Going Nowhere At Full Speed

Brent stormed out of his apartment, slamming the door behind him and walking towards Ava’s apartment. He didn’t bother knocking on the door, but instead just opening the door, walking through, and slamming her door behind him once again.

“Hey,” Ava smiled, walking towards him. “Is everything okay? Is Chloe okay?” she asked worriedly.

“Like you care,” Brent seethed at her.

“What?” Ava asked, confused. “Of course I care. Brent, what’s going on?”

“How the hell could you do that, not only to me, but to Chloe?” Brent screamed at her.

Ava took a few small steps backwards, surprised by Brent’s yelling. He had never raised his voice at her, and she was a little scared at his outburst. She stared at him, and she could see the anger in his eyes. “Brent, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said as calmly as she could when inside she was shaking.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” Brent screamed. “But, if you’d like me to spell it out for you, I will. You’ve been working with Dirk this entire time. You’ve been telling him this whole time all about Chloe. You told him she was here. How the hell could you do that?”

“Brent, I haven’t ever talked to Dirk. I haven’t been telling him about Chloe. Where is this coming from?” she asked.

Brent’s eyes drilled into her. “Don’t you dare lie to me,” he warned. “I want to know why. Tell me why,” he ordered.

“Brent I didn’t do it!” Ava cried. “You know I would never do that! I would never do that to Chloe. She and I have become so close since she’s come here. And, you! You know I’d never do this to you. I love you,” she said quickly before she could think about what she was saying. As she repeated what she had just said in her head, she realized the words she had just spoken. She had never told any man that she loved him, and she never expected to tell Brent for the first time in the middle of an argument. Sure, she had known that she had loved him for a long time, but she never imagined that she would just blurt those words out.

Brent stared at her. “I don’t love you,” he said with very little emotion. “I could never love someone like you,” he stated before walking out the door, shutting it behind him as Ava collapsed onto the floor, bringing her knees to her chest, sobbing.

The door to Brent’s apartment opened, and Chloe quickly sat up from her position of lying on Kris on the couch. Her racing heart slowed down a little as she realized it was just Brent. “How’d it go?” she asked him cautiously, seeing Brent’s angry face.

“I told her how I felt,” Brent replied, continuing to stare at the floor as he made his way back to the bedroom.

“Hey,” Chloe said, turning around to look at Kris. “I think I’m going to go over and talk to Ava. Why don’t you head home? I know you need to get up early in the morning, and there’s really no reason for you to stay around here for the night. If anything happens, Brent’s going to be here,” she told him.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Kris asked her, knowing that Brent would be upset if she went to talk to Ava.

“Kris, she’s my friend. You know that she didn’t do this. I just need to talk to her. Go home, and I’ll call you in the morning, okay?” she asked, giving him a kiss.

“Okay,” Kris said reluctantly. “Actually, call me tonight when you get back from talking to Ava.”

“Kris,” Chloe began.

“I want you to call me,” Kris repeated.

“Fine,” Chloe whined. “Now, go ahead and go home,” she said as she followed him out the door and walked over to Ava’s apartment.

Chloe knocked on the door, but she didn’t hear any movement coming from inside. “Ava?” Chloe called, continuing to knock. She heard what sounded like a cry, and Chloe reached to the doorknob, turning it and finding the door opened.

She walked inside and saw Ava crumpled on the floor, weeping. Chloe immediately ran over to her, wrapping her in a hug. “Ava, what’s wrong?” she asked, even though she knew the answer.

“I didn’t do it,” Ava cried. “I swear, I’d never tell Dirk anything. I’ve never even talked to him. I’d never do that to you, Chloe, never,” she kept repeating.

“I know,” Chloe said, trying to soothe her. “I know you didn’t tell him.”

“You believe me?” Ava asked, surprised, as she pulled away from Chloe’s hug to look at her.

“Yeah,” Chloe smiled. “I know you wouldn’t do that. And, deep down, Brent knows that, too. He’s just so upset right now that he’s going crazy.”

“I don’t even get why he thinks that I did it,” Ava said, the tears still flowing down her cheeks.

“That’s what Dirk said. He said that you did it,” Chloe explained.

“What? How does he even know who I am?” Ava questioned. “I’ve never even talked to the guy, let alone met him.”

“I don’t know. All I know is that he said that Brent’s girlfriend did—“ Chloe began before she quickly stopped.

“What?” Ava asked, wondering why she wasn’t continuing. “He said that Brent’s girlfriend what?”

“It’s not you!” Chloe suddenly exclaimed.

“What?” Ava asked her tears slowly coming to an end.

“You’re not Brent’s girlfriend!”

“Thanks for reminding me that he hates me,” Ava muttered.

“Brent doesn’t hate you,” Chloe told her. “But, we’ll get to that in a minute. Ava, don’t you get it? Dirk said that Brent’s girlfriend told him where I was. He doesn’t know that you’re his girlfriend. Brent hasn’t talked to him since I left. Back when he was still dating Destiny!” she exclaimed.

“You think Destiny told Dirk?” Ava questioned.

“Come on, it makes complete sense! She hated me when I first came here. If Dirk took me back home, then I’d be out of her way.”

“But, her and Brent broke up. Why would she still help Dirk out?” Ava asked.

“Because she blames me for the breakup. Ava, it’s Destiny!” Chloe yelled.

“Okay, so what do we do about it?” Ava asked.

“I guess I should tell Brent,” Chloe told her. “Listen, this is all going to work out. Brent will realize that he was wrong to accuse you, and everything will be back to normal.”

“I don’t think so, Chloe,” Ava told her.

“What do you mean? It’s going to work out,” she repeated.

“Chloe, I told him I loved him tonight,” Ava blurted out.

Chloe quickly spun around, already half-way to the door. “What!” she exclaimed. “What did he say?” she asked.

“He said that he didn’t love me. That he could never love me,” Ava said, the tears appearing at the edge of her eyelids once again, as she remembered the way Brent had looked when he had spoken those words to her.

“Ava, he didn’t mean it. He was just angry. He didn’t know what he was saying,” Chloe told her.

Ava shook her head. “No, Chloe, he meant what he was saying. Sure, he was angry and lashing out at me, but he was speaking what was on his mind. He could never love me. And, I mean why would he? I’m just Ava Jackson, a nurse from Buffalo who happens to be his next door neighbor. I’m nothing special.”

“Ava, don’t say that. You always told me that when Dirk would tell me things like that that he was wrong. And, it’s true for you, too. Brent didn’t mean what he said, and you know it,” Chloe insisted. “Everything will be fine as soon as I tell Brent that it was all Destiny.”

“Chloe, you need to understand that I don’t think him realizing it was Destiny is going to help my relationship with him,” Ava told her.

“Ava,” Chloe began.

“No, Chloe, go tell him what you just figured out, okay? Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine,” she told her.

“But—“

“Go tell him,” Ava repeated, and Chloe slowly got up off the floor and made her way back over to her apartment to tell Brent everything she had just figured out.