KEEP CALM AND LOVE ME

Chapter 2

The glass of wine in Avery’s hand successfully calmed her down. She felt a lot more like her normal, cheerful self, who was ready to not bite off Patrick’s head for being late by half-an-hour for their rendezvous over the net. As she finished the glass in her hand with a big gulp, Patrick face suddenly appeared on her laptop’s screen. “Hiya Preston!” He wheezed. Avery raised an eyebrow. “What the hell happened?” She asked, with concern.

“Nothing, nothing. Just had le sexy time with Ashton, that’s all” He said.

“Oh, okay. Wait, WHAT?” Avery almost choked on her second glass of wine.

Patrick just grinned. “You heard me.”

“Patrick, does it ever occur to you that sometimes, just sometimes, you might be sharing a little too much information with me? She sighed, but the corners of her mouth were tugged upwards. Patrick grinned wider. “Nope” he said, shaking his head vigorously, a boyish gleam in his eyes. Avery just burst out laughing. “Patrick, Patrick, what the hell would I do without you?” she said, dreamily.

“Nothing, that’s what. With that being said, why the hell do I not get any holidays?”

“Patrick, ‘sexual exhaustion’ is not a valid reason for a holiday. You’ll just have to use the other hand” Avery said, smiling acidly.

“Woman” Patrick said, rolling his eyes and drawling the ‘n’, “Unlike you, I actually have an active sex life. I don’t need my hand. Or do I?” Here Patrick stopped to think. “Nope, I don’t” he said smiling broadly, “I have my mouth.” He waggled his eyebrows up and down. Avery just doubled over with laughter. “Patrick, I love you, so fucking much” she managed to stutter out in between her laughter. Patrick just laughed along with her. “Yeah, just remember that the next time I need an afternoon off to watch the Knicks” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “Sure” she said. “Now, shall we start rearranging my schedule?”

Patrick seemed surprised. “Is that why you wanted me online? But why? We just finished working your schedule out last week!” he said.

Avery furrowed her brows. “I thought you knew! Liam invited me to his brother’s wedding. So I’m flying from here to Miami on Wednesday, and I will be back on Sunday. I need to rearrange my appointments.”

“Wait, Liam as in Liam Carver? That guy from the California Rehab Centre?” Patrick asked. Avery just nodded. “Whoa whoa... When did you guys get so close?” Patrick asked his eyes wide. Avery rolled her eyes, “Ever since we met at the Annual Convention for Addictions! So, Patrick Samuel Stuart, I bestow upon you the honour of informing my patients about my non-availability.” Avery smiled a smug smile and pretended to bless him. “They have my personal number which they can use during emergencies. I’ll Skype if necessary” she said. Patrick looked confused. “Wait, you never go to most weddings. Why is this one different?” Avery sighed and said “Because... he’s my friend and, you know, I don’t know him well enough to say no.” She blushed.

Patrick raised an immaculately groomed eyebrow. “Since when did you give a shit about social etiquette?” he asked. “Ever since you became such a nosy parker” retorted Avery. “Daaarling” Patrick drawled, “You lost the right to complain ever since you were best man at my wedding. Now, spill.” He grinned. Avery shrugged. “I don’t know why, Patrick, but I think I should go. I like Liam, I’ll admit it, but I don’t think anything will come of it. At the same time, there’s something inside me which tells me I should go.” She sipped her wine resignedly.

Normally, Patrick would’ve ridiculed the notion of intuition, feeling and urge. However, having worked with Avery for three years, he knew how much credibility he could give to her inner voice. She had chosen to follow, in the case of quite a few patients, what her nudges had told her rather than stick to guidelines. And each and every one of those times, she’d immerged successful. She’d never cared about how much he, or any other employee, had jested about her methods. She’d done it all without giving a two shit flying fuck, and in the end she’d won. That was why, when Avery told him her reason for attending the wedding, he didn’t question it. He just slowly nodded his head. “Sure” he said, and smiled. “You go, enjoy yourself and Avery” he paused, as she looked at him expectantly, “please get yourself laid” he said. Avery rolled her eyes, while blushing.