Set Up and Let Down
1221 Words
The Lake View Hotel Los Angeles, Penthouse Suite 161
Friday, August 22nd, 2025 — 11:22 PM
“Hold up, Ava,” Keisha interrupted. “If you and Austin had this whirlwind, primal-ass romance, then what the hell happened? How’d y’all go from passion and Vegas magic to him being the dude your husband wants dead?”
The question hung thick in the air, silence spreading through the suite. All eyes locked onto me, filled with curiosity and cautious sympathy. I swallowed, bracing myself to relive one of the hardest memories I’d buried deep.
“It’s complicated,” I finally said. “It wasn’t just one thing, but a lot of things stacked together, until it all fell apart.”
“Start from the beginning,” Camille gently encouraged. “We got you, Ava.”
I nodded slowly, took a deep breath, and began.
Los Angeles — Ava’s Apartment
December 4th, 2015 — 2:45 AM
My phone buzzed loudly on the nightstand, startling me from sleep. I blinked at the bright screen, the name Prison/Jail lighting up like a beacon. Heart racing, I picked it up quickly.
“Hello?”
“Ava… baby thank god you picked up.”
“Austin? Do you know what time it is?”
“Ava—” his voice was tight, strained, breaking with a vulnerability I'd never heard before. “Baby, please I need you. I’m in trouble.”
I sat up abruptly, heart pounding painfully. “Austin, what’s wrong?”
“I got arrested,” he said quietly, voice thick with emotion. “Melissa…my ex…she showed up at the hotel here in Sacramento. She started making a scene. I tried to walk away, but she followed me upstairs and just…lost it. She started hitting herself in the face, screaming I’d done it. Someone called the cops. They arrested me.”
My blood went cold. I’d known about Melissa, he’d described her as toxic, manipulative, dangerous even. But this?
“Austin, please tell me you didn’t actually hit her—” My voice shook slightly.
“Ava, you know me,” he whispered desperately. “You know I would never put my hands on a woman. Ever. Please believe me. She did this to herself.”
I exhaled, gripping the phone tighter. “Then what do you need from me? Do you need a lawyer?”
“I need you, Ava,” Austin pleaded, his voice trembling with desperation. “They set my bail at fifty grand. I’ve got it at the house in San Francisco, hidden in the safe. I just need you to fly up, get it, and bail me out. I promise you, I’ll pay you back for everything.”
I hesitated, swallowing hard. “Austin…I can’t just hop a flight right now. And fifty thousand dollars?”
“Ava,” he breathed shakily, raw pain in his voice. “Please. I don’t have anyone else I trust. You know me. You know I wouldn’t do this.”
“Do I?” I whispered softly, tears blurring my vision. “I thought I did, Austin, but why was Melissa even with you at the hotel? Why was she in your face?”
“She just showed up,” Austin said desperately. “I had no idea she’d be there. I swear on everything—”
“I don’t know, Austin,” I cut him off, panic rising in my chest. “I just…I need time to think. This is a lot.”
“I don’t have time, Ava!” he shouted. “I’m sitting in a jail cell over something I didn’t do. You’re the only person who can fix this.”
My breathing sped up, fear and suspicion clouding everything. “I’ll…I’ll see what I can do.”
“Ava—” His voice broke, softer now, hopeless. “Please don’t abandon me.”
“I’m not,” I said weakly, feeling my chest tighten. “I’ll call you back.”
I hung up quickly, chest heaving, heart racing painfully. Then I realized I couldn’t call him back. Alone in my apartment, the shadows seemed to close in around me, memories of my cheating ex flooding my mind. Betrayal. Lies. Abuse. Everything Austin said suddenly felt dangerously familiar.
What if Austin was exactly the kind of man I’d sworn I’d never trust again?
The Lake View Hotel Los Angeles, Penthouse Suite 161
Friday, August 22nd, 2025 — 11:37 PM
The silence in the suite was heavy, each woman absorbing the painful weight of my confession.
“You left him?” Keisha finally whispered, stunned.
I nodded slowly, shame washing over me. “I didn’t have the money for the flight, but mostly…I didn’t believe him. I got so caught up in my own fears, in my own jealousy about Melissa being there, that I convinced myself he was lying.”
“Damn, Ava,” Toni said. “I can’t imagine how that felt.”
I exhaled shakily, forcing myself to continue. “After I hung up, I blocked his number. I never answered his calls again. I buried him and moved on or at least I tried to.”
Camille reached over, placing a comforting hand on mine. “That’s a deep wound, Ava. I'm sorry you went through that.”
Keisha leaned forward, voice gentle but pointed. “But Ava, if you thought Austin was just another abusive, lying man…why are you still messing around with him now?”
Several heads nodded in agreement. I quickly raised my hand, interrupting them.
“Wait. You heffas wanted my story, so I’m giving it to you. But I can’t explain how Austin returned without telling you about Jordan first. Because Jordan shaped the life Austin crashed back into.”
Nia tilted her head, eyes warm with curiosity. “So, Jordan came after Austin?”
“Exactly,” I confirmed. “Jordan built me up, made me feel safe again. He was supposed to be everything Austin wasn’t, reliable, stable, trustworthy. But despite all that, when Austin came back…well, you see how complicated it got.”
Latrixa nodded. “Because your heart never fully let go. The connection you two had primal, as Camille said, that s**t runs deep. You marked each other for life.”
I sighed. “Exactly. And until you hear how Jordan helped piece me back together, you won’t truly understand why Austin’s return shattered everything all over again.”
The room fell silent once more, my story hanging in the air like smoke after a fire painful, thick, and impossible to ignore.
“I know I hurt Austin,” I admitted softly. “I’ve regretted it ever since. But at the time, I genuinely believed he’d betrayed me.”
Camille’s voice softened. “Fear does terrible things to love, Ava. You’re human. You reacted out of pain, nothing more.”
I swallowed hard, eyes stinging with unshed tears. “I just wish it hadn’t cost me everything.”
“But maybe it didn’t,” Latrixa said. “Because he came back, didn’t he?”
I nodded slowly, the weight of my complicated history pressing down on my heart. “He did.”
“Then finish telling us,” Toni urged softly, pouring more champagne. “Tell us about Jordan so we can finally understand the full story.”
- Writer
