Chapter 11 - AVA’S ANSWER
I asked Ava.
Not whether I should accept the job.
Whether she ever wanted to enter Northstar again.
She looked up from breakfast.
“Will Mr. Grant be there?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Will the big man?”
“Cole?”
She nodded.
“Probably.”
“He was nice after you threw him.”
“I didn’t throw him.”
“Yes, you did.”
Technically difficult to argue with.
“What about Ms. Sloan?”
“I like her suit.”
That was not what I asked, but it was information.
Then Ava became serious.
“Will kids be allowed?”
“Usually no.”
“Then why was I?”
“Because my plans fell apart.”
She considered that.
“Did I ruin your interview?”
The question hit me harder than Grant’s shove.
“What?”
“You had to stop because of me.”
I put down my coffee.
“Ava.”
She watched carefully.
“You did not ruin anything.”
“But he said—”
“I don’t care what he said.”
Her eyes dropped.
That made me soften.
I moved beside her.
“Grant wanted me to feel embarrassed because I’m your mom.”
“Why?”
“Because he needed me to stop paying attention to him.”
She thought about that.
“Because of the badges?”
“Yes.”
“Then I helped.”
“You did.”
She looked at Major.
Then at me.
“So we won?”
I almost said yes.
Children like endings.
Good guy.
Bad guy.
Win.
Lose.
But I had spent years teaching analysts not to simplify reality just because simplicity felt good.
“We found the truth.”
Ava shrugged.
May you like
“That’s winning.”
Maybe analysts could learn from children too.
