Chapter Three - Ava

“Your sister spent ten thousand dollars on a date with Fletcher Hines?” I took a bite from a fry in the basket between my best friend Jamie and I. It was still warm from the fryer, and burned a bit going down. “Yup,” I said. “She’s insane. Charlotte can get a date with someone else; I don’t get the reason to spend all of that money.” Jamie lifted her dark brows and pursed her lips. A strand of her ebony hair fell onto her forehead and she swiped it away. “I mean, Fletcher is gorgeous,” she mumbled. “How did you even look at his face? I mean, look at his face.” I chuckled and snagged the last chicken nugget from our shared basket. “He is pretty handsome, but I’m super glad I’m not going on the actual date with him. He seemed rude.” Jamie grabbed our basket, and I followed with our drinks toward the trash bins in the corner of the BBQ restaurant where we worked. Frankie, the cook, dinged the bell at us. “Break is over in two seconds.” I gave Jamie a look over my shoulder and grabbed my apron from our booth. “It doesn’t matter when you’re that gorgeous,” Jamie said. Maybe that was true for my sister, or Jamie, but it wasn’t for me. I didn’t want to date, or marry, for money. I wanted it to be real. However, not having to worry about making rent did sound appealing. Not that my sister had to worry about that. Untying my hair, I pulled it back tighter and attempted to braid it before Frankie noticed I hadn’t clocked back in yet. My phone buzzed in the pocket of my apron and I pulled it open to see my sister’s name cross the screen. Speak of the devil herself. I walked around the corner of the bathroom and answered her call. “I have the evening shift tonight. You have two seconds.” She sniffled into the phone. “I need a huge favor,” she said, her voice hoarse. I scoffed. As if, I hadn’t already done her a huge favor? “Char, I’m really, really busy—“ “I need you to go on the date for me.” I blinked at the peeling wallpaper in the hallway, debating on whether to clean the wax from my ears or not. “Excuse me? Go on a date with who? Not Fletcher Hines.” “Please, Ava. I’m begging you—“ The bell dinged again. “Where is Ava?” Frankie yelled. I hurried toward the bathroom and shut the door behind me. “Charlotte, I’m not going out with him. He was rude at the auction. I can’t speak to him. I can’t pretend to be you anymore. Plus, isn’t the point for you to enjoy the date? You did spend ten thousand dollars on him.” “You have to, Ava. I can’t go. I still have a temperature. The doctor said this strand of the flu is putting people out for at least a week.” “Well, reschedule the date, Char. You spent all that money on him. I’m sure he’ll reschedule. Plus, you want to woo him, don’t you? You’re smart, and have things to talk about with him. I don’t—“ “You don’t get it,” she snapped. “I’ve already texted him. He is going out of town for a few weeks after this. I can’t keep him waiting. Please, just do this one thing for me and I’ll pay your rent for two months.” Two months’ worth of rent? After she paid me one thousand. I could take that money and get back on my feet. She didn’t know I was two months behind, and had several medical bills from when I was out sick a few months prior. I screwed my eyes shut. Say no. Say no. Say no. It’s just money. Money that I need. “I don’t know, Char—“ Bang. Bang. Bang. “Ava! It’s time to clock back in. Get out here now. A table of ten just came in,” Frankie yelled. “I have to go. I’ll call you back later.” I hung up before she could protest, slipped my phone into my apron and opened the door. Frankie’s beady eyes narrowed at me. He thought he was hot stuff since he was left in charge while the owner was out of town. “Sorry, had to pee.” He stared as I slipped past him and toward the floor. My heart hammered in my chest, and my mind raced with what-ifs. What if I accepted my sister’s offer and got two months of rent paid? What if I took it and drove him away, ruining Char’s chances of pursuing a relationship with this man? Grumbling to myself, I grabbed ten menus and walked over to the large table. This wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. I had three pieces of artwork lining the hallway at my apartment with no buyers. No interest from any art gallery in town. I passed out the menus and took down their drink orders. Maybe I could get some pointers from Char. Topics to speak about. He was just a man. Not some demi-god like Jamie and Char made him out to be. I could do this for the sake of my savings account. What could go wrong? It was one date. One night out with Fletcher Hines. When my shift ended, I waved goodbye to the crew and walked outside to the parking lot. Dialing my sister’s number, I slipped into the worn cloth seats of my run-down Volkswagen. “Hello?’ she answered, her voice full of sleep. “Did I wake you?” I asked. “It’s fine. Did I get you in trouble earlier?” “Nah,” I said, starting my engine and backing out of my spot. “Frankie got over it when we got swamped. I want to talk to you about the date. You know I need the money …” “I know you do,” Char said, pulling away to sneeze. “It’ll be fine. You’re personable. You can pull it off.” I merged into traffic and tightened my fingers around the steering wheel. “Could you send over some topics we could talk about? Maybe something about your job? He’s gonna ask.” “Sure,” she said. “Do you still have the card? The date is tomorrow night. Are you off?” “I’m working a double, but I could ask Jamie to cover for me.” “If I wasn’t so sick I would squeal like a little girl. Wait a minute, whatever you do, don’t kiss ‘em.” I crinkled my nose. “Not gonna happen, Char. He’s not my type.” She snorted. “Rich and handsome? Whatever you say, Ava. Thank you for this. Let me know when you’re coming by and I’ll put a dress in the mailbox for you.” “I will.” “And Ava?” “Yeah?” “Don’t blow it.” I chuckled. “Thank you for that boost of confidence. I appreciate it.” She laughed before she ended the call. Slipping my phone into my cup holder, I caught a glimpse of the card he’d given me. His dark eyes had seared my skin as I imagined a fire-breathing dragon would. If he would have smiled, I was sure I would have melted into a puddle of goo at his feet. But something told me he didn’t smile too often. The address to the restaurant was in a high-end corner of the city, which only made me even more nervous. I could do this. I could pretend to be my twin. We were twins. We shared DNA. It was for one night. One date. What could go wrong? I pulled into the parking lot at my rundown apartment complex and grabbed my things. The flickering street light zapped as I hurried toward my door. I hated walking in at night being in our neighborhood. Struggling with my key, I opened the door and sighed deeply. Someone caught the door as I began to shut it and a scream slipped out of me. The property manager’s unimpressed face stared back at me. His handlebar mustache had cheese dip dried in the corner, and his glasses had smudges blocking his beady eyes. “Ava,” he said in that deep, twang I’d grown to hate. “You’re two months late today. I need the rent. Now.” I dropped my purse at my feet and pulled my keys from the door. “My sister just sent me money to my money app,” I said, showing him the funds on the screen. “See. I just need to get to the bank tomorrow to get it out.” He studied the screen. “Okay, Ava, but this can not happen again. The owner is really pissed that I have let it go on this long. This is the last time. No more late payments or you're out.” I swallowed the embarrassed lump in my throat. “Okay. Thank you, Tony.” “Umm-hmm,” he said, before disappearing from the doorway. I shut and locked the door behind me. My small apartment gawked back at me as a silent reminder of how pathetic my life had become. No money. No hope. No way out. Every time I got a little extra, something happened. My brakes went out. I got sick and had no health coverage at my job. Sitting down on the small futon, I kicked my feet up and pulled out my tips for the night. How was I supposed to escape this never-ending cycle? My gaze shifted toward the three paintings lining my small hallway. That was not the way out but I wanted it to be. My phone buzzed and I glanced down at the text from Charlotte. She had a list of topics to talk about on our date. I reminded myself that we were twins and shared the same DNA. “I can do this,” I said to my dead plant in the far corner of the room. “I can be Charlotte Terry for one more night.”