Episode 1126: Break Free

He was her friend. If something was wrong she wanted to know. She wanted to help if she could.

“Hi,” Ava said. “Is everything okay?” Would he call for any other reason? They hadn’t spoken since the day of the accident. She shouldn’t even be having this conversation now.

“I’m actually calling to see if things are okay with you,” Xavier said, his voice tentative.

“Things are, they’re getting better. I’m starting back at work today and Sebastian is making progress every day.” She did her best to keep her tone distant. “What about you… You’re doing well?” That was all she needed on her conscience, him falling off the wagon or something equally destructive because she’d severed their friendship months ago without so much as a goodbye.

“I’m not doing that well at the moment. Not since I found out what happened to the bookstore. I should have kept my eye on it, I owed you that much for my part in everything. If I hadn’t been at the store, been around you when I know you’re married and want to stay that way. I-”

“We were friends that’s all and it got misinterpreted, yet it led to terrible fallout but I don’t blame you for that or for the current state of the store. I’m meeting with Sebastian’s father later today. I’m fixing it and I’m leaving this mess behind me. You should do the same. Be happy. Move on.”

Ava ended the call there. She told herself their communication ended there. She’d expunged him of the guilt he shouldn’t have to carry. Anything else that plagued him he could turn to other people for, Xavier may not be as surrounded by friends and family as Ava would prefer for him, but he wasn’t entirely alone, he didn’t need her when he had Quentin and Justine’s family as well as his friendship or whatever it was he had with the school counselor. For Sebastian’s sake Ava had to trust that Xavier had enough people in his life to care about him and he’d survive just fine without her.

“You look very lost in thought,” Sebastian noted as he rolled into the kitchen. “Are you thinking about how the meeting with my dad might go?”

“Oh um, yeah, just working out in my head how to get everything back the way it should be.”

“If you want some support with my dad, I could come with-”

“No. Nope. I’ve got this and you should not skip any physical therapy sessions. Before we know it, you, us, the store, it’ll be like none of this happened, life will be normal and easy and happy.”

Episode 1127: Back Up