The Assistant | Scavi

Cabin

"What do I do now, Mitch?"

Mitch read through the message as well. "You make a decision? Maybe text him back?"

"Shall I go there?"

"Not tonight, we both had wine. But tomorrow you could? I can leave the car here and you can take it" Mitch offered.

"Yes, but..."

Mitch raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me that you don't feel like seeing him? You know that I will support you anyway, but you've been talking about seeing him once more to talk everything out for days. Why are you hesitating?"

Scott shrugged his shoulders. "I really don't know Mitch. It's just this huge mess inside my head and..."

"You should sleep on it, Scott" Mitch said softly. "When your head is a little clearer."

Scott nodded. "You're right," he said and then looked at his glass. "And no more alcohol."

Mitch smiled. "Wise decision," he said softly. Do you want to watch the rest of the movie, or..."

"I'll head to bed if you don't mind? I feel drained" Scott asked and Mitch just nodded. "Of course, Scott. If you need anything let me know, okay?"

Scott nodded. "I will. Thank you, Mitch."

Ten minutes later, Scott was sitting on his bed and trying to compose a text to Avi:

"Hello Avi, I got your message. Thank you so much for texting me. I don't know yet if and when I will come and visit you. I want to sit down with you and just talk, but there's just this huge mess in my head and I just don't know, Avi. I'm sorry. Scott."

Once he had sent off the text, he got ready for bed and laid down. When he wanted to set an alarm, he saw that Avi had replied.

"That's fine, Scott. I just wanted to offer. My door is always open for you. Avi."

Without even thinking about it, Scott replied: "I changed my mind, Avi. I will come over tomorrow."

"Thank you, Scott."

Even though he still felt a little anxious about meeting up with Avi, Scott was able to sleep tight after making this decision.

~

"Do you think I'm stupid for doing this?" Scott asked the next morning when he was having breakfast with his best friend.

"What exactly? Finishing this huge stack of pancakes? Yes definitely."

For the first time in days, Scott chuckled. "No, stupid. Driving out to Avi. Like... should I really do this not knowing what he wants?"

"Scott you're overthinking this. I know that this step is not easy, but he wants you there" Mitch said softly.

"But... what if he wants to break up? What if he needs closure?"

"Well, if that's the case, Scott, at least you'll have closure as well. But you won't find out what he wants unless you go there and listen to what he has to say, Scott."

Scott nodded. "True..." he said and then took a deep breath. Okay. I'm going there. Shall I drop you off at work on my way?"

Mitch shook his head. "No, I hitched a ride with a colleague. But thank you."

Scott smiled. "No, thank you, Mitch. For the car and for just being there for me."

"You'd do the same for me" Mitch just said and smiled.

~

It was around noon when Scott left the highway on his way to Avi's cabin. He was surprised that it only took him a little more than an hour to get there.

Scott didn't know what to expect and was surprised when he drove further into the forest. He almost thought that he got lost when all of a sudden he saw a house on the left side and recognised Avi's car in front of it. Carefully, Scott parked the car beside Avi's and got out. He was nervous, knowing that he would finally see Avi again after all the mess they've been through, but he also knew that he had to get through with this.

Slowly he walked up to the porch and when he didn't find a doorbell, he knocked.

"Just a moment" he heard Avi call from inside and then the door opened and he was there.

"Hi, Avi" Scott managed to say when he saw Avi standing there. His hair was open, his shirt halfway unbuttoned. He looked just the way Scott remembered him. And while he had been nervous before, once he saw Avi smile at him, he felt okay.

"Hello, Scott. It's so good to see you" Avi greeted him. "Come in, please?"

"Thank you." Scott stepped inside the little cabin and looked around. There was dark wood everywhere, it looked comfy and cosy. "This is such a nice little place."

"Thank you. I built the interior on my own, mostly..." Avi explained.

"Impressive" Scott said.

"Mmhm," Avi hummed. "Do you want to drink something?"

"Tea would be nice," Scott said.

"Coming right up," Avi said. "If you want to you can come right through into the kitchen. Do you want to eat something? I have prepared some baked potatoes with sour cream and picked some mushrooms this morning to go with them."

"Right now I'm fine with some tea, Avi. I think we should sit down and talk?" Scott asked carefully.

Avi, who seemed to be very focused on putting the loose tea into the filter, nodded. "We should. This is why I invited you in the first place." He turned around once he was done and smiled slightly. "I feel awkward, Scott."

Scott smiled back at him. "I get that. I was nervous the whole ride here and now I'm feeling better."

"Yeah?" Avi asked.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, when I saw you smile at me, I felt right at home."

"I never expected that you'd come over, Scott. Not after the note and the song, to be honest" Avi said while he poured the hot water into the thermos teapot. "Yet, here you are."

"I came here because no matter what happened, I still want to talk to you, Avi. I want to know how you're feeling about everything" Scott said. "But most of all I want to know if you really meant it."

Avi turned around. "Meant what?"

"The break-up," Scott said.

"I- Scott" Avi stammered. "It's not that easy."

Scott saw immediately how lost the bearded man was. So he walked up to him and took his hands. "It is easy, Avi," he said softly. "I only want to know if you want to break-up. If you do, I will accept it, but if you don't, we'll figure the mess out together."

When Avi just looked down, Scott knew his answer.

"No, Scott. I don't want to break up with you. I just..." Avi felt his throat tighten and tears started to run down his cheeks. "Please don't leave me. I'm so sorry..."

"Oh, Avi..." Scott pulled him against his chest when he started to sob. "I won't leave you, Avi," he said softly when he felt tears run down his cheeks as well. He knew that there was a lot they needed to figure out, but for the time being, he was glad to be holding the man he would still be calling his boyfriend.