"Gabriel is a sweetheart." Emelia said.

"Ok... but in the breakroom they were asking about Arabella and the girls..." I said in confusion, deciding to address this and clear the air.

"Oh my goodness. I'd never support his flirting if he was married and had children, Ava. Arabella is my daughter and the girls are my granddaughters. He just really loves them, that's why everyone asked him about them." Federico told me.

"Oh..." I said.

"He's a real sweetheart, Ava." Emelia told me. "If you can find it in your heart to trust him, you should give him a chance."

My phone binged and Federico perked at the sound of it.

"Is that my watch?" He asked.

"No, no, it's my phone." I said, knowing that he was worried he had to go back to the hospital.

"Oh." He said, relaxing.

It was another message from Jordi. I opened it and I read it.

J - Ava, seriously?

It suddenly occurred to me that she had my Canadian number even though I hadn't given it to her. My anger bubbled within me, knowing that my mother must've been the one to give it to her.

I let out a sigh, trying to calm myself and then Emelia chuckled.

"You ok, there?" She asked me.

"Yeah." I said, smiling at her.

"You sure? The message seemed to have gotten to you." She said softly.

"It's just an old friend, who isn't really a friend anymore." I sighed.

"I see... good friends are hard to find." She said.

"Agreed." I sighed.

"I'd be willing to listen if you just want to get it off your chest." She told me.

"Oh, it's alright. I don't want to bore you or anything." I said.

"Nonsense." She said.

"Alright... well, she's my childhood best friend." I sighed.

"Oh... what happened?" Emelia asked, looking a little concerned.

"I was with a guy back in my first year of university... and he turned out to be the biggest jerk. I dumped him and my best friend told me that I was being stupid, she told me that I should go back to him and just give him whatever he wanted because I'd never find another man who actually liked me and I have nothing going for me." I chuckled, the feelings of heartbreak and sadness resurfacing from all those years ago.

"Wow. She definitely isn't a good friend." Emelia told me.

"Yeah. Which is why I don't associate with her anymore. I don't know how she got my number or why she's even texting me." I sighed.

"What is she saying?" Emelia asked me.

"She's asking about whether or not I'm going to her wedding." I chuckled, shaking my head.

"I assume you aren't?" Emelia asked me.

"Of course not. I'm not travelling to the states just for her wedding, especially after how she treated me." I sighed.

"Good call." Emelia smiled.

"She lives in the states? Is that where you were as well?" Federico asked me.

"Oh, yeah. I used to live in the states, but once my relationship fell to pieces and my best friend turned on me along with just about everyone else that I knew, I decided to move here for the six year program for medicine." I smiled, remembering just about the best decision I'd ever made.

"And you're a doctor now, that's great!" Emelia smiled.

"It is." I laughed.

"So... how do you feel about Gabriel? Good guy?" She asked me.

"He's fine... just kind of annoying." I sighed.

"Sweetheart, men are annoying. If he's not noticeably annoying, he's hiding something and trying to seem like something he's not." She said to me.

"Wait.... like really? Should I genuinely use that as advice?" I asked.

"Yes." She laughed. "In my opinion they're irritating because I can never understand what on earth they're thinking."

I laughed at that. She was definitely the kind of woman that would get frustrated with a guy who was doing something unexplainable.

"But Gabriel is a really good guy. All the boys in our family are. Unfortunately, my son is too shy for you, but had he been a little less shy, I'd set you up with him." She laughed.

I chuckled and she smiled, looking over at me once again.

"I still don't know where I'm going." She laughed.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry! It's an apartment in Second and Main" I chuckled.

"Oooh, that's nice, it's really pretty there." She smiled.

"Yeah, it's nice." I laughed.

"Alright. Once I get us there, you can give me more instruction." She laughed.

"Right." I smiled, nodding my head. "Are you married?"

"Yes, I am. I've got a husband and a son, and guess what? They're both annoying, but that's ok, I love them to death." She laughed.

"So Gabriel is... your nephew?" I asked in confusion.

"Oh, not actually, but he basically is." Emelia said.

"He's my brother in law." Federico told me.

"Oh... ok, I see." I said, frowning.

"Don't worry he's twenty seven." Emelia told me.

"Ah, ok." I chuckled, having thought for a moment that he was much older than he looked.

"I think you should give him a chance." Federico's twin, Ric, said.

"I don't know... maybe I'm just not ready for this relationship stuff yet." I shrugged, frustrated with myself because I still hadn't given the poor man a chance yet.

"Your last relationship was the one from back in America, wasn't it?" She asked me.

"It was. And it ended really badly, which is why I'm struggling to start another relationship. I just really feel like I need to be one hundred percent certain of the guy and the relationship before I let it get anywhere." I explained.

"Which is completely fair. If anyone knows patience, it's Gabriel. You deserve a man that can wait for you for as long as necessary. A man that'll show you that he is truly serious about you. Don't ever settle for anything you aren't sure about." Emelia told me.

"Wow... Thanks." I smiled. "That really means a lot. No one has ever really said all that to me."

"Aw. Sweetheart. You're a doctor for God's sake. You're smart, and sweet. Of course you deserve the absolute best! No girl deserves to be treated like any less than a queen." She told me.

I smiled to myself before my phone beeped again.

J - I have something to tell you.

J - Noah misses you. He said he'd be willing to take you back if you came back.

J - You should come back. There's a guy here waiting for you and you could come to my wedding. It would be just like old times.

J - Please, Ava. I really miss you and I'm sorry about what I said to you all those years back.

J - Ava, please, text back!

"Alright, where do I go from here?" She asked me.

"Right around there, then take your first right and go straight ahead to that tall building." I said, looking up to give her instructions.

It wasn't long before we arrived at my apartment and I said goodbye to my attending and his siblings. It was really a pleasure to meet them, they were funny and super kind. I needed more people like them in my life.

Exactly! Which is why you should say yes to Gabriel's date offer and associate yourself with more people like him and his family!

But you're too stubborn, Ava! Why are you so stubborn?!

As soon as I entered my apartment, I collapsed on the sofa and took a little short moment to breathe and process the busy day I'd had.

But unfortunately, Jordi wasn't quite done with me yet.

All of a sudden my phone was ringing.

I looked down in horror at the name on my screen. I knew I should've blocked them all as soon as they turned on me.

Truth be told, I missed all those sleepovers I had at my best friend's house. I missed our pillow fights, our secrets, our little games. I missed my best friend. The best friend that actually was a good friend. Not the one that told me how worthless I was.

Her name flashed across my screen, and I was moments away from potentially hearing her voice again.

And I made the bold decision to answer it.

"Hello." I said softly.

"You answered." She said.

"I did. What do you want?" I asked her.

"I w-want you to come back." She said to me.

"I can't. I have a life here, Jordi. Why are you reaching out to me, anyway?" I sighed.

"I miss you. I know that I ruined our friendship and that I was a jerk. But I miss my best friend." She sighed.

"Maybe you should've thought about that back then." I said. "And it's not like you've changed. You just asked me to go back to him again."

"I just... he has a girlfriend and you know how his mother is always at our place and stuff, so I have to interact with his girlfriend a lot and I hate her guts. Please, Ava. Come back." She sighed.

"I'm not coming back, Jordi. Things are much better for me up here." I said to her.

"Do you still hate me?" She sighed.

"I don't hate you. But I'm not coming to your wedding and I'd appreciate it if I didn't have to talk to you again." I said.

"Come on, Ava. I'm sorry." She said to me.

"Apology accepted. But that doesn't mean I'm going to drop the life I've built just to come back to a town where everyone treated me horribly." I sighed.

"Ava. We didn't treat you horribly." She sighed.

"No, you just all turned on me for leaving a man who couldn't stay loyal to me." I said.

"Ava." Jordi sighed.

"Jordi?" I asked.

"He wasn't that bad." She told me.

"He insisted that I should have sex with him, told me I was worthless and I would amount to nothing, and then cheated on me because I wasn't ready to sleep with him." I sighed.

"I'm sorry." She said, as if it was her fault that it happened.

"Well, don't apologize for that... that was his fault. You messed up when I came to you after my breakup and you told me that I was worthless, no one would ever like me, and that I needed to go back to that cheater." I said to her.

"I didn't mean any of it. I'm sorry." She said.

"Why did you say all that?" I asked her.

"I c-c-can't tell you that." She said, making me sit up straighter in alarm.

"Jordi, are you alright?" I asked her. "Where are you?"

She laughed nervously and her voice suddenly turned excessively happy.

"I'm perfectly fine, I'm at home. Nothing is wrong." She chuckled, but that just solidified the fact that she wasn't ok.

"Jordi! What happened?" I asked her.

"Nothing, Ava. I'm home." She said to me.

"Alright. With your parents?" I asked her.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Is your fiancé there?" I asked her.

"Yes." She said, laughing nervously.

"Oh, ok. And you're safe?" I asked her.

"Yes. What's going on with you, Ava. Relax. So... can you please come to my wedding?" She asked.

"I can't. I'm working." I told her.

"Please, Ava!" She said, her voice sounding more desperate than I'd ever heard it.

"Listen. I'll think about it." I told her.

"Perfect. Please, Ava. Please!" She said.

"I told you. I'll think about it." I said to her. "I need to sleep now, but I'll text you back tomorrow."

"Alright. Bye, Ava." She said to me.

"Bye." I said, hanging up.

Something was going on with Jordi. Maybe I was being too nice, but she was an old friend. I still cared enough to know that something was going on that was potentially putting her in some sort of danger.

I didn't really know what I should do. But I felt like I had to do something. I didn't owe her anything. But she was an old friend and I wanted to help her out if she needed me.