Catching Avery

by M. E. Clayton

  I absolutely hated that this guy knew the girls liked to sing karaoke.

  Sensing that we were at the end of our ropes, Julian stood up, clearly indicating that this meeting was over for us. “That sounds like a great idea. That, along with the plus one, should ensure a great time for everyone. Thank you, also, for volunteering your time to this event. It’s bound to be a success.”

  Chase and I both looked up at Julian stunned. I think this is the first time he’s strung together so many sentence to a group of people in ages.

  Everyone stood up when Chase and I joined Julian and it took everything I had to shake hands with everyone when I was feeling anything but cordial and professional.

  “Great! Thank you gentlemen, so much, for this opportunity. We still have some things to discuss, but-”

  I stopped Mrs. Jackson from continuing and probably tanked Avery’s reputation in the process. “We understand that your team has a lot of planning to do, but I need to speak with Avery, Mrs. Jackson. That is, of course, if you can spare her for a few minutes.”

  You could hear a pin drop in the room at my blatant unprofessionalism.

  Avery finally graced me with her acknowledgment and her eyes were on fire. I had to give her and Quinn both credit. Neither woman was calling me out on it.

  Steve-The-Asshole was the first to come out of his stupor, but it was probably because he was at The Shack last week and sensed something was up. “She’s all yours, Mr. Savage.” He turned towards the group. “Why don’t we check out the conference rooms downstairs to get layout of how we should proceed.” He looked over at Avery “Just meet us there when you’re…uh, you finish up here, Avery.”

  In a muffled chorus of ‘sure’, ‘yeahs’ and ‘great idea’, everyone made their way out of the conference room. What surprised me the most was that Quinn walked out with them, granted she was giving me the stink-eye as she walked out, but still. Only Chase and Julian had remained.

  She second Avery heard the click of the door, she let loose on me. “Are you out of your fucking mind, Nicholas?!”

  I was.

  I really, really was.

  Chapter 18

  Wrath: Because you should follow the chain of command when you’re fucking your way to success.

  Nicholas~

  I knew I should apologize to Chase and Julian for my behavior. No doubt they stayed behind to try to curb the gossip some. Avery could still spin this into a work issue if all three bosses had requested an audience with her. However, right now, their deserved apology took a back seat to my issues with Avery. “Care to explain what the fuck you were doing with that guy?”

  And before anyone starts throwing stones, I do know the definition of the word ‘hypocrite’, but right now I didn’t give a fuck.

  She didn’t answer. Instead, she pointed at Chase and Julian. “You guys better see to this. You’re dear friend is in obvious need of some serious mental health.”

  I had hit my max. Between Donna always haunting me, Katrina’s bullshit yesterday, fighting with Avery last night, causing issues between Julez and Isabella and then walking in here to see some random guy have his hands on Avery….I. Was. Done. “I’m fucking serious, Avery!” I roared.

  I felt Julian and Chase tense behind me. They knew me well.

  Her expression of utter shock was quickly replaced by anger. “You have a hell of a lot of nerve.” She stalked towards me until she stood right before me. “You just had your hands on some bitch’s tits yesterday and offered no explanation, but you’re going to question me about some dancing?!”

  I zeroed in on her. “We already went over that bullshit.” And then I cocked my head to the side when sometime occurred to me. “Oh, I see. Is this your idea of a little payback?”

  Her spectacular silver eyes rounded. “Are you for real?”

  “I didn’t hear you put a stop to his suggestion about you being his goddamn plus one, Avery. What the fuck was that about?” I felt like my blood was trying to burst out of my body, it was boiling so badly.

  She threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “He was making a suggestion, not asking me out on a date, for Pete’s sake!”

  “Well you could have told him your boyfriend might not like it.” And because I was so angry and needed more things to aim my fury at, I shouted, “Quinn, too! How is she going to let that tool put his arm around her, while Chase is sitting right across from her?!”

  “You are unfuckingbelievable! He had his arm around her chair, you psycho!” I was about to respond when she went in for the kill. “Besides, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  I felt my body coil up. My blood went from running boiling hot to cold as ice. “So, random guys are just free to dance with you and ask you out because of a nonexistent label?”

  She laughed. I was seconds away from tearing this entire building apart and she was fucking laughing at me. “Awe Nicholas,” her voice took on a sickeningly sweet tilt, “It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I was not fucking around with him. I haven’t been with anyone since I first met you at Xavier’s. I haven’t wanted to be with anyone else since I first met you.” She took a step back. “Either you believe me about what happened today or you don’t.”

  I’ll never be able to tell you what came over me when she threw my words back in my face, but Julian could see the madness as soon as it had descended because he tried to stop me. “Nick…”

  “I will not stand by while you play with whatever man happens to be nearby.” I ignored her stunned silence. “So, do whatever the fuck you want. But a word of advice, Avery. Next time you’re supposed to start at the bottom and then fuck your way to the top, not the other way around.”

  “Dude, Nicholas, come on, man,” Chase finally intervened.

  The connection to my face was so final, I was certain everyone in the building heard the slap.

  I had to turn my head to look back down at her since the force of her hand snapped my head sideways, and the sight before me was the most hauntingly vision of perfection I have ever seen in all my life.

  Avery’s beauty in her rage was unworldly.

  I lost all touch with reality as I went at her, but I was caught up in Chase and Julian holding me back. “Nick! Stop it, man!” Julian tightened his hold on me, while Chase jumped in between me and Avery to create some much needed space between us. Apparently the knowledge that I was coming after her, and the only thing stopping me was Julian, didn’t seem to faze her. She was busy trying to get around Chase to confront me.

  Chase finally stepped to the side, but he held on to her arm to make sure she didn’t get too close to me. Her beautiful face was flushed and her eyes were glossed over with hate and unshed tears. She tried to make her small stature as formidable as she could. It didn’t work standing next to someone as big as Chase, though. “Fuck you, Nicholas! Don’t you ever fucking come near me again,” she demanded. “And in the future, if there is something pressing that is work related, I’m sure my boss, Mr. Moretti, can handle it or even Mr. Alexander. I went three years here without ever coming in contact with you, so it shouldn’t be a problem to stay out of each other’s way for another twenty!”

  She yanked her arm out from Chase’s grasp and stormed towards the door. She pulled the door open so hard, I’m surprised it stayed attached. She slammed the door shut behind her, but not before she left me with one last shot to the heart. “And just so there are no accusations of company misconduct in the future, I’ll make sure the guy who’s fucking me tonight doesn’t work for SMA!”

  I let out a snarl so vicious, it took both Chase and Julian to keep me from going after her. “Avery, get back here! Avery!”

  Julian started shaking me. “Nick, man! Stop it!”

  Chase was right there with him. “What the fuck is your problem, dude?”

  I tried to break free from their hold, but those assholes were strong. “You fuckers can let go of me now.” When they wouldn’t budge, I added, “I’m not goi
ng to run out after her. I swear.”

  They slowly released their hold on me, and I’m not going to lie, a part of me wanted to tear out of here, chase Avery down and drag her the fuck back by her hair. But I’d already caused enough trouble for Julian and Chase with my mental fracture.

  “What’s going on, Nick, I’ve never see you lose your shit over a female before?” Chase wasn’t lying. No woman has ever turned me into a raving lunatic before.

  I sat down in the chair nearest to me and propping my elbows on my knees, I dropped my head into my hands. “I don’t know, Chase.” My entire body shuttered with the deep breath I let out. “I don’t know what I’m doing with her.”

  Julian was the most emotionally handicapped out of the three of us, so it shock the shit out of me when he Dr. Phil’ed me. “She’s attracted to the man you are now, Nick. Learning about the boy you were isn’t going to change that.”

  I took my head out of my hands and looked up at him. “You sure about that, Julez?”

  He shrugged his shoulder. “Even if it did, you aren’t giving her a fair chance.”

  “So, you’re telling me Isabella knows the stories behind all your scars?” I looked over at Chase. “Are you prepared to tell Quinn all the gory details of your childhood if you ever land her?”

  Julian answered first. “It’s not the same thing, Nick. Isabella and I didn’t get together because I was playing a role in fulfilling a fantasy for her. Isabella knows I’m serious about her. The only reason she’s not wearing my ring and pregnant with my child already is because I don’t want to scare her off.”

  “Look, Sav, I can’t say what I’ll do or won’t do with Quinn because I can’t even get a date with her, much less pin her down. But if she caught me in a compromising situation, I’d like to believe I’d do whatever I can to reassure her.” Chase just shrugged his shoulders.

  I stood up. “And how do you guys feel about me sharing your childhoods with her? How am I supposed to explain who Katrina is without having to go into details about Donna? Those details include you two fuckfaces, too, you know.”

  Isabella must have really done a number on Julian because it was all so easy for him. “If you actually care about her and she’s not just a hot piece, I wouldn’t care. My demons are powerful enough without me letting them destroy your or Chase’s happiness, too.” I just look at my friend. It wasn’t fair that a person so good was tormented by so much bad.

  “Come on, man. You know how I feel about our childhoods, but I’m with Julez on this one. If she matters, then I’d deal, dude.”

  “I don’t know guys.” I sat on the edge of the table, gripping the edge hard enough to scratch the wood finish. “Seeing Katrina yesterday fucked me up. It’s like she took my hand and personally led me back to that goddamn apartment with my goddamn mother.” I let out another breath. “It felt…it feels like if I don’t talk about it, then it didn’t happen, so it won’t exist and therefore, Avery can’t be tainted by any of it.” I shook my head. “Fuck, I don’t know.”

  Chase threw his hands up. “Okay. I gotta ask. It needs to be asked.”

  I raised a brow. “What?”

  He threw Julian a quick look before answering. “What are you going to do if this isn’t just a fight?”

  I stood up and folded my arms across my chest, bracing myself. “What do you mean?”

  “He means what if she’s serious about you staying away from her,” Julian clarified. “What happens if she doesn’t give you a chance to fix this?”

  “Fuck that shit.” I could feel myself glaring at them. “This isn’t all my fault, you know. She should have trusted me. I’ll admit it didn’t look good, but I never gave her a reason to doubt me.”

  “Get the fuck out of your head, Sav! I know you haven’t had to answer to a woman since you were ten, but, seriously, Nick? What would you have done if you had walked in with her hand down some guy’s pants and she told you to bounce because she was in the middle of something?” Chase posed.

  I gritted my teeth at the image he painted, but that didn’t change the fact that she should have trusted me. “You know what? I don’t need this shit. I’ve known the girl for two fucking weeks. I’m not going to strip myself raw because she can’t leave well enough alone.” Julian and Chase were looking at me like I was a wounded tiger at the zoo…warily. “If she can’t trust me, then there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  Chase narrowed his eyes at me. “I know you guys talked last night, but does she know that you use to fuck Katrina when we were kids? Does she know we all did?”

  I knew where he was going with this, but I wasn’t going to lie. “Yeah, I told her. I mean, I didn’t tell her that you guys did or that she was neighborhood friendly or anything. She asked if I had ever slept with her and she insisted on an answer.” I ran my hands through my hair, ready to tear it all out. “I wasn’t going to lie to her.”

  “Well no wonder she’s pissed, Nick. What if you caught her with her ex half-naked?”

  “Fuck,” Julian muttered. “I fucking told you guys this was going to turn into a goddamn disaster.”

  I couldn’t blame him. I knew he was concerned on whether or not his hold on Isabella was strong enough to withstand this shit storm between me and Avery. “Look, let’s just let this go for now and get the hell out of here. The weekend should give us all time to calm down.”

  They didn’t look like they believed me, but we all filed out of the conference room, nonetheless. I’m not even sure if I believed myself, truth be told.

  And I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do if she made good on her threat about fucking someone who wasn’t me tonight.

  I think I’d murder Katrina, Donna and the entire Deep East with my bare hands if she did.

  Avery~

  I was hurt, angry and confused. It was the only excuse I had for sitting here in my car in front of my parents’ house. Their party was tomorrow, but if I didn’t think I was strong enough to withstand their anniversary before this crap with Nicholas, I sure as hell couldn’t now.

  After sitting in my car for about fifteen minutes, I finally found the strength to get out and go to confront my ghosts. Maybe it was selfish of me to choose now to do this, but I didn’t care right now. Nicholas had torn me to shreds. I still firmly believed I deserved a full on explanation about who that woman in his office is to him, but he was partly right. I probably wouldn’t have trusted any explanation he gave anyways.

  I walked into my parents’ house and found my mom in the kitchen preparing dinner. “Hey, Mom.”

  She yelped as she turned around, her hand on her chest. “Oh my god, Avery,” she let out a settling laugh. “You startled me.” I always thought my mother was beautiful. She was the same height as I was, but that was the extent of our similarities. She had brown hair with hazel eyes. My brother took after her in looks, where I took after my father. “What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

  It was almost six in the evening and she was busy preparing dinner, but she looked like she just finished getting ready this morning. Her make-up was flawless and her hair was immaculately styled to perfection. Her outfit was still pressed and it looked smart and classy on her. The vision of her looking so put together sent me into an awful, awful spiral of dark emotions.

  “Avery, what’s wrong?”

  I guess I wasn’t doing a great job of schooling my features. “Why did you take him back, Mom?” Her face fell at my question, but it didn’t deter me. I needed answers. “I never asked before because it was your marriage. I didn’t think it was any of my business.”

  “And now you think it is, fifteen years later?” She countered.

  “Yes, Mom, I do.” This conversation was going to be hurtful and nerve scraping, so I didn’t sit. It somehow didn’t seem appropriate for me to get comfortable. “It’s my business because it’s affecting my personal relationships. Eric cheated on me, and while I was hurt, I wasn’t surprised. I met a guy a couple
of weeks ago and already he had his hands on another woman, and I wasn’t surprised.” She averted her eyes from mine while I confessed my issues. “I realized I never truly trusted them to begin with and that’s not fair to them or to me.”

  “Avery, I’m very sorry for how our choices may have negatively impacted you, but what happened between your father and myself is still very much our business and ours alone.” She turned her back on me to continue with dinner.

  “Seriously? That’s it?” If I wasn’t steaming before, I most definitely am now. “I tell you I’m having problems and that I’m hurting and all I get is, shit’s none of your business?” Apparently, in her world, being a better wife took precedence over being a compassionate mother.

  She whirled around at my use of the word shit. “You’ll watch how you speak to me, Avery. No matter my choices, good or bad, I am still your mother and I always did what I thought was best for you and this family. You’re mistake is in coming into my home and thinking you can disrespect me, young lady!”

  “I’m disrespecting you by asking you for an explanation about something that damaged all of us? Well, damaged all of us except for Dad of course. I mean, he got the sweet end of the deal.”

  “Avery! That’s enough!”

  I turned around at my father’s voice. He had some fucking nerve. “Is it, Dad?”

  “If you have something to say, then say it to me. Your mother does not deserve any backlash from you about what I did fifteen years ago.” He looked ready to go to battle for my mother, but I wasn’t buying it.

  “How great it must be for you to be able to pick and choose when to be a model husband. Way to come to her defense just now, Dad.” He looked like he wanted to slap me. “So, tell me this...does she know?”

  “What is this about, Avery? Why are you choosing the day before our party to bring this up?” He walked around me to go stand next to my mom and that just pissed me off more.