 44

“So, you had a chance to talk to him,” said Ava.

“Yes, he said to tell you he’s not holding any grudges. But...” said Bea.

“But?” said Ava.

“He doesn’t trust you. He’s certain you really don’t give a damn about him,” said Bea.

“What! That’s bullshit. I’ve told him a million times that I do care about him and love him, not the way I love my husband but truly,” said Ava.

“It was the words he heard,” she said.

“Oh. Yes, I know they must have hurt him really bad. He’s actually told me that himself,” said Ava.

“Yes, they, the words, are the one thing, the biggest thing that he just can’t get by,” said Bea.

“Bea, like we’ve talked about, I said them out of frustration and only that,” she said.

“Yes, and I told him that. But he said his frustrations were worse. Said he dreamed about you and Blake in bed every night while he was locked in a cage and abused regularly while he was doing all he could just trying to survive.

“He’s lonely, Ava, desperately lonely and with no one to share his life with, let alone his bed; and with no hope of ever finding someone to share that bed with dickless as he is,” she said.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God: if there was anything I could do ... Oh my, oh, my, oh my! Bea, if there is anything I can do, I will do it. It’s just that every time I do try, I fuck up or something happens to make things even worse than they already were,” said Ava.

“You say you haven’t seen him since before Christmas,” said Bea.

“Yes, or heard from him either. Well, except Blake and I did invite him to Christmas dinner and for New Year’s Day too,” she said, “but he turned us down.”

“Oh?” she said.

“Yes, and since then, Blake is of the opinion that we need to wait for him to come to us. Give him space so to speak. No pressure,” said Ava. Bea nodded.

“Hmm, I don’t think, knowing what I do know, that that’s a good plan: the no pressure part, yes. But just letting him vegetate and rot in that little third-rate apartment of his, well...” she said.

“Bea, if you’ve got a suggestion, please!” said Ava.

“You heard anything about Marian lately?” she said. That got Beatrice Evans a raised eyebrow from her friend.

“Marian, but they broke up,” said Ava.

“Yes, because at the time they both thought, wrongly thought in my opinion, that they just couldn’t actually love each other, not because they couldn’t get along, or...” said Bea.

“Or?” said Ava.

“Or learn to,” said Bea.

“Bea, you think, I mean you really think that they might...” said Ava.

“What I think is that things couldn’t be any worse, and that for either of them in spite of the fact that Marian now has some money,” said Bea.

“But, Julian and the money?” said Ava.

“Yes, but in this case, he gave her the money not you guys,” she said. Suddenly Ava Willis looked thoughtful.

“Okay, I see what you mean,” said Ava. “I’ll be talking to Blake, and maybe even Candace and Daniel.” Bea nodded.

There was a knock on the door. The buzzer wasn’t used. The two women looked at each other. Ava shrugged and went to the door.

“Candace! And Marian!” exclaimed Ava. Bea’s chin undoubtedly had dust on it from bouncing off the floor.

“Yes, Mom, we’ve got to talk,” said Candace. Marian for her part looked worried and just nodded her greeting.

“Come in,” said Ava. Bea fell back onto the seat she’d just risen from but moments before.

“Mom...” started Candace.

“Candace, me first, please,” said Ava, her daughter nodded. “Candace, Marian, Bea and I were just talking about the two of you.

“Ladies, Bea and I were going to be asking the both of you to come over. We wanted to talk to you, the both of you—too—I guess!”

“Okay?” said a mildly surprised Candace.

“Ava?” said Marian.

“Bea and Julian are friends. Well, and Bea did something recently that, well, didn’t exactly work out—or—not work out,” said Ava.

“I proposed to Daniel. But, predictably he; well, we are talking about Julian, turned me down,” said Bea. “But we are still friends, maybe even closer because of my failed effort, not sure about that.” Ava raised a hand.

“Let me, Bea. Ava looked across at the other women.

“Bea and I know that the man has to have a woman to be happy; hell, everybody knows it who knows him. Yes, he says he loves me and can never love anyone else. But that’s just so much bull-pucky. He believes that I owe him my love and unless he can have that he refuses to even consider anyone else: you Marian, Bea, anyone else.

“The truth is I do owe the man. I owe him my life. But my romantic love? No, that’s beyond my control or his or Blake’s or anybody’s. He can’t ever have that again, and yes, I think he may have had it, the beginnings of it, back when we were young, little more than kids. But then he saved me, helluva a man that he was and is; and later, you too Marian.

“So again, I owe him, and what I can do, well try to do, is fix him up with the perfect woman, perfect for him. That woman, Marian, is you,” said Ava.

“Ava, you know damn well we broke up because the two of us came to the conclusion that we just didn’t love each other,” said Marian, “not that way.”

“More bull-pucky,” said Ava. “You let him convince you that that was so. It wasn’t and isn’t,” said Ava. “Tell me straight that you didn’t and don’t love him.”

“Mom, that’s why we came over tonight. We wanted to talk to you, well, and I guess Bea too now,” said Candace.

“Oh?” said Ava.

“Although the word love wasn’t mentioned. Marian came to me and said that maybe she and Julian could find a way to hook up, well, kinda platonically. Live together. Have a life together. Marian needs a man she can trust. And although she did do some looking after breaking up with Julian this last time; well, like I say she wants to have another go at him,” she said. “Maybe on a different level.”

“Platonically? A different level? More bull-pucky! It’s gonna be all or nothing and nothing is not on the table and not to be considered!” said Ava. “Yes, Marian, the two of you have physical issues, but none that can’t be resolved; I’m sure of it. Okay?”

“I’m not...” said Marian.

“I am,” said Ava.

“Me too,” said Bea.

Marian glanced over at Candace.

“Don’t look at me,” said Candace, “I’m on their side.”

“Okay then, I guess,” said Marian.

Shakespeare wrote that: “There is a tide in the affairs of men when taken at the flood leads on to fortune.” I had a feeling that my apartment was about to flooded by a tidal wave of heroic proportion! But would that tidal wave lead on to fortune—well, for me or someone else—was the question. And I was certain that the question had to be related to Bea’s visits of recent vintage. I was about to be proven wrong—sort of.

Ava, my Ava of yesteryear, had just parked her Caddy. She was walking, deliberately this time, almost cautiously, toward my place. Oh yes, this was not going to be the usual, not in a million years! I could feel it. I really could. She had a kind of pre-smile on her face. That’s the only way I could describe her look.

She buzzed for admittance. I went to the door and admitted her.

“And to what do I owe this more or less rare visitation?” I said. I had on a pre-smile of my own.

“We can talk about the rarity of visitations if you want, but I would appreciate it if we could do that a little bit later,” she said. I shrugged.

“Okay,” I said. I motioned her to have a seat. “Something to drink?”

“I guess, if you do,” she said. I already had an IPA sitting on the small table to the left of my rattan rocking chair. I nodded toward it.

“An IPA?” I said. She nodded. I went to get it. I returned and set it down on the table in front of her.