Episode 379: Deck The Halls

"Alright. Thanks again for putting in a good word for me." She offered him the best smile she could muster these days. He really had done her a favor. She’d been waiting tables a couple weeks, occasionally on the same shift as him. He’d originally suggested she go back to the book store but Ava wasn’t ready for Lila’s ridicule of how stupid she’d been on top of how awful she already felt.

"It’s never been a challenge for me to sing your praises," he said, taking noticeable care to sound more friendly than flirty. She knew it wasn’t easy for him to straddle that line, he’d been honest that he still harbored romantic feelings for her, but he’d been a very good friend since Xavier left. "I’m sorry it doesn’t pay more, especially with the holidays coming. I hope it’s enough to cover Christmas for you, you love to do all that baking and really deck the halls. I know I’ll probably end up shivering in my crappy little apartment by candlelight making Tansy paper dolls for her gift."

Despite the snow outside, Ava hadn’t given a thought to Christmas too consumed with alleged sightings of Xavier on the internet. Now that she did notice, her awful aching loneliness multiplied. "It’s the last day of November," she said. "Do you rent month to month?"

His brow crinkled in confusion. "Yeah."

"So move into my house then, I’ll charge you less rent than your landlord," Ava said in a hurry so she wouldn’t change her mind. In the moment it sounded like the perfect plan. Some extra income to put towards finding Xavier, to at least insure she could eat and pay for her internet service. And someone to share the loneliest time of the year with. "I have a spare room, it’s warm, Shelby loves you and I don’t want to deck the halls alone."

Episode 380: My Favorite Things