WITH YOU- I Never Had A Choice ✔️

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

DYLAN

Last night was helluva exhausting. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. To be honest, I was expecting this day to come but I can never be prepared for this. I just have to keep going. I've been up for ten minutes now, lying down thinking about all that happened in the last few hours which is a lot. It was too much to take in all at once with Avery sharing so much about her past and breaking down in my arms, it added more to the fiasco. However, I am glad Avery shared so much with me.

I finally remove the covers off my legs and leave the bed. It's already seven-thirty, I don't have to be at work until ten. As I close the door to my bedroom, my eyes fall right across the hallway on Avery's door. Before I can stop myself, I walk across and open the door. When I peep in, there is no one in the room, not even Bear who usually comes down every morning along with Avery when she leaves for work. Sometimes she takes him with her, sometimes she leaves him with Mrs Griffin.

There's sunlight coming through the two large windows, falling on the floor. The curtains are neatly tied to both sides of the window frame. Maybe she let Bear out...and she is in the bathroom? Before I can stop myself, a picture of Avery under the shower flashes under my eyelid. Damn! I quickly push it away and try to hear if the sound of water is coming from the bathroom. No, nothing.

Figuring out that she is already downstairs, I come down. When I reach the last step, I find the glass doors towards the yard open. I look out to find Bear running around in the sun, chasing a butterfly but my dear wife isn't anywhere around. It feels odd to be married to someone I didn't actually know. And even weirder when that someone turns out to be one of the closest people to you. Sometimes I like calling her 'wifey' to piss her off but in my mind, it sounds anything but funny.

I walk into the kitchen, Mrs Griffin is as usual at the stove making pancakes. "Good Morning," I wish her and sit down on the stool at the counter.

"Morning, " she greets me with a cheeky smile. I look around, bend back, trying to look outside the kitchen for Avery. "Looking for someone?" Mrs Griffin asks, with a smirk.

"Where's Avery?" I ask, ignoring her mocking expression. Like c'mon she is my wife, get over it.

"She left for work," she singsongs.

"Already?" It's too early for her to be at work. Usually, she leaves around nine. I don't know how far the hospital is from here but by the impression I've formed of her, she is punctual.

" yeah...maybe she had to go early..." Mrs Griffin puts the coffee in front of me and frowns but doesn't say anything.

"Yeah...maybe." I shrug. I pick it up and stroll into my office. It's at one end of the living room. I don't usually work from home but whenever I do, I prefer doing it in my office. I don't like mixing my personal life with my professional life. As soon as the thought crosses my mind, I get reminded of the wedding. Damnit! Did I really make a deal out of it?

Shaking off this stuff from my mind, I sit down at my computer. The desktop picture is of some foolish car, I don't even like it but it doesn't really matter. As I am about to click on the email icon, my eyes find a small file with the name wedding diaries. Out of curiosity, just, I open the folder. A bunch of pictures from our wedding day pops up. I remember receiving this file through email but I'm not sure why I kept these on my work computer.

Extremely unlike myself, I start looking at the pictures. Especially, seeing Avery in that white wedding dress, I couldn't help myself. I keep going until my eyes stop at one particular picture where I am putting the ring into Avery's finger. She is looking down at her hand in mine and my eyes are on her. I don't think I looked away from her face enough that day. Immediately, I set it as the desktop picture.