Carys Jones - Fourth To Run

“I’m so worried about you being there,” Carol continued. “I had Rhonda do a Tarot reading for you.”

“Aunt Carol—” Brandy wanted to object, but the old woman briskly interrupted her.

“And do you know what came up?” Carol demanded. Brandy shrugged as she leaned against the wall. She had no idea what had come up in the reading. She didn’t trust the cards. Her mother had believed in them but only when they served her purpose. Carol’s loyalty to the cards was a remnant of her old life down south that she’d been unable to shake despite her years of city living.

“The death card,” Carol uttered fearfully. Despite her lack of enthusiasm, Brandy felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“She pulled the death card,” Carol repeated. “You need to leave that place ‒ it’s not safe for you! You need to come back to Chicago, you can have your old apartment, you’ve still got a job here at Chez Vous waiting for you.”

“Aunt Carol.” Brandy began to nervously play with a loose strand of her long blonde hair. “I appreciate all you’ve done for me. Truly I do. But Aiden is my destiny.”

“No one woman is meant to be with any one man,” Carol’s voice was stern. “Disney sold you a fairy tale long ago that is nothing but lies. Now, you listen to me and you listen good, Brandy Cotton! You are better than this! Going back to the town that vilified you to be some married man’s mistress?”

Tears gathered in Brandy’s eyes and began to silently tumble down her cheeks.

“Have your fun, play out your little fantasy of being his woman in his little house but that won’t be enough for you and you know it. I’ll be here for you when you come crawling back. You are always welcome here, Brandy. Because that’s what family do, we love each other through the good times and the bad.”

Carol didn’t wait to hear her niece’s response. She ended the call, filling Brandy’s ears with the flat drone of the dialing tone. Still clutching the receiver, Brandy’s knees buckled and she slid down to the floor. Her stream of tears had become a waterfall. She dropped the phone with a clatter and buried her head in her hands.

It seemed it wasn’t just the residents of Avalon who thought she was wrong to be with Aiden. As Brandy sobbed, she pulled her knees up to her chest, condensing herself into a ball. She couldn’t stop wondering when love had stopped being enough? She was in love with Aiden, didn’t that justify them being together?

*

Aiden strained to listen for the distant tapping coming from Betty’s computer, but it had seemingly silenced. Deciding that this was his chance to sneak away from the office without encountering the old woman, he stood up quickly, sending his leather chair skittering across the polished wooden floor.

The paper with the details of the Mexican cartel burned in his pocket. He needed to get out and clear his head. Scooping up a waiting pile of papers, he decided he could drop them off at the town hall. The drive over would provide him some time to deliberate further on what to do with the lead Guy Chambers had suddenly given him.

Aiden’s mind was preoccupied by the call with Guy as he stepped out from his office into the main waiting area. He was about to walk straight towards the main door which led out onto the street when someone politely coughed behind him. Startled Aiden spun around and felt his heart sink when he saw Betty peering up expectantly at him from behind her desk, her glasses resting on the base of her nose.

“Betty, hey!” Aiden could feel the flames of shame starting to devour his cheeks.

“Aiden.” Betty nodded courteously at him. She was calling him by his first name, that had to be a good sign.

“I’m sorry for my tardiness this morning,” Betty continued, clasping her hands together before her on the desk in a neat ball. “My refrigerator started leaking in the night. I was forced to clean up everywhere before I could depart the house. I’m terribly sorry, it won’t happen again.”

“That’s fine, Betty, it’s not a problem, really.” Aiden took another step towards the main door.

“I had hoped to discuss it with you when I came in,” Betty added. “But you’d locked yourself away in your office and I got the distinct impression that you didn’t wish to be disturbed.”

Aiden’s cheeks burned more intensely as he slowly turned back around to face her, clutching the paperwork he was holding to his chest like a shield.

“I hope you’re not avoiding me.” Betty’s eyes sparkled with knowing intensity. She held Aiden tightly in her gaze, not caring how much he squirmed; she wouldn’t let him go.

“What, no? Of course not,” Aiden fumbled, unravelling beneath the interrogation. He felt like he was back at school, a naughty boy caught playing up in class and forced to answer to his strict headmistress.

“Because I was concerned that perhaps you’d locked yourself away to avoid facing me.” Betty continued to stare squarely at him.

“Betty…”

“Aiden, I know.” Betty sighed and her gaze softened. Aiden’s own shoulders automatically drooped in relief. “Clyde White has been the busiest of bees, buzzing all round town since your run in with him over the weekend.”

Aiden looked blankly at Betty, who remained poised and expectant. He didn’t know what to say. Was she mad at him? Did she want to cease working for him?

“I feel like I should explain,” Aiden lowered the paperwork, his voice soft.

“Nonsense!” Betty held up the palm of her hand towards Aiden, the taut blue veins visible beneath her thin skin.

“No explanation necessary. What you do in your own time is your business, Aiden. I just want to make it perfectly clear that it is not my place to judge you. I’m just here to work and honor Edmond’s legacy. It is imperative that we maintain an air of professionalism here.”

“But I thought you hated Brandy as much as the rest of Avalon does?” Aiden asked, bewildered by Betty’s logical response.

“Hate is such a strong word,” Betty raised her eyebrows at him. “And Miss White, Cotton, whatever she calls herself these days is actually an innocent woman. Many people here seem to forget that, but I don’t.”

“I appreciate your candor on the matter,” Aiden told her honestly.

“You’re most welcome.” Betty nodded stiffly. A slight smile began to pull on her lips as a kind glow softened her gaze.

“You might want to recall this conversation if you ever hear about the bedfellows I keep,” she said cheekily.

Aiden laughed; a sharp, joyous sound which hadn’t been heard within the offices of Copes and May for quite some time. Betty also began laughing, the mirth was contagious.

“Yes, Betty.” Aiden managed to find his voice against the laughter still bubbling within him. “I shall remember this conversation if and when I hear about your own…arrangements.”

This made Betty laugh all the more heartily. She was still laughing as Aiden stepped out to the gentle chime of the door in to the hot morning sun.

*

Brandy looked at the auction, her finger poised over the button she needed to press in order to confirm her bid. During her time working in the city she’d amassed some modest savings. She was going to exhaust those now on one single purchase.

The small white piano looked impossibly beautiful even in a one-dimensional image on the computer. Brandy gazed at it adoringly, imaging how much she’d enjoy playing on it, having a piano of her very own. Aiden’s lounge was large enough to accommodate it. She could place it on the far wall, near the staircase, that way if she tilted her head to the right when playing she could look through the patio doors and admire the garden outside.