“He usually does get out to call me though.” Her gaze shifted to Max. “Come on in.”
Ava waved her hand at Max. “This is...Mike, my friend.”
“Hello, Mike.” Mrs. Arnoff offered her hand to Max. “I’m glad to see Ava has made some friends.”
Ava winced. So, Dr. Arnoff had told his wife about her pathetic social existence.
“Ava and I have been friends for a while.” Max draped his arm across her shoulder.
For a man with no emotions, he sure seemed to be getting into this role.
Mrs. Arnoff gestured to a half-full wineglass on the coffee table in front of the muted TV. “Would you like some wine? Something else?”
Ava folded her hands in front of her, trying not to twist her fingers. “No, thank you, Mrs. Arnoff.”
“Lillian—please call me Lillian. I feel like I know you even though we’ve met just a few times. Charles talks about you a lot.”
“Really?” Ava coughed. “Dr. Arnoff is brilliant. I’m so lucky to be working with him.”
“Well, the feelings are mutual.” Mrs. Arnoff shook her finger and Ava realized Lillian was slightly drunk.
That could make things easier.
“What did my husband want? It’s just like him to send a woman to fetch for him.”
Max stepped close to Ava and nudged the side of her hip. “His laptop. Isn’t that what you told me, Ava? And samples, some kind of samples.”
Ava nodded, the stupid smile still on her face, a breath trapped in her lungs. Max had just decided to go for it.
Lillian’s brow furrowed and she tucked strands from her gray bob behind her ear. “His laptop’s in his office, but I’m not sure what samples you mean. He doesn’t keep any of his lab work at home.”
“Let me grab the laptop first.” Ava pivoted toward the hallway. “His office?”
“I’ll show you.”
Max cleared his throat. “Do you mind if I use your restroom?”
Ava shot him a glance beneath her lashes. Did he think he’d find the T-101 pills in the medicine cabinet?
“Right across from the office, Mike.” She patted Ava’s hand. “Follow us.”
Lillian weaved toward the hallway and Ava got the crazy idea that if they shared a bottle of wine with her, she might just pass out.
When they reached the first two rooms in the hallway, Lillian pushed at the door on the right. “Bathroom in here.”
Then she reached into the room across from the bathroom and flicked on a light. “He usually leaves his laptop on the corner of his desk. Did his computer go down at the lab or something?”
“He didn’t tell me, Lillian. I just obey orders. He asks me to pick up his laptop—” she snapped her fingers “—I pick up his laptop.”
“And samples?”
Ava scooped up the laptop from the desk and hugged it to her chest. “He meant the blue pills. You know, the blue pills?”
Lillian tilted her head. “He doesn’t tell me much about his work. Can you email him or something and ask him where they are?”
“I-it was an afterthought. Maybe they’re not very important.”
Lillian led her out of the office and winked before she turned off the light. “Maybe if we forget about it, Charles will come home to get them himself.”
They stepped into the hallway, and Max came from the opposite end.
“Hope you don’t mind. There was no hand soap in this bathroom, so I found another.”
“That’s fine.”
As Lillian headed back to the living room, Ava squeezed Max’s hand and he shook his head. No blue pills in the medicine cabinets, but at least they got the laptop.
“Are you sure you don’t want some wine?” She grabbed her glass and gulped down the remainder of the burgundy liquid. “God knows, my husband’s never home anymore to join me.”
“Ava, why don’t you have a glass with her? If you don’t mind, Lillian, I’ll just take a quick look in the garage since Ava mentioned he sometimes works out there.”
Mrs. Arnoff blinked her eyes. “He does?”
“Yes, yes, he did say something about storing some work in the garage.” Ava swept past Lillian and grabbed a glass from the wet bar in the corner. “I’d love to join you.”