"So, do you know Jane?" Ava asked in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence and ease the awkwardness that hung around in the car.

 "Not really, she's the little sister of a friend of mine but I've seen her around," he answered while glancing over to her. "This town isn't that big so I know most people around here."

"Even Everly?"

"The one who works at the restaurant?" he asked, waiting for her confirmation. "Yeah, she's the cousin of another friend of mine. Never really talked to her though."

Ava thought about it for a bit. "Must be nice knowing everyone in town," she replied with genuine wonder. She never got stopped anywhere for a talk since she was practically invisible. Most people she introduced herself to forgot they'd even met at all the next time she saw them.

"Sometimes. But it can be tiring, everyone stops to talk to you so you can't really walk around and mind your business."

"I can imagine." She could, but she was still a little jealous of the life he had. People actually wanted his attention and seemed to light up when he decided to give it to them. There was a certain air around him that made anyone want to please him. The worst part was that he didn't even do it on purpose, it was just the kind of guy he was.

"It's why I like living in the city, no one knows you when you go out. I can be outside for a whole day and no one will stop to talk to me," he clarified.

She could see how he'd want that since he wasn't the biggest extrovert she'd ever met. Not that he shied away from conversations, but he was just really calm and soft-spoken. It was very relaxing to talk to him.

"But you've been here for weeks so you can't dislike it that much, right?"

He briefly smiled at that. "I suppose."

"I like this town," she went on. "The people are very nice, I think. And the town itself is very pretty."

"You like it here?"

The way he asked that made her pause, did she like it here?

"I do, very much," she answered truthfully. Even though the town wasn't that close to the estate it was definitely worth the long walk. It was even better now that he'd regularly offer her rides to and from town.

"Good," he replied.

She wondered what he'd meant by that exactly but got distracted by the unfamiliar scenery around them. The part of town they were driving in wasn't familiar to her at all and since she was pretty sure this wasn't the right way back to the estate, she turned to him.

"Where are we going?" It wasn't that she was scared since she doubted he'd do anything bad to her, but she did want to know.

"It's lunchtime," he answered simply while slowing down the car. It didn't really provide Ava with any indications of what they'd be doing but she wasn't sure if it was annoying to keep asking questions.

Internally, she battled with herself. On one hand, she was curious as to where they were going. On the other hand, she really didn't want to be a nuisance to him.

When they stopped she realized she'd probably thought about it for too long, but at least she got her answer by looking outside.

A small but elegant bistro stood out from the small stores around it and she was instantly in love with the way it looked. The front looked as if it had been built in another century and preserved in that same style for all those years. Yet, it was also modern with its large glass window panes that let in as much natural light as possible.

Now she understood what he meant by 'it's lunchtime', he hadn't eaten yet.

Reluctantly, she followed him inside, unsure of what she should do. She could barely remember the last time she'd eaten in a restaurant and was scared she'd do something weird. 

As soon as they entered a waiter made his way over to them, a tall but lanky boy who couldn't be much older than seventeen. His curly hair hung in his face but was just short enough to not cover his eyes. "Mr. Chastain," he greeted politely as he approached.

"Ian," Mr. Chastain greeted back. It seemed that he really did know everyone in town, and everyone knew him. 

They were led towards a table next to the windows, much to Ava's delight. This way she could look outside to the people walking by which would keep her mind busy. She quietly sat down opposite of Mr. Chastain while he talked to the waiter about some other person, presumably a family member of the boy.

She didn't want to listen in, especially since she didn't know the person they were talking about but her ears perked up when she heard him ask about what drinks they'd like. Mr. Chastain looked at her as if to say 'you go first' so she asked for water.

It felt a little lame to order water in a restaurant that had all kinds of drinks, but when Mr. Chastain ordered the same she felt better about her choice. When the boy left Mr. Chastain turned to her and she suddenly realized she'd have to actually talk to him.

Before she could internally panic about what to say he'd already spoken. He never seemed to have the same troubles speaking to people as she did, and she envied him for it.

"So what do you do at the library every Friday?" he asked while leaning back casually. He seemed completely comfortable at this place, like it was his second home or something.

"I read books," she said without thinking. When she realized how stupid that sounded she quickly added, "And I talk about them with Everly. And now Jane too, I suppose."

"So, you get books from the library but I've also seen you get books from the library back home. How fast do you go through them?"

"Pretty fast," she said slightly embarrassed. "I usually read after my shifts and during my breaks."

"Don't you have other hobbies?"

"Not really."

"Why not?"

"Hobbies usually require things to do them with, like with painting you need all sorts of items like paint and paintbrushes, a canvas and maybe an easel. I can't carry all that with me when I have to leave."

He frowned at that but quickly wiped it off his face and she wasn't sure if that was something he did out of reflex or on purpose.

"Have you ever painted before?"

"I used to, but it was a very long time ago so I'm sure I forgot how to," she laughed lightly. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What are your hobbies? Besides playing the piano." She was very curious about what his answer would be since she never saw him much at the estate.

"I like tennis," he said simply.

"I've never seen you play tennis before."

"I don't really have the time these days."

"Because of work?" she asked.

"Because of work," he confirmed while nodding.

"I thought George said you took your breaks at the estate, so why are you still working so much?"

"Being at the estate is a break for me, I get to be away from everyone at the office," he smiled. But it didn't make sense to her. In her mind, people took breaks to get away from work. Maybe drink a nice cocktail on a fancy beach or something.

"So you never take a real break where you stop working for a period of time?"

"Do you?"

"I--" she started before realizing he was right. She only had any free time between jobs where she'd spent all her time and energy looking for another one. "No," she admitted, "I don't."

Luckily the waiter came back to save her from further embarrassment as he put down their drinks and handed them a menu before leaving again. She pretended to be extremely interested in the menu before noticing she absolutely didn't know half of the words on it. They barely sounded English to her at all.

It must have shown on her face because Mr. Chastain spoke up with an amused look on his face, "Are you okay over there?"

She thought about lying and just ordering some random dish but she feared it would be something extremely nasty because she knew she would make herself eat it anyway.

"No, I don't understand what these mean," she admitted sheepishly.

Despite having more than enough material to make fun of her for he didn't. He just leaned forward to point out all the dishes. Now she was absolutely sure they weren't English but her foreign language skills didn't extend beyond English and Latin.

"Thank you," she said earnestly, deciding on a simple dish of chicken and fries. "What language is that?"

This time the corner of his mouth lifted but he still didn't make fun of her. "It's French."

"Oh." She remembered something Lauren said about Mr. Chastain coming from a French family. Or maybe it had been George who had said it. It didn't matter now, she probably should have known it was French, and silently she hoped he didn't think she was too dumb. She certainly felt like it.

"What high school did you go to?" the question came from a place of genuine interest, she knew. And again, he wasn't mocking her, but she had to admit that it embarrassed her. Who couldn't recognize French as a language? Only stupid people that's who.

"I didn't really go to a high school," she started slowly, weighing her every word before she said it. For some reason, she didn't want to say too much about where she came from or how she grew up. The last thing she needed was his pity right now. "I was sort of homeschooled."

"Sort of?"

"Yeah," she replied lamely. She hoped he'd back off but it seemed like he got more interested with every word she spoke.

"By your parents?" He asked.

"Not really," she replied vaguely, hoping he'd find something else to talk about. But he didn't.

"Family?"

"No."

"How does that work? Who homeschooled you?" He sat up even straighter than before as if that would help him find the answers he sought.

"Nuns," she replied simply.

"Nuns?"

"Yeah."

"You had nuns in your home?"

She just nodded.

"Alright," he replied skeptically. It was pretty clear he was debating himself on whether or not to continue with his questions because he was silent for a while after that. But he never took his eyes off her, like he'd find the answer by staring at her for long enough.

"I don't get it," he said dejectedly after a while. "The nuns in your home, I mean."

She looked at him for a bit, scanning his face much the same way he had been doing to her. Should she tell him? Something was stopping her but she wasn't sure what. Maybe it was the fact that no one had ever asked her that much about her past and she'd never had to talk about her time at the orphanage before.

Thinking back on it wasn't something she liked doing. It was a cold place led by even colder women. Making friends was hard when everyone was busy dealing with their own issues so she just kind of lived her life day by day until she became eighteen, and was promptly kicked out.

That was quite a few years ago and she remembered leaving the place with not much more stuff than she had now, which saddened her to think about. All those years of hard work and nothing to show for it.

The only difference was that she did have some money in her savings account now, but not nearly enough to get a house or live her life the way she'd want to.

"Ave?"

His voice shook her out of her thoughts, and she realized he was still waiting for an answer. His eyes were curious but also filled with concern, making her wonder for how long she'd been staring into nothing.

"I grew up in an orphanage, it was a catholic one so it was run by nuns," she admitted quietly.

He opened his mouth but closed it. She could see he regretted asking about it and she wondered why. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have kept asking about it."

"It's fine," she reassured him. Why should he be sorry for being interested? If anything, it made her feel good inside. She could pretend he cared about her, something no one ever did.

When the waiter came back to take their order she turned her attention to him. From the corner of her eyes, she saw that Mr. Chastain was still looking at her, but she refused to look back. She just wanted the conversation to be about something else.

Anything else.

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This was a late update so I'm sorry about that, I still hope you enjoyed it though.

If you did, voting on this chapter helps the story become more visible to other people so that they may enjoy it too :)

Have a nice weekend!

xx May