Page 24 of Defensive Zone

“Want some wine?” Gabi called out when she heard Ava coming down the stairs a short time later.

“Um. Ah, yeah.”

There was a hitch in Ava’s voice, and Gabi met her friend’s watery gaze as Ava walked into the kitchen.

“What’s going on, Av?” Gabi asked, coming around the island and wrapping her arm around Ava’s waist. “Is it Elise? She seemed to settle down quickly.”

“No. It’s not her.” Ava sighed. “This. Just everything. This sucks, Gabs,” she said.

“I know, honey. I hate that you guys are going through this. It’s not fair,” Gabi said.

“No,” Ava said, anger clouding her voice. Then she paused.

“It’s okay to be angry,” Gabi said.

“No.” She paused again, taking in a deep breath. “There’s something I never told you and it’s eating at me.”

“Wine or coffee?” Gabi asked.

“I just fed Elise, so maybe a half glass of wine,” Ava said.

“Or whiskey?” Gabi asked, eyeing her friend.

Ava shook her head. “Wine. Just wine.”

“Okay.” Gabi grabbed glasses and a bottle of white from the fridge. She tugged Ava into the living room and onto the couch that she was already in love with. “Spill.”

“This is so hard. So, I haven’t told anyone what I found out about Greg after he died,” Ava said.

“Okay,” Gabi drew out. “You know you can tell me anything.”

“I know. It’s just hard,” she said, angrily swiping a tear from her cheek.

Gabi waited.

“It turns out that Greg wasn’t alone when his heart gave out. He was in a hotel room with one of his coworkers. A female coworker.”

“That must’ve been traumatic for her,” Gabi said.

Ava coughed out a harsh laugh. “He was having an affair with her. They were in bed.”

“Oh my god. Are you fucking kidding me? It’s a good thing he’s already dead,” Gabi fired off. She couldn’t believe it. Yeah, the man had sometimes come across as an ass or condescending, but she’d never expected him to cheat.

“Cops came to my house to tell me, and when I asked how it happened, they told me he was with her. I didn’t tell anyone about it, you, my family. I just couldn’t,” she said.

“It’s okay. It’s completely up to you when you confide and what you confide to us,” Gabi said, trying to reassure her friend while she wanted to rage at someone. Anyone.

“I have no idea how long he was cheating on me, but when I was going through some stuff before coming to San Francisco, I found a bank account that was in his name and the charges were gifts to a woman who wasn’t me. Flowers. Lingerie. All the clichéd shit you could think of.”

“Why? Why would he ever cheat on you? It’s ridiculous. I’m so sorry, honey. I can’t believe he did this to you,” Gabi said.

Ava took a large gulp of her wine. “I don’t know. It eats at me. I don’t know why. I thought we were happy. We’d just had Elise and I know he was busy with work, but how could he disrespect me like this? Our family? And I can’t ever get answers because he’s fucking dead.”

Gabi set both of their wineglasses down and pulled her friend in for a tight hug. There weren’t any words that she could say right now that would make Ava feel better. She had to hope that getting the words out and not keeping that secret buried inside would help a little.

“The kids loved him, of course. They have every right to only think good things about their dad, but every time they miss him or want to talk about him, I want to scream,” Ava said, her voice muffled in Gabi’s neck.

Gabi ran her hand down her friend’s back to try and comfort her. “When you want to scream, you come to me and we’ll scream and drink wine and get through this, Av, I promise. We are going to get through this. I hate that this happened, that he did this to you. I know that nothing I say right now is going to fix anything or cure this hurt, but I’m here when you need me. You got me through some very rough times with my dad over the years, and we promised to always be there for each other. My shoulder is always ready for you to cry on.”

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