Grayson Manor, Hamptons

Emily noticed immediately that something had happened when she greeted Ava the next morning. The choosing of the wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses was on the program and Charlotte and Julia were also invited. But first, Emily needed to know what was bothering her friend. "You don't look as if you would like to choose a wedding dress," she tried to sound Ava out.

"I know." Ava closed the door and looked around. "Are the others already there?"

"You mean Charlotte and Julia?" Emily shook her head. "Charlotte is still in her room, and Julia called that she's coming later, so we're all among us and can talk undisturbed."

Surprised, Ava looked at Emily. "Why do you think there is something to talk about?"

"I know you pretty well by now, and I just notice when something bothers you."

"You're right." Ava went into the living room and dropped onto the sofa with a sigh. "Jack and I had a pretty heated argument yesterday", she immediately came to the point of her bad mood.

"I think both of you are quite stressed about the wedding right now," Emily tried to play down the situation. "It can happen that you say something in the heat of the moment you don't mean. And afterwards you regret it."

Ava looked at her friend absorbed in thought and then shook her head. "Of course we had arguments before," she confessed. "But it was different this time."

"How different?" Emily asked, frowning.

Ava took a deep breath and then told Emily about her conversation with Jack that culminated in her leaving the 'Stowaway'.

"What's so wrong about it that he wants to buy a house for you?" Emily frowned at her. "I have to agree with Jack. You can't live over the bar forever. And I'm not just saying that because of a lack of space when a baby comes."

Ava jumped up and paced nervously back and forth. "That won't happen," she said miserably. "Because I don't want kids!"

"You don't want kids?" Emily echoed startled. "But I thought you loved children. You care so much about Julian, and I know that Carl also has locked you in his heart."

"I love them too," Ava admitted. "But it's different to take care of a child than having the lifelong responsibility for it." She sat back down on the sofa and closed her eyes. "You know I've been married before," she said softly. "Or at least that's what I thought then. I didn't know the ceremony was a fake." She cleared her throat before continuing. "At that time, I couldn't wait to settle down with Charlie and start a family. But after he cheated on me and took everything away from me, I realized that nothing in life is really permanent. You should live for the moment and don't make plans for the future."

"But that's the main reason why you decide to get married," Emily pointed out. "You vow in front of the altar that you will love your partner forever and will be faithful to him and always stay by his side, no matter what happens."

Lost in thought Ava twisted her engagement ring. "Maybe it was a mistake that I agreed so quickly to become Jack's wife," she said in a low voice. "I realized yesterday that we both want very different things."

Emily grabbed Ava's hands and looked her straight in the eye. "Jack loves you," she said insistently. "And you love him. Everything else is irrelevant."

Ava withdrew her hands and jumped up again. "That's not all," she said, running a hand through her hair, groaning. "Something happened last night... on the beach..." she confessed hesitantly and lowered her head embarrassed.

"What happened?" Emily asked gently.

"Jon is here," Ava suddenly blurted out and raised her head to face Emily. "Jon West?" She repeated when she saw Emily's frown. "We trained together at Takeda's training camp. Maybe you remember him."

"Oh yes, I remember him now." Emily nodded. "And what does he want here?"

"Apparently he was looking for me and then came here to renew our relationship," Ava admitted hesitantly. "He said 'I love you'." She groaned softly and closed her eyes. "And I stupid cow got lulled by the mood on the beach, his beguiling masculinity and memories, and then I allowed him to kiss me."

"You did what?!" Emily gasped shocked.

"We kissed." Ava slowly opened her eyes and looked at Emily with a desperate look. "What should I do now? I can't tell Jack that I kissed another man a few weeks before our wedding!"

"The question is, if you still want to marry Jack at all," Emily said and looked at her thoughtfully. "To me it sounds like you suddenly have doubts. Or is it because you still love Jon?"

"It's just a total mess in my head," Ava said quietly, looking at Emily with a serious face. "Do you understand now why I'm not in the mood today to choose a wedding dress?"

Emily nodded. "Yes, I understand that. But first of all, you should do something about the mess in your head and become clear with what you want before we can proceed with the wedding preparations," she said calmly. "I'll come up with something that I can tell Charlotte and Julia why we can't go to the bridal gown shop."

"Thanks, Emily!" Ava hugged her spontaneously. "You're the best!"

"What's going on here?"

Emily and Ava flinched when they heard a voice. They hadn't noticed Charlotte, who had suddenly entered the living room.

"Are you ready for the bridal gown shopping?" She asked excitedly and looked expectantly back and forth between the two women.

Emily felt compelled to help Ava, who was just standing there, staring into space. "Ava just told me that she has an appointment today. We have to postpone the wedding dress choosing to a later date."

"What kind of appointment?" Charlotte asked visibly disappointed by the cancellation.

"The bartender job," Ava blurted. It was the first thing that came to mind. "Someone will come by to introduce himself to the job."

"The guy who was there yesterday?" Charlotte asked.

Ava nodded as she avoided Emily's scrutiny. "He called this morning, and since we're urgently looking for someone for the job, I didn't want to cancel on him," she lied.

"Can I come with you?" Charlotte begged. "Please Ava! If we don't go shopping anyway, I can make myself useful at the 'Stowaway'. And if you decide to hire him I could help with the initial training."

"For all I care," Ava agreed reluctantly. "Then let's go now." She hugged Emily one last time. "I'll call you again, okay? We'll make a new date," she promised before finally leaving the Manor with Charlotte.

'Stowaway', Montauk

On their way back to the 'Stowaway', Ava was thinking about how to explain to Charlotte that the candidate for the bartender job had changed his mind. At least that's what she hoped, because what had happened with Jon on the beach had changed her mind about an employment. It was impossible that he would work in the bar. And she hoped he could understand that, too. Better still, she hoped never to see him again. Too embarrassing was the kiss she had exchanged with him in a state of weakness, and neither Charlotte nor Jack could know about it. But when she entered the bar, a special kind of surprise expected her. Jack stood in front of her, holding a huge bouquet of roses in his arms.

"Emily called me and told me you cancelled the wedding dress choosing and were on your way back," he said with a sheepish smile.

Ava accepted the bunch of flowers and then went behind the counter to pour water into a vase. "Emily called?" She repeated unnecessarily as she placed the flowers into the vase.

"Are you two going upstairs?" Charlotte asked, pointing up the stairs. "Don't worry. I'll take care of your candidate when he comes by."

Ava felt heat rising to her cheeks as Jack looked questioningly at her.

"There was someone here who is interested in the job as a bartender?" He asked in surprise.

Ava nodded as she avoided his gaze. "Yeah, he was here yesterday," she confessed. "Charlotte talked to him. I wanted to tell you, but somehow I didn't have the chance to."

"I see." Jack nodded and then cleared his throat. "Can we talk in private?"

Ava exchanged an uncertain look with Charlotte and then followed Jack upstairs. For a moment they just stood silently facing each other before Jack took a step toward her and pulled her into his arms.

"I'm sorry!" He murmured, burying his face in her hair.

Ava closed her eyes and tried to ignore the guilty conscience that was threatening to overwhelm her. He apologized to her, it should have been the other way around. She gently freed herself from his embrace and took a step back. "Jack, I..." she started, but he interrupted her before she could continue.

"No, please, let me say something first," he begged, looking at her with a pleading look. "I hate it when we fight," he began, forcing himself to smile. "But sometimes it's important, because then you can talk about things that concern you deep inside." He cleared his throat before continuing. "I didn't realize how much I pressured you with my desire for a home and a child. I didn't want to. I completely understand if you don't want children right now. After all, we haven't been together that long and need to get to know each other better before we decide to start a family. What I want to say is that I will give you all the time in the world to get ready. No matter how long it takes. I can wait. And until then we have us, Carl and our cozy nest here." He spread his arms grinning.

Ava was too surprised and stunned about Jack's speech that she simply didn't know what to reply. So she responded spontaneously, out of a feeling and kissed him. It felt right to be in his arms and kiss him, even though her guilty conscience almost killed her. But she knew that if she told Jack the truth now, she would lose him forever. And in that moment, she suddenly realized that this was the last thing she wanted. She belonged here, to him, because she loved him. And everything else was unimportant, as Emily had already said. She would forget what had happened with Jon on the beach, she swore to herself. And nobody would ever know. She closed her eyes and snuggled closer into Jack's arms, trying just for a moment to forget everything around her.

Charlotte struggled to be neutral when there was a knock on the door to the bar. She knew who it was without her seeing him. And indeed, it was him, the man of her dreams, who stood before her and greeted her with a smile.

"Hi! As you can see, I kept my promise and came back." He held out his hand. "I didn't introduce myself the last time... Jon West."

"Charlotte... Charlotte Grayson." She took his hand and felt warmth running through her whole body.

"Nice to see you again, Charlotte." He pointed inside. "May I come in now?"

Charlotte nodded and opened the door so he could enter. She glanced quickly in the direction of the stairs, if Jack or Ava had already noticed that he had come, and let out a sigh of relief when everything remained quiet. "Let's sit down," she suggested and went to one of the tables.

"Isn't your boss around, or is it normal for the employees to do the job interviews?" He asked with a smile and winked at her.

"No, not really." Charlotte lowered her head in embarrassment, then jerked it up in shock as she felt how he reached for her hand over the table.

"Hey, it's okay," he said softly, looking deep into her eyes. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. If I insulted you, I'm sorry."

"I... I'll go and tell them you're here," she said hastily and was about to rise as she noticed that he still took hold of her hand.

"Jon," he said simply.

"What?" Charlotte's head was suddenly filled with emptiness, presumably because his touch had rattled her.

"Why so formal? I think we should stick with Jon and Charlotte, if you don't mind?"

"N-no." As if in a trance, she noticed how he pulled her slowly to himself and then with his free hand caught a lock of her long hair and let it slide through his fingers.

"You remind me of someone I once knew," he said softly, then moved his fingers from her hair to her cheek. "You really look a lot like her."

"W-who was she?" She asked, unable to take her eyes off him.

But before he could answer, suddenly the door opened and Ava came down the stairs. When Jon abruptly let go of her and jumped up, the spell that had held her captive was broken. She blinked a few times to clear her head.

"I heard right that someone entered the bar," Ava said coolly, approaching Jon. "You must be the young man who applied for the job as a bartender."

"That's me. Jon West."

Charlotte registered irritated that Ava didn't even bother to shake hands with Jon. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest and looked at him almost hostile.

"It's a shame that you came for nothing. The job is already taken."

Charlotte looked at Jon, who stood there, motionless, with his lips pressed together. Why did Ava lie? It wasn't true that the position was already taken. But even stranger was Jon's behavior, who suddenly turned away after the first shock of the news and left the bar. If she let him go now, she might never see him again, was her only thought as she ran after him. She heard Ava call her name, but it was too late. She had already left the 'Stowaway'.