Two Worlds Collide

Chapter 8

Ava entered her house the next evening, tired. But since Macy was working a night shift, catering for an anniversary party for an old couple, Peyton was dropped off at Ava's.
Ava welcomed the young boy with open arms, kissing his cheek before setting him down on the floor. He immediately took off to the room that might as well be his own toy room after how many toys he started leaving at Ava's house.
She smiled to herself and looked to the clock, seeing it was around seven. He would have to be in bed in a little more than an hour which gave Ava time to sleep off the exhaustion she was feeling. Ava went to the toy room, and saw Peyton had wasted no time in successfully scattering the contents of two toy boxes and a bin all over the floor. He was surrounded by toys, currently rolling a firetruck across the multi-coloured rug quickly.
“Hey buddy,” Ava said, pushing some toys aside with her feet to make room so she could sit down. “Do you think I could play with you?” she asked and he smiled.
“That depends,” he said cheekily and she chuckled with a raised brow.
“On what?” she asked him and he smirked.
“On if you can find me or not!” he jumped to his feet. “Count!” he demanded, running out of the room.
Ava laughed and covered her eyes, being fair as she heard Peyton running through the halls and rooms of her apartment, hearing several meows of surprise and protest from her cats. Reaching thirty, she opened her eyes and said, “Ready or not, here I come.” she walked out of the door, the house silent. She crept down the hall and looked around in the kitchen with no result. She went to the living room and came up empty. Then she moved onto the bathroom, and lastly, her room.
“Hm,” she said. “I wonder where Peyton could be. He's just too good for me.” she said, knowing he was under the blankets of her bed. And as she had hoped, a tiny giggle escaped from the mass formed under the sheets. She gasped. “What was that?” she asked to no one in particular. She went to the bed, grasping the edge of the blankets. She threw the blanket back and gasped dramatically. “Ah! There he is!” she exclaimed, reaching forward as Peyton laughed to tickle him. He pulled her down next to him as she and him continued the tickle war. She finally sat back and sighed. “Oh,” she sighed heavily, before looking over to see Peyton's big brown eyes looking into hers. “I think it's time for tea, teeth, and bed.” she said with a smirk and he frowned a bit.
“I wanna keep on playing.” he whined and she giggled, sitting up straight and taking him into her arms.
“We can play again the next time you're over,” she said, walking out the door with him on her hip. “Which will be pretty soon I’m sure.” she set him down on the couch before going into her kitchen and setting the kettle to boil. She flipped the TV to a kids channel just as her phone rang. She picked up the receiver quickly.
“Hello?” she said into the phone.
“Hey, it's Adam.” he said on the other line. Ava's mouth instantly spread into an embarrassed smile.
“Hi,” she greeted again. “What's up?” she asked getting two cups out.
“I just wanted to see if you wanted to come to this party with me. It's Friday night at nine,” he told her as she nodded to herself.
“Okay, uh I work Friday till six. So that should be enough time to get presentable.” she said and he scoffed.
“Ava you could show up in your lab coat and still be a knockout.” he said as she rolled her eyes.
“My lab coat?” she asked him, wondering why he would pick that piece of clothing.
“Yeah. Makes you look sexy. Got the whole doctor-vet thing going on.” he said cunningly as she laughed in surprise.
“Wow. Okay then, sure I’ll show up in my lab coat.” she said sarcastically. “No but really...What is this for? The party I mean.” she asked him pouring hot water into the two mugs.
“It's just like a party that The Voice company puts on for the judges and the crew and all the people who helped make it happen.” he said and she could just see him shrugging in his non-worry carefree way.
“I don't know...everyone you know will be there.” she said a bit uneasily.
“Exactly, and I want you to meet them.” he said with a warm tone and she smiled at his comment. “It's the perfect way to get you to meet all my friends.” she chuckled.
“And all your 'friends' happen to be huge celebrities in whom I admire greatly. Yeah, sure, no pressure.” she said with a shake of her head and Adam laughed.
“Just be your cute and sweet self and you'll be fine.” Adam said with ease as Ava sighed heavily, adding the last of the milk and sugar to the tea.
“Oh, all right I’ll go.” she surrendered while grabbing a sippy cup for Peyton, and she heard Adam 'yes' ing on the other line which made her laugh softly. “But please, if I start to stutter or something, cover me.” she laughed as did he while she poured the contents of the mug into the sippy cup.
“You'll be fine,” he assured with an obvious tone while she handed Peyton his drink, which he took quickly while muttering a thank you. “I'll pick you up at lets say...eight thirty?” he guessed as she nodded as she started down the hall to where Peyton usually slept.
“Sounds good,” she agreed as she threw back the bedspread, readying it for the small boy who would soon be within the sheets. “But Adam,” she stopped mussing up the bed and stood up straight.
Adam sensed her worry on the other line right away, and he frowned, a crease forming between his two brows. He hated when Ava doubted herself, but that was because of those stupid fags she had in school, he thought.
“What if your friends...What if they don't like me?” she asked. “I mean, I’m so...ordinary next to them. They have songs on the radio and these huge awards and then there's plain old Ava from Canada.” she laughed a little.
“Av,” he said softly as she sighed, and sat on the bed. “You gotta believe me when I say that none of what you have or have not accomplished in life doesn't matter to them. You and your normal, wonderful self will be a breath of fresh air.” he smiled. “Please don't worry about this, because I know you'll beat yourself up when you do.” he said and she laughed shamefully.
“I know you know.” she groaned. “But if you think I’ll be okay, then I guess that's enough for me.” she said finally as he smiled.
“Good, I will see you at eight thirty on Friday.” he started to close off the phone call.
“I'll be ready,” she assured. “Bye Adam,” she smiled a bit in saying his name. She loved the way his name felt on her lips. It just felt...right.
“Bye beautiful,” he replied as she laughed and hung up.

She walked back out to her kitchen, placing the phone back into its holster before turning to the blonde boy on her couch. “Alright mister! Finish up that tea and we're gonna be heading for bed!”

“Seriously?” asked Marissa in a dramatic tone, the next day at work. It had been about an hour since Marissa had found out Ava and Adam were dating and Ava figured she would be okay to talk to now.
Although Marissa was very eccentric and overly happy about everything, she had become a good friend of Ava's-especially with all the shifts they worked together.
“Ava if he wants you to meet all his friends, his famous friends at that, then he's serious.” she told her.
“You think?” asked Ava as she took blood from a small kitten for heart worm testing.
“Of course!” she exclaimed. “Look, guys like him, who are used to one night stands and all that...they don't got for the long term stuff. But if he is willing to, then you obviously mean something to him.”
Ava thought this over and shrugged. “I guess, but I just don't want to over-think it.” she sighed. “I always do that with guys and this time I think I just want things to be as simple as possible.” she explained while dropping some of the blood onto the testing strip.
“Then it's a good thing you're going. If you want simple...Then go with the flow. Don't ask for too much, but don't make it seem like you don't care. And you know, call him just to talk, but don't call him too much otherwise you'll look clingy,” Marissa began ranting off instructions while Ava waited for the strip to turn coloured.
She tuned out Marissa, thinking about what she should wear to the party. She wondered how fancy it was going to be. Was it going to be a casual thing where she could wear something like jeans and a nice shirt? Or a step up where she would have to think about putting together a dress and a nice pair of shoes? She decided to go medium fancy, seeing that this wasn't a red carpet event, but it also wasn't drinks with a few buddies.
“-and never- Are you even listening to me right now?” asked Marissa, hands on her hips with a pout of disappointment.
“Yeah, I am. Thanks Risa' but I think I’ll be okay. Like I said, I don't wanna over think anything. And what you're doing is the definition of over thinking,” she laughed as Marissa smiled bashfully.
Ava saw the test strip was pink, which meant the kitten was healthy.
“And this little girl is all clean so she can go back,” she handed the kitten to Marissa who took her carefully in her arms and back into the kennel area.
Ava rubbed her eyes tiredly, feeling the effects of a long day of work. Thankfully, she was off in the next hour so she just had to push through it. The reason she was so eager to be over and done with her shift was because today was the day where she could take the little German Shepard Husky puppy Zeus, home. The adoption papers had been finalized yesterday and Ava was free to take him home.
She was going to go to Pet Smart after work and get him all his things; dog bed, food and such.
So Ava situated herself in the kennel and did what always made time fly by:
She examined all the animals, even if they didn't need to be. She just wanted to hold them and make them feel wanted because some were there because they weren't wanted. Luckily, time went by just as fast as it always did when with the animals.
She changed out of her scrubs and into her regular street clothes and went into the room devoted to animals who were set to go home. She found Zeus near the front and smiled as he whined with excitement.
“Hey boy, guess what? You're coming with me!” she exclaimed, taking the carrier's handle into her grasp and lifting it off the stack of other crates.
She walked out, saying goodbye to Jean and Marissa who were working until close. She placed Zeus in the back of her car carefully, and she flipped on the radio while driving. The pop music faded out as the radio host spoke.
“Now we're gonna have out three scoops of the day, brought to you by Fred Meyer. Sandy is gonna take it over for us, Sandy?” he asked.
“Thanks Tom. Okay, so scoop one: Nickelback is coming to town, and we're having a contest for you and a friend to win tickets! We're going to play five seconds of a song, and if you can call or text in the right song you'll be entered to win!” she exclaimed and Ava sighed picturing the actors of voice behind their microphones. “Scoop two: Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher's wedding is set to take place in June of this year, in the Caribbean!” she said with a very expressive voice, like she was very impressed with this information. “We'll have more on that later. But the scoop that everyone is raving about as of late is.....Drum roll....The fact that Adam Levine seems to have a new girlfriend!” she cried and Ava almost stopped her car at this news.
“Oh no,” she said worriedly, thinking of all the rumours that may have been cooked up already.
“Oh yes,” Sandy said and Ava thought she was answering her. “Adam was spotted last Wednesday holding the hand of a beautiful brunette, and he even went for a PDA expression of a full on lip lock right there! Word is the girl is not famous, but just average. Which is not something Adam Levine is known for. He has dated several actresses and is most well known for dating Victoria Secret model Anne V.” Ava stopped at a red light and put her head on the steering wheel.
“Kill me now. Please God, just smite me where I am.” she groaned, almost wanting to turn off the radio, but her curiosity refused to let her do so.
“But, people are saying how Adam isn't typically a 'long term relationship kind of guy'. We'll just have to see how these two go along, but people aren't holding out with the past he has.” Sandy finished and Ava sighed heavily and looked back to Zeus.
“You know what? I officially hate my privacy being invaded.” she nodded to him as she made the turn which would take her to Pet Smart.
She took Zeus out of his crate and snapped on his leash which she was borrowing from the clinic. She walked in with him, and many passerby's stopped to admire him and his sweet disposition. She bought the necessities before accepting a phone call from Adam.
“Hey,” she greeted, slamming her door shut and starting the car, which automatically transferred her call through the bluetooth system.
“Hi,” he replied. “I wanted to double check you weren't backing out on me with the whole party thing tomorrow.” he said and she chuckled.
“Yes because I am exactly the kind of girl who would stand you up.” she nodded as he laughed on the other line.
“I know it's not like you, but hey-nerves can make people do things out of their character. I just wanted to tell you you don't have to worry. Everyone's looking forward to meeting you. Believe me. You are a lot better than some of the girls I’ve introduced them to. The bar is set pretty low, and you've passed it by a mile already.” he explained to her, clearly making sure she understood.
“I'm not quitting on you Adam. Why would I do that? I’ve got a perfectly sweet guy right in front of me-I'm not gonna be throwing you away. Thanks for that though. It helps.” she said with a sigh. She thought about telling him about what she heard on the radio, but decided against it.
“Aren't you just so sweet,” he chuckled as she laughed. “Good, then I’ll see you tomorrow,” he was ending the conversation and Ava thought she heard voices on the other line- so she guessed he was being pressed to cut things short.
“Okay, I’ll see you then. Bye,” she said as she heard the voice on the other line get louder.
“Bye babe,” he replied quickly, and then he was gone.
She sighed as she made a swift turn into the parking lot of her building. It didn't take long to get Zeus settled. The cats were wary of him, and Zeus was being overly friendly and running after them and they would hide under the bathroom sink to get away from him. Ava would just smile and shake her head, knowing it would take time before the canine and feline residents got used to each other.
Macy phoned her later, greeting her happily. “Hey Av!” she exclaimed.
“Hi Mace, what's up?” she asked her sister.
“Well I wanted to ask you, on Sunday I’m working from three until nine at this girl's baby shower slash bachelorette party- pretty sure the reason their getting married is cause she's all preggers, but that's besides the point!” Macy was rambling.
“You need me to take Peyton,” Ava cut her story short.
“Yes.” Macy sighed. “I know you work a long shift and everything but mom can't cause she and dad have this groupon to go to some lodge and it expires Sunday so they have to use it. So could you please be the best sister ever and take him for me?” she asked pleadingly.
Ava thought it over and nodded. “Yeah, that should be okay. If you grab him by nine then I can be in bed by a decent hour. It's just that I open on Monday at eight so I need to get enough sleep.” Ava pet Zeus's head which was laying across her lap while she sat on the couch, Sex and the City on TV but turned down.
“I promise I will be no later than nine. And if I am then I’ll owe you.” Macy said.
Ava laughed. “Mace I think we both know you're gonna be late,” she said and Macy laughed.
“Okay, okay, I probably will be. So what? Do you want me to owe you one ahead of time?” she asked and Ava shrugged.
“It's up to you I guess. Ugh, I wish God could owe me one and give me some more money. I’m going to this party with Adam; he wants me to meet all his friends, but I don't think I have anything really suitable to wear.” Ava explained and Macy squealed.
“Awe really?” she asked loudly into the phone. “He wants you to meet-Oh Ava do you have any idea how good this is? It means he's committing!” she shrieked as Ava winced.
“Why is everyone saying that?” she asked, annoyed that something so small meant something so big...Apparently.
“Because it's true! Av, guys just don't take you out on what..Two dates?” she asked.
“Technically speaking, yes. But the first was really long, so I would count it as three.” Ava interjected.
“Whatever. Same thing really. But guys don't take you out on two dates and then move up to meeting his friends unless he actually plans on keeping you around! And a guy like Adam, you know used to living the rock star life full of one night stands and all that, is probably pretty hard to convince to stick around,” Ava could hear the slyness and could see the smirk spreading across Macy's face. “But guess what? You have Ava. You've made him want to stay.”
Ava sighed and ran a hand through her hair tiredly. “Macy, you do realize that what you're saying only makes partial sense, right?” she asked and the 'humph' on the other line told Ava Macy wanted to know why. “Okay, I get that he, having the life he's had, probably has had been with a lot of girls. And yeah, maybe he's taking a big step and introducing me to his friends. But as for the whole committing thing...I'm not sure. I mean I love being around him, and he isn't like any guy I’ve met before...But like you said-he has been with a lot of girls. How do I know that he plans on keeping me around?” she asked.
“Av,” Macy said after a moment of taking in her sister's words. “you really can't doubt yourself so much. If you give yourself a little confidence boost, I’m sure you'll see that he likes having you around too. I mean, obviously he does, otherwise he wouldn't be taking you out-wait when is this party?” she asked.
“Tomorrow.” answered Ava, with dread in her voice. “And I still have no idea what I’m really gonna wear either. I’ll probably just recycle an old dress.” she sighed shaking her head, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get a dress in time.
“Oh no, no, no. You can't be serious. Okay. This is what's gonna happen. You're gonna wear something of mine, okay? I just went shopping last week, and you know I saw this dress that I thought would look good on you. I was gonna save is for Christmas, but seeing as you have an emergency...” Macy trailed, clearly wanting to tempt Ava.
“Mace bring it over right now! If you do I’ll have some of your favourite tea waiting for you.” Ava promised with a smile.
“I have my keys and Peyton, be there in ten.” Macy hung up and Ava sighed and looked to Zeus.
“Well Zeus, I’m not so doomed after all,” she told him, and he responded with a grumble and a sigh while turning over.
Ava went to work, getting Macy's favourite tea of maple and spice together when she heard two raps on the door. Ava thumped over and swung open the door and Macy stood with a bag in hand and Peyton in the other.
“It's freezing, where's the tea?” she asked hurriedly, brushing past Ava and going straight to the counter where she put down the bag and picked up the tea. Peyton sat himself down in front of the TV, which Ava had already made sure was on the Treehouse Network.
“Good to see you too Mace.” Ava shut the door and turned. “Hey Pey,” she called out and Peyton just mumbled back a response.
“Well come on now, I ain't got all night. Peyton's gotta be in bed in forty minutes.” Macy urged, looking to her child.
“No!” he protested.
“Yes!” replied Macy with a light laugh. “It's happening either way little man,” she turned back to Ava who brought the bag into her grasp. She was almost afraid to open it. What if Macy had picked out some super revealing, form fitting, skin tight dress she would probably never have the courage to wear? What if it was super low cut or super short, and people took her the wrong way? She didn't want Adam's friends, especially the famous ones thinking she was totally comfortable with revealing half her body on a regular basis. But, Ava opened the bag up anyway, knowing Macy would bring it out for her if she didn't.
Her hands touched silky fabric, and at first it slipped right through her hold. But Ava regained the material into her hands and brought the dress out of the bag.
Ava broke into a huge smile. The dress was the exact opposite of what she had though Macy had thought was 'suitable'. It wasn't some cocktail, racy clubbing dress Macy was used to picking out. Instead it was a long, about knee length dress with a beautiful, silky silver fabric. The bodice was well fitted, as she imagined, but not in the way where you were showing off. It was subtle, but elegant-it was meant to compliment the figure of the person wearing it. A sheer fabric had been sewn across the front, making an X before they crossed up and created the actual shoulder straps of the dress.
“Oh my God Mace, where did you find this? It looks so expensive! It didn't cost too much did it? I’ll pay you back if it was a ridiculous price or something-” Ava was spouting off as Macy smiled and shrugged.
“Ava it's all good. The dress I got at Ricki's in the town mall, and no it didn't cost a whole lot. Which is actually why I got it. They had a sale going on and the dress was already pretty cheap. But I saw it and was like 'wow, Ava would look so good in that'. So I got it!” Macy told her with a grin as Ava was still marvelling at the creation.
“This is perfect! I think Adam will like this,” she said with a twinkle at the thought of walking on Adam's arm, wearing this beautiful gown. “I mean, it doesn't scream fancy, but it's also not too casual either. It's a good happy medium.” Ava nodded to herself, almost in reassurance.
“Well I’m glad you like it. But we gotta head home. Come on little man,” Macy pushed herself off the counter. “I'll bring the mug back on Sunday when I drop Pey off.” she told her sister, who followed her to the door as Peyton hopped along behind them.
“That's fine,” nodded Ava as she opened the door for the two of them.
“I'll see you Sunday then,” Macy hugged Ava who said,
“Thanks so much for the dress; you have totally saved me.” she laughed while pulling back.
“Well consider it a little gift for taking Peyton for me all the time.” Macy shrugged while looking to her son.
“Speaking of which, we still have a score to settle with hide and seek, don't we?” asked Ava and Peyton smirked up at her.
“We do. I’m gonna beat you.” he said determined. Ava laughed at the toddler's seriousness.
“We'll see about that mister!” she challenged while Peyton giggled in anticipation.
“Come on, say goodbye to aunt Ava,” Macy told him while Ava bent down and picked him up into a hug.
“I'm so gonna win,” Ava smirked while putting him back down, and he took his mother's hand.
“Don't get your hopes up,” he replied slyly which made Ava laugh hard, leaning against the door while her two family members left down the hall.
She sighed and closed it before leaning her back up against it. Friday. Tomorrow.
What a day it'll be. Was Ava's last thought on the subject before she got distracted with George and Sergeo clawing at Zeus's bed.