Avery and Jenna Pt. 14

Pt. 14: Desolation

JUSQU'AU BOUTISTE

Avery was one of Carter's best friends, despite having only known him for a year. Given that, it was a big disappointment when he learned that Avery had resigned from Warren & Hines. The office was not going to be the same without him. Fortunately, Avery still lived in the same neighborhood, and he always carved out some time for lunch, a workout, or just lending an attentive ear. Carter pulled into the front of Avery's condo building, parking his blue BMW in an empty space, distanced very far from any other vehicles. The car was six months old and had already endured a series of mishaps, including some deep scratches and a broken brake light. Hearing the alarm from his car and assured it was secured, Carter passed by Avery's much older vehicle on the way to the building. Like his, Avery's vehicle had been put through the ringer. That was par for the course. The surrounding neighborhoods were full of terrible drivers.

Before Carter could alert Avery that he had arrived, a short, young woman wearing a yellow sundress emerged from the building, holding the door open for him. Carter watched as she strutted towards a silver Audi. As she opened the car door, a strong gust of wind swept through the parking lot, hoisting her dress to her waist. It was only for a few seconds, but Carter noticed that she was wearing a carmine thong. The young woman quickly repositioned her dress below her waist and stepped into the car. Carter stormed into the building. As was often the case with Avery, Carter opted to walk the fourteen stairs to the second floor, rather than wait for the aging elevator. Opening the stairway door, there was a short hallway with one door on each side. Sitting perpendicular to that hallway was another hallway, peppered with apartment doors. Carter turned left and took short strides down the hallway. Avery's apartment was at the end.

Standing in front of the apartment, Carter noticed a collection of stabled papers taped onto the metal door. Carter did not stare at them for very long, but the word eviction was present, boldly, in numerous paragraphs. Pressing the button to ring the bell, Carter tried intently not to read the notice upon the door. It likely contained nothing but unwelcome news. Avery swung the door open seconds later. When he did, the taped paperwork descended to the floor at Avery's feet. Standing the same height as Carter, Avery was leisurely dressed, wearing a black gym shirt and matching black and silver shorts. He stared down at the papers at his feet for what seemed like an eternity before reaching to collect them. Carter did not immediately make any mention of them. Once they were gathered from the floor, Avery stepped aside, and Carter entered, passing Avery on his way into the apartment.

"Hey dude," Carter said. His blue eyes instantly noticed a massive collection of used dishes on the dining room table. Many of them were still soiled with uneaten food, some of which had begun to grow mold.

"What's up?" Avery replied, taking a quick glance at the paperwork he held. Like his friend, Avery's earthy brown eyes directly identified the word eviction repeated several times.

"Are you ready to go?" Carter questioned, turning to the living room. Surprisingly, the living room was clean. A slate grey sheet covered the long couch against the wall, along with a sunken pillow and Avery's navy-blue comforter.

"Yeah. Let me just get my socks and shoes on, and we can go," Avery said, slowly walking towards him. Avery's attention continued to be focused on the notice.

"You need to hire a maid," Carter joked, attempting to make light of the current situation. Avery did not answer him. A full minute passed before Avery gave him any acknowledgement.

"Yeah. I'm sorry about the mess. I just haven't been in the mood to clean lately," he said, tossing the papers onto his computer desk. Avery walked towards the bedroom and opened the door. In response, Carter snuck over to the computer desk and read more of the notice. It was not a threat of eviction, as he hoped; it was a declaration of eviction for failure to pay rent. Avery emerged from the bedroom, carrying a pair of black socks. Carter turned to face him.

"Hey, I saw the thing on your door. Is everything okay?" He asked while Avery clothed his large feet, one by one.

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine," he responded. Carter knew otherwise and did not understand why Avery was refuting it. Perhaps he was avoiding possible embarrassment.

"How's Jenna?"

"She's good. We talked yesterday. She'll be here tonight around eight. We're going to have dinner at the Curtain Call and just talk about stuff," he said, walking by Carter to the closet near the front door. Sliding it open caused sharp metal edges to shriek into the apartment. Reaching into the closet, he removed a pair of black and silver running shoes. Carter himself wore a pair of tan slacks, a red collared shirt, and a pair of brown loafers. He hoped that Avery would be dressed appropriately, as the restaurant to which they were going was of some repute.

"That's good. So, does it look like the two of you will be reconciling?" Carter questioned.

"It looks that way. I certainly hope so," Avery said, sitting in his computer chair. As he laced up his sneakers, Carter cleared his throat and looked back at the papers on Avery's desk.

"Is that what you really want to do? Get back together with Jenna?"

"I think so. I mean, yeah. We've had some productive conversations over the past months, and I think the distance has really helped us to work on ourselves," he said, finishing with one shoe and lacing up the other.

"And you're sure she wants the same thing?"

"She's been a little less committal to resuming the relationship, but that's how she was when we first started dating, so I'm not worried about it."

"Cool. Hey, do you mind if I grab some water?" Carter asked, pointing his finger to the kitchen.

"Yeah, go ahead," he answered. As Carter walked away, Avery called out to him.

"Wait! Don't use the Brita. That filter's, like, three months old. There's some bottled water in the fridge. Grab me one, too," Avery replied. As Carter strode towards the kitchen, his nostrils were assaulted by a multitude of unpleasant smells. The source of the odor was the sink, which was overflowing. On the counter tops were old boxes of pizza. Some of the boxes were only partially consumed. Carter sighed loudly, shaking his head from side to side.

"You should really think about getting a maid, dude," he shouted out to Avery. "I hope you're planning on cleaning up before Jenna gets here."

"I don't need a damn maid!" Avery responded. Opening the fridge, Carter was astounded at what he saw. Save for a few bottles of water, a very old half-empty gallon of milk, and an orange box of baking soda sitting in the back of the middle shelve, the refrigerator was completely empty. Pulling two bottles of water from it, Carter closed it and exited the kitchen.

"It looks like you haven't gone grocery shopping, either," Carter commented, turning the plastic cap on the bottle to break the seal.

"Yeah. I haven't really done much of anything lately," Avery replied. His eyes roamed the surface of his computer desk, searching for something.

"What are you looking for?"

"My wallet. It's not where I normally put it," Avery said. After peering into the cubby holes on his bookshelf atop his desk, Avery started shuffling things around on the desk, shoving the eviction notice onto the floor. Carter watched as it descended. Avery seemed to be completely uninterested in what it said, which only served to further concern Carter.

"Do you remember where you put it last?"

"I thought I put it right here," he answered, pointing to a spot on the bookshelf. "This is where I usually put it."

"Well, what did you do after our workout yesterday?" Carter questioned, walking towards the desk. To his right was a calendar, which had not been moved from February. Each day was marked out with a black X until Valentine's Day. That day was circled in red marker. After that, nothing. Carter removed the thumbnail holding the calendar against the wall. Skipping all the way to June, where the last week of May was also present, he nailed it back in place.

"I came home, showered, ordered a pizza and watched television until Jenna called, and she and I talked until I fell asleep," he said, opening the bookcases to search for his wallet.

"Do you think it's still in your car?" Carter asked, quickly finishing the bottle of water.

"Maybe, but I doubt it," he answered, dropping to his knees. Avery searched underneath his desk. It was unlikely, but possible, that his wallet had somehow fallen.

"I can go check your car," he offered, squeezing the plastic bottle in his hand.

"Yeah, that would be a big help. Just take my keys right there. There's a grey key fob you can use to get back into the building," Avery explained, pointing his long forefinger to a group of metal hooks underneath the calendar that Carter had just updated. Collecting the keys in his hand, he walked towards the door.

"I'll be right back," he said, opening and closing the door behind him. With the room divested of company, Avery rose from the carpet and walked into the bedroom, searching around the floor and dresser. No sign of it. Poking his head out of the room to verify that Carter was gone, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. Unlocking the screen, he quickly dialed Erin's number. The clock on his phone read 9:17 AM, and Erin was a morning person, so chances were good that she would be awake to receive his call. Her voicemail, not her, answered.

"Hello. You've reach Erin. I'm not immediately available to take your call. Please leave your name, number, and a detailed message, and I will return your call as soon as possible."

It was the first time that Avery dialed her number and she did not answer. Maybe her phone was dead or turned off. Moments later, the robotic female voice began to chime, running through the options he could use. He allowed the prompt to finish before he left a message.

"Hey, Erin. It's Avery. Listen, I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful evening last night. I had a lot of fun, and I hope you did as well. Also, I'm calling to see if I left my wallet at your apartment. I can't seem to find it. Give me a call back when you get this. Thanks! Bye!"

Ending the call, Avery placed his phone on his dresser and searched around the floor in the bedroom. Jenna's old clothes, which once littered the floor, were sitting in a plastic white basket. In the space formerly occupied by them were linens heavily soiled with bodily fluids from sex. Near the foot of the bed was a large collection of Avery's dirty clothes. He turned his head to the closet, where only a few of his garments hung. His wallet was, likely, not there.

*BUZZ, BUZZ*

Turning to his desk, he noticed the call was not coming from Carter or Erin, as he hoped. Instead, it was Janelle. Strange that she would be calling now. Normally, she would be two hours into her work day.

"Hey, Janelle."

"Hey handsome! How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I can't find my wallet, but I'm fine otherwise. How are you doing?"

"I'm good. I miss you. I haven't seen you in two weeks."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry about that. I've been busy."

"Do you maybe want to get together this afternoon?"

"I thought you had to work today," he said, walking back into the living room. Realizing there was one place he had not looked, he walked to the long couch upon which, three months ago, he, she, and Jenna made love.

"My office is closed on Memorial Day," Janelle's voice sounded from the receiver.

"Oh, okay."

"I didn't know if you were working today or not. That's why I'm calling," she said. Avery bit his bottom lip, realizing that he had not yet told Janelle that he was no longer working for Warren & Hines.

"No. No, I'm not working today, either," he said, tossing the sheet from the couch. Holding the phone with his left hand, Avery searched between the couch cushions with his right.

"Awesome! So, you're available today?"

"Yeah, we can get together this afternoon, but I already had plans for tonight," he said. After searching throughout the entire couch, Avery gave up the hunt.

"Oh," Janelle said, sounding dejected. "Well, can I come by after your thing? I don't mind staying up late if I can see you."

"It might take all night," he said, rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"Okay. So...I guess this afternoon it is, then. Is one too early to get together?"

"One may be a little too early. Let's say two o'clock at the Capitol Café."

"Uhh...Okay. I was hoping we could meet at your place, but that works for me."

"All right. I'll see you at two, Janelle," he said, sighing quietly.

"I'm excited to seeing you. It feels like forever since I last saw you," she spoke sadly.

"I'm excited to see you, too. I apologize if I don't sound as excited to see you as I should. I'm upset my wallet's missing."

"No, I understand. I'll let you go, Avery."

"Okay. I'll see you later, Janelle."

"Bye handsome."

Janelle ended the call. Avery felt a familiar throb in the back of his head. He had had four other bouts of fainting since that day with Erin. Fortunately for him, when he experienced them, he was within the safety of his apartment. The pain he felt in his head pronounced the beginning of each episode. Avery took some deep breaths and lowered his head. He found that doing so usually alleviated the pain he was experiencing. After a few seconds, the discomfort began to ebb. His thoughts turned, once again, to his missing wallet. Having exhausted all other possibilities, only two others remained. The first, and most probable, was somewhere in his car. The second was Erin's apartment. At Erin's staunchest behest, and the promise of anal sex, Avery spent the evening there. A detail he omitted when answering Carter. He left her apartment only because of a prior agreement to go out to brunch with Carter and his girlfriend, Alex.

Avery dialed Carter's number once the pain in his head had largely dissipated. Close to five minutes had passed and he had not yet heard anything from him. To his dismay, Carter did not answer. Avery sighed and ended the call. Where could his wallet be? He had gone nowhere and done nothing that could have caused it to be misplaced. Avery began to believe that the only place it could be was Erin's apartment. He phoned her a second time. Her voicemail answered the call without so much as a single ring. In lieu of trying a third time, Avery decided to type out a text message to her. The most likely scenario was, at some point between his arrival and the rough lovemaking session in which they engaged, his phone fell out of his pocket. Or he simply placed it down and forgot it. Avery stood and walked back into the bedroom to check his shorts from the previous night. Perhaps his wallet was there, and he merely forgot to remove it.

*BUZZ, BUZZ*

Avery checked the ID. It was Carter.

"Hey dude."

"I've gone through every place that your wallet could be, and I didn't find it."

"Hang on, dude. It might be in the shorts that I wore last night."

"If you don't find it, it's cool. I can spot you for brunch this morning."

"I know. I just want to search a little while longer because, if I don't find it, I may have to call and cancel my cards," Avery said. Stepping around the bed, Avery walked to the giant pile of clothes. Atop the pile was a pair of slightly wrinkled tan shorts. Spelunking in the pockets for a few seconds, Avery yielded nothing. Defeated, it was now a matter of hearing back from Erin.

"All right, it's not here."

"No worries, dude. I can spot you. Just pay me back later."

"Thanks. I'm going to use the bathroom, and we'll go."

"Hurry up. Alex made the reservations for eleven, and we're going to run into traffic."

"I won't take long," Avery spoke. Ending the call, he emptied his bladder into the toilet. As he did, Avery shook his head side to side. How could he have been so irresponsible? He was normally so safe with it. With no other places left to search, hearing from Erin was the only thing left to do. Maybe she was asleep; she had been fucked brutally, mercilessly hard last night, and begged for more the entire time. After a few shakes, Avery closed the toilet lid and flushed. Pressing down the plunger of a full-empty bottle of hand soap, he coated his hands. He turned on the water and guided them underneath the current. As he did, Avery eyed himself in the bathroom mirror. His scleras were the color of buttermilk. His face was overtaken by a full beard. Apathy, perchance sadness, prevented him from shaving. Despite his appearance, Avery he felt fine. Not even the news of his imminent eviction was enough to bring down his mood.

*BUZZ, BUZZ*

Before Avery answered the incoming call, which was from Carter, he dried his hands on the baby blue towel behind him. It belonged to Janelle, one of the many pieces of clothing she kept at his apartment. Because of her restrictive office hours, she slept over only on the weekends. Avery had become quite adept at balancing both girls. During the week, he would spend time with Erin. On the weekends, Janelle would drive to his apartment. He offered to drive to hers, but Janelle insisted, claiming that she needed to escape Baltimore. Admittedly, Avery was happier with Janelle, who only once asked for the commitment for which Erin constantly pestered him. Knowing that Jenna was returning tonight, he had no intention of fucking Janelle or Erin today. In fact, he intended to end things with them. Jenna had made it very clear to him that, if they were going to get back together, Janelle could have no place in his life.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Dude, hurry up and get out here!"

"I'm coming. I'm on the way now."

"That girl from our job is here!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Erin, I think her name is. She's here right now."

"What do you mean, she's here?"

"She just pulled into the parking lot, and she's carrying a baseball bat."

"What?" Avery questioned. In the background, Avery heard the loud grunt of a female as she exerted a high amount of energy. The next sound he heard was that of glass shattering.

"What's that noise?"

"Dude, she's smashing up your car! Get out here!"

EBULLITION

Avery's breathing was shallow, and his vision narrowed, as he raced down the stairs to meet Carter outside. Before he could open the door to the first-floor hallway, a strong inclination for rest overtook him. Fighting through it, his large hand captured the doorknob. His grip was weak and unsteady; his knees buckled, and Avery fell backward. Catching himself against the wall, he slid to his left until he was able to come to rest on the second step of the stairway. Having experienced previous bouts of fainting before, he knew how to handle this one. Spreading his legs apart, his head dangled just above the level of his knees. His short breathing very slowly became longer and deeper. An odd rhythm drummed within his chest at a rapid pace. Steadily, each of the symptoms of a fainting spell passed, and Avery regained control of himself. Once the moment had passed, he hoisted his earthy brown eyes to the doorknob.

Had she learned about Janelle? Or his possible reunion with Jenna? During the past three months, his interactions with Erin had seldom been more than purely sexual encounters. To her credit, Erin tried to make each one something more akin to an actual date. An invitation to her apartment for dinner or to watch a movie would be the initial offer, but her plans would always disintegrate into sordid sexual sessions. In the past three months, Avery had managed to convince her to do things with him that gave her great pause, in places that would lead to legal ramifications if they were caught performing them. Like a generous queen, Erin granted his wishes, and once they were finished, smiled and thanked him. He knew she would not simply walk away without a fight. Finally recovered, he stood and calmly walked into the hallway. Afraid of relapsing, he took his time to the front door, concentrating completely on his breathing.