Hopeful Lovers

Part 18

Avis finished texting Beatris just as Tyrrell came back. He kept his head low, like as if he was ashamed of something. "Off course he is" she thought smugly. A waitress with platinum blonde hair twirled into a bun on her head. She was eyeing Tyrrell, smiling a sugary sweet, trying - to - seduce smile. Avis hated her it. Are you jealous, Avis? She asked herself. She brushed away the thought.

"Hi, you two! Welcome to Etta's Diner. I'm your waitress, Cindy's the name. What would you like to order today?" her voice was smooth, her uniform was smooth, she probably did everything smoothly, and ooh, Avis just wanted to [smack] her. Avis stared at the menu, feeling the worn leather of the book between her fingers. 

She scanned the menu, trying to find out what to order. "I think I'll have the lemon chicken caesar salad, please." Avis said, flipping the pages. "As the first course?" asked the waitress. "Yes." Avis replied. "Yes, please."

After Avis and Tyrrell finished their lunch, Tyrrell pushed away his plate and stared at the sunshine yellow chrysanthemums on the table. He looked up at Avis and started to speak.

"Avis, I asked you to come here so that I can talk to you." he said. "I figured it was the only way to get you to talk to me."

"So you bribed me?" Avis replied, her voice acidic.

Tyrrell's eyes widened with realization. "No! Off course not. I just felt that this was the only way - I wasn't thinking about anything else."

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Avis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's partly about Luna Rose. Remember her? The girl I wrote about in the letter?" Tyrrell said back, cocking his head.

Avis remembered. Very vividly. Too vividly. "Yes, I do."

"Good. Well, Luna Rose, as I said before, moved to Washington and she's never coming back, according to her big bro." Tyrrell said, eyeing Avis meaningfully.

"Yes. What's your point?" Avis asked carefully, trying to keep her voice down. She didn't want to end up yelling her lungs out - especially in public. She wasn't keen on embarrassing herself in this sitch.

"I was going to ask if I can have another chance. I'm sorry about what I did. I shouldn't have left you. Instead of being scared, like the stupid crap I am, I should have stood up for you - and myself." he let out a shallow breath, like as if he was already exhausted by saying these few words.

Avis was shocked. In truth, she never thought she would hear the word "sorry" come out of this dude's mouth. "Oh.....um, really?" she honestly couldn't think of what else to say.

"Yeah, really. I didn't leave because I hated you and didn't care about you. I left because I was scared for you and Phoenix. I shouldn't have left. Ever. I was scared." Tyrrell had tears in his eyes, but he tipped back his head and they weren't there anymore.

Avis played with the glittery blue tassel on the throw pillow beside her. She had a weird urge to throw a huge, creamy, meringue pie at something and watch the whole thing splatter everywhere. She wondered who her target would be. Probably Tyrrell. Avis fought the urge not to laugh out loud.