Haven Harbor • a.i. •

Chapter 16

Aimless chatter buzzed in the space in my head as I took a sip of the chocolate milkshake before me.

The Grill was always packed on week nights since it was one of the only three real restaurants in town besides the little hole in the wall cafes.

Glancing at the tacky, red, plastic clock on the wall, the hands pointed to 6:45. Ender and I had just gotten finished with a long day at work and dealing with an even longer list of errands.

The past five days had flown by.

Our days were scheduled full with marina tours, errand running, and bill paying. The glass for the window and door had come in so Tuesday was spent getting those installed while still working four tours.

I had purchased the paint that Mr.Sanders had on sale and set a date to paint the shop once the season was over.

Ender had a doctors appointment with Dr. Carson who said his arm was healing smoothly and he should be able to get out of the cast in three weeks.

Though even through the hectic rush of the days, Ashton and I still managed to make contact.

He was busy doing whatever he was doing for work and would text me during his breaks. Every night we would talk on the phone about our days and of just any topic we would land on. Conversation was something that flowed easily between me and Ashton, there was never an awkward silence or dull moment.

There was always something to be learned about each other in every exchange of words we had.

For instance, I learned that he would always go off somewhere alone so we could talk because he didn't want distractions or the boys being annoying in the background.

Also I noted that I rarely called him, he almost always called me. I let him be the one to instigate everything. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk to him, it was that I wanted him to want to talk to me.

Though even through the phone, Ash was as charming and funny as ever. I could just picture him when he laughed, scrunching up his nose and sending butterflies through my stomach all over again.

Despite my previous stronghold to make sure he missed me more than I missed him, I couldn't deny that I too wanted to see him badly, I didn't want to wait any longer.

But now it was Thursday night, and Ashton would be back tomorrow.

A loud slurping sound drew my eyesight up and Ender blushed in front of me.

"Sorry." He muttered, adjusting the straw in his drink.

I reached over to flick his ear which he attempted to swat away but just shook my head at him.

"So we need to take Ari her present and drop off the envelopes at the tax office and then we can call it a night."I swirled the red and white striped straw around in the cup.

"Alright." He nodded, sinking back into the black leather backing of the booth.

I sighed and leaned my elbow on the table to I could rest my head in my hand.

"I'm exhausted." I mumbled.

"Me too. Working the desk is hard." He pouted.

"All you do is make phone calls." I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, and that takes forever." He ticked back and I shrugged in defeat, not really having the energy to argue.

Once I paid the check we walked out of The Grill and down the street to the tax building, dropping the envelopes into a box and then went back to grab our bikes that we leaned on the rack outside the restaurant.