[avis] DANCING AT DISCOS EATING CHEESE ON TOAST

[Avis Ives]

[Avis Ives]

a long, gradual sip of her coke started her work. it always seemed to. she needed to have something to drink near her since she became so engrossed in her work and often forgot about such things unless they were right in front of her face. she was staring intently at the computer screen, a window open displaying the tapes of the session she had had with the so called 'john hart' that morning. anyone could tell by the way she shook his hand -- she made sure to do this with everyone to seem friendly and professional -- from across the table between their seats, or how she cleared her throat one too many times when all he did at the first couple seconds of the time was stare at her with a small little smile. his smile truly did give her the shivers, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up on end. it was such a loaded smile, like he knew something you didn't. it was the smile of confidence, but not the good kind. it was hard to make out on the tape but after a moment of just staring at her, his eyes began to dart all over her body like flies on a carcass looking for the best of the meat to feed on. you could see avis shift uncomfortably in her seat, then hear her clear her throat again while tightening her blond pony tail.

'well let's get started then mister--'

'captain.' he interrupted, his smile turning sickly sweet. she paused to just look at him carefully then adjusted her hair again; eying the cuffs that she had asked be put on him. just in case. or at least until she knew a bit more about his behavior, being as this was one of their first couple of sessions. she had not realized how quiet she had gotten until he leaned forward in his chair a little, placing his hands on the table as best he could with them being handcuffed to the armrests. 'do continue.'

'right, right. okay sorry. just a bit tired i suppose-- she started.

'why are you tired?' he said, cutting her off again. this was not an unusual thing for him to do.

'um,' she started; putting a pen behind her ear then removing it then putting it back in a sort of nervous order. 'i had a bit of a long night, that's all.'

he spoke almost as soon as the final words had escaped her mouth, leaning forward more. his face was completely unreadable as always with the exception of the smile. 'your brother being a trouble again--' he glanced at the folder in front of her with her name on it. '-- avis?'

even as she sat in the chair in front of her desk watching this on the screen, him saying her name made her gulp. really he was not as scary as you'd think normally, but being locked in a room alone with him when you just barely met the man was enough to turn up the creepy meter. it was also pretty disturbing to her that he knew more about her than she about him. he had the uncanny ability to pry information out of people, she guessed. he was more clever than he looked, that's for sure. he always seemed to remember the most convenient things. like mentioning her brother? he knew that would get her talking instead of himself. as avis sat there watching his devious plans unfold, she suddenly felt like quite the idiot. she would have to watch out for that later.

'well no, no, not at all. he just had some friends over and was keeping me up, that's all. he decided that yesterday was some sort of holiday and he needed to throw a party -- that's just jeremy for you, he loves the parties. and holidays come to think of it -- and so that was a bit loud. i was trying to sleep because i knew i would have to be at work early to have this session with you but i can't deny jeremy his fun. jer is kinda a kid that way you know and... umm...' she paused. his smile had widened, and he was now laying his head on the table like a child listening intently to a story. it made her nervous because he seemed to keep on getting closer and closer. she scooted back in her chair.

'and how was your night then? she asked, trying to steer the conversation back into the direction it was supposed to be going. it was supposed to be john talking and opening up, not her.

'very blond.' he said after a moment, his head moving slightly to get more comfortable.

'... blond?' she said, wondering what the hell he was going on about. if he was trying to play another mind game on her, then she didn't know how long she would be able to remain doing this.

'oh yes, very very blond. four to be exact, but none had hair as lovely as yours. which is quite amazing since yours is not real is it? you are red aren't you? like that little maid? the one with the thighs? he said, studying his hand.

oh here we go again. they were going to talk for an hour about all the people he slept with. avis let out a sigh from her desk, pausing the video to take a long sip of her drink with a roll of her eyes. she could remember the look on her face when he said that, though you can't see it from where she was sitting on the tape. she set her glass down, pressing 'play' again. if she had to listen to another second about the sort of things he considered polite conversation she was going to pull her hair out. only now did she know that was exactly what he wanted.

'...oh. oh, okay.' she said after a short pause, not sure how else to respond.

'but it is, isn't it? not blond? you can tell from your skin that there is no way you are one.' he said, sitting up straight again only to lean forward even closer to her; with not too much difficulty raising his index finger to point at her. 'you are too pink. too warm looking.' he added, his eyes traveling down her face to the unbuttoned top of her cardigan.

avis immediately buttoned her cardigan up again while she watched the tape, copying herself on the video with the same sort of scrabbling. even just watching that made her blush.

'... so how is it you came across these individuals? do you... know them? like friends?' she asked, only to be interrupted at the end with a sharp, quick laugh.

'you are quite the riot, aren't you?' he said, receiving a shaky smile back from her. 'so tell me, why didn't you just join the rest of the party?' his voice was back to its tensely calm voice, the kind that you would hear serial killers speaking in films. that thought made her shift in her seat at her desk. that wasn't a really far stretch, actually.

'uhh, i wasn't really invited. i guess.' she almost instantly regretting sounding the way she did. she sounded like a disappointed little kid. it was frightening to see how easily he could wring the feelings out of her like a wet cloth.

'oh?' he said, his face turning into what the blind eye would call a sympathetic expression. he looked almost sweet this way, making her not notice that he had scooted his chair closer to the table to lean forward more. 'your own brother did not invite you? i got the impress that you two were quite close...'

she was silent for a second, just looking down at her folder and straightening it nervously. 'we are, we are... i'm just, uh... he has his own friends i guess...i doesn't matter, its alright with me...' she replied, her voice sounding more quiet and pathetic than she woudl have liked.

'you poor thing,' he said, matching her quiet tone. if she had been paying attention at the time she would have noticed the amusement in the back of his voice. he was laughing at her silently, taunting her. 'let's make it better.'

she looked at him sort of at loss for a second then looked down at her hand which had two uncuffed hands rested on top of it. avis yelped, jumping back away from the table to press her back against the wall like a mouse running away from a cat. she had handcuffed him herself, yet there he was, standing up from his seat with a small smirk playing across his lips.

'i can make it better, avis.' he said, his words chillingly slow and measured. for a moment she just stared with wide eyes, then scrambled out of the room. she looked the door securely behind her. john looked up at the secuirty camera, giving a wink before the tape ended that made her skin crawl from the seat at her desk. she hated watching these tapes sometimes.

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