Lie of My Life

14 Vicious Cycle

Our week in the mountains flew by much quicker than I had thought and we soon found ourselves returned to our normal lives by the end of the weekend. We had all been so exhausted from our weeklong attempt at relaxation that we had gone our separate ways and straight to bed when we had returned on Sunday night.

But now it was Monday morning and I was dressed and ready early to return to the grind. I'd gotten a call over the course of our vacation and, despite Emma's rule on cell phone banning, I was glad I had answered. It was the journalist from the magazine that had reached out before. She wanted to schedule an interview now and would be in town this week to do it. So I'd let Mindy find a time to set that meeting up. Unfortunately, it seemed bright and early Monday morning was the only time I'd had available in my busy week back.

So I was walking into the office now, coffee in hand, as I lifted my sunglasses atop my head and nodded at the receptionist. Mindy was at my side before I even left the lobby.

"She's here," my assistant told me. "Her name is Carol Morris. She's middle-aged, vegan, extremely new age and-"

"I prefer to feel these things out myself, Mindy," I told her and she nodded, promptly shutting her mouth as we came to a stop in front of the conference room this journalist was to be waiting within. "But I appreciate the thorough report."

She smiled as I wrenched open the door and stepped inside.

"Miss Morris," I sang out in welcome, approaching the woman sitting at the table, wire-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. "It's so wonderful to finally meet you. I'm honored to have been chosen as a subject for your article."

"The subject," she told me as I set my coffee down and took a seat across from her. "The only subject."

I cocked my head to the side.

"I thought this article was about women in business," I said.

"It is," she answered. "But it's a series of articles, each of which will focus on a new woman. You're the first."

"Well, then, I'm even more honored."

She smiled.

"Let's get started, shall we?" she asked and I nodded.

She began with a series of questions about the business itself. Profit margins, ROI, future financial decisions and the impact on the community, paying special attention to the young age at which I'd managed to establish such a business. Then she moved on to the more personal, asking me questions that ranged anywhere from my management style to my hobbies and what I enjoyed doing on weekends.

"One more question," she said after over an hour of questions that had felt sometimes grueling and sometimes more like casual conversation. "It's been said that Country Vibes is a family business. Would you say that's the case?"

"Well, I would say it is insomuch as my friends and family make up a broad portion of the workforce here. But those we hire that aren't friends or family quickly become so. We're a tight knit operation and, even though our charter says corporation at the top, Country Vibes feels like a family to me," I told her and she smiled at my response, quickly jotting it down before nodding, closing up her notebook, and getting to her feet.

"Thank you very much for meeting with me, Miss Collins," she said, reaching out her hand to shake. I did. "I think this promises to be a very wonderful article indeed."

I thanked her for coming and showed her to the door before taking a deep breath to calm the nerves that had been building all morning in anticipation of this interview. Then I turned on my heel and headed back into the office to begin my true work. I passed Emma's desk on the way to my office and paused at the sight of a dozen red roses in a pluming bunch atop it.

"Ava!" Emma cried as I passed. "Look what Shane sent!"

"They're beautiful," I told her and I truly couldn't help but smile at the way she beamed just looking at the flowers.

"Find a good one, Ava. It's like nothing you can even imagine."

She didn't mean it to be anything but inspiring but I couldn't help the pang of jealousy I felt as I faked a smile and walked away to my office. It shouldn't have meant anything. They were just roses, flowers set to die in a week's time and be forgotten forever despite the longevity of the sentiment. But still. She had flowers. I did not. And, though I was happier for my best friend than I could possibly say, a little part of me wondered why I shouldn't have flowers too and I found myself asking, not for the first time, just what this was between Carter and I.

Though none of those intrusive thoughts kept me from letting him into my apartment when he came late that night. None of them kept me from kissing him or undressing him or falling into bed with him that very night either. We had gotten ourselves into a cycle. One which we would have the most amazing time together and then I would wonder what it all meant the entire time we were apart. It was a vicious cycle but not one that I was willing to disrupt just yet. So it wasn't a surprise to find myself waking up next to him once again the next morning.

What was a surprise was the ferocious knocking at my door that woke us both up. In a sleepy haze, I glanced over to Carter but he only shrugged in confusion of his own.

"Ava!" a familiar voice called then and my drowsiness was gone in a moment, replaced by a wild panic when I heard the doorknob turning and Emma stepping into my apartment.

Wide eyed, I leapt from the bed and put my finger on my lips to tell Carter to be quiet as I quickly pulled on a robe and rushed to the door.

"I brought bagels and coffee," Emma was saying when I exited my bedroom, careful to close it tight behind me so that she couldn't see beyond. "Mindy said you hadn't come to the office yet."

"What-" I glanced to the clock. Ten am. "Oh sh- I overslept."

I ran a hand through my hair and Emma smiled.

"Clearly," she nodded at my disheveled state. "Is there a fun reason why or..."

She trailed off, raising a brow and eying my bedroom door behind me.

"No," I snapped, a bit too quickly. "I- thanks for the breakfast. I'm just going to get cleaned up and I'll meet you at the office."

"Okay," she answered, not quite believing me and still smiling. "So you didn't do anything last night."

"No. Nothing. I did nothing."

She nodded her head but was still smiling when she left my apartment, promising to attend my eleven o' clock meeting in my place if I hadn't managed to make it in by then. I sighed when she was gone, throwing my head back as I relaxed from nearly being caught.

"Nothing," Carter said from behind me. I turned around to see him exiting my bedroom, fully dressed as he slid his belt through the loops in his jeans and fastened it in the front. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair and I was momentarily distracted from my anxiety. "Is that my new nickname?"

He winked. I rolled my eyes and turned to head to the shower, though I didn't miss the way he grabbed half of my bagel and took a big bite on his way out of my apartment. And, with that, the wondering and the questioning of our relationship started up all over again and I found myself looking forward to the next night together and the next part of the cycle.