AVOIDING COMMITMENT (Avoiding #1)

Chapter 1-2

She could practically feel him cringe through the phone. “I know you’re busy, but I thought that maybe since school wasn’t in session, you might be able to take some time off.”

“Actually, I’m interning. I’ve been working my ass off all summer. I don’t even know if the firm would give me the time off,” she said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize,” he said quietly. “I guess I’ll have to tell her you weren’t able to come. Let me know if you happen to change your mind. It really would help me out immensely.”

Jack had a talent for making her feel bad about the decision she made, especially if it wasn’t directly in his best interest.

“I’d really like to help,” she said, lying through her teeth. “There’s just no way that I can get the time off, and anyway I couldn’t afford the flight.”

“I wouldn’t make you buy your own ticket,” he added hastily. “You would be doing me a huge favor. Of course, I would take care of you, uh, it…the ticket.”

“Oh.”

The last time she had seen him he was just out of college, poor, and practically starving for a job. Of course he would be doing significantly better financially two years later. Unlike her, sitting in a hundred thousand dollars of student loan debt with a year left in school.

“I guess I’ll let you get back to your morning. Sorry for waking you up so early. You have my number now,” he said as if that solved all the issues. “You can call me if you want.”

“Right. Okay. Thanks.”

“Later.”

“Bye.”

She hung up the phone, closing it with brutal force. Somehow, she restrained herself from flinging the stupid thing across the room. She was so angry and worked up and also terrified he would never call again. Too many emotions were roiling through her body right now, so she did the first thing that came to mind. She added Jack’s name into her contacts.

Despite the nagging urge to erase his number, all recollection of the phone call, and him.

Lexi ground her teeth in frustration. She couldn’t believe that after all of this time, this was why he was calling her. He called her, because he was in love with another woman.

She shook her head hoping she could wake herself from this nightmare.

When that didn’t work, she pushed herself off the ground, careful not to put too much weight on her sore toe, and stalked out of her bedroom into what only a resident of New York City would consider a living room.

Dusty wood floors creaked as she walked to the kitchen to brew the pot of coffee she so desperately needed. After Lexi poured herself a mug, she leaned back against the cool counter and ran her fingers through her brown matted waves. Her laid back Saturday had gone from relaxing to a spastic panic attack in the span of a fifteen-minute phone call.

She thought about it the whole time she drank her steaming coffee, took a quick shower, and slicked her long hair into a high ponytail. But still her mind wouldn’t shut up. So, she threw on a pair of Nike shorts, a flimsy black tank, and a pair of running shoes. Making her way back into the kitchen, she poured the remaining pot of coffee into a traveler’s mug and scribbled a quick note for her roommate since this was the one morning she had actually woken up before her.

Lexi trekked on auto-pilot across town, haphazardly knocking into eager tourists staring skyward. She remembered being one of those clueless people when she had first arrived in town. Now, she could navigate the city nearly as well as any homegrown New Yorker, except for her best friend, Chyna.

Who was precisely the person Lexi was after as she meandered down Park Avenue on the way to the Upper East Side. It always baffled her that her best friend was wealthier than she would likely be in her lifetime. But they got along, and Chyna didn’t seem to mind the financial discrepancy.

Lexi and Chyna had met nearly two years ago, standing in line at a nightclub. Well, Lexi had been in line. Chyna absolutely refused to be subjected to waiting outside, when there was fun to be had on the inside. Lexi was next in line, wearing a scandalous outfit more fit for her home in Georgia than fall in York. She had been freezing her ass off for the past hour, when Chyna arrived at the front entrance, gliding out of an onyx Mercedes, and directly through the rope.

Having seen one too many of these girls flounce into the club in front of her, Lexi began throwing a fit, yelling about another skanky w***e taking her place inside. She didn’t even care that the bouncer looked like he was itching to kick her out of line.

Surprisingly, Chyna stopped in her tracks, turned toward her, and asked her what she had said. Lexi repeated herself, smiling through chattering teeth the whole time. The bouncer’s eyes had bulged at her comments and tried to remove her from the line, but Chyna put her hand out, stopping him in his tracks. She then demanded he allow Lexi inside. Ever since that night, they had been all but inseparable.

Lexi planted herself on the front steps of Chyna’s apartment building, smiling at the doorman. “You’re here early, Miss Lexi,” Bernard said, opening the door for her.

“Yeah, I had a pretty shitty morning to be honest, Mr. B.”

“I’m sure it was nothing you can’t handle,” he said with his ever-enthusiastic smile as she stepped across the threshold.

“Thanks, but you give me too much credit,” she said. “Chyna upstairs?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Alone?” She threw the question over her shoulder.

He smiled that all-knowing smile and winked at her. Lexi laughed, wondering if Chyna ever slept alone.

Lexi took the elevator to the top floor, listening absentmindedly to the classical ballad playing through the speakers. After exiting, she located the door to Chyna’s apartment, slid the gold key into the lock, and twisted it. Swinging the door open, she smiled inwardly at the new renovations Chyna had effectuated into her foyer.

Her taste was constantly changing, and with a trust fund hovering somewhere around the nine-digit range, why not adjust your life, home, and wardrobe whichever way the wind blew. In square feet, the living room alone was larger than Lexi’s entire residence. The pure white carpet was pristine. The only contrast to the white was the original oil paintings Chyna collected while traveling throughout Europe.

Advancing across the room and through the arching hallway, Lexi made her way to Chyna’s bedroom. She cracked the door open and peered into the expansive space to see if Chyna did, in fact, have a companion in her king-sized, four-poster bed.

“Chyna,” she whispered into the darkness. “Chyna. Wake up, chica.”

A deliberate grunt sounded from the other end of the room. “Go away.”

“Get your tiny ass out of bed! Is there someone in there with you? I’m not afraid to do jumping jacks on your five million thread count sheets,” she taunted with surprisingly more enthusiasm then she thought she was capable of that particular morning.

“You wouldn’t,” a muffled cry emanated from the darkness.

“Come on. How well do you know me?” Lexi questioned.

The covers flew to the foot of the bed, and Chyna sat up grudgingly, swishing her glossy black hair over one shoulder. “All too well.”

Lexi pursed her lips with envy as Chyna slung her long olive-toned legs over the edge of the bed and hopped down. With the genetics of an Italian supermodel, Chyna was enviable from head to toe. Chyna felt more comfortable sauntering around in skimpy lingerie than probably anyone else in existence. But why not? Her flawless complexion had never seen a blemish. Her large emerald eyes were almost always smoky and seductive. She was one-hundred percent her mother’s daughter in appearance, and her father in personality, which explained why she didn’t get along with either.

When she was in high school, Chyna’s parents had made a public mess of their divorce, spreading their personal affairs all over the tabloids. Chyna had never known why they had gotten so angry with each other. She had known since she was ten years old that both of her parents were having affairs. But now, her father couldn’t look at her, and her mother couldn’t be around her.

“What are you doing here so early? Unbelievable, Alexa,” she chided, using Lexi’s full name as always. “You know I need a minimum seven hours of beauty sleep or I look like s**t all day. Do I look like I went to bed at midnight?”

Lexi smiled at her. Chyna looked like she had never gotten less than seven hours of sleep in her life. “Oh wow, I’m sorry,” she said in mock repentance. “You look like an ugly old hag this morning. Perhaps you should sleep for another three hours.”

“You’re right.” She nodded. “I’ve only been sleeping for four hours.”

Lexi sighed dramatically. “The world will end.”

Chyna poked Lexi’s shoulder playfully. “Shut up, you.”

“Bernard mentioned there was someone with you?”

“What do I pay him for anyway? I threw that boy out hours ago,” she said. “Now, what in the world are you doing here so early? Our hair appointment isn’t for a few more hours.”

Lexi brushed the fly-aways behind her ear anxiously, a clear indicator of her anxiety.

“Oh God, it’s a boy,” Chyna squealed in excitement. “Tell me everything!”

Chyna always got excited when Lexi mentioned a new guy. Mostly, Lexi figured because it happened so infrequently. Every now and then, she would go out on dates with guys from class or someone Chyna recommended, but it never worked out. When it came to her luck with men, Lexi preferred to avoid the situation entirely.

“Well, it’s kind of a strange story,” she began. Chyna nodded enthusiastically, bouncing on her toes in anticipation. “So, you remember Jack?”

Chyna’s faced clouded over and a crease formed between her eyebrows. “Oh no, not him. Please tell me this has nothing to do with him.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Lexi asked, strangely enough, finding herself getting defensive.

“Alexa, Alexa,” she scolded, “do you not remember yourself after that boy left?”

Lexi did remember. She could still feel it every time she thought about him. When she stumbled across a picture of them together or passed a particularly cozy looking coffee shop, she remembered it all like it was yesterday. Only in the past six months had a numbness started to take over that feeling. Sometimes it still hit her fresh nearly two years later. She was amazed she had turned him down over the phone. If he had called for anything else, she was certain she would have crumbled.

“Yeah, I remember,” Lexi said softly.

“Well, then, why would you bring him up?”

“He called me.”

“And?” Chyna asked with a look of firm protectiveness.

Lexi sighed, and then quickly gave Chyna the run down on the mess Jack had gotten himself into and what he had requested of her. She forced all the words out in quick procession, not allowing Chyna to get in one word edge wise. When she finished, she breathed out heavily and looked up to find Chyna staring at her curiously.

Somewhere throughout her story, Chyna’s features had changed, softened. Lexi wasn’t quite sure what it meant.

“You turned him down?” she asked clearly surprised.

“Yeah, I did. Aren’t you proud?”

“I think you should do it,” she stated simply.

“What?” Lexi asked, bursting from her comfortable lying position on the bed. “This morning is just nuts. Jack calls, and then you, of all people, tell me that I should go visit him and meet his fiancée?”

“Fiancée-to-be,” Chyna quipped.

“Whatever! Just explain this to me. Why should I go see him? Nothing good ever comes out of me being around him. I know this and you know this. The whole world should know this. Give me one good reason I should go see him.”

“Closure.”

“I don’t need closure,” Lexi stated stubbornly.

“Come on. Honestly, Alexa. I’m not sure you have ever gotten over this guy. You need to move on, but how can you do that, when you’re still hung up on a guy you haven’t heard from in two years? Oh wait, you can’t! You need to go to Atlanta, meet this girl, tell her exactly how much of a scumbag Jack truly is, and then get the hell out of there!”

Lexi hesitated and then nodded seeing her logic. “Maybe you’re right.”

“No, I know I’m right,” Chyna said. She hopped off the bed and moseyed into her walk-in closet, as if that ended the discussion.

Lexi stayed seated, considering Chyna’s argument. The girl had a point. After everything she had gone through with Jack, maybe this was exactly what she needed, even if it wasn’t necessarily what she wanted.

Still undecided, Lexi joined Chyna in her closet. As Chyna chose something to wear, Lexi remained lost in her thoughts. She knew that Chyna’s statements made sense, but how could she ever face Jack? Once Lexi had realized who was on the line, she had nearly hyperventilated. How would she react when she saw him in person? She really didn’t know, but she didn’t think she could turn down the opportunity to see him either.

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

“I knew you had it in you,” Chyna said. “Now, go make that phone call while I fix my hair and makeup.”

Lexi gulped. She had agreed to do it; now, she had to calm herself down enough to make the call. Her palms felt slick with sweat as she sat down at the mahogany writing desk and pulled her phone out of her black handbag.

She worked up the courage to press the button, and then immediately hung up. Her hands were shaking so furiously, she nearly dropped the phone. Taking a few breaths to try to calm down, she punched the send button again. Listening as the phone rang twice nearly unnerved her, but then the line clicked over.

“Lex,” Jack said surprised. “I didn’t expect to hear from you.”

“You implied,” she began, her voice cracking slightly with the effort of staying calm, “that I could call you.”

“Sure. I said you could call me. I just never thought you actually would.”

“Yeah, I’m full of surprises.”

“Always were,” he said quietly.

Lexi sighed before venturing forward. “My internship ends in two weeks. I will probably be coming to Atlanta to see my parents after that. So, I guess, what I’m trying to say is that I’ll do it. I’ll come see you…and meet your girlfriend.”