THE SURPRISE
Two days passed since Mika and Avery spent the weekend together. Christmas was fast approaching. They were aware that neither of them would see each other for a while and that dismayed them both. Avery sat in the master bedroom, stripping the covers from it. He tossed the sheets on the floor along with a large pile of his clothes. He wanted to wash them but he did not have time. He wanted to finish packing so he could leave to go home. Avery went to his computer and opened it. He doubted he had a message from Jenna but he wanted to make sure. He was fearful that he did have one. What could he say, after all? But sure enough, as his email messages loaded, there was a correspondence from Jenna. He clicked it and began to read the message.
"Hello dear. I miss you so much. I feel like things between us are a little tense. I want to apologize to you. For not being as close to you as I should have been these last few months. I promise to do a better job of showing you how I feel. I have a surprise for you. I'm coming home early! I will be there tomorrow night. It would be nice if you could pick me up from the airport. I really look forward to seeing your handsome face soon. I love you with all of my heart..."
Avery stopped reading the message when he saw the most important part: Jenna was coming home early. Though he should have been, Avery was not at all pleased by the news. Quite the opposite, in fact. It was too soon. Avery needed more time to think of what to say to her. Why was she coming home early? She seemed so excited to go to Switzerland and study there. He closed his computer and sat back in his chair. Jenna's returning early threw a wrench in all of Avery's plans. It could be considered cruel if he did not pick her up, especially since the airport into which she was flying, was only half an hour away. He had no reason not to pick her up. He could not go home now. Jenna seemed to be excited to see Avery. Perhaps this was just the fix their relationship needed. Not that there was anything especially wrong with their relationship. Not yet, at least. Not until Jenna found out what happened. Whatever hesitation Avery felt, he concluded that Jenna coming home early was somehow a good thing. He picked up his phone and called his family, informing them that he would be remaining in town to pick up Jenna. He appeased them by promising to come home for Spring Break.
He began to straighten up the apartment. He started in the kitchen, putting all the dishes in the dishwasher. He cleaned up the remnants of the intimate dinner from the other night. He tried to make the apartment look as presentable as he could and yet no matter what Avery did, it seemed as though the apartment was incessantly soiled. He vacuumed repeatedly. He tossed out old pieces of mail that had piled upon the bar. He straightened up the pillows on the couch. He organized the remotes on the living room table. He stopped at that, realizing that no amount of cleaning could take away the guilt beginning to build inside of him. The sweet words he said to Mika seemed so far away. It was easy to say them to her since his words and actions and their consequences were so far separated by distance and a return flight. But Avery was not ready. He was not ready to tell Jenna what happened. He was not ready to come up with an excuse for his behavior. He fell onto the couch, putting his hands on his forehead. Since the weekend, the large gash on the back of Avery's head had begun to heal. It was now covered with a thick scab. It was still sensitive to a hard touch, but his headaches had broken. He thought about the circumstances surrounding the lesion. How foolish words by foolish people led to his injury. Foolish things by foolish people are always the reason why someone gets hurt or things are ruined.
*KNOCK, KNOCK*
He shot up like a bullet at the sound. He walked over to the door and swung it open without looking through the hole. Before him stood Mika, with a gigantic smile on her gorgeous face. She wore the same large coat as when she stayed with him. She had a pair of blue jeans and black boots that crept up her legs. Avery flashed a smile at her, trying to play off how upset he was. Avery stepped to the side as Mika walked into the apartment. Her hair shimmered in the sunlight. She took off her boots and placed them by the door. She lowered a bag to the floor that she brought with her. She removed the jacket and revealed a grey sweater underneath it. Again, nothing particularly attractive, but she did not need to show much skin to Avery. He knew what was underneath all of her clothes. She walked over to him and hugged him tightly. Avery's arms went around her waist. She squeezed him as securely as she could. He felt frigid. His hug did not contain the exact expression of affection as hers. Mika, being the empathetic person that she was, knew something was wrong. She leaned back and looked Avery in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked, putting her hands on the back of his head.
"Nothing. Just surprised to see you is all," he said, still holding onto her loosely. She ran her fingertips over the delicate spot on his head. It felt rough and dry to her touch.
"Does it still hurt?" she asked, watching the expressions on his face.
"Only when you press into it. But I can sleep on it now," he responded, feeling her fingers leave the wound.
"I'm glad. I don't want to see you in pain," she said as she leaned in to kiss him on his cheek. She turned around and picked up the bag on the floor. She extended it to him wholeheartedly.
"Merry Christmas," she said in earnest. Avery took the bag from her and opened it. Inside was a garment box covered with blue and silver wrapping paper. He began at the corners, ripping open the paper. The box itself was just a plain white box with no decoration. He opened it to reveal a card sitting atop of what looked to be a New England Patriots t-shirt. He pulled the t-shirt out first and looked it up and down. Their logo adorned the front of it. He immediately loved it. Avery gently laid the shirt to the floor and pulled Mika over to him and gave her a snug embrace.
"Thank you so much!" he said with excitement in his voice. Mika melted as she felt his arms surround her.
"That is your favorite team, right? I had to think a little bit. The football game we watched the other night had them and another team playing. And I remember you telling me you were from Connecticut, so I was pretty sure they were your favorite," she said, looking back up to him again as he let go of her.
"Yes, you were right. I love it. Thank you so much," he said as he started opening the card. Mika stopped him.
"Oh, no. Open that when I'm not around. I'm too embarrassed to watch you read it in front of me," she coaxed. Avery lowered the card onto the shirt and hugged her again. At that moment, he remembered he had something for her as well.
"Oh! Give me a moment," he said, letting go of her and walking to the hallway. He opened the door to the office and took disappeared inside. Mika looked around and saw the vacuum cleaner in the living room. She saw the papers from when she was there were gone. Their dishes had been cleared and both sides of the sink were cleaned out. She could smell a slight hint of lemon in the air. Avery had been doing some serious cleaning. When he returned, Mika grew anxious.
