Page 17 of Forbidden Letters

Avryl watches the host of the number one talk show in the United States call Axton “one of the hottest criminals she has ever laid eyes on.”

The host asks: “Be honest. How many of you in this audience right now would be at that jail—” and before she can finish her question, loud cheers applaud from the audience.

Some of the more eager women and a couple of men in the audience actually stand up.

“Alright, sit down,” the host says what Avryl is thinking out loud and waves her hand to dismiss the crowd. There’s laughter and giggles. The camera flashes on one woman with short blonde hair and wearing a black choker, fanning herself and saying so hot to someone beside her.

This is what he'll be coming home to, if he is to be released. Within a day, everyone talked about the multimillionaire owner of the start-up typ, in prison serving a life sentence for murder, potentially being released early. A zip of jealousy goes through Avryl. She knows Axton isn’t the type to be caught up in all the attention. Or, at least, she thought she knew. And somewhere inside, the thought comes to her that maybe this is the reason he wanted to push her away, so he could get out of jail and…

No.

He said his last letter was hard to write, maybe he…

No.

Mia eventually told her that she didn’t need to send a text everyday. At first Avryl had to explain to Mia that her building had a mail room and a mailbox where her mail was placed. Mia had never checked a mailbox a day in her life, so Avryl explained that she would have to get a copy of the key from her roommate.

Time had passed, and eventually, Mia knew the routine: get home from class, go to the mailroom, and check the mailbox. Then, send Avryl a text every day, no matter what.

From writing each other two page letters every week to complete silence. She’d put the letter opener she carried everywhere in the drawer with the others and just sat. And waited. Not to know if he would be released, but to hear from him.

When it was announced that Axton’s sentence was reduced to time served, the news didn’t even register to Avryl. There was no letter. Everyone was talking about his release from prison, except the sisters. There was no need to tell Lydia, Yasmin, or Luma to not mention his name. They knew. In private they could go on Twitter and check the #MANsonisout countdown, read the comments, watch the entertainment reporters speculate on what he will do when he gets out; how he’s going to make money, and which celebrity would be most likely to date him. But at Limelight and the loft, it is like Axton doesn’t exist.

This is painful for no one except Avryl. Her worst fears are confirmed over and over again with no word from him. She starts countless new letters. Some gentle, some laced with insults and swearwords. Each draft sits in a pile on top of the vanity table. He'll have to come to her.

“Hey boss?”

Avryl doesn’t look up when Kevan leans in the doorway of the office. She’s spent an hour online, looking at old photos of Axton and trying to match up the backgrounds. He has to be coming back to Manhattan, that much she knows. But none of the places he was photographed looks familiar.

“There’s a guy here for you…”

Her ears perk up, but she immediately calms herself down. That couldn’t be him; the news he was being released just came out the day before.

“Won’t say much more than his name is Larry.”

“Larry?” Both sisters look at Kevan, and he winces.

“Should I tell him to fuck off?”

Nayomi rolls her eyes and pushes away from her desk.

“You coming?” she says to Avryl.

“I guess so.”

“No, Kevan, put him in the storage room. We’ll be there in a minute.”

They wait until Kevan leaves before moving over to the window. Just over the ledge, they can see Kevan’s dreads. Behind him, a head of blond hair, made lighter with streaks of silver.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Nayomi asks no one.

“Never mind that; how did he find the place?”

“Is he carrying a…”

The sisters lean forward to get a closer look at the object in his hand. Black leather with gold-trimmed pages.

“Ah, just the two daughters I wanted to see,” Larry says when they walk through the door Kevan holds open.

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