The girl next door

Chapter 13 - Heather

With a nervous tingling sensation in the pit of my stomach I stop in front of the entrance door of the café. While I was on my way here, Ava wrote me that she would probably be a few minutes late. I replied that I would rather be outside in front of the restaurant. After all, you can't enjoy the more or less fresh air and good weather often enough. So I lean against the wall of the house next to the café and watch the people around me.

Maybe I can get rid of my excitement. Why this meeting makes me so nervous and why it makes me feel so much nervous, I can't say for sure. But I blame it on the fact that I am afraid to ruin the meeting so much that she doesn't want to meet me a second time.

Some yellow taxis move at a snail's pace through the sluggish traffic of New York, while people rush across the sidewalks. I sigh at the sight and sincerely hope never to be as stressed as the people around me.

The colorful, hectic crowd around me makes sure that my thoughts somehow end up back with my neighbor. Inside I curse myself for it, because he is actually quite an asshole. The more awake I have become over time, the stronger my memories have returned. That's why I partly remember that he was the one who picked me up from the bar and brought me home. And that was kind of nice, which is why the term 'asshole' doesn't fit one hundred percent at the moment. But I know that sooner or later he will ruin it all, so I'm not sure if it can really save him from that name. I find myself in a typical dilemma. It was Ava who called Aiden to pick me up, but in the end Sebastian stood next to me to take me home. But why did he do that in the first place? After all, he is in no way obliged to me, owes me nothing. This question has been on my tongue since morning, but I know that he probably wouldn't answer me.

Suddenly my mobile phone starts to vibrate in my jacket pocket. With my eyebrows raised, I pull it out and sincerely hope that it is not Ava who transfers me. When I read the name, however, my worry vanishes immediately and is replaced by surprise. The message that appears on my display is from my Grandma, who is much better at using her mobile phone than my mother.

Grandma: Hey honey, the family's coming to town next weekend and spending the night with Aunt Theresa. Your mother insists that you come at least one day and spend time with your family. And she also wants to visit your apartment.

When I read this, I roll my eyes a little annoyed. Typical Mom! Actually, I shouldn't let her dictate anything to me, because I'm actually an adult. But an argument with her is not something you really like to provoke. Especially not if she is currently financing my studies partially. So I give my grandmother an answer with which I am not completely satisfied.

Heather: Yes, okay. Will you write me later when I should come? Because now I don't have any more time.

At this moment I notice Ava coming towards me with a friendly smile on her lips. Immediately my mood changes to the positive again and I push myself away from the wall that I leaned against in order to walk towards her.

"Hey", I greet her with a joyful smile and she embraces me as a greeting. I return the greeting a little timidly. "Good to see you, Heather," she says, and joy is heard in her voice. "The joy is all mine," I reply as I detach myself from it. The sight of her makes a joyful smile creep up on my lips.

"Do we want to go in?" I ask, since we are always bumped into out here and are therefore snarled at from the side afterwards. We skilfully ignore that, but inside you can probably just talk better. She nods in agreement, whereupon I take her by the hand and pull her inside the café with me. My initial excitement is as if wiped away and a refreshing lightness takes its place.

Once inside, I let my gaze wander relaxed. Ava asks, "Are we sitting down there?" and points to a table right next to the large window front. This allows a lot of light to fall on the square, pleasantly illuminating the corner where the table stands. "Sure, with pleasure", I follow her without hesitation as she walks towards it. I sit down so that I still have a good view of the door. You might call it a tick, but it makes me somehow nervous to sit with my back to the entrance and not to know who is coming in. Ava seems to have no problem with that, because she takes the place opposite me without hesitation.

"Well, what brings a pretty young woman like you to a chaotic city like this?" She elbows herself to the tabletop and puts her head on her hands: "Apart from your separation, of course." The last sentence tells me that she also remembers our conversations last night. But that also makes sense, because she drank less and called Aiden for me.

"I would say, my studies and my mom," I answer with a grin, whereupon she bursts out laughing. "Your mom?" she asks with an exuberant grin: "Is she really that bad? "Not always, but sometimes she really shoots over the top," I roll my eyes at the thought: "She still treats me like a naïve teenager, even though I'm grown up, and always tries to tell me something. She's also been trying to set me up with some men ever since I broke up."

She has a compassionate face: "Oh God, I know that all too well." I shrug my shoulders: "I know she only means well, but sometimes she really robs me of my last nerve." "At some point she'll understand that, believe me. All you have to do is stay out of the house long enough. My mom used to be the same way and thought that I couldn't do it without her, but I proved to her that I can do it myself now," the blonde sounds more than convinced by her words: "Your mom will soon be the same and she'll trust you more. Just give her a little time. It's probably new for her, too." The longer I think about it, the more sense her words make. I'm the oldest child in the family, so it's just as new to my mother as it is to me. I hadn't even thought about it before! "Thank you", I give her a friendly smile, which is promptly reciprocated.

Then, however, our conversation is interrupted by a waitress who approaches our table: "Hello, ladies. Do you already know what you want to eat? "A strawberry milkshake, please," orders Ava. Since I don't know my way around here and trust her, I simply follow her example. "The same for me, please." "With these words she hastily scribbles our order onto a small block and disappears to the next table.

Now that we are alone again, Ava continues the conversation. "Where are you studying,' she now goes into the other part of my answer to her initial question. She looks at me expectantly from her big green eyes. For a moment I watch her. She has a really beautiful face and her eyes tell me that she is happy to spend time with me: "At Columbia. "Really? Me too," that answer surprises me quite a bit. I've never met her on campus before. But that's not really surprising, considering the size of the campus. Surprised, but not unhappy about this turn of events, I immediately ask: "What are you studying? "English literature", she tells me straight away: "And you?"

Literature! Honestly, when I was a kid I also thought about studying something in the direction when I was older. I can't say why I gave it up at some point, but I blame it on my teenage years, when I didn't often pick up a book.

"Jura", I say with a grin. Again and again it fills me with pride to say that. Because although I was never bad at school, I didn't expect to get a place at all at first.

"Cool, that means you help people out of their problems", her reaction makes me laugh because it reminds me of my first evening in town. "My neighbour saw it more like I was riding people in the s**t", I grin: "I like your explanation a lot better." She also laughs: "What a pessimist."

I lean back slightly on my chair and put my head back to let the sun shine on me a little while we talk a little about the university. Immediately I notice how easy it is for me to talk to her. Normally I find it difficult to be so relaxed when I meet a stranger for the first time. But Ava is different. Somehow she manages to create a relaxed and friendly atmosphere between us right away, so that I would like to stay in the café with her all day long and chat with her.