Friday – 7:04 p.m. – Big Beans Café, Closing Time
Ava untied her apron in one sharp tug, her legs aching from back-to-back shifts. She slid her hair into a quick bun and reached for her backpack just as the bell over the café door jingled.
"Girl, you are not going home yet!" Rosa burst in, her cheeks flushed, her curls bouncing as she bounded toward the counter. She wore a bright green crop top, ripped jeans, and confidence. "Party on 42nd. DJ. Rooftop. Open bar. You're coming."
Ava blinked, deadpan. "That was a full sentence without a breath. Impressive."
Rosa rolled her eyes and spun dramatically. "You need to live, Ava. Just one night of fun. No nightmares, no textbooks, no brooding while grinding espresso shots."
Ava smirked and turned to start wiping down the coffee machine. "Fun is subjective. I find silence, sleep, and a good cup of tea very fulfilling."
"You sound like a retired nun."
"That might actually be my next career move."
The door jingled again.
Ava groaned internally.
Speak of the devil.
Leonard Cole Hernandez strolled in wearing a tan coat over a turtleneck, sunglasses despite the evening hour, and the same smug smirk that made Ava want to throw a biscotti at his head.
"Evening, darlings," he said in a lazy drawl. "I was in the neighborhood. Thought I'd grab something edible since my chef is on strike for being called 'too dramatic.'"
Ava didn't look up. "Maybe don't throw truffle oil at people when you're angry."
Leonard turned to Rosa and gave her his signature slow smolder. "You must be the fabulous roommate."
Rosa actually blushed. "You're Leonard Cole Hernandez."
He winked. "My reputation precedes me."
Ava muttered under her breath, "Like a bad stomach bug."
Rosa elbowed her. "He's gorgeous. Like, Italian soap opera levels of hot."
Leonard leaned on the counter. "You flatter me. Ava never does."
Ava crossed her arms, meeting his gaze. "I'd rather die a nun than date you."
"Ouch," Leonard grinned. "You'd look stunning in a habit."
"You'd look better in a muzzle."
Rosa giggled. "There's something here. I'm telling you."
Leonard grinned wider. "I'm not giving up, Ava. One day, you'll beg for my phone number."
"I'd rather beg for a root canal."
He laughed, nodded at Rosa, and ordered a croissant before leaving—cool, infuriating, and unforgettable.
Saturday Morning – 10:02 a.m. – Rosa's Family Kitchen
"Your birthday's next week!" Rosa's mother declared, handing Ava a cup of hot cocoa. "We must celebrate!"
Ava smiled softly. "It's not a big deal."
"Nonsense," Rosa said, hopping onto the counter. "Twenty-two is huge. New chapter. New energy. And we're doing it here. At the café. Closed party. Fairy lights, music, cupcakes."
"Please no glitter," Ava begged.
Rosa grinned. "Minimal glitter. Maybe."
Two Days Later – 8:14 p.m. – Big Beans Café, Closed for Ava's Birthday
The café had never looked more magical—warm fairy lights coiled across beams, balloons gently bobbing, candles flickering on each table. Ava wore a soft cream dress and minimal makeup, glowing from the inside out.
People trickled in. Some regulars. Some friends. Some Rosa had forced to show up.
Then the door opened.
Leonard walked in—wearing black, crisp and polished. In his hand was a giant gift bag with gold ribbon. But he wasn't alone.
Behind him stood a guy about their age, shorter, with sharper cheekbones and Ava's same deep-set brown eyes.
She froze.
Her glass almost slipped from her hand.
"Hey," Leonard said with a grin. "Happy birthday. Brought a plus-one. Hope that's okay."
Rosa gawked. "Who's the mini-you?"
The guy stepped forward, extending a hand. "Luca."
Ava hesitated. Her heart thudded.
Luca smiled awkwardly. "I'm Leonard's best friend. I, uh… think we might know each other."
Ava blinked.
"Why do we look so alike?" she thought to herself.
The music pulsed low and warm, friends laughing in scattered corners of the café, but Ava wasn't listening anymore. Her eyes were locked on Luca—his hesitant smile, the same furrow in his brow she saw in her own mirror some days. Something about him stirred the kind of memory that wasn't quite a memory. It was deeper. Bone-deep.
She slid her glass onto the counter, slipped past Rosa mid-sentence, and quietly stepped outside.
The cold air bit her arms through the thin sleeves of her dress as she turned down the alley behind the café. A minute later, Luca followed.
He walked cautiously, hands in his jacket pockets.
"You followed me," Ava said flatly.
"You left without a word."
"That's how following works."
Luca stopped a few feet away, keeping his voice soft. "You looked like you recognized me. I wasn't sure if I was imagining it."
"I wasn't." Ava folded her arms. "Where have I seen you before?"
"I don't think we have ever met"
"I don't think e have, but it feeld like I have known you for a long time" she says wearing a frown on her face.
"I get that a lot, I think you have mistaken me for somebody el…"
"There you are" Leonard burts in " Luca we have to step out now"
Luca leaves, Leonard says something but she doesn't hear him because she is still stunned from their previous interaction.
"Who is he?" she asked, gesturing toward Luca.
Leonard sighed and stepped closer. "Luca's my brother. Not by blood. My father took him in when he was five. Trained him. Educated him. Gave him a new name."
She blinked. "A new name?"
"Because some monsters were after him"
"Some monsters?" Now Leonard is laughing his ass off. "You should see you face, you look so pale like you came in contact with a ghost.
Of course he was joking about everything going on.
She roled her eyes at him and told him to get out.
Leonard is still laughing
"He's part of my security team now. He's smart, loyal, and… he might be the only one left who can help uncover the truth."
Inside, the music thumped on.
But out here, the world had shifted.
Ava barely slept that night.
Luca's face. Her own. The town car. The way Luca had looked at her with the same soft eyes that her father had when she was younger.
Morning light broke through the slats in her window, dust catching in the air. She stood in her room above the café, frozen coffee growing cold in her hands. The familiar smell of cinnamon buns and espresso drifted up from downstairs. For the first time in years, it didn't comfort her.
By 7 a.m., she was in the kitchen with her foster parents, Tanya and Marco Romano.
Tanya's eyes sparkled with the usual motherly affection. "Morning, honey! You slept okay?"
Ava sat down slowly, her voice low. "I need to ask you something."
Marco looked up from the dough he was kneading. "Everything alright?"
She reached into her coat and pulled out the locket she has always had on her neck. The one that had her and her younger brother in it.
She brought out a picture that she took of Luca during the party.
"Do you know think he looks like Alex?"
They froze.
Tanya's face went pale.
Marco stopped kneading. "Where did you get that?"
Tanya sat, slowly. "Ava…"
"I know what you want to say, that I am insane and that I need to let this go because Alex is dead. But a part of me still knows that he is there somewhere" she says with tears in her eyes.
"Please tell me what you think, do they look alike?"
Tanya exhaled shakily "they do share some sort of resemblance, he has your father's eyes and his stoic expression. But we doubt it is Alex honey, yes his body was not found at the accident, but days later, they found a body matching the description of a three year old boy in the lake"
"The police ruled that the accident had tossed him in the lake and the he drowned, we couldn't bring ourselves to tell you so we kept it a secret"
"I was told it was an accident."
She turned to look at Marco as if she was begging that Tanya was lying
Marco nodded grimly. "It's true Peach, your brother died too"
Ava's breath hitched.
Tanya reached across the table. "She saved you, sweetheart, but she couldn't save Alex love"
She looks as stunned as ever "do you think it was an accident? I saw a man, I still see a man"
Tanya and Marco look at Ava "what? What man?"
" A man from the accident, with the same void eyes"
"When did this start?"
" Last month"
"I thought you had forgotten what happened during the accident Peach" asked Marco
"I can't remember everything…. But his face… I can't forget it"
"I don't think it was an accident and they know I'm still alive, they are coming from me"
Tanya and Marco look shocked and sad
Someone still is, Ava thought.
Later that evening, her shift ended late. She was sweeping the last crumbs into a dustpan when the power flickered. Once. Twice.
Then the front window shattered.
She screamed, ducking instinctively. A black rock rolled across the floor—wrapped in a torn note: "You're asking too many questions, they're watching."
She scrambled back, heart thudding.
In the distance, a figure stood under the streetlight.
It wasn't Leonard.
It wasn't Luca.
It was the man in the black suit.
She bolted out the back door, barely remembering to grab her phone. She called Leonard on instinct.
He answered on the first ring. "Ava?"
"I think someone's trying to kill me again."
Leonard and Luca arrive within minutes, guns holstered under their jackets, expressions grim. They don't question her. They just act.
And for the first time since that night 18 years ago, Ava Anjello doesn't feel alone.