A week ago, I would have believed there were better odds of it raining jellyfish in LA than of Phoenix and I receiving a text from Torin, asking if we could have dinner with him and Ava while he's in town. But our worlds have spun upside down and back again since the last time we were all in the same room. Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised by the invitation that lit up our phones yesterday afternoon, or to now be turning into the same parking lot in Marina del Rey that we did on my birthday, which seems like a lifetime ago.
Like that day, Phoenix helps me out of the vehicle, only this time it's his rental car instead of his SUV. Once I'm on my feet and he's shut the car door, his fingers find a knot in my shoulder and work to loosen some of the tension there.
"Are you doing all right?" he asks.
Nothing I said or did on the drive here should have tipped him off to my apprehension about how tonight will go, even with all that's changed since the last time he and Torin came face to face. How does he read me this way?
"I'm hoping for peace tonight, that's all. You've been through enough this week."
"We all have. I think everything will be fine." His hand falls away from my shoulder and rests against my back as we make our way along the boardwalk to the same Italian bistro we celebrated Torin's birthday at so many years ago.
Ava and Torin are already seated, waiting for us, when we walk inside the restaurant. Our table is next to a window with a stunning marina view. With the sun over the ocean and about to make its descent in the sky, and how it makes the water's surface sparkle, the backdrop for our night is something out of a movie. If only the situation that brought Torin here was also enchanting, instead of unsettling.
Torin seems relaxed when he sees us and pushes his chair back from the table, though, and he's the first to engulf me in a hug. Ava also greets Phoenix with a hug, which is the second time in three days I've witnessed this and is still almost beyond my comprehension, but promising at the same time. The real test is what happens between Phoenix and Torin.
I don't have to wait long to find out. As soon as Torin releases me, he extends his hand out to Phoenix, then leans in to clap him on the back.
"Thanks for coming, man. It's good to see you."
Watching the two of them transports me back in time to when this would have been a normal interaction. Now, though? As much as I love Torin and understood his attitude about Phoenix and me and what his intentions were, his open hostility at Nebula a week and a half ago wasn't necessary. In Phoenix's shoes, I might be tempted to trot out my inner pettiness and respond to "it's good to see you" in the same way Torin did to him. Phoenix answers with equal camaraderie, though, and the two of them even sit down at the table together, across from one another.
I manage to rip my gaze away from this display of goodwill for long enough to return Ava's embrace. "Miracles really do happen," I say to her, at a low enough volume that only she hears.
Her mouth quirks up at the corners. "I told you he feels differently after... well, you know. He's aware Phoenix probably risked his own life and protected all of us."
It's something I've thought about a lot since Monday. What if Nash had found out what Phoenix was doing, or even suspected? Would he have tried to harm or even kill him, or would he have gone into hiding, lurking as a danger in the shadows? Ava and Torin's conclusion that he risked his life to bring Nash to justice for Len's death, while also protecting us, really isn't an overstatement of the danger he put himself in.
If what's already happening at the table is any indication, then Phoenix was correct that everything will be fine tonight. He and Torin are already engaged in a full-on conversation as Ava and I take our seats.
"Are you here permanently now, or do you need to go back to Vegas?" Torin asks him.
"I have to make one more trip there to grab what's left of my stuff at the house and turn in the keys," Phoenix replies. "After that, I'm here for good."
"Let me know if you need a hand packing up."
"Should I be there to supervise, or will you leave your drum sticks at home?" I scrunch my nose at Torin. He's been friendly so far, but I'm only half-joking. I don't want him pulling any more stand-in big brother bravado if he's left alone with Phoenix.
Torin makes a stabbing motion over his heart. "You're killing me. I want to help get him back here to you, not maim him."
"Uh huh." I turn to Ava. "Up for another Vegas trip to make sure they behave?"
"Only if we stick to gambling and supervising, and don't get tangled up with any musicians." She throws an apologetic glance Torin's way. "No offense."
He leans over and gives her a side hug. "None taken."
Ava's smile seems forced, though, and there's an uneasy and tired look in her eyes. Her usual spark isn't in her tonight, but I can't blame her. The last few days have been a lot, and she and I haven't talked much aside from a few texts here and there. I assumed she was busy with Torin and working through the complicated emotions she no doubt has about her previous closeness with Nash, and she likely assumed Phoenix and I were busy making up. Which, admittedly, we have spent a lot of time doing. Tonight is the first time we've truly come out of the Âbubble of him and me since Monday, even if we did change our location to his house yesterday and took an evening walk along the beach.
Our server arrives at our table to ask about appetizers and drinks. When he leaves, Torin turns to Phoenix again and says something about a Raiders preseason football game. It's an opportunity to get Ava by herself.
"Come with me to the restroom?" I ask her.
"Sure."
"We'll be right back," I tell Phoenix and Torin as I get up from the table. They both nod and continue their conversation.
I lead Ava to the back of the restaurant and into the women's restroom. We're the only people in here, thankfully. Since this may not be the case for long, I don't wait to speak.
"How are you doing?" I lock eyes with her. "The truth, please."
She shrugs, then picks at a piece of fuzz on her sleeve. "I was doing better than when I left your place on Monday, but then Nash tried to call me today."
Something icy grips at my insides when I register what she said. "He isn't out, is he? I thought he was being held without bail."
Nash being outside of prison walls anytime soon hadn't crossed my mind as a possibility. Wouldn't someone have told Phoenix?
"No, thank God," she replies. "I looked up the number of a missed call and it was from the jail he's at. It rattled me a little."
"I understand why. Does Torin know?" All our small group has been doing tonight is hugging, but it doesn't stop me from putting my arms around Ava again now.
"Yeah. I had a small meltdown when I realized who the call was from. Of all people and with the limited phone calls he probably has, why contact me? Torin did what he could to calm me down and swore he'd make sure Nash would never be able to touch me, even if he somehow ends up out on bail or is found innocent at his trial, but I don't know how he'd be able to stop it."
"Sometimes I think he actually does have friends with mob connections, if that helps." My stomach still flutters at the thought of Nash on the loose, in spite of my words.
"Let's hope."
Ava gives me one last squeeze and lets go. It's my signal to do the same. Once she's out of my arms, she steps up to a sink and stares into the mirror on the wall in front of it, then fusses with a strand of her hair. Her glassy eyes give away that she's fighting back tears and struggling to regain her composure.
By the time we return to the table, no onlooker would detect the storm that's been brewing inside of her, or her fears for her physical safety. Ava hates to let her vulnerability show, or to ever be seen as fragile. Still, I'm aware. I won't let her brush everything off as nothing later or let her go through any of this alone.
Our appetizers materialize moments after we sit, along with a bottle of sparkling water and the soft drinks and iced teas we ordered. It's unclear if Torin and Ava passed on wine or another alcoholic beverage out of respect for Phoenix's sobriety, or if neither of them feels much like having a drink. Recent events have been a lot to process even for me, and clearly for Ava as well. Of all of us, though, Torin spent the most time with Nash, and his band is now without a guitar player. That means canceled shows. Ava may have insight into how he's handling everything, but he and I have yet to talk about it.
"How long are you here for?" I ask him, once our server has taken our entrée orders and has left the table.
"Just through the weekend. We have another band filling in for us at Nebula on Saturday. Jacob has been talking with someone he knows about playing with us, so we'll be rehearsing next week, then back to regular gigs."
"Do you think you'll be ready for that?"
"Ready or not, the show must go on. My rent certainly does. Besides, Ava will be more than happy for me to be out of her hair."
"Don't listen to him," she chides. "He made dinner the last two nights and was a willing participant in our face masks and movie night, so he can stay as long as he wants."
Ava genuinely means what she says. It's in her voice and in the grateful look she casts Torin's way. What she told me in the restroom echoes through my mind. It may take some time for her to feel safe and at ease in her life again, and for her sake and Torin's, I wish he could stay longer. When he goes home, I'll make sure she and I have a standing weekly girls' night, and plans lined up with our other friends. More than that, I want her to know she can depend on me to be there for her, in the same way she's always been there for me.
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After dinner and lingering over dessert, the four of us leave the restaurant together. We part ways once we're outside, with Ava and Torin headed in the opposite direction of where Phoenix and I parked. He and I pause a few steps away from the restaurant doors so I can rummage through my purse. Once I unearth the tin of mints I was looking for, I pop one in my mouth and offer the tin to him.
"It's a beautiful night," I comment. "Do you want to walk for a bit?"
"I'd like that."
He slips his hand in mine and we stroll the boardwalk, retracing the same steps we took on the night we left Torin's birthday dinner here. Both of us are sober this time, and neither of us breaks into song, but the familiar surroundings and actions still tug at my heart. The Del and Phoenix of years ago didn't know what was ahead, but we now know what's behind us, and we've grown since then. Tonight, we're older and arguably wiser. We're in love again and no longer naive, and we have the potential to become so much stronger than we were. Does he also feel it? He may, because he touches my elbow and stops walking. I stop, too.
"I realize there isn't music, and maybe I'm being sentimental, but..." He opens his arms to me. Even without the rest of the sentence, I know what he's asking.
"We'll make our own," I say.
He loops his arms around me and holds me close. His chin brushes the top of my head until I lean it against his shoulder and we begin swaying to a beat only we can hear.
Then, as if by magic, quiet chords from an acoustic guitar fill my ears. A violin chimes in a few bars later. I open my eyes and notice what I didn't before: a man and a woman standing on the side of the boardwalk, with an open guitar and violin case on the ground in front of them. The two buskers smile at us, and I smile back, then tilt my head up to look at Phoenix.
Nothing but pure love radiates from him as he gazes at me, a smile also on his lips. Even though groups of people pass by us, it's like a private concert for just the two of us. And as our bodies and hearts keep time under the lights and stars, nothing has ever felt in more perfect harmony to me than Phoenix and I and this moment do now.
We are living proof that what is meant to be always will be, no matter the odds. Whatever the future holds, and whatever comes our way, we're in this together.
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The End
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For those who have been following along as I added the previous bonus scene, and now this bonus epilogue, yes, this truly is where this book ends. Thank you to all who've read On the Way Down for being on this journey with me! So what's next? On the Way Down is about to be sent off for professional editing, and then the revised and edited edition will be available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. I'll post an announcement here when it is!