Just before lunch, Ave arrives with pizza and beer; man, I love this woman. After devouring the pizza, we decide on a lazy day at home before our dinner date tonight, where I surprise Avery with new a dress and more lingerie from Agent Provocateur. I take her back to Rococo’s and just like our first night here, we have an amazing time. Followed by an equally amazing sexy night in bed when we get home.
The next morning, Avery is up before me and I’m pleasantly awakened by the smell of breakfast. She cooks us pancakes and we eat naked on the couch, watching another of Avery’s all time fav movies, Empire Records.
It’s the perfect Sunday morning until Avery receives a call from Baylor. She stares at her phone for a few moments before she takes a deep breath and answers, putting it on speaker.
“Hey, Bay.”
“Avery.” Her tone is curt and rude.
Then it's silent, I can feel the tension building in Avery from where I’m sitting next to her. I take her hand in mine and gently squeeze, giving her the courage to go on. She takes a deep breath. “What do you want, Bay?”
“Wondering where you are? Are you with Cress commiserating over the demise your relationship with Flynn?” she says, her voice laced with such venom.
“No, I’m not.” Avery defiantly replies, her voice strong. “Actually, I’m at Flynn’s right now. I’ve spent the weekend with him.”
“Even though he cheated on you?”
“He didn’t cheat. He told me nothing happened between you two.”
“Of course he’d say that, he’s—”
“Bay, stop with the fucking lies. I’ve had it. Just stop.”
“Enjoy it while you can, Ave. You won’t get your happily ever after…mark my words.”
The line goes dead. Looking over to Avery, I see that she’s gutted. Wanting to distract her, I tell her to go get changed. She slips into her jeans that I love and a dark pink off-the-shoulder sweater thing.
We head to my car. “Can you tell me where we’re going?” she begs, as we pull out of the underground parking garage.
“Don't you want a surprise?”
“Kinda. Sorta. Not really.” She pauses. “Pleease tell me. I'll make it worth your while?” She suggestively raises her eyebrows at me.
“Lass, you’ll be getting sex when we get back, so that’s not really a bargaining tool at all.”
“Fine,” she huffs; crossing her arms across her chest she pouts like a child. It's cute but seeing her down cuts me deep.
“I hate seeing you sad like this so I’ll tell you,” I concede, and she instantly smiles. “We’re heading to the hospital to see Marvin. I thought a visit with him would cheer you up since he always manages to make you smile.”
“Ohh, Flynn, thank you,” she cheerfully says.
As soon as we step into his room, both of them light up and seeing the joy on her face warms my Irish heart.
We stopped at his favorite bakery on the way and grabbed a dozen glazed donuts before stopping at Starbucks across the road from the hospital for coffees. The nurse isn’t too happy to see Marvin shoveling a donut—it’s actually his fourth but from the scowl on her face, I won’t be bringing that up. “Marvin Marshall, you know that donuts aren’t allowed on your diet.” The nurse looks to me and now I’m scared. “And you, Dr. Kelly,” she points a finger at me, “should know better.”
Avery giggles from where she’s sitting and it’s nice to see her relaxed, so I take the verbal lashing with a grain of salt. If my girl is happy, it’s the least that I can do. Marvin manages to win the nurse over by offering her a donut. “You were a total heartbreaker back in the day, weren’t you, Marvin?” I ask, as the nurse walks out of his room, nibbling on her sweet treat.
“You betcha I was.”
He looks to Avery. “If I was forty years younger, you and I would have a ball together.”
“I’m sure we would,” she playfully replies.
Marvin looks to me. “You look after this one, she’s special. What she sees in a snoring freight train like you is beyond me.”
We all laugh, at my expense. And the barbs continue throughout the afternoon. We spend the next few hours playing cards with Marvin and listening to his wild stories. He’s lead an amazing life. We say our goodbyes and when we climb into my car, Avery looks to me, and hesitantly asks, “Can you, ummm, drop me home?”
“Ohh,” I say, deflated that she isn’t staying at my place again.
“I just want to grab a few things so I don’t have to rush in the morning.”
Relief washes over me. “Sure can, babycakes.”
“Babycakes, really?”
“Too much?”
“Just a little.”
We’ve just pulled up to her place when my phone rings and it’s the hospital. They are short staffed in the ER and need me to cover a shift. Reluctantly, I say goodbye to Avery, after getting her to agree to get her things and head to my place to wait for me. She climbs out of my car and I watch until she’s safely inside. Then I head back to where we just came from, but our plan doesn’t work out quite like we expected and nothing will be the same again.
28
Avery
Flynn has just left and I’m feeling pretty great right now, actually I’m more than great. I’m on cloud a billion at this specific moment in time. The afternoon with Marvin was just what I needed, AND I’ve decided the Bay issue is a non-issue. I’m not going to let her ruin this for me. I’ve never been this happy before and nothing, I mean nothing, is going to stand in the way of my happiness, and if I know Bay, that will piss her off more than rolling over in defeat. It breaks my heart that my own sister, my twin, is trying to tear us apart but if anything, her interference has brought Flynn and I closer together. So in a way, it’s a blessing in disguise.
What I’m struggling with is that she won’t talk to me. Something is up. Normally, we tell each other everything but at the moment, she’s a different person and I don’t like this version of my sister. Yes, we’ve always been different, but we’ve always had each other’s back and we’d never do anything to purposely hurt one another. I just wish she’d talk to me, I want my twinsie back.
Pouring myself a glass of wine, I think about Flynn and find myself grinning, like I do most times I think about him. We may be opposites in many ways, but I think that’s what makes us, well, us. We balance each other out, like yin and yang. He brings me out of my shell and I like the version of me that has surfaced. Without him, I’d still be shy and timid, but since meeting him, I’m a lot more outgoing and I’m happy, happier than I’ve ever been. I’m not going to let Flynn get away, if I have my way, no one is going to stop me from keeping my man. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m swooning hard for Dr. Kelly and for the first time ever, I’m not going down without a fight. I will fight tooth and nail for what’s mine, and Flynn is mine. I love him with all my heart and I’ll do anything for the man I love.
I just hope our love for one another is strong enough to weather any storm which comes our way. “Bring it on,” I say to the empty room, and I feel good saying this, even if it is only to myself.