The Angriest Angel

Chapter 30

Avery asked Chase to drive.  It was late and she was tired, both emotionally as well as physically. 

But that wasn't the only reason.

She found it difficult to avoid his questions while driving, feeling prisoner to the task and too vulnerable to his probing inquiries.  Besides, he had been dying to drive her car since the day they met, claiming that his ADHD made it impossible to sit in the passenger seat.  It made for an easy sell.

She leaned her seat back and closed her eyes, hoping the semblance of rest would discourage him from asking about what he had just witnessed.

Both Nathan and Lafaye expected her to keep Chase at a distance from their affairs, but how?  He was undoubtedly going to press a variety of issues over the coming days, some of which he hadn't known prior to dinner tonight.  Adding a strange language to the mix didn't help matters, and Avery's unwillingness to lie made it impossible to see a way out.

Feigning sleep seemed to work.  Chase left her alone, and the soft rumble of the moving car lulled her into a sweet and peaceful silence.  Nobody wanted anything from her at this moment.  She didn't have to lie, deceive, or pretend.

Her peace was short-lived though, broken by muffled tones coming from the purse at her feet.  However, the sounds from her phone beckoned to an unwilling audience.  She ignored it and kept her eyes closed, fully intent on letting whoever it was go to voicemail.  It wasn't until she felt Chase grasping for her purse that she snapped herself awake.

He had one hand on the wheel and the other digging around in her purse.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He glanced at her innocently.

"Sorry," he said.  "I thought you were asleep."

"So you thought you'd answer my phone?"

He laughed, "No!  I was going to silence it."

"Oh."

"Sorry, Ocean Eyes."

"It's okay," she sighed, a bit embarrassed at her overreaction.

She sat up a little straighter and decided to check the call.  She took her phone and saw Cadence's name shining through on the bright screen.  Avery tapped the return call button and flipped her hair away from her ear.

Cadence answered immediately, and blurted, "What is wrong with you?"

Avery blinked, ignoring the question.  She idly wondered if Nathan would silence her phone if she were asleep.

"Tu autem ibi es?"

"I'm here," Avery answered, her attention snapping back.

"I know you are unable to speak freely, but why did you make Nathan yell at you?"

"Make him yell at me?"

Cadence rephrased her question, "Did Chase ask about it?  Did he ask what the words meant?"

"No."

"Well, that's good," she said.  "What did you do, anyway?  He seemed so upset."

"Why do you automatically assume that it's something I did?"  Avery asked.  "Did it ever occur to you that Nathan made a mistake?  It can happen, you know."

"Yes, I know," she admitted.  "He made a big one, dropping English—in public!" she sighed.  "He felt horrible after you left, Avery.  He thinks that you are upset with him."

"I'm not upset, just a little disappointed," Avery answered.  She tried to choose her words carefully, conscious to the fact that Chase could overhear her end of the conversation.