Other Side of the Wall (4 page)

Chapter 4

I
probably shouldn’t have been so giddy at my age to have a friend, but I hadn’t
really made any friends in Chicago. I missed friendship. Back home I had lots
of friends, and most especially I had my family, who were my best friends. I
really liked the thought of getting to know Scott better. There was just
something about him. I couldn’t quite explain it, but I just had a nice,
peaceful feeling when I was around him.

As
I crawled into bed that I night, I realized I felt light. I had missed that
feeling. I didn’t even need to turn the T.V. on for comfort as I fell asleep. I
woke up the next morning refreshed and ready to take on the day. The only downer
was that I remembered my conversation with Stacy the day before. I still didn’t
know what I was going to do about it. Little Gia’s face kept popping into my
head while I was taking a shower. At first I thought,
that should have been
my baby
, but then I thought,
did I really want to be in that situation
now
? I wasn’t naïve enough to think that he was really going to change. I
mean we weren’t even married a year before he cheated on me, and for all I knew
there were others, even though he swore to me she was the only one. His word
wasn’t worth much in my book.

I
dreaded getting involved, and even more, I dreaded talking to Peter. I highly
doubted what I might say would make a difference. He never cared what I had to
say when we were married, why would he care now? By the time I was done with my
shower, I had decided against it. I felt sorry for Stacy, but I just didn’t see
what I could do.

I
made my way back to my garage, and oddly enough, Scott was there too. We never
really ran into each other in the morning even though our garages were right
next to each other just like our homes, so it was a pleasant surprise.

He
smiled at me when he saw me walking his way. It was a great way to start the
day.

I
smiled back. “Good morning.”

He
returned the greeting.

I
began to punch in my garage code.

“Do
you have any plans for tonight? They’re doing a movie in the park if you want
to go?” he asked.

I
looked over at him. He still kept his distance, but he wasn’t as nervous as he
was the night before. “That sounds great.”

“I’ll
come by around eight to get you?”

“Perfect.”

He
stepped a little closer. “Ava, have a good day.”

I
stepped closer to him. “You too.”

Then
we both went our separate ways, he in his black hybrid highlander, and me in my
gas-guzzling red jeep. Today was going to be a good day.

I
don’t know why having someone pay attention to me made such a huge difference,
but it made my day so much better. I didn’t even mind when the drunken man
grabbed my butt, or when the five year old girl puked on me. Ok, maybe I minded
a little, but for some reason it was so much easier to deal with those
situations just knowing I had someone to talk to later that day, someone that
seemed genuinely interested in me. Even a couple of co-workers remarked to me
about my change. It made me feel like I should apologize for the last couple of
years. I’m sure I wasn’t the best person to work with, but I was going to
change that.

I
got home early that evening and immediately jumped in the shower. Today had
been one of those days that I felt like I was germ infested at work. I scrubbed
every inch of my body vigorously and then I just sat on the bench and enjoyed
the warm water. Once out, I rifled through my wardrobe and was reminded that I
was in need of a shopping trip, but I found cute pair of white shorts and a
navy gingham button-up shirt. Paired together they showed off my figure quite
nicely. I took time with my hair and make-up. I wasn’t sure why, but I wanted
to feel pretty even though this wasn’t a date.

I
had salad again for dinner, almost for spite. I also made big batches of
popcorn for the movie tonight. I made caramel popcorn and a batch of spicy
popcorn. I sealed them both up, then I retrieved a picnic basket that I was
given as a wedding gift. It never got much use, at least not as much as I
wanted it to have, but this was to new beginnings. I placed the bowls of
popcorn in it along with some bottles of water. I also got out an old quilt my meemaw
had made me when I was younger, and as an afterthought, I threw in some bug
repellant. About that time, Scott knocked on my door.

I
opened the door with the basket and quilt in hand. He stood there looking very
handsome in plaid shorts and a dark blue t-shirt that fit him quite nicely. I’m
not sure I had ever tried to be friends with someone of the opposite sex that I
was attracted to, but I liked the view for sure.

“Hi,”
I said.

“Ava.”
There was just something about the way he said my name and looked at me that I
liked.

He
looked down at my hands. “What’s all this?”

“Um,
aren’t we watching a movie in the park?”

He
shook his head yes.

“I
thought it would be nice to have something to sit on and snack on.”

He
smiled. “I guess I didn’t think about that.” He reached to take the items out
of my hand. He really was quite gentlemanly. He looked me over one more time. “Are
you ready?”

I
smiled. “Yes.”

We
were once again walking. I had a feeling he liked to walk when he could. He
once again kept his distance as we walked. I told him about my day of vomiting
and sexual harassment.

He
gave me a concerned look when I told him of my drunken encounter. “Are you ok?”
he asked sweetly.

“I’m
fine. I mean, I don’t like it, but unfortunately it sometimes comes with the
territory.”

He
still seemed concerned.

“Scott,
really I’m fine. I may be small, but I can handle myself.

He
smiled. “Of that I have no doubt.”

“So,
tell me about your day. I hope the whales kept their hands to themselves.”

He
laughed. I think I said this before, but I really did like his laugh. “Ava,
you’re…” He kept looking down at me while he tried to form his thought.

I
smiled and looked up at him. “I’m what?”

“Pleasant.”

I
had never heard that one before and, honestly, I was hoping for another
adjective, but I guess pleasant was nice. “Um, thanks.”

He
looked bothered.

I
just turned and faced forward.

“Really
pleasant,” he added.

I
just shook my head and laughed.

We
didn’t say too much after that until we reached the park. There were already
quite a few people there. I noticed the crowd mainly consisted of couples. That
made sense; it was a great idea for a date, and a cheap date at that. We found
a nice spot in the middle, a good distance away from the screen. As we settled
on the quilt, I finally thought to ask what movie they were showing. He said
they were doing a series of movies based and made in Chicago; tonight’s showing
was “Return to Me”.

“My
mom and I love that movie,” I said.

“I’ve
never seen it. Jenna really wasn’t into romantic comedies.”

I
wanted to say, why ever not? Romantic comedies were my favorite kind of movies.
To each their own, I guess. I was beginning to think that Jenna and I probably
wouldn’t have been friends. She seemed stuffy and stiff.  But maybe I was being
too judgmental or maybe Scott just wasn’t giving me the whole picture.

“Well,
what kind of movies did she like?”

“Documentaries
and independent foreign films.”

Yeah,
definitely stuffy. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but when I went
to the movies, I wanted to get away from real life and be entertained. I wanted
my belief to be suspended for a couple of hours.

“How
nice,” I responded.

He
looked at me funny. I guess I didn’t hide my real feelings well enough.

I
decided that was a great time to bust out the popcorn. I removed the lids from
the bowls. “Don’t worry, I ate dinner first tonight.”

He
gave me a wry smile. I winked in return. He surprised me and threw a piece of
popcorn at me.

“Did
you just throw popcorn at me? Because where I come from that means a
declaration of war.”

“And
how would you retaliate, Ava?”

“Oh,
you’ll never know when or where. Let’s just say I won’t use popcorn.”

He
laughed at me again.

I
was glad I was “really pleasant.”

He
placed the popcorn containers in between us. It didn’t surprise me, but I had
never had a guy behave that way toward me, even my friends that were male. But
out of respect for his obvious discomfort of being physically near me, I
scooted over a little more to add to the protective barrier.

As
it darkened, I got out the bug repellent lotion, stretched out my legs and
applied liberally. I hated mosquito bites. When I was finished I looked over to
Scott and asked him if he wanted some, but he was intently staring at my legs.

“Um,
Scott?”

He
came out of his stupor. He seemed embarrassed.

“Are
you ok?” I asked.

“You
have really nice legs.”

Poor
guy.

“Thanks,
so do you.”

And
he really did. I had noticed earlier. He sheepishly grinned and took the bottle
from me.

Finally,
it was dark enough and the movie began. I hadn’t seen the movie in quite a long
time, so I didn’t immediately remember everything that occurred in it. If I had,
I may have suggested we do something else. Toward the beginning, there was a
heart wrenching scene where the wife died and the husband was devastated. I
felt horrible. I looked over to Scott who was visibly uncomfortable. I thought
about reaching over the popcorn and holding his hand, but I knew that would
just make the situation worse; he had been clear he wanted no physical contact
with me.

Instead,
I moved the bowls and scooted closer, but I didn’t touch him. “Would you like to
leave?” I whispered.

He
looked down at me. I couldn’t read him even though our faces weren’t that far
apart. In fact, they were so close I had the impulse to kiss him. I quickly got
that thought out of my head. We were friends, and this wasn’t a date. He raised
his hand like he was going to touch my face, and I admit, I was hopeful, but he
lowered it. “Ava,” he said and then paused.

I
just kept looking into his eyes, waiting for him to finish his response.    

“I’m…
alright,” he managed to say.

“Ok.”

I
placed the popcorn containers back between us and I enjoyed the rest of the
movie. I had forgotten how much I liked that movie. I don’t know if Scott liked
it as much as me. I laughed more than he did, but he seemed to pay more
attention to me than the movie. We didn’t really talk during the movie. The
only real comment he made was when I handed him a water bottle and he let me
know that Jenna would be abhorred that he was drinking out of a non-reusable
bottle. I wanted to roll my eyes and say I recycled, but I just ignored it and
happily drank out of it like the environmental rebel I apparently was.

All
in all, it was a very enjoyable night. Scott said he liked the movie. I hoped
he wasn’t just saying that. Next week they were playing “My Big Fat Greek
Wedding”, another of my favorites. He said we should go again. I agreed. In
fact, I began to agree to a lot of things with him, like Frisbee in the park
and bike rides and trips to the aquarium. There’s nothing like going to the
aquarium with a man that knows everything about it. He was like an
encyclopedia. We even got to stay after hours, and he introduced me to his
whales and dolphins. It was fun to feed them and interact with them. I could
tell he was very passionate about his job and the animals that he had charge
over.

The
summer was turning into everything I had hoped living in Chicago would be. Well,
almost everything. I thought I would be happily married. Instead I was happily
in friendship. But as the summer drew on, I hoped that perhaps someday we would
have more than just friendship. At times I thought maybe he felt the same way too,
but every time we were together he never failed to mention Jenna. A lot of the
times it was in comparison to me. I don’t think he was intentionally comparing
us, but nevertheless he did; she and I were like night and day. It made me
wonder why he would spend so much time with me when he obviously loved such a
different woman than I was. She had been tall with very dark brown locks and
brown eyes, and she was very liberal and artsy. She had a degree in English,
and it sounded like she thrived on searching blogs daily and writing scathing
comments of correction and opinion. She was also one of those women that took
hundreds of pictures of themselves and posted them on social media daily. And
to top it off, she hated bread and dessert. I, on the other hand, was short
with light brown hair, forest green eyes. I suppose I would be considered
conservative, I couldn’t stand reading comments on blogs, especially the
negative ones. I also found selfie takers and daily posters to be narcissistic
and annoying. I drove a jeep, she drove a Prius. I didn’t really like poetry
readings or coffee, and those were some of her passions. I loved dessert and bread
and a myriad of other unhealthy items, of course sparingly, but all the same, I
loved them.