Page 82 of Maid in Heaven

“I did, Madison.”

“Girl, tell me you didn’t give him that business plan.”

Silence.

“Ava!” Madison growled. “No! Whyyyyyyy? I told you that was a dumb idea.”

“Yeah, well…” Ava wanted to say that Madison’s intuition couldn’t be trusted, that she was a fool. But that would be the pot calling the kettle black.

“Please tell me you didn’t do the whole binder thing with the timelines and a fuckingprojector.”

“No.” Ava said sternly, “Nobinder. Noprojector. I knew that would be too much.”

“Harla, listen to me, hun. I mean this in the nicest possible way, but you fucked up. You planned thisguy’s life out for him before he even fucked you silly. That’s cat-five-clingerstuff,babe. I know you’re rusty at the whole dating thing, but people don’t even call each other boyfriend and girlfriend anymore til they’ve dated for months, much less plot out their entirefuturewith graphs.”

“You’re right.”

“You had one task last night, and that was to get your clam rammed.”

“Oh,for the love of God…”

“Now, whatexactlydid he say?”

“He said it felt like I was trying to control him, that I didn’t trust him, and that I overstepped.”

“Check, check, and check, baby girl.”

It felt like a punch to the gut. “I’mnotcontrolling!”

“Oh,please.”

“If he’d have asked you to do this or evenhintedat it, I’d say he’s in the wrong. But you can’t just pitch a guy the rest of his life and a plan for all of his finances without scaring the living shit out of him.”

Ava groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose to keep the tears at bay. “How do I fix it, Maddy? Is itfixable?”

Madison clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “Harla, you can always try. There is no harm in going back to him and saying, ‘Look, I fucked up. I overstepped with my bigassfeet, and I’m sorry.’ But it’s important to remember that there are plenty of other cocks in the sea, okay?”

“Why’d you have to add the big feet thing in there? That’sjust unnecessarily hurtful.”

“Toughen up,buttercup. You and those big ass feet gotta get steppin’. Go reach out. Text him. Call him.Just… don’t just be a creep and show up at his house.Next time you see him, wear a push-up bra. Since you lost the post-divorce weight,your boobs look sad in themgranny-bras you wear.”

“Wow. Thanks, Madison.”

“Remember… underwire and padding are your friends. Gotta go, bitch. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Ava clicked the end call button and stared at the cherry blossom backgroundon her phonefor a moment, picturing herself far away, in a place without business proposals or padded bras where the flowers rained down over her in a slow shower ofsoft pink petals.

33

“What do you think?”Willsat at the counter in hiskitchen. The rigid wooden stool dug into his hips as he finished the last of his cappuccino.

“I think…” Barrett scratched his head of thick black hair and made a face, “I think this actually looks fuckinglegit.” He adjusted on his stool and slapped the packet of papers onto the granite. “The girl knows her shit.”

“Fuck.” Will shook his head in frustration.

“She just…didthis for you? You didn’t, like, ask her or anything?”

Will shook his head.

---