[B.S. #1] Tied Up in Knotts by Dale Cadeau

thoughts, Avery made plans. She would have to leave and disappear again. Shit, she shouldn’t have spent her last paycheck on clothes but she had wanted to look nice for the office. At the diner with an apron on no one noticed what she wore and she had to admit she also wanted to look nice for James. She was so disillusioned.
    Tears started to drip from her eyes when she remembered last night and the tender care that James had took with his lovemaking. Angrily shaking her head and wiping at the tears, Avery gave a small laugh. Leave it to her to mess up. Well she would just have to put up with them for a little while longer until she had enough money gathered to allow her to leave. Pushing herself off the bench, she wearily made her way back to the office and her apartment.
    James watched as Avery came into the office with her head down. He had left his office door open just in case. He knew he had to do damage control. Getting up from his desk, he walked out and stopped her before she could reach the stairs to her apartment reaching for her arm he grabbed her and turned her to face him.
    “Is something wrong? Did I do something? Talk to me.”
    Avery looked at James with no expression on her face, just a very tight smile that didn’t make it to her eyes.
    “Nothing’s wrong, James. I’m just going up to change and get ready for a few errands I have to run.” She pulled at her arm, which James still held. “Please let me go. You are going to make me late.”
    “Avery, I’m not crazy. Something is wrong, and I want you to tell me. Is it about last night?” James was not letting her go that easy when he could see that she was deeply disturbed.
    “Why would you think that?” Avery rubbed at her arm that she had managed to get James to release. He hadn’t hurt her but she didn’t want his touch on her. Not if he was involved as she though he was.
    James gave an exasperating sigh. “I thought we clicked last night. I know something did for me, and I was hoping it was mutual.”
    “We had a great night, does that help your ego, James? Yes, it was a great night and we probably couldn’t duplicate it. So let’s move on.” Avery turned and headed toward the stairs. “Please leave me alone. I thought there was something, too, but it just didn’t click with me. Sorry.”
    James watched Avery climb the steps to her apartment.
    God, he had fucked up. Well, time to get his head out of his ass as Clay said. Opening Clay’s door, he said, “Well I finally pulled it out. Now help me to fix this? Something’s off with Avery, and I think we’ve become the bad guys.”

Chapter Twelve
     
    Up in her apartment, Avery went to the bedroom and pulled a dresser drawer open. In it she had placed everything she had of worth. Maybe there was something she could hawk. Pulling out the small jewelry box, she sat on the bed and opened it. Nothing much was left. A few medals from school and her beloved charm bracelet. Her mother had started it when she was born. It had a tiny baby, a cross for her first communion, a small pile of books for the first day of school. This was the only thing she had left to remind her of her mother and father. They had been good parents, she had thought until that faithful day in Florida. She just couldn’t part with it. It would have to be as a last resort to make her. Avery shoved it back in the box and closed the lid. No, she was stuck here until she could make some money. She would have to disappear far away, and even bus tickets were expensive these days. Sighing, she placed the box back in the drawer. Closing it she sank back into the bed and let the tears come. They wouldn’t help. She had to harden up, but she would allow herself this one weak moment.
    The next morning found Avery at her desk, her long blonde hair was up and she was back to wearing the long skirts. She knew she was being petty, going back to this way of dress, but she felt like it helped with the shield she was trying to build