Unavoidable Chance by Annalisa Nicole Page B

I rush out of my office into the kitchen and tell Parker I have an errand to run, but I’ll be back before the dinner crowd. The lunch rush is over and there is still plenty of food left. I pack up the lunch special and come up with the excuse that I’m dropping off some food for a sick friend. I get in my H3 and drive to Ava’s office. The second I pull into the parking space, I start to feel stupid. So, why is it that I’d be bringing her lunch, unannounced and completely unexpected? Well, I am here. I’ll just go up and talk to her, find out why she never responded to the orchid. I leave the lunch in the passenger seat and head into the office building. I nod at Gus on my way to the elevator. Getting off the elevator on her floor, I see Ava’s door cracked open and her assistant typing away on her computer with her phone in the crook of her shoulder, listening to whoever is on the other end.
    She looks up from her computer and the frustration and tension is written all over her face. When she recognizes who I am, a small smile appears on her face, then she looks back at her computer screen.
    “Yes, Ava I know. I’m looking. That file should have been in the stack that I gave you this morning. I’m bringing up the information right now. I’ll print it again.” Her hands fly from her keyboard to the stack of files to her right, then she frantically looks through them and finally comes across whatever it is she needed to find. “I found it. Ava, I’m so sorry. I had it this whole time. I’ll come down to the courthouse right now and deliver it to you.” She listens for a few seconds then continues, “Have you eaten lunch? I’ll bring you something. It won’t take that long, I’m leaving right now. I know you only have an hour. But you need to eat. Alright, bye.”
    “Is everything alright?” I ask. Reagan is practically in tears, she’s so upset about whatever just happened. She stands, grabs her purse and the file and starts to walk away from her desk, but she runs into the bottom drawer of an open filing cabinet. Her face morphs in pain, then tears pour down her face; she sits back in her chair and grabs her ankle. She plants her face in her hands and starts to sob.
    “This is all my fault. I know how important this case is to Ava. How could I be so stupid? I checked three times this morning to make sure she had everything she needed for court today. She’s been working her ass off for this case all week. If I mess this up for Ava, I’ll never forgive myself.”
    “Calm down for a second, you’re in no condition to drive like this,” I tell her.
    “I have to go. I’m so sorry to be rude, but I have to stop and get Ava something to eat and get this file to her immediately.”
    “I’ll take it to her,” I find myself saying.
    “No, really I should bring it to her,” she replies. She stands, takes one step and winces in pain.
    “You need to have a seat. That looks like it’s going to be one hell of a nasty bruise. Is that a break room in there?” I ask, pointing to the open doorway down the hall.
    “Yes,” she replies as fresh tears stream down her face.
    “You sit, I’ll be right back.” I head into the break room and straight to the refrigerator. I open the freezer and take out the ice tray. I open a few drawers until I find some dish towels and a resealable bag. I put the ice in the bag and wrap the towel around it. I search the top cupboards for meds and find some acetaminophen. I grab everything and head back out to Reagan.
    “Here, put ice on it for the next twenty-four hours, fifteen minutes at a time or as much as you can tolerate, but no more that fifteen minutes at a time. Elevate it if you can, too. Take these for the pain. I’ll take Ava the file. I’ll bring her lunch, too. Don’t worry about a thing.” I grab the file from Reagan before she can object again and take the stairs down to my vehicle. It’s funny that I already had lunch with me to give to Ava.
    I get to