Winter Air [H.S.]

Sixty

Songs: 

Stand By Me - The Drifters 

Blackbird - The Beatles 

My Girl - The Temptations 

| sixty | 

“Ava?” Flint’s low groggy voice spoke. His eyes lighting up at the view of his daughter.

“Hi dad.” Ava managed to say. All of her nerves and anxiety that was sinking in the pit of her stomach was causing her voice to come out shaky. She was biting on her inner cheek so hard that the metallic taste of blood began to touch her tongue. 

“Well, don’t let the girl just stand there. Come on in.” The unknown woman, who Ava quickly assumed was Flint’s new wife, pulled her into their warm home. Ava awkwardly shuffled to the side of the door. Her grip on her bag was tight. She shifted her eyes from her father to his wife and back to her father. She didn’t know what to do or what to say. The more that she stood there, the more she began to regret her decision. 

“I’m sorry for intruding. I can just go.” Ava quickly said and turned towards the door. 

“Don’t be silly! It’s past midnight. Stay the night.” The woman said. 

“If that’s okay with you, dad?” Ava looked over at Flint, still unsure with how he was reacting to all of this. 

“Of course.” He said after a moment of silence. He gave her a soft smile with his dimples showing through the grey scruff. 

“Let me grab your bag and bring it to our guest bedroom.” 

“Thank you, um-” Ava stammered, looking at the woman who’s name she still didn’t know of. 

“Oh! How silly of me. I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Chloe.” She wrapped her arms around Ava, startling her with her quick embrace. “Now, come on in.” Her warm smile made Ava quickly feel comfortable - as comfortable as she could get regarding the circumstances. 

-

The atmosphere in the kitchen was slightly uncomfortable. Ava had found herself sitting at the medium sized wooden table that was sitting in the middle of the room. Her hands were twisting in her lap. Her teeth biting into her cheek. She didn’t know what to say or how to act. She was alone, with her father, at the kitchen table in his home. The father that she had thought was dead. 

Flint sat opposite of Ava. His eyes focused on the fruit basket that sat in the middle of the table. His teeth were also chewing on the inside of his cheek. It was obvious where Ava had inherited this nervous habit from. 

“So-”

“Um-” 

They both looked at each other, nervously laughing, as they both spoke at the same time. “You go first.” Flint spoke softly. 

“Um. I’m sorry for intruding so late at night.”

“It’s fine, Ava.” She looked into his eyes, trying to encode wether or not it truly was fine. It seemed to her that he was telling the truth. “If you don’t mind me asking, why are you here?” 

Ava looked at her fingers once again. They were shaking slightly due to the nerves she was dealing with. Her palms began to sweat slightly. The words jumbled up inside her mind. 

“You left before I could talk to you.” She meekly spoke. 

“I’m sorry.” His voice was low. His eyes not  once looking up at her. 

“Why?” Her voice grew a bit more confident. She sat up a bit straighter, eyes focused on his nervous body language. “Please, tell me why you left.”