'Stowaway', Montauk

"You want to quit?" Nolan repeated, looking confused from Ava to Jack. "But you told me how much fun the job is."

"Ava is just joking, isn't that so?" Jack poked her playfully and smiled.

He knows what I want to express with my resignation, she thought happily. The little word play had led to success. She now knew that she wanted to be with him, with all the consequences. She was simply not the type for a noncommittal relationship. She wanted all or nothing. "I tricked you!" She grinned. "But for a moment you really believed it," she said to Nolan.

"At the moment nothing can surprise me," he said sighing, reaching for the cup of coffee.

"What's the matter?" Jack looked at him, frowning. "I guess you're here for a reason?"

Nolan took a sip and then set the cup off again. "Emily was with me this morning," he began, raising his eyebrows. "It's about David Clarke."

"She met him?" Ava blurted.

Nolan nodded. "But that's not all. He knows that she's Amanda."

"Oh no..." Ava slapped her hand to her mouth. "And what happened after that?"

"You get it wrong," Nolan corrected. "She has revealed herself to him."

"Why did she do that?" Jack asked, shaking his head. "I thought she didn't want anybody to know who she really is." He rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. "Even then, when she told me, she begged me not to tell anyone. What changed her mind?"

"I don't know." Nolan shrugged. "Maybe she just had enough of lying."

"Do the Graysons know?" Ava asked.

"Or Daniel?" Jack added to the question.

"No, no one knows, only David. And she asked him to keep it to himself. But that's not the reason why I'm here..." He sighed and ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Emily suspects that David is here to take revenge on the Graysons."

"The story repeats itself, then..." Jack murmured, lost in thought.

"I hope she's wrong." Nolan shook his head slightly. "I just can't believe it. I've known David for an eternity. I mean, except for the last twenty years," he corrected himself.

"A person can change in twenty years," Ava said. "If Emily is right and he's seeking for revenge, then I can understand why she's worried."

"Not that I can understand what she sees in Daniel or the Graysons..." Jack wrinkled his forehead. "But yes, I think I can understand that she doesn't want anybody to destroy her happiness."

"Are you going to help me?" Nolan looked at the two eagerly.

"How can we help?" Ava asked, frowning.

"I think if I approach David and question him, it's too obvious," Nolan explained his plan. "But if you invite him to the bar, he may not become suspicious. We just have to figure out what he's planning."

"What about Emily? If he already knows who she really is, why can't she question him then, like a father/daughter conversation in private?"

Nolan looked at Jack thoughtfully before he answered. "Because he threatened her to not interfere with his affairs," he said hesitantly. "That says it all, doesn't it? I mean, most fathers are happy when they see their daughter after twenty years. But David Clarke had another reason than a family reunion, why he had returned to the Hamptons."

"Is it only Emily's assumption that he wants to take revenge or does she have evidence?" Ava tossed in.

Nolan took a deep breath. "I think it's a little bit of both. She saw David and Victoria together on the balcony..." He stopped in the middle of the sentence and looked at the two.

"Go on!" Ava urged.

"They kissed," he finished the sentence.

"O-kay..." Ava said slowly. "Yes, this is a clear proof. Or at least it's proof that she has no problem with cheating on her husband."

"Well, then they would be equal," Nolan said dryly. "I'm thinking of Lydia Davis. Conrad was not particularly discreet when he had a relationship with her years ago."

"Poor Emily..." Ava sighed deeply. "In what kind of family had she married into?"

Jack looked at the clock. "Okay. I'm sorry, I have to take care of business now. The official opening hours just started."

"I'm off." Nolan went to the door. "You two know now about everything. And it would be nice if you could help me out with the matter about David."

When Nolan had left, Jack put his arm around Ava's waist before she could disappear behind the counter. "So, you want to quit," he said smirking, looking deep into her eyes. "Does that mean that we can have a real relationship from now on?"

"Our relationship was real from the beginning," she said, playfully indignant. "It was just non-official."

"Is it official now?"

She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Officially approved, real and honest," she said softly, sealing their bond with a kiss.