Chapter One
Avery
The morning sunlight pours through my bedroom window and hurts my tired eyes when I first attempt to open them. I’m seriously not ready to be awake. Sighing heavily, I cover my face with a pillow. I stay this way for a minute or two wishing I could just sleep the day away, and wishing even more that my waking hours could be more like my dreams. I toss the pillow aside and sit up.
Unsurprisingly, the spot in bed next to mine is empty. It has been for a few weeks now. My soon to be husband, Adam, hardly sleeps with me through the night anymore. When they gave him his promotion we were overjoyed. God knows we need the money. Since then, though, he’s been bombarded with work, work, and more work. I try my best not to let his distance bother me. I know he’s got a lot on his plate right now. He’ll settle into his new role soon enough and things will go back to normal.
An idea springs to life in my mind. Maybe he needs some cheering up. All work and no play is bound to drive a person insane, and I’m missing the happy, fun-loving man I fell in love with. We need to go out and do something. Get his mind out of the office and enjoy ourselves.
I stand, stretch, and grab a ponytail holder off of the night stand to pull my mess of auburn knots back into a loose bun. I hook my glasses on the neckline of my tank top and head downstairs.
Before I’m even halfway to the bottom floor of the townhouse, I can hear Adam’s voice shouting at the television.
“God DAMMIT! You stupid sons of bitches!” Oh great. This early in the morning and he’s already got video game rage. When I reach the bottom of the steps I turn to see him sitting on the edge of the couch seat, x-box controller in hand.
“Morning babe,” I say happily as I inch closer to him. His eyes say glued to the screen.
“Morning. Could you make coffee?”
Mentally I frown. He’s been awake how long already? He couldn’t make himself coffee? But physically I smile, lean down to kiss him on the cheek and cheerfully reply, “Sure.” I make my way into the kitchen and set the coffee pot up to make two cups, both of which belong to Adam. I like coffee, but I normally prefer to start my day off with an ice cold diet coke. I grab a can out of the fridge and insert a bright green bendy straw. Bendy straws make beverages more fun. “So I've been thinking,” I say between sips of my soda. 3 comments
“Really?” he questions, more than likely only half listening. He really gets caught up in these violent war games. I roll my eyes knowing he won’t notice. 2 comments
“I sure have. Why don’t we go out and do something fun tonight?” The coffee pot beeps to notify me that it has finished brewing. I pour Adam a cup and begin to add cream and sugar. “I mean, things have been so serious lately. You need a break.” I meander back to living room and place the mug on the coffee table in front of him. 3 comments
“Okay. Like what?”
“Oh. . . I dunno. There’s that new club that just opened. You could take me dancing.” I reply wiggling my hips. 3 comments
“Sure. Sounds cool.”
“Awesome. Wanna go to the mall so I can get a new dress?” The words ‘Mission Failed’ appear on the TV screen in bold bright red letters. He sets his controller on the couch beside him, rubs his temples, and sighs.
“Ave, it’s my day off, and you know how much I really really hate shopping.” He picks up his mug and gulps down some coffee. I sit down next to him and lean my head on his shoulder.
“Yeah, I know. I guess I can wear the black one.” The black one. The same dress I’ve worn to nearly every event we’ve ever been to in the past three years. I’m really growing tired of the black one. He gulps one last time and hands me his empty cup.
“No, babe. If you want a new dress you can go get a new dress. I’ll even let you take the credit card.” I sit up and face him with a smile.
“Really?” I beam. He chuckles softly.
“Only if I can get a refill,” he answers playfully pointing to the cup in my hand. I stand and salute.
“Yes sir.” Once his second cup of coffee is made and in his hand I head back up to my bedroom. According to my bedside alarm, it’s 9:45 in the morning. Surely Kurtis is up by now. At least I hope so. I don’t want to have to go shopping alone.
I pick up my phone, dial his number, and listen to the ringing. Please answer.
Kurtis
A loud vibration suddenly scares me out of sleep. I throw my arm up in surprise and smack my hand against the wall. Fuck that hurt. What is that? I listen for the sound again. Phone. That’s a phone. Where the hell is my phone? I quickly scramble out of the sheets and rummage through the mess on my nightstand. Nope. No phone. Shit. “Don’t hang up. I’m working on it.” I mutter to myself.
I stop and listen once again, more carefully this time so that I can pinpoint the exact location. “Aha. Found you.” There it lies on the floor underneath the magazine I was reading before passing out last night. The picture ID is of Avery, but the caller name reads ‘QUIT SCREENING YOUR CALLS!’ I laugh. She’s always taking my phone and changing things.
“Hello?” I answer groggily. Ugh. That was awful. I clear my throat to try and assure that the next time I speak I sound more like myself and less like the undead.
“Oh, Kurtis,” she sighs, “You were still sleeping, huh?”
“Yes, but that’s okay. I’m up now.”
“And you couldn’t find your phone, huh?” There is a slight hint of laughter in her tone. It makes me smile.
“True,” I reply, “but thanks to you I’ve found it now. So, what’s up?” She is quiet for a minute. “Ave?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about something.”
“Ha, that’s alright. Generally though, and I’m not sure if you knew this or not, but phone calls tend to require verbal communication. Just for future reference,” I tease.
“Hmm, is that so?”
“Yup. I could try to read your mind, but we might be on here for a while.”
“Smartass.” She retorts.
“As always,” I say smiling, “Now what can I do for you?”
“Are you busy today? Say no.”
“Hmm, let me check my schedule.” I check nothing. She and I both know I’m not organized enough to have any kind of written schedule. I only pause for what seems a decent amount of time before answering. “You’re in luck. Looks like I’m free.”
“Great, because you and I are going shopping!” She tells me excitedly. It is not a question. I sit back down on the edge of my bed and look out the window.
“Alright, then. What for?” Not that it really matters. I’ll go anyway.
“I need a new dress . . . and new shoes . . . and maybe some lingerie. Yeah, definitely some lingerie.”
“The fuck, Avery?” I groan.
“Ah, come on. Say yes. It’ll be fun. I get to take the credit card.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll go, but still. What the fuck? Why can’t Adam take you to buy underwear?”
“Day off! Hate shopping! War! Video games! Blah, blah blah.” She mimics comically.
I laugh. “Okay, fine. But you seriously owe me one for this.”
“Just get ready Kurtis. I’ll be there soon.” And with that she hangs up. This should be interesting, to say the least.
Avery
Is it bad that it’s so much fun to mess with him? His reactions always cheer me up. I honestly wasn’t thinking about making him help me shop for lingerie when I first called. The thought occurred to me, though, that maybe adding some excitement to our love life would help Adam relieve some of his stress. Hell, it’s worth a shot, anyway.
It might seem awful of me to put Kurtis through that, but he’ll do it for me. He’s my best friend, and I know that no matter how crazy, ridiculous, or awkward my schemes may be, he’ll be there to help me with them. Lucky for me, that’s just who he is.
By some awesome gift of fate, the man and woman who adopted Kurtis were good friends with my father, who raised me on his own after my mom left. I grew up with Kurtis. He’s like a piece of every memory I have.
He was there to save me from school bullies. In fact, he got suspended in the fourth grade for breaking Jimmy Little’s nose after he pushed me down in the playground. Nobody messed with me much after that. He was there for me when my dog, Freckles, died. I cried and cried and cried, but he stayed. Even helped Dad bury her in the backyard. He was there every birthday, every Christmas, every Fourth of July. He’s just always been there.
We know everything there is to know about each other. There’s no secrets or shame or embarrassment. It’s possible we’ve shared a little too much, really. When I got my first period, he listened to me complain about how terrible it was, and we both agreed he was super lucky to never have to go through anything like that. When he lost his virginity to Tracy Groves? I got to hear all about that, though I begged him to keep me in the dark. I was to pay him back about a year later with my steamy recollection of doing it in the back seat of Brent Gammon’s Mustang. The action took about thirty seconds, but I made sure the story took much, much longer. 4 comments
Anyway, that’s why Kurtis has to go shopping with me. Because he’s always been there, and I’m going to make sure he keeps being there, whether he likes it or not. I took a long hot bath last night before going to bed, so I walk to my closet door to find something to wear.