“Ava, I think I should get Smokey. If someone has hurt you, then you need to tell him.”
“Smokey has hurt me,” Ava said.
“What? Smokey? How?”
Ava turned toward her friend. Her world felt like it was breaking.
Abriana had been so lucky. Ugly Beast adored Abriana. Ava had watched the two and saw how close they were. How much they loved one another. Ugly Beast wasn’t afraid to show his woman how he truly felt. They were the dream kind of couple.
“He’s having an affair. Smokey’s cheating on me with … Harlow.”
Abriana’s mouth opened and then closed, and thenshe completely shocked Ava as she burst out laughing. The other woman slapped a hand over her face, trying to hide the fact that she was laughing, but she was clearly struggling.
“I’msorry. This is not funny. It is not funny at all.” Ava wiped at her tears.
Abriana stepped out of the office and laughed.
This wasn’t helping Ava.
“Smokey is not having an affair,” Abriana said.
“I saw themtogether. I saw him hugging Harlow, and then they lied about it.”
Abriana winced and then bit her lip. “Look, I love you, Ava, and I swear, I cannot tell you what is going on, but I promise you, Smokey and Harlow are not, and will not ever be having an affair. I swear it. I don’t even know how to tell you completely, but they are not, nor will they ever be having an affair.”
It didn’t matter. “I’m just being silly. I see that.”
The other woman moaned and rushed toward her, giving Ava no choice but to accept the hug she offered.
“I’m sorry. I’m a horrible, horrible person, but Smokey loves you, Ava. He wants to make everything perfect for you, and there is nothing going on between the two of them. You’re who he loves.”
Ava didn’t want to talk about this with Abriana. “You’re right. I’m just being silly.” She gave her friend a quick hug. “I better get back to the shop.”
Abriana followed her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Ava sighed. “I think it is just the holiday season. I clearly misread something that looked so obvious.”
“I handled that badly. I’ve seen the way Smokey looks at you, Ava. He is in love with you. There is no one else that he wants. Just you. Always only you.”
“I think you’ve mistaken your husband for that,” Ava said.
“I knowUgly Beast loves me, and I love him, but it’s different. It’s always so different.”
Ava didn’t want to talk about this, and she quickly went to the door where she saw people waiting. She wanted the distraction of customers.
“Ava?”
“Abriana, I get it, heloves me, and I love him. You’re right. I was seeing all the wrong things.”
****
Larissa looked at the large tree and smiled. This was going to be the perfect surprise for Ava. Shepushed some of her hair out of the way and looked at her handiwork.
She loved Christmas. Always had.
Her dad always allowed her to decorate the tree. When she was a kid, it would look like a jumbled mess, but in recent years, since seeing the beautiful magazines and catalogs, she had created a masterpiece.
“It’s looking good,” Harlow said.