Chapter Sixty-Five

Holding up her hand she wiggled her fingers, unsure what to make of the color she had let Ava pick for her manicure and pedicure.  “I don’t know about this.  Aren’t I too old for black nail polish?”  She was 42 after all, not 15.  When she had been a teen, it was day-glo colors.  Now it was black.  Times sure had changed.

Ava shook her head, “no way.  Black is all the rage now.”  She waggled her own fingers and toes, “everyone’s wearing it.”

Stephanie looked down at her feet.  She didn’t mind it so much on her toes.  She normally wore a bold, dark color on her toes.  But on her hands?  Well, at least it wouldn’t last for more than a few days.  “Okay” she replied with a still uncertain smile, “if you say so.”

When their fingers and toes were polished to perfection, Ava and Stephanie left the salon, intent on fueling up for an afternoon of shopping.  “Where should we go?”  Stephanie had no idea.  She had never been in the Calabasas Commons before.

Ava steered her toward a café.  “Come on, the Corner Bakery has the best paninis ev-er!”

Stephanie trailed after Ava, trusting that the girl knew where she was going and what she was talking about.  She needn’t have worried.  The girl knew her cafes.  The turkey and smoked gouda panini she ordered was delicious.  Fresh bread made all the difference.

Ava slurped down her soda and set her cup on the table.  “Do we have to stay here at the Commons to shop or can we go somewhere else?”

Stephanie glanced around.  They were sitting on the patio area of the café and she could see almost the entire shopping center from where they were seated.  The area was beautiful with its fountain and pond in the center of everything and the Mediterranean feel, but there weren’t many shops and none that she thought would appeal to a fifteen year old girl.  “Where would you like to go?”

Ava shrugged in that non-committal way only a teenager can.  “I don’t know.  The Thousand Oaks Mall maybe?  They have way better stores than what’s here.”

“Is that close by?”  Stephanie had no idea where it was and was sure her GPS was going to get a good workout today.

Ava nodded and gathered her garbage.  “It’s not too far from here.”  She stood and dumped her stuff in the trash.  “Ready to go?”

~

Stephanie put the car in park and gathered her purse.  She had just looked over at Ava when she heard her phone.  From the song emanating from the depths of her purse, she knew Richie was calling her.  She fished the device from its allotted pocket.  Checking up on her and Ava, no doubt.

“Hey you.”  She glanced over at the girl with a knowing smile.  “It’s your dad” she mouthed.

Ava smiled and nodded.

“Hey yourself, sweetheart.  Just checking up on my two best girls.”   And he wanted to hear Stephanie’s voice again.

Stephanie smiled back at Ava.  “I figured as much.  We’re doing fine.”  God, he sounded so good.  This respite was doing wonders for him.

“Glad to hear it.  How’s ‘queen for a day’ going?  Is my daughter behaving herself?  You’re not letting her con you into anything are you?”  He was well versed on how persuasive his baby girl could be.  She was already hinting toward wanting a car for Christmas and he was pretty sure he was going to cave and get her what she wanted.  Those damn bambi eyes of hers.  He was such a sucker.

She looked down at her hands and further, to her toes.  “No, not really.  We’re having a good time.”

“Good” he told her.  “Can I talk to Ava?”  He wanted to make sure she remembered to keep her spending in check.  He had given her a credit card with her name on it as an approved signor on his account, but he still had to make sure to keep tabs on her and make sure she didn’t overspend.  Just because he had money didn’t mean she needed to spend it all.

Stephanie glanced out the window while Ava chatted with her father.  The mall looked like any of the ones she had shopped in back in New York.  It probably housed all the same stores too.  A mall is a mall no matter where you live I suppose.  It didn’t matter.  A nudge on her arm pulled her from her musings.  “Hmm, what?”

The phone was shoved into her hand.  “Dad wants to talk to you again.”

Stephanie put the phone up to her ear.  “Hi again.”  She motioned for Ava to get out of the car.  She opened her door and stepped out as they talked.

Richie waited through the shuffling around and slamming of the car doors.  “Sweetheart, have fun and can you do me a favor?”

“Sure” she said as she hitched her purse up on her shoulder.  “What?”

“Just make sure Ava doesn’t go overboard.  I reminded her of her limit but she likes to push the boundaries.”  He chuckled quietly.  “You know how teens can be.”

Stephanie smiled.  “Teen boys, Rich.  Not teen girls.  But I’ll do what I can.”

“Thanks.  Now, you go have fun.”  He lowered his voice.  “I’ll call you later.  Maybe I’ll tell you a bedtime story.”

She shivered.  “I’ll look forward to it.”  With that voice, an erotic fairy tale might just be her undoing.  She tucked her phone back in her purse and looked up to find Ava looking at her.  “What?”

“Are you okay?  You’re face is all red.  What did dad say to you?”

Stephanie shook her head.  Nothing that I’m going to repeat to you.  “Nothing, just for us to have a good time and that he was going to call me later.”  Stephanie pulled open the entrance door.  “So, are we looking for anything in particular or are we just roaming and waiting for something to jump out at us saying ‘buy me!’”

Ava laughed at the description. She was really starting to like this new woman in her dad’s life.  “Let’s just wander and see what we can find.”

Stephanie ushered the girl into the mall ahead of her.  “Lead on, fair lady, lead on.”

~

Stephanie sank down gratefully to the bench.  She waved at Ava as the girl headed into Ambercrombie.  “I just need a minute to sit.  You go on and look around.”

They had been roaming the mall for a couple hours.  It was similar to her favorite mall back in New York, only with higher end stores than she would ever had wandered into there.  She resituated the Coach bag on the bench next to her.  She never could pass up a good deal on a great bag.  She even indulged on a great new pair of sunglasses.  She smiled to herself.  She had bought Ava a pair too.  Richie would just have to get over it.

She was scrolling through her email when Ava came back out, phone to her ear, a combined look of frustration, agitation and anger on her face.

“But I told you I didn’t want to go with you and you said I didn’t have to.”  She caught Stephanie’s eye as she slumped down on the bench next to her.  Mom she mouthed.

Stephanie nodded her understanding and waited for her to finish the call.

Ava shook her head, “no, I don’t.  You said I didn’t have to.  I’m sorry your date didn’t work out, but I still don’t want to go.”

Another pause.

“But mom...” she trailed off, her frustration bringing her to near tears.  “I’m nearly 15.  I can stay home by myself.”

Stephanie listened to the conversation for a few more minutes before holding out her hand, “let me talk to her.”

Ava gave her the phone.  “Here.  Maybe she’ll listen to you” she said dully.  She was having a good time with Stephanie.  She didn’t want to leave now and go home and get dressed up to have her mother show her off at whatever function tonight.  Her mother knew that she didn’t want to go too.  Ava shook her head.  Sometimes it sucked being a kid.

“Heather.”  Stephanie held the phone up to her ear.  The woman was still talking, not realizing that Ava wasn’t listening anymore.

“Heather!”  

“Who is this?”  That definitely wasn’t Ava’s voice.

“It’s Stephanie.  Look, from Ava’s half of the conversation, she clearly doesn’t want to go wherever it is you want to take her.  Right?”

“She’s my daughter, she’ll go with me wherever I say she has to go.  Besides, I’m going to be gone too late for her to stay alone.”

Stephanie looked over at Ava where she was sulking at the other end of the bench.

“Is it a family thing or some other thing that she absolutely has to be at?”

Heather huffed out a frustrated breath.  ”No, but that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want her home alone that late tonight.”

Stephanie rubbed her hand across her forehead.  “I understand that.  Look, she’s with me now, why doesn’t she just stay with me and I’ll bring her home in the morning.”  She glanced over at Ava.  She was nodding her head in agreement and smiling again.

Resigned to not getting her way, Heather put on her concerned mom voice.  “Is she okay with that?”  

Stephanie nodded.  “Yes.”

“Okay then.  Tell her I’ll see her tomorrow.”  Heather hung up before Stephanie could say anything else.

She handed Ava back her phone.  “Your mom said she will see you tomorrow.”   And how could she have not wanted to tell her that herself?

Ava sighed and took the pink, sparkly rectangle and tucked it into her purse.  “Thanks.”

Stephanie dragged the strap of her purse up to her shoulder and grabbed her bags.  “Do you want to keep shopping or did you just want to leave?”  She could see the girl’s good mood was no more after that phone call.

But as quickly as the frown had come, it left Ava’s face, replaced by her warm, sunny smile.  “Let’s keep shopping.”