Page 13 of Edge of Desire

“Ava? What are you doing here?” That was the most unwelcoming welcome I’d ever heard.

I sputtered out a response. “Uh, I, ah, er.” My mouth had gone suddenly bone dry. He kept staring at me with that awful look on his face. “I mean, um …”

Caroline came to my rescue saying, “Justin, your sister’s taken a new job in Seattle. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Justin’s eyes widened to the point where I wondered how his eyeballs didn’t roll out. His light tan face turned pallid, and then positively ghostly. I hope my visit didn’t kill him because he appeared to be heading in that direction. That was my signal it was time to leave.

In a voice that wasn’t my own, I said, “Yeah, I, uh, I’ve taken a job with SoftwarePlus. I’ll be living out here. But I won’t be a bother to you. I just wanted to stop by to say hey. So, ‘hey.’” I bent my knees a little, held a hand up in the air, and did a little wave like Queen Elizabeth used to. I turned around to make a hasty exit, only I didn’t know how to get the hell out of there. So, I just walked. I went down one hall until I hit a dead end. I turned around and went down another hall where it did the same. I finally found an exterior door and walked out to their backyard that had the most magnificent view of the water.

Fuck it all, I can’t even make a decent exit. I wandered around the yard, thinking that maybe it would lead me to the front, but it was walled off. I turned around and slammed right into Justin’s chest and then fell flat on my ass. I immediately broke down and cried. What the hell was wrong with me?

He extended his hand and helped me to my feet. Then his arms went around me and he didn’t say a word until my tears turned into the sniffles and I was making those awful gurfing noises. It was the most awkward thing ever.

“Better now?” he asked as he patted my back.

“How can someone who sounds like this be better?”

“That’s what Caroline always says. But why the tears, Ava?”

“I was humiliated. You looked at me like I’d grown an extra head. I know I’ve grown an extra stomach and maybe some extra thighs, but I still only have one head.” I sniffed back another round of tears.

“I was surprised. You were the last person I thought I’d see today. And there you stood. I was processing. You haven’t been around me in such a long time. You’re not used to my goofy-assed looks, you know. They’re usually disguised by a surgical mask too. I’m gonna have to make a note of that.”

“You’re not mad that I’m here?” My voice got higher with each word and ended with a squeak.

“You thought I was mad at you?”

“Yeah.” I sniffed and rubbed the tears off my cheeks as I didn’t have any tissues.

“Of course, I’m not mad.”

“Not even for all of our past crap?”

“Oh hell, Ava, that shit is so old. It’s been long gone for me.”

“Really?”

“Really. So, Seattle, huh?” he asked with a huge grin.

“Yeah. You should’ve seen Mom when I told her.”

He pulled back and looked me in the eye. “You did it yourself, with no one running interference?”

“Sure did.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. My baby sister is all grown up.”

We walked back into the house, arm in arm, stopping at a bathroom so I could clean my messy face. I resembled a raccoon, with mascara under my eyes and down my face. My nose was as red as a clown’s too. I grabbed a bunch of tissues and rubbed the mess off. That left me without an iota of makeup. There was nothing to be done about it now. After I ran my fingers through my hair and straightened it out some, I walked out and rejoined my brother.

“Do I look okay … I mean my face, not the rest of me because, well, I can’t really do anything about that now.”

“You look fine and stop putting yourself down. You’re still my beautiful baby sister.”

“Stop. You’re going to make me cry again.”

He took a step back and asked, “Ava, what’s happened to make you feel like this?”

I shrugged.

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