On our second day, we went back to the park for more hiking. Pictures do not do the rock formations and waterfalls justice. Everything was lush with moss and greenery. We tend to explore all areas and the more difficult paths. Ava takes pictures of everything. 

We picked up carryout from a local restaurant, spent more time in the hot tube, and the night testing the limits of the bed. The parks were not crowded, but we could not book horseback riding or kayaking last minute. We made the most of it, and both had a good time.

There was only one sour note. Late the second night, after having sex, Ava was texting her boyfriend. He was not satisfied with her vague answers and ended up calling her. She had the conversation on speaker it lasted for over an hour. It was painful to listen in on. Without screaming, dude, you are fucking stupid. His weak, whiny voice was just as I pictured. Ava was being evasive and gaslighting him. All the while, he is trying to pin down when she is coming home, professing his love for her no matter what and saying he was in it forever.

Dude, your "girlfriend" just got done banging another guy for an hour, I'm pretty sure that would change your outlook.

Ava downplays the significance. It's not as if she is planning on living him for me. "No, but you are emasculating him."

He figured out what she was doing when they were casually dating. The reason she was able to go on all the trips was that she was a paid companion. Still, he begged her to be his girlfriend even though she pleaded with him to allow her to keep working, and her actions haven't changed! She is still being evasive and still going on mysterious trips. She told him after the conference that she was going to Hocking Hills alone and renting a cabin for a few days. Are you fucking kidding me!

"The problem is, you don't respect him," I tell her once she is finally off the phone.

Instead of arguing with me, she agrees. "You are right. How can I? He is overweight, refuses to exercise, and triggers all my issues with my father."

The boyfriend spends hundreds on expensive gifts to buy her affection and then complains that he doesn't have enough money. Which is just another thing she finds unattractive. He never asks how she can afford to buy a new refrigerator for his house because she doesn't like the old one or afford to stay in a cabin for three days alone.

She feels he is her best option. I would stipulate he is her best option-- for now.

We made it home early in the evening Wednesday. Ava said she would stay the night. We picked up dinner and started watching a documentary about Marilyn Monroe on Netflix. I think the movie hit Ava a little too close to home. I think it was when Marilyn found notes written by Arthur Mill, her second husband, shortly after they married saying she is not the woman I thought she was and calling her a whore that sunk our evening.

I paused the movie, "Why don't you take a shower," I said. "I have to jump on a short meeting call."

Instead, Ava decided just to go. The change in her mood was palatable. I feel like she was a lot happier before she decided to move in with this guy. Lately, she seems more depressed. She is definitely not happy, but I think that is something she has been dealing with for a long time. 

My advice is always to be who she is and to stop compromising. She likes to say life isn't fair and that this is just how things have to be. I think we still choose.