More tears were actually flowing now as Erin droned on about how Avery had to find someone who was more in tune to what she wanted and needed.
Someone more supportive.
But Avery didn’t want someone else.
She wanted Josh and only Josh.
Deciding to change the subject before Erin figured out that she was full-on and silently ugly-crying, Avery promised that she would be in touch later and ended the call.
Erin was no fool and had known Avery long enough to understand how hard this separation between her and Josh was, knowing that her ex-roommate just needed some time to think.
***
Work that day wasn’t much better, Avery dragging herself around glumly as she completed her tasks as a graphic designer for a small web-development start-up.
She had almost called out that day but Avery was required to work at least two days in the office and that very afternoon there was going to be a big meeting.
The only reason she had come in, to be honest.
The company was changing direction and Avery hoped that this didn’t mean that she was going to lose her job.
It had already happened to her once a few years back and had taken forever for her to find another position.
That’s when she had decided to contract herself out, finding that she liked it and had learned a lot about what she was really worth.
Avery actually had a lot of clients of her own on the side, something that her current employers were not aware of, but as long as that work didn’t interfere with her day job she felt they didn’t need to know.
However, it would still suck not to have a steady paycheck if she lost her job again.
At least tomorrow she could work from home, that is, if she could actually focus on work and stop thinking about Josh.
Avery closed her eyes and envisioned the tall, broad-shouldered hunk that she’d fallen hard for after a chance meeting at her gym.
His deep, dark and expressive eyes had drunk her tall, fit frame in and Josh had immediately invited her to have coffee after their training session.
The two had been inseparable ever since, and Avery was sure that Josh was The One.
Sure, it was natural for couples to have spats once in a while but this was the first time since they’d known each other that they’d had one as bad as this.
She was scared to lose him.
And she was still lamenting about her situation at twenty-minutes to five when Erin called to check on her.
“Whatcha doin’?” she asked, the din in the background very distracting.
Erin was a barista at a small, gourmet coffee shop on the Upper West-Side.
It was a great atmosphere, they had a huge social media presence and they even roasted their own coffee beans.
A celebrity or two stopped in there once in a while, so the place was always doing well and Erin loved working there.
Her ultimate dream was to compete at the World Barista Championship in Melbourne, Australia next year.
Every year the competition was held somewhere around the world and this was perfect since Erin’s other dream was to visit Australia.
Her boyfriend of two years, Kevin, hailed from Brisbane and according to Erin things were becoming serious between them.
Two birds, one stone.
Erin’s coffee skills and latte art were definitely on point, but she had some very stiff competition.
“Getting ready to get out of here.” Avery sighed, absently looking through the various take-out menus in her desk drawer to see which place she was going to get dinner from.
No sense in cooking tonight when she was going to be alone anyway.
And just the thought of that made her eyes fill with tears as she stifled a sob.
Erin was completely oblivious as she rambled on about how hectic her day was and how she was meeting up with friends in the city.
“Come with me.” She invited. “Katie has tickets and some of us going to that new comedy club in mid-town and then to get some apps and drinks somewhere after. It’ll be fun!”
“Not tonight, Erin. I think I’m just going to go home and….”
“And what? Sit around and wait for Josh to call?” Erin accused with perfect accuracy as Avery felt her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.
Busted.
“I’m just not feeling up to it….” Avery tried to beg off again but Erin wasn’t having it.
“That’s it!” Erin snapped, startling her friend, “You are not going to sit around and mope at home over this. You are coming out with me and my co-workers tonight.”
“Erin….” Avery moaned, wanting to just go home and crawl under the covers and start the last twenty-four hours over.
Back to when she and her boyfriend were still on good terms.
Josh had still not called her at all today and she had cried about it in the ladies room at work, to her embarrassment.
“I’ll meet you downstairs in the lobby in twenty and then we can get an Uber.” Erin ordered before the mid-toned, triple beep sounded in her ear, indicating that the feisty African-American woman had hung up already.
Sighing, Avery decided to visit the ladies room before getting her things to leave.
Just as she promised, Erin was waiting patiently in the lobby of Avery’s office building at five-ten when she exited the elevator banks.
“One round of drinks, coming up!” Erin cackled, hugging her as Avery shook her head, a smile creeping up onto her face. “There she is! We’re gonna have so much fun tonight. I promise!”
Maybe it would make her feel better to get out for the evening.
***
The music seemed slightly louder than it had been when the women had first been seated at a large table in the rear of a new bar off the beaten path.
One of Erin’s co-workers had picked it, or one of the co-worker’s friends who had met them there or something.
It was a nice place with ambient lighting and decent-looking food.
By nine-thirty the place was packed butt-to-gut with the after-work crowd trying to unwind.
But then again, there was no rule against coming out for a drink on a rainy Wednesday evening.
After making sure that no one was paying attention to her, surreptitiously, Avery checked her iPhone, dismayed to see that Josh still hadn’t called.
He had never gone this long without speaking to her.
Dread filled Avery as she suddenly wondered if something had happened to him.
Something to keep him from calling her.
“I’ll be right back! Ladies room!” She shouted while motioning to Erin over the music as she slid out of the booth, leaving her best friend and six other women behind laughing and chattering over appetizers.
She was just going to call him.
Screw it.
She didn’t care who was right and who was wrong anymore, Avery just wanted to hear Josh’s voice.
As she rounded the corner leading away from the noisy bar area and towards the restrooms to find a quiet spot to make her phone call, she heard a pained cry that made her ears perk up.
“Owww……stop it….STOP IT, Joe! Joooooeeee…..!” the small, delicately thin woman begged as a tall, hulking man gripped her arms, tightly in an aggressive manner.
The man’s large biceps bulged as he manhandled the Latina, the young woman wincing as she was shoved roughly against the wall.
She nearly toppled over in the four-inch heels she wore and a small scream tore from her throat.
He had a multitude of colorful tattoos covering both arms, a closely shaven beard and mustache covered his olive-colored face.
Thick, jet-black hair hung just to the collar of the plain, white t-shirt he wore.
Blue jeans and steel-toed boots completed the look and Avery noticed a black, leather jacket on the floor between them.
Biker?
Maybe.
The Hispanic woman edged away from him now, her milk-chocolate brown eyes widening
as she suddenly noticed Avery standing there gawking at them.
Her red, polished lips quivered slightly as they parted to release a few words towards her male companion and then it was the man’s turn to look over at where Avery stood with mean, dark eyes.
Joe, or at least that’s who Avery guessed he was, pasted on an irritated expression as he turned around and stalked away from his girlfriend, heading back towards the bar.
The female shot her an embarrassed and apologetic glance as she passed the other woman, leaving Avery alone as she headed into the ladies room.
What an asshole he is.
Avery didn’t miss the tears streaming down the woman’s cheeks, suddenly realizing that everyone had some sort of issues these days.
She briefly felt sorry for the girl, but Avery had problems of her own at the moment.
Remembering the mission at hand she pressed the green button on the phone’s touch-screen, which was overlaid with a graphic of a white telephone receiver, and pulled up her contact list.
She was just about to tap Josh’s name when she felt someone suddenly move up behind her.
Jumping with a start as she gripped the phone to her breasts to hide the screen, Avery was humiliated to see Erin standing there wearing a knowing expression.
“Girl, were you seriously going to call Josh!?” she asked, incredulously and with raised brows, as Avery stammered a reply and Erin held out her hand. “Nope. Gimmie. Come on.”
Reluctantly, Avery handed over her phone.
“No Josh tonight. We’re supposed to be having fun, remember?” her friend said, sadness in her eyes as she noticed Avery’s clouding over, “Don’t worry, Ayv, he’ll probably call you later tonight or first thing tomorrow.”
And Avery knew that Erin was one-hundred percent right. He wasn’t an unreasonable man, and he had to have cooled off by now.
“You know he loves you.” The curvaceous woman reminded her, “You remember how broken up he was when you got mugged that time? Crying and stuff when he had to come get you from the emergency room? Josh is crazy about you and you know it.”
Avery did recall that difficult time a year ago.
She had been in Central Park one Saturday afternoon, waiting for Josh to come for her after working a rare weekend, and she’d been mugged.
Right there, in broad daylight.
It had happened so fast, her head had spun and the man had tried to take it even further by dragging her into the bushes to do God-knows-what.
Luckily, a group of college kids had come to her rescue, running the guy off before any real harm, besides the loss of her previous iPhone, had been done.
Josh had blamed himself, but who would have thought a mugger would attack right in the middle of the park in the early-afternoon hour on a Saturday when the green-space was the most-occupied?
But then again, that was New York City for you.
So she and Erin had decided to take self-defense classes in the event something like this ever happened again.
Avery also never went to Central Park alone again either.
Ironically, the mayor had recently placed more police patrol to cover the park, but Avery wasn’t taking any chances.
She and Erin had learned a great deal in the class as they kicked the shit out of the poor instructor, who had been wearing protective gear for the lessons.
Why should she be the one all up in arms over this when Josh was the one who had started the argument in the first place?
Erin was right.
He was probably already back at home and having a beer in front of the television, waiting for her to come home.
So back to the table they went, just as a platter of Buffalo wings and loaded French-fries was set down on the table for them.
“Yes! Starving to death….” Erin exclaimed, snatching up a couple of wings and then looking for the blue-cheese dressing that was usually served with Buffalo wings at just about every bar and pub across the nation.
Avery hungrily took some of the wings and used her fork to spear a few of the French fries.
Her diet was wrecked, and she knew better than to eat this garbage, but she didn’t care at the moment.
She always craved junk when she was depressed, so she would worry about the damage tomorrow.
Raising her hand in the air, she beckoned their server over so that she could order a beer.
To hell with it!
***
“Are you ready?” Erin asked, easing into her light jacket as the others began getting to their feet an hour or so later. “Oh, here you go.”
Avery took back her cell phone with a little chuckle, realizing that Erin had been right to stop her from calling Josh.
She actually had managed to have a really good time tonight and Avery was glad that she had come out with them.
“Thanks.”
“You know what? Let me run next door and get a pack of cigarettes real quick. They should still be open, I think…” Erin mused as Avery nodded, getting into her own jacket.
Why Erin smoked, Avery didn’t know but she had tried numerous times to get her friend to quit.
As it was, she was slightly overweight so the smoking certainly didn’t help matters.
But Erin had picked up the habit in college and unfortunately it had stuck.
“Take your time. I’m going to the ladies room and then I’ll meet you out front. I think those wings screwed up my stomach….” Avery muttered, as Erin nodded and made her way to the front door.
“If you throw up I am laying their shit bare on Yelp.” Erin promised, and Avery laughed.
Something was definitely going on between her gut and the wings or, more likely, it was that last beer she had drunk.
She didn’t drink alcohol often, being more of a social drinker. Josh used to tease her about being a lightweight when they had first started dating and she refused alcoholic beverages most times.
Or maybe it was because she had overdone it with the fries and then the huge slice of strawberry cheesecake she had split with Erin.
As Avery passed the bar, she saw the Spanish woman in the red dress from before waving at her from a stool.
Her slender arm, piled high with gold bangles, was raised in the air as she waved Avery over, patting the empty stool beside her.
Unable to pretend she hadn’t noticed the girl, Avery pasted on a smile and sauntered over.
“Hi.” The young woman greeted, sticking out her hand. “Carmen.”
“Avery. Hi.” Avery replied, shaking it.
“I just wanted to apologize to you for before, you know, what happened back there with my boyfriend.”
“Oh. No worries.” Avery assured Carmen, a smile of her own slowly appearing, “Actually, it’s none of my business but….”
“I know how awkward that whole deal must have been.” Carmen lamented, a somewhat thick Spanish accent to her voice, “I keep trying to work things out with Joe but….oh, sorry. Do you want to sit down?”
“I am my way to the ladies room and my friend….”
“Gotcha.” Carmen said, a sad smile on her face. “You two look pretty close. Have you known each other long?”
“We used to be roommates back in college and then we were roommates again once we both moved to New York from Texas.” Avery babbled, reddening slightly as she wondered why she was telling a complete stranger her business.
But Carmen had an endearing look about her that instantly made Avery feel comfortable and at ease.
“Texas? Wow, I’ve always wanted to visit there! I love your accent.” Carmen said, which made Avery laugh.
All this time she’d been living up north she thought that she had lost her accent.
Guess not.
“Thank you, I love yours too. Where are you from, originally?”
“Ecuador.”
Avery’s eyes widened slightly as she smiled and gave an impressed nod.
“Wow, that’s awesome. It’s pretty far away, huh? I’ve never been to
South America.”
“Yes, but it’s okay. I would love to visit Texas someday, though.”
“You should do it.” Avery prompted, smiling at her new acquaintance, “You’d love it there.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Carmen beamed, taking a leisurely sip of her Cosmopolitan.
“Well, sorry to run off but I have to visit the ladies room and my friend is probably waiting for me outside...”
“Sure. Nice talking to you, Avery. And thanks again.”
Avery smiled and nodded as she left Carmen at the bar and entered the bathroom.
As she sat on the toilet inside one of the two stalls, Avery exhaled as she reached into her purse for her mobile phone.
Peeing gave her some relief but she didn’t feel as if she needed to move her bowels, although her stomach still felt weird.
Looking again, she saw that it wasn’t there at all which meant that she must have dropped it somewhere between the table and the restroom.
“Dammit…” she swore out loud, finishing up and flushing the toilet. As she quickly washed her hands at the sink, the bathroom door suddenly opened and Carmen was there.
“Oh, I’m so glad that you’re still here. I think you dropped this…” she said, holding up the small cell phone, a smile on her pretty face.
“My phone.” Avery laughed, reaching for it. “Thanks….”
As their hands touched, the blue iPhone bobbled between both sets of fingers before crashing loudly to the bathroom floor.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry to be so clumsy…”
“No big deal….” Avery shrugged off the overall strange feeling moving through her, squatting down to get the phone and discovering that she felt the sudden need to sit.
“Avery? What is it?” Carmen asked, with a tinge of panic in her voice. “Oh my God, are you okay?”
She was okay, or at least she thought that she was okay but something was off.
“I…I…..” Avery murmured as she attempted to make words, the gibberish coming from her mouth sounding as if she were speaking in some foreign tongue.
As she tried to get up, she was shocked to feel her feet sliding against the tiled floor as Carmen took her up under the arms.
The Doctor Sneak Peek Page 4