Mrs. Avery

Chapter 12

James rejoined Agnes at the table and they both tried their hardest not to acknowledge what had just occurred. After a moment, James cleared his throat and began. "So the biggest concern for us is probably work?"

"I think so," Agnes responded following his lead.

"I work odd hours. Usually 12's from 5 to 5 Monday through Thursday, but I also work outside of that... a lot. I have a conference this fall, but this should all be sorted by then."

"I'm looking into sitters with Larry unless you already have someone in Nile?"

"No, Momma Jo had them and then my parents helped quite a bit, but they can't anymore."

"Is everything okay with them?" She asked. She had only heard that they weren't well, but no real details about it.

"Dad is having some health issues is all and they just can't keep the kids."

"I hope things get better. I'll work it out to get a sitter then, most likely in Paxon, if you're okay with that so I can drop them off on my way to work."

"That's fine, but I'd like to know about the sitter to make sure they're safe. And then just let me know how much or we can set up an auto payment from my account."

"I can cover the childcare cost." She paused. "I know a residency doesn't pay all that well."

"I can take care of my kids." He said quietly.

"I know. I'm just trying to help. What do I need to do for you to understand that?"

He didn't react. He just looked at her. Her hair was still damp and he remembered the first time she showed up at college after they had broken up.

~~~

They hadn't seen each other in a few months when he reached out to her. She had told him to experience college (basically fuck around with other women) and he would realize how happy he was to be single, but instead he had texted her and told her that he hadn't moved on and had no intention of moving on.

Two days later, she knocked on his door and shuffled back and forth while she waited. What am I doing? She asked herself. This is wrong. I should leave. She shuffled again uncomfortably and started to shake slightly. She couldn't tell if she was that nervous to see him again or if her wet hair had dripped too much on her clothing and was making her cold. She started to inch backwards away from the door. No one was coming and she shouldn't be here anyway. She turned her back. This was stupid and selfish. Tears started to slip from her eyes.

The door popped open. James stood in the doorframe with a half eaten piece of pizza in his right hand. He was about take another bite before he opened the door to see the back of her head. "Agnes?"

She whipped around and rushed over to him. She had her hands around the back of his neck with her body against his and her mouth on his lips. She pulled back as soon as she realized what she had done. There was shock on his face. He didn't know what to do. She shook her head and tried to step away.

"I'm sorry." She said with fear in her eyes as she pulled back from him. Self-loathing quickly followed. She knew this was wrong when she left her apartment that morning... she knew and she did it anyway.

She started to take a step back but his arms wrapped around her and pulled her against him. He pivoted and pinned her against the door jam. He took his free hand and put it on the side of her face as he kissed her. He pressed himself against her. His body responded immediately to her. Every touch, every kiss felt like some kind of drug. Immediately washing away his old fears that he might never be with her again in any capacity. The shaky hysteria that seemed to run through her body now seemed to ball up into a knot low between her hips. She tried to pull him in closer so he pressed harder, so much so that she could feel the wood from the door jam digging into her back, but she didn't care. She didn't care because she needed this and the sensation across her body was far greater than all the ache. The knot that had built up between her hips got even tighter, but she couldn't imagine how. She pressed back into him as best she could one more time and felt the slow pulsing start.