Page 25 of The Woman

It hasn’t stopped her from coming in there and trying to do things for me, asking if I need anything, showing me a glimpse of a personality one second and then nothing the next. It’s a mind-fuck that I’ve stopped trying to make sense of. I have to be only projecting what I want to see.

She has also asked to accompany me to the office more than once, saying she could serve me better here. Of course, I said no.

The soft feel of her breasts and the heat between her legs, along with her sounds and the blissful look on her face as she came undone on my lap, has been playing on repeat every time I close my eyes. So, I’ve kept my eyes open and my mind busy, refusing to be consumed by my companion.

My phone vibrates against my chest, so I pull it out of my front pocket and accept the call as a welcome change to what I’ve been working on.

“Hello.”

“So I’m looking at these photos from last weekend, and I have to say, you put on a really good show,” Edison says through the receiver. “Almost too good.”

“What?” I think back to that night, and for a moment, I think he means what I did to Avery at the table. Dread fills my stomach at the thought.

“You with your arm around her and holding her close as you walk in. There’s one with you looking down at her as well. You made it pretty believable that there’s an attraction there and that you’re using her as a companion should be used.”

There’s a teasing lilt to his voice, and I try not to play into it, but I still end up defending my actions. “There were a lot of people around. I couldn’t give anyone a reason to talk.”

“Oh, cut the crap, Phoenix. You came barging into my apartment to take her away when you thought I was going to have sex with her. Just admit that it’s not as bad having her around as you initially thought.”

“It’s worse,” I answer.

He chuckles. “God, you’re a stubborn ass. You’re lucky I’m not upset at you for going back on your word. Anyway, I actually had a different reason for calling.”

“And what might that be?” I ask, taking a sip of my coffee.

“The new cabinets I ordered are in, so they’ll be getting installed over the weekend. We’ll need to move the poker game to your place.”

Shit, I had completely forgotten about that coming up. Once a month, Edison makes me join in on poker night with a couple of guys we went to school with to “keep my social life active.”

We usually alternate between my place and his since they’re bigger and more central to everyone.

The thought of having them around while Avery is there doesn’t sit right with me, though.

“Can’t we just change weekends?”

“No, it’s the only one we’re all free. I’ll bring–” A loud cluster of sounds hits my ear, followed by some shuffling, and I pull my phone away to look at the screen before returning it to my ear. “Sorry, I just dropped my phone. I thought my dad walked into my office, and I jumped about a foot. I’m supposed to be making some calls for him. But it was just Charles bringing me some papers. I need to get going, but yeah, I’ll see ya then.”

He hangs up before I can say anything else, so I toss my phone onto the desk, exhaling a heavy breath. I guess I’ll just have to make Avery stay in her bedroom.

Shuffling myself forward again, I close out of the emails on my screen and look for the file I need to work on next. My eyes flick to that little icon in the corner of the screen that has taunted me all week. Seconds pass with me staring at it before I finally give in and click on it. This time, when the prompt to log in comes up, I type in my details and hit enter. Next, I click on the live feed for the camera in the top corner of my living room. For a while now, I’ve been curious as to how she spends her days.

The video pops open, and I see her immediately, lying on my couch. I lean closer to the screen, watching as she tosses a pillow into the air above her and then catches it over and over. That’s odd.

Finally, she stops, gets to her feet, and fixes the cushions to sit from largest to smallest. I squint my eyes at the screen. I thought it had been whoever brought her from the facility that day, but thinking about it now, they’ve been arranged that way every day. I was just too distracted to pay much attention to it.

Avery stands there, looking around the area, tapping her bare thighs like she’s wondering what to do. I haven’t gotten new clothes for her yet, so she’s still wearing those too-small shorts and tank top.

Deciding on something, she walks to the corner of the screen where it shows half of the kitchen and disappears from view. I stare at my laptop, waiting for her to return to see what she’ll do next.

Walking back onto my screen a minute later, she holds a bag of potato chips in one hand while placing a chip into her mouth and then walks over to the shelf where I keep my poker set.

I watch as she takes the set out, then drops to her knees by the coffee table and pours the poker chips out. She then proceeds to make patterns with them, lining them up in order or making images and then rearranging them.

My eyes stay glued to the screen, somewhat riveted by her curious behavior. A couple of minutes later, she places the poker chips back into their respective rows in the case and then puts the case away. Obviously, she’s done this before. She knew exactly what was inside the set.

She does that same glancing around the area thing she did earlier, and then her sights land on my piano. The already accelerated beating of my heart increases speed as I watch her slowly walk over to it and then take a seat on the bench. I suck in a breath, holding it in my lungs as I watch her lift a single hand and run a finger along the keys, back and forth. I release the air in a puff of disbelief when she actually lifts her other hand and begins playing.

From the movements of her fingers, I can tell it’s a song and not just random notes.

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