Demons at the Door

Confronting.

I don't miss the slightly panicked look on Avery's face when I fly through my front door and close it behind me. Her eyes look at me, wide before shooting across the room to the signs of the twins busy and playful morning. 

"I swear, I was about to clean it up." She says, knowing my niche for a clean home. 

But right now, I don't care for the Lego pieces thrown across the carpet, the crayons littering the coffee table, pieces of paper spilling off the edge and onto the carpet or the fact that there's a juice stain on my carpet.

"It's fine." I answer, pulling a smile. "I'm just going to take a shower." 

She blinks as confusion takes hold of her features, but she nods and I head off to do just that.
As soon as I get into my bedroom, I pull Zak's clothes off my body and throw them into the basket before tugging my robe around my body. Selecting out clothes, I dump them onto my bed before stomping my way through the apartment and shoving his clothes in the machine. 

The sooner I returned them, the sooner I can forget he ever existed. 

"Riley... Are you okay?" Avery asks popping her head around the kitchen doorframe. 

"Absolutely." I smile at her before looking at the fridge and the photo of myself and the twins. "Where are the girls?" 

"At a friends house, I have to pick them up in..." She pauses to look at her phone. "An hour."

"Great, we can go for dinner after."

She nods. "Yeah, we can totally do that. If you are sure?"

"I am. I'm good." I smile before slipping out the kitchen and heading to the bathroom to shower.

Everyone says the most thinking is done in the shower, and once upon a time, I would have believed them, but today I did my utmost to turn off my mind and concentrate on getting in, getting washed and getting out. 

With a pair of jeans and a white strap top with lace details, I leave my room with slightly damp hair and pick up my over the shoulder bag before looking at Avery. "Ready when you are." I tell her, I notice the lounge is tidy and give her a smile. 

"You're coming with me to pick up the girls? I thought I would pick them up and bring them back here."

I frown. "No need to. I'm ready now."

"You don't feel sick or lightheaded?" She asks making me pause as I put in a pair of earrings. 

"I never-"

"Zak has called. He um... He wanted to speak to you." She admits.

I keep my features even and nod slowly in understanding "Did he?"

She nods.

"I'll ring him later. We ready to go then?" I lie again.

"Uh, sure.." She says, following me out.

With the Vegas sun having blazed down all day, the concrete beneath my feet still felt warm as well as the air. It was a pleasant evening, only to be made better when we picked the girls up and went out for pizza.

Being outside was always a major win for me, I loved being out in the fresh air after spending a day with cleaning chemicals, which is why we decided to eat outside, where the girls could also play on the jungle gym and we could watch.

Throughout the meal, I had felt Avery watching me, taking in every breath and move I made, until finally I had to address it.

"Are you going to sit there and watch me all evening?" I ask turning my eyes in her direction.