The Christmas Pic

40. Jo

CHAPTER 40

JO

Emma and I are in an Uber, hurtling down the freeway in Los Angeles, a few hours till midnight on New Year’s Eve.

“It’s weird not to be in the backseat of George’s Corolla,” she remarks.

“Definitely not in Harmony Springs anymore.”

The sun has barely set and already fireworks are exploding across the skyline.

Neither of us have been to LA before, and as I take in the sheer mass of people living their lives in this one place, I’m intimidated. This is a city where Ava belongs, where she rules her elite techie roost. Could she ever have been as enamored with Harmony Springs as I dreamt her to be?

I drop my head into my hands, starting to panic again. “Maybe we should turn around.”

Emma nudges me with her knee. “Your mother did not buy us these tickets so that you could make a loop around LAX in a taxi and come back home.”

I take a deep breath. “I’m good. I’ll be good.”

I’m dressed a little nicer than Ava is used to. Lena FaceTimed me while nursing and made me pick out what she calls a “wow-tfit”. Turns out it’s just a nice sweater and khaki slacks with some jewelry borrowed from Carol, but I look good, and that’s giving me, oh… 2% extra confidence.

We pull up to a gorgeous beachside office building with GRAMSTA spelled in chic minimalist neon lettering.

Emma walks up to a call box and taps in a number saved in her phone. It rings a couple times, then we’re buzzed in.

The interior is as chic and minimalist as the outside of the building, with a few straggler employees wrapping up work before they hit the town to party until midnight.

Max bursts out of a stairwell, panting. They wave to both of us, doubled over, trying to catch their breath. Emma starts to say something but they hold up their finger. “Elevator. Getting repaired. Must. Hurry.”

“Hurry?” Emma asks.

“No… time… to… explain…” they huff out, turning on their heel. Emma and I have to chase them to keep up as we begin sprinting up more flights of stairs than I’ve ever summited in my life.

“Why… are we… running…?” I manage to pant out.

We make it another couple flights before Max ekes out, “Ava’s… resigning…”

I’m so shocked that what little words I could squeak out fail me.

We reach the top, and Max uses their key card to beep us onto Ava’s floor. Photos of her line the walls, along with cases displaying every gold plaque imaginable. My eyes follow the hallway down to a pair of frosted glass doors. Max, after some forceful inhales, follows my gaze.

“We didn’t pass her on the stairs, so she’s still in there.” Their face is solemn. “Jo, she’s a mess. I’ve never seen her like this.”

I don’t wait a second longer. I fast-walk down the long hallway as Max and Emma trail me.

What awaits me behind those frosted glass doors ?

I don’t get to find out, because Ava bursts through, glued to her phone, before freezing as she notices us.

“Jo? What are you doing here?”

I close the final distance between us until I’m standing in front of her. “I’m here to apologize, but it sounds like I’ve done even more damage than I thought.”

“You don’t need to apologize, I deserved it. I thought I was doing something good for you, but it was selfish.” She’s distraught. “This job, my company, has reduced me to outcomes and appearances, and I let that drive the way I tried to fix your problem.”

I shake my head. “No, I do need to apologize. You didn’t deserve the brunt of my anger. Chrissy breaking down, you leaving–it was a perfect storm. When you rolled out the new truck, I latched onto it as a safe target for my anger and my residual grief about my dad, rather than dealing with the real issues.”

“What were the… real issues?” she asks quietly.

I gulp. This is the harder part of my apology. “That you were leaving. Without so much as an acknowledgment of what this meant to both of us. I was afraid to bring any of my bigger feelings up–afraid of facing your rejection, of ending our time together on a sour note, or tarnishing your memories of it by asking for more than you were ready to give."

Ava toys with her lower lip. “I figured I was already asking too much of you. Being so new and unsure. We hadn’t known each other for long.” She glances up to me. “As you pointed out.”

I wince. “Please don’t resign. If my words made you question what you were doing with your life, they were said in anger, and I wanted you to feel my pain. That was not fair to you. I don’t ever want to be the source of your pain.”

Ava steps forward and takes one of my hands in hers. “I accept your apology. But even though you dealt me some zingers, you didn’t push me to resign. ”

“I didn’t?”

She shakes her head. “Spending time with you, in Harmony Springs, confronting the world outside of my bubble… All the good I witnessed the past couple weeks brought me to this decision. Your words might’ve been said in anger, but I have pushed people away because of the life I chose to lead. And I don’t want that anymore. I want to be authentic.” She takes my other hand in hers and gazes into my eyes. “Like you.” A pause, then: “ With you.”

At that moment, Max clears their throat, breaking our spell.

“Totally not listening in,” Max proclaims, “but catch.”

Max hurls something at me. I catch it and realize…

“Gay mistletoe.” My face cracks a smile and so does Ava’s. I hold the Harmony Springs memento over our heads. “Second time’s the charm?”

We dive into a passionate kiss, back in our world once again.

I pull away. “But if you’re resigning, what are you gonna do?”

Ava grins at me. “I have a few ideas.”

That’s all the reassurance I need.

I lean back in, and we lose ourselves in a sea of kisses, no longer two ships passing in the night, but rather a brand new, third vessel that we built together to better weather the waves.