Numinous

Eleven

Friday came too fast. Avery had been sleepwalking through the week and waiting for it to be over, but now that it was here, she was unprepared. She was excited to see Benj, but she had run into an issue. She didn’t have anything to wear to a fancy ass restaurant. She didn’t have any nice clothing, and although she knew it was antiquated and unnecessary, she wanted to look nice for him. Benj had done nothing but give her gifts and kindness, the least she thought she could do was meet him halfway and look like someone he could be with.

She wanted to be someone he could be with so very badly.

She had pulled money from her teddy bear before work and was planning on walking down to the thrift store on the corner and shopping around for something that didn’t look like she was homeless. She was prepared for what she thought would be another average day in hell for her, but when she got to work and entered the break room, Jason had been waiting for her, lurking inside the room like a shadow, waiting for her to turn on the light and discover him. It was like she couldn’t get away from him. He was always finding new ways to rub against her or brush past her or feel her up or whisper in her ear. He was always there. Always just over her shoulder.

He had harassed her yet again. He had been doing it periodically since their first run in. She didn’t know what she could do to get him to stop, but it seemed that perhaps he was doing it out of pure enjoyment. He liked to make her uncomfortable. He had pressed her against the wall the time machine was hung on and his body as he threatened to take her right then and there if she kept looking at him. He told her she looked at him like she wanted him to destroy her.

She hadn’t looked at him at all.

She didn’t know how else to explain to him that she didn’t want him, and that he was better off looking elsewhere. She didn’t even know if he would care, or if he would go on threatening her and hurting her like she didn’t matter at all. It was even worse knowing that Lacey had a thing for the creep. She didn’t want to get on her bad side, but she didn’t know what to do with the man.

Her shift ended and she could not leave the building fast enough. She even managed to dodge Allen all day which was a huge accomplishment. “Going somewhere?” Avery turned toward the sound of Lacey’s voice. She had reached up to grab her jacket from its hook right inside of the small, cramped break room. Avery sneered at her and turned back around, placing her hood on her head, pulling her own jacket tighter around her.

“What?” She asked. Lacey had been a b***h to her all day—she really didn’t have the patience to play nice at the moment. She had already clocked off of her shift and was headed straight for the door before anyone could ask her to stay late or before Allen snatched her into his office. Out of sight, out of mind

But unfortunately, Lacey had been up her ass all day long, asking about what she and Jason were talking about in the break room. Avery didn’t have any reason to be talking to Jason. She didn’t care about him or like him in any particular way. If anything, she hated him. She hated the way his eyes raked over her as if her body was ripe for the taking. As if she would fall to her knees at his feet if he asked her to. She knew he only had sinister intentions when it came to her and she wanted to stop it before it began, but that was impossible.

It began even before he confronted her in the supply closet. She knew that Jason was close to Allen. Maybe even closer than she suspected. Avery knew that Lacey had a thing for Jason and it blew her mind how someone could be attracted to someone so sleazy and gross. Jason was inappropriate and a complete asshole, especially to the women who worked here. She knew why he was hired—Allen liked that about Jason. He liked how disrespectful he was. She had heard them talking back in Allen’s office a few days ago about Jason stepping up to man the store when Allen takes his trips out of town to attend to his various other businesses.

He was being groomed for the number two position and Avery wanted to warn Lacey about liking a guy like that, but Lacey had been a cow to her and it made her give up and look the other way. She wouldn’t invest herself in caring about what happened to her coworker if she couldn’t compose herself every time the man she liked even spoke to another woman. It was childish, but Avery didn’t expect anything less from the other woman.

“Are you going somewhere?” She asked her again, moving to stand in Avery’s way of the door. She sighed and answered the woman, even though she wanted nothing more than to push Lacey down and leave anyway. “Why does it matter to you, Lacey?” She asked. She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Well, I was hoping to talk to you. Maybe we could hang out? What are you doing right now?”

“I’m sorry, but this is weird. We don’t speak to each other if it’s not at work, and last time I checked, you were a complete b***h. So, tell me again why you want to hang out?” Avery didn’t want to seem confrontational but she didn’t understand why she chose today to try and hold her up. She actually did have something going on today, for once, and she was already stressing about not being able to find a dress to wear tonight for her date with Benj.

She also didn’t want to be late, and she was sure that wasting any more time with Lacey here like this was going to put a damper on the rest of the day. “Look, I know we’re not that close, but I don’t know, I’m trying to be nice.” Avery sighed. She didn’t want Lacey to be nice to her, she just wanted to be left alone. There was absolutely nothing she wanted from her. Absolutely nothing.

“I’ve got somewhere to be; I don’t have time for you to discover being nice.” Avery tried, looking for a way around the other girl, but she had placed her hands on her hips and was standing at an angle in the doorway. She was afraid that if she tried to push past her, she might start a fight, and she really didn’t want to have to defend herself against Lacey. She was pretty awful when it came to physical violence. She usually just curled into a ball and waited for it to be over.

“Oh, great, I’ll tag along.” She said with a smile. Avery just knew she wasn’t going to take no for an answer then. She was determined to go with her. She knew it was only to interrogate her about Jason and she really couldn’t handle that. “I’m going to the thrift store, Lacey. Nothing too exciting about that. Would you move out of my way?”

Lacey stepped aside and let Avery lead the way out of the building then, falling into step beside her as she tried her best to lose the other woman. But she wasn’t so lucky. Lacey followed her to the traffic stop and even pressed the crossing button for her. “So, what were you and Jason talking about this morning?” She asked her.

“Nothing, Lacey. Absolutely nothing. He was being an asshole and wouldn’t let me clock in, so I told him to eat a dick.” The light changed and Avery began to cross. Lacey began to follow, and Avery had half a mind to push her down in the street. “But I saw the way he looked at you. I saw him grab your ass.” Avery rolled her eyes. “So what, Lacey? Did you see me smack his hand away? Did you hear me tell him to go f**k himself? I don’t want that creep. Why the hell are you following me?” They had made it across the street and the lights changed back, traffic beginning to flow again. Avery had missed her chance to make Lacey’s death look like an accident.

“Stay away from him, Avery.” Lacey told her in a dark, low voice. She was threatening her. She was actually threatening her over a man she had just told her she had absolutely no interest in. She didn’t know what it would take for her to get it through her head. She didn’t know if she had to write it in her own blood and get it notarized, or if she had to chop off her arm in order to prove herself, but it was exhausting. Today was exhausting, and all she really wanted to do was see Benj. That was all she ever wanted to do these days. She resented the fact that she couldn’t do what she wanted when she wanted to. If it were up to her, she would be at Benj’s side all day every day.

Avery turned toward the other woman, exasperated. “I will gladly stay away from him. Will you stay away from me?” Lacey smiled at her. “Of course I will. Wouldn’t want to catch any of your diseases. I just wanted you to know that Jason is mine and you need to keep your slutty filthy hands to yourself if you expect us to be friends,”

“I don’t want to be your friend, Lacey.” She told her with irritation. She turned to continue walking, hoping Lacey would fly away in the wind. “If we aren’t friends, we’re enemies, sis. You wouldn’t want to be enemies. I’m really good at being petty.”

“You’re really good at being corny. Get out of my face, Lacey. I’m busy.”