Heartkiller

Chapter Twenty Three: Heaven Tonight

Your eyes have lost their light, and you're empty
Oh my God, you're so empty

July 18, 2011

Screamworks had been released the previous year, so Ville had been on tour for the majority of the past few months. Meanwhile, Avery had escalated through the ranks and was now a valued asset to Sterling-Ellis. She still had a while to go before she would become senior partner, but her eyes never strayed from the prize. They had both been busy with work and handling the new responsibilities. In fact, Ville had only come home two weeks ago after finishing out the festivals in Europe, and his break was longer than usual. Although the band would have had some new gig scheduled by this point, Gas had gone to the doctor in the middle of June for some cramping in his wrists, and he had found out that he had seriously injured them; the abrasive tension from holding the drumsticks had worn away at his nerves causing serious damage, and he had been advised for an immediate reprieve to allow his body time to recover. As a result, the band had finished out the festivals and taken a break to allow their bandmate the time he needed.

Ville was home now, awaiting news from his manager that the band was set to move forward. Avery was enjoying having him around. Since her career grounded her in the City, the past three years of her marriage to him were spent waiting for him to come home for a weekend or to get a chance to take a vacation. It was no way to spend a relationship, but the couple had to make do as best as they could. Ville was home for a few weeks now, and she reveled in the much-welcomed company. When she was home, they were able to catch up on all the relationship milestones they had missed out on while he was on tour. While he lounged at home or spent his day in the horror section of a small bookstore, she was working on various cases.

On this particular day, she had had a bad time in court and it threw off her mood completely. Her usually jovial and upbeat attitude was replaced by a bitter, angry one. Avery walked through the conference room door of Sterling-Ellis and slammed down a stack of papers onto the large oval table, causing the handful of associates to jump in their seats. She was pissed and with good reason. After having gone to court for a case for which she thought she had the upper hand, she was blindsided by a crucial piece of evidence presented by the prosecution that shattered her argument. She had asked for a continuance that granted her some leeway to recover from the blunder, but Avery had to return to court the next day with a strong game plan.

Right now, she was upset with the associates who sat at the conference table. It was their job to gather all the required information for her so that she could do her job as well as possible, and they should have known about the evidence. They knew they had messed up. They sat with their heads hanging to brace themselves as they waited for their reprimands.

Avery stood at the head of the table with her hands on her hips as she thought of the right words. She tried to control her temper because she knew that yelling would not solve anything right now. It would only tire her out. Avery opened her mouth and hesitated, unsure if she could keep her voice even. The restraint she was exhibiting colored her face.

“Do you know how humiliating it is to be that shocked about news in the middle of a courtroom full of people? Someone drops that big of a bomb in front of 200 people, and I’m standing there… I’m trying to keep myself composed, but it’s really hard to do that when said bomb just obliterated any legal standing for defending my case. It makes me seem incompetent, which I don’t expect you to care about, but it’s embarrassing for this firm, which is definitely your concern…” Her voice crescendoed as she continued, and she wrung the top of the backrest to release her tension. With her eyes closed, she took a deep breath before asking, “So why exactly did I not have that file in my hands when I walked into court today? Why was I surprised?”

Her eyelids remained shut while she waited for an answer. There was a silence as the associates all side-eyed each other and tried to figure out who should answer the question. They were squirming in their seats because of the discomfort of the situation. What answer could they give? They made a mistake.

“That wasn’t rhetorical,” she warned.

“I’m really sorry, but we didn’t know--” Amy started.

“Don’t give me any excuses.” she interrupted, but her voice softened once she saw the scared looks on their faces. Avery wanted them to understand how bad the blunder was, but she didn’t want to scare them. Her tone changed as she realized that she was not making the kind of argument that she intended. “You all are the grassroots of this firm. You do a lot of the grunt work, and I know that it sucks, but it is one of the most important jobs here. It is your job to know anything and everything that’s relevant to this case. When you don’t know, I don’t know and if I don’t know something important to this case, any chance we have at winning is shot to Hell. Everybody here matters. You matter.”

The glass door opened, and Paige peeked her head through. “Avery, phone. It’s Ville.”

Avery’s head flicked in the direction of the door swiftly, and she didn’t drop her harsh attitude as she was still affected by the circumstances. “Not now. I’ll call him later.”

“It… it sounds important.” she reasoned calmly. Paige knew it wasn’t her place to intervene in her boss’ personal matters, especially considering her temper at the moment, but she could hear the desperation in Ville’s voice. He needed to talk to his wife.

Avery bit her lip. Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Um… okay, tell him I’ll be right there.”

Paige closed the door, and Avery looked around the room. The associates were cowering in fear. She didn’t know what else to say to them; she hoped they knew how badly they had messed up. Aside from that, there was no point in dwelling on the matter any longer because they needed to move forward. They didn’t have any more time to waste. Because of the surprise, they needed a new play by the time she went to court tomorrow.

“While I’m gone, find me a way to get the case back. Find me a loophole, find me something.” she urged. “Get this case back in our hands.”

The associates picked up files on the table and started sifting through the information. Meanwhile, she left the conference room and walked to the end of the hall to her office past Paige’s desk. Avery walked inside and heaved a sigh to calm herself before she could speak to him. There was a lot of tension in her nerves as she felt the weight of the day taking its toll on her body. She rolled her neck and breathed deeply once more. She didn’t want to spook him; knowing he wouldn’t have called her at work if it wasn’t urgent, Avery wanted to focus on whatever news he had for her. She picked up the phone off the handle and answered with as sweet a voice as she could muster.

“Hey, Ville.” she replied.

“Hey, Avery. You busy?” his voice was hesitant and low.

“Yeah, I’m at work... but it’s okay. What’s up?”

“No, I can call you back later. Or we can talk when you get home tonight; it’s not a big deal. I don't even know why I called--”

“No, no, tell me. What’s wrong?” she soothed with a calm voice. Ville didn’t sound alright, and she was no longer pretending that everything was okay with her. Everything else that had happened today didn’t matter anymore as her core refocused on her husband.

“I-uh, well, Seppo called, and you know he had that meeting with Warner Brothers today.”

“Yeah, I remember you told me about it. You said that he went to try to salvage the contract, right?” she asked as she settled into her chair.

“Yeah. There’s a lot of new people at the label, and I feel like we lost all the connections we used to have there. It’s been difficult trying to get anything done lately when nobody there seems to be on our side…"

"How'd the meeting go, baby?" She hesitantly asked; the tone of his voice signaled that the news wasn't good.

"He just called me, and, uh, well… it looks like the band’s been dropped from the label.” He stammered. “Er, we separated ways officially, but you know, the point is that we don’t have a label anymore, so I don’t really know what we’re going to do now.”

“Oh… babe.” she lamented. “I’m sorry.”

“It was inevitable. We knew that it was likely to happen because of the way things had been going, but it still… It fucking sucks…” he waited. “Anyway, I wanted to tell you, and I know that it could have waited--”

“No, I appreciate that you called me now.” she bit her lip. “I’m really sorry for this, Ville.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

“Listen, I’ll pick up some Chinese food on my way home and we can talk, alright? I wanna hear all about this.”

“Sure.”

“Okay. You know you’re going to be okay, right? You’re going to move past this. We’ll find a new label, and it won’t be long before you’re out there on a stage again.”

“I know it’s not the end of the world, but I… I don’t know about finding a new label. The band--we may have run our course.”

“Aw, honey, don’t say that! Tsk.” she admonished softly. “You’re going to be fine.”

He didn’t know what to say. While he admired her attempt to console him, he didn’t believe what she told him. He felt like his world was falling apart around him. The band had been his life for the past twenty years, and he didn’t know where he’d be without it. At this stage, he didn’t know if the band could get signed again. There was a lull in the conversation as Ville took a minute to think about this. Avery didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to rush him.

After a minute or two, though, Ville excused her. “Well, I’ll let you get back to it.”

“Okay, Ville, I’ll try and come home soon so we can talk okay?" She said sweetly. "I’ll see you later tonight.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you. Bye.” he said and hung up.

Avery set the phone back in its cradle and bit her lip. Her eyes danced about the room. This was going to be difficult to handle, and she couldn't blame him. The band meant so much and had been the focus of his life for two decades. Music was at the core of his soul, and he had put all his energy into making the band successful with the rest of its members. Being dropped by Warner Brothers was the speedbump to the momentum that had been pushing the five Finnish men all these years. They needed a label's support to fund and to promote them, but Ville didn't sound very hopeful.

At the thought of the pain he would be going through, Avery couldn’t bear to sit in the office any longer. She wanted to be with him, to soothe his worries, and to ameliorate his pain. Sitting at work poring through files would be inconsequential if she was only thinking about Ville sitting all alone in the apartment. She huffed and decided that she was going to hand the case off to the associates now so that she could go home to her husband. She walked through the glass doors of her office to her assistant’s desk.

“Hey, Paige, can you call that Chinese place down the street and put in the usual order?” she requested.

“Yeah, sure. Do you want it delivered here?” Paige asked when she looked up from the forms she was filling out.

“No, no, I’m gonna pick it up on my way home. I’m gonna head out in a few minutes.”

Paige raised her eyebrows; something was clearly wrong at home if she was going to leave work given the state of the case. She didn’t try to pry for news though. “Okay.”

“Thanks.” Avery replied graciously and continued down the hallway to the conference room.

As soon as she walked into the room, the associates straightened their backs and nervously looked through the files. She exhaled once before speaking.

“I’m gonna head home for the night. This is all in your hands. I know that you guys slipped up earlier, but I want to give you the chance to fix it. You're more than capable. When I come in tomorrow morning, I want a brief on my desk with the new strategy for handling this case, understood?” The associates nodded. “Okay, then. See you bright and early tomorrow.”

Avery walked out of the conference room and returned to her office to pick up her bag. Usually she would also carry home case files that she wanted to work on for the night, but she knew that she wouldn’t be doing anything tonight. She double-checked to make sure she didn’t need anything else before she left her office, waved goodbye to Paige, and went to the elevators.

She walked down the block as the restaurant wasn’t too far away. Two blocks from the office, she stopped by the Chinese restaurant to pick up the food that had been kept hot and ready for her. There was evening rush of people grabbing dinner or waiting for a table, so it took a few minutes before Avery was served.

"Hello! It's been a while since I've seen you here, Mrs. Valo. Sorry for the wait." The host apologized.

"No, no, that's okay. It's good for you, right? Business is booming, I see. That's all that matters." Avery smiled politely.

"Yes, it is. Are you eating here tonight?"

"No, I'm picking up."

The host turned and looked through the takeout bags that were on the table behind him. "Ah, here it is." He said and handed two plastic bags to Avery. "Your total is $37.44."

Avery pulled fifty dollars out of her purse and handed it to him. "Keep the rest. It's just a little something for all the trouble you go through for me."

"You're a loyal customer." He noted. "Have a good night."

"You too." Avery said and walked out of the establishment and hailed a taxi.

When she got inside the car, the sweet aroma of the authentic food permeated the small space, and she gave the driver the intersection at which she wanted to be dropped off. It was rush hour traffic and it took twenty minutes to make the trip. She quickly paid and got out to let the waiting patron board the taxi. When she finally went up to the apartment, she slipped her key into the hole and turned the doorknob. Expecting to find Ville on the couch, she was surprised to see the living room was empty.

She called out, "Honey?"

"Yeah!" Ville yelled back from the bedroom.

Avery went to the dining table and set the bags of food on top of it. She then went to her study to put her bag away and stepped into the bedroom where Ville was strumming his guitar. When she came inside, he set the instrument aside to lean against the bed, and Avery immediately cozied into his open arms. She planted a kiss on his lips and kept her nose nuzzled against his.

"You're home earlier than usual. It's only six." He pointed out.

"I left as soon as you called because I wanted to be with you. I'm sorry again, my love." She whispered. Ville gingerly grabbed her top lip with his teeth and pecked her a few times. "C'mon, let's go eat before the food gets cold." She said and backed away from him.

Ville pushed himself off the bed and led her down the hallway. He held her hand as he yearned for the human touch. He needed to keep her next to him. They reached the bags of food on the table and rustled through them to find what they wanted. After grabbing one of the takeout containers and a fork, he went to the couch where she joined him.

"So... How are you feeling?" she asked.

“Bummed. I called the other guys and we spoke for a bit. We’re all on the same page, just trying to let the news sink in before we try to figure out the next step. It’s weird though, because I knew… I knew that this would be the result no matter how we dealt with the situation.”

“What are you talking about?” She sat on the couch with her legs tucked underneath her and faced him as he spoke. Her elbow rested on the back of the sofa as her right hand guided the chopsticks to her mouth.

“This has been going on for months and months now, this uncertainty and this back-and-forth bureaucracy bullshit. Even when we were playing the festivals. This isn’t something that happened out of the blue." He admitted. "For a long time, it didn’t seem like things were going to go our way, so I thought we should quit wasting time and move on. I don’t think that HIM should be signed to some label because we have an unassumed greatness or anything like that; if we have to prove that we’re worth it, so be it... But when things were so strained, it would have taken a miracle to resolve things positively.”

“You never told me any of this before. The first time I even knew things weren’t right is when you mentioned that Seppo was going for this meeting. Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“I don’t know... you have enough on your plate. I didn’t want to stress you out when I didn’t know anything for sure.” he said, meeting her gaze through the corner of his eye. He was twirling the food in his small takeout box and was moseying through the story. His hair fell into his face, but he didn’t bother to brush it aside. “Anyway, I thought this was the only option left and that we should pack our bags and move on, but Seppo didn’t think so. Seppo… I don’t know, he said that it was worth the effort to try and speak to them one last time. I didn’t think that there was any use. If they didn’t understand the last few times we spoke to them, what would have changed by now?”

“You never know. Maybe they could have come around. There were still a few people there that you knew, right? They could have convinced the executives that you deserved to stay.”

“I don’t even know if I thought we deserved to stay, Ave.” he admitted and looked at the floor to avoid her expression.

“Honey! Why do you say that?" She furrowed her eyebrows. "Of course you should have stayed. You’re amazing.”

“No, we’ve… the last few albums haven’t been hitting the top of the charts. I think… I think people are losing interest. Or perhaps we’ve lost the magic.” he wondered aloud. “I don’t know what it is.”

“Ville, the platinum record hanging in our bedroom wall begs to differ.” He didn’t object to that because he didn’t have a counter-argument. “You guys are amazing. Screamworks topped the Hard Rock charts. I’m talking Number One. People aren’t losing interest, and you certainly haven’t lost the magic. You’re at the top of your game. This… this is just a blip in the timeline. Things will get better. I know that they will.” she said and rubbed his hand comfortingly.

He didn’t say anything nor did he bother to look up from his food. Seeing his lack of reaction, Avery set her takeout container on the coffee table and took the one he held out of his hands. After putting it down on the table as well, she climbed into his lap and rested her hands at the nape of his neck. His body morphed to allow hers to fit into the crevices of his form, and he held the small of her back with his fingers nested together. With her index finger, she pulled his chin up gently so that he would meet her eyes. She placed a tender kiss on his lips and Ville let her; he didn’t reciprocate the gesture but sat limp.

Avery backed away and used her tongue to pull her top lip between her teeth, trying to muffle a gasp. She had never seen him so hurt before, and it surprised her to see him so vulnerable. His eyes, usually a vibrant emerald that shone brightly, were practically gray because all the color had been washed out. They were lifeless and empty. She stared into them, peering into his soul. She wanted to encompass him into a warm shell containing only their two bodies and shelter themselves from the pain and hurt of the world. Avery let out an audible gasp when she opened her mouth as she thought of the right words for this moment.

“It breaks my heart to see you like this. Why don’t you see what you’re capable of?” she begged with tears in her eyes. “Do you… do you know how much you’ve helped me? There’s something about your songs and the way all the instruments blend together so seamlessly that-- it speaks volumes, and it describes exactly how I feel. When I feel so lost and I can’t call you or see you, I can listen to the music to make me feel like… like everything is going to be okay.”

“Yeah, but--”

“I’m not done.” she breathed. “I can listen to your music no matter what mood I’m in, and it's not only the sound of your voice that makes me feel better. It's not because you're the love of my life. It just--your music does something that words are simply too inadequate to accomplish. You have a skill like no other man, like no other musician. You, you and the boys, have put Finland on the map with what you've created. What you’ve done is help the world recognize how remarkable the underappreciated country is. I’m not the only one who feels this way. I love you, and I’m completely devoted to you; I mean I would give my life for you in a second, but there are people who have listened to your music since the very beginning, since that first EP that you’ve put out. I’m sure that whatever I feel is only magnified for them. I can’t even imagine how your music impacts them when I know how much it's changed my life.”

“What’s your point?” he asked, keeping his gaze low. He was still hurt and ashamed.

“The point is that you are amazing. You can never lose ‘the magic.’ You have an innate skill that can never be separated from the person that you are. It’s not…" She groaned in frustration as she was unable to comprehend his apparent insecurity. "Music is not all that you are. You’re so much more. You’re so much more to me and, and to your family. But it’s hard to imagine--no, it’s impossible to imagine you without a guitar in hand. Right now, it… it sounds like you’re giving up, and I’m trying to tell you that you can’t. You can’t, you can’t give up. Every human being out there with a heartagram engraved in his skin depends on you to tell him that it’s going to be okay, Ville. You’ve done so much. Why don’t you see that? Why are you letting this unfortunate incident color the rest of your achievements?”

He shifted in his seat and tightened his arms around her so that she leaned into his frame. Her head nestled into the crook of his neck, and she kissed his collar bone.

“Thank you,” he said, hugging her close. “I love you. Thank you for saying all that, darling.”

“Of course.” Ville kissed her hair, but she could still feel his tense muscles pulsating underneath her palms. Avery murmured, “You don’t believe me though, huh?”

“...It’s not that I don’t believe you, I just… I need music to get through the day, but I don’t think other people need or crave my music. No one is going to miss it if it’s gone. And… I don’t think that I’ve ever done anything all that special--”

“You make music. It’s so remarkable, and your changing people’s lives in such a profound way. There’s going to be a time when some other record producer or executive or whatever-he’s-called is going to recognize that and sign you. I know it. Don’t you try and argue with me about that. It happened once, and I’m certain that it will happen again. You have to--”

The lights turned off suddenly, leaving the apartment pitch black and interrupting her train of thought. The conversation stopped abruptly, and the two were left sitting in utter darkness. They waited motionlessly for a moment, hoping the lights would flicker back to life. After waiting a few minutes, they realized that nothing was going to happen. She wriggled out of his grasp and picked up her cellphone off the coffee table to use its backlight to guide her path. Stumbling towards the wall, she felt around for the light switch and flicked it back and forth. Nothing changed.

“Nope, it looks like the the power’s out for good.” she stated.

“I think there’s a lantern in the hallway closet. Here, lemme go get it.” he said and stood up.

She handed him her cellphone to use as a flashlight, and he wandered into the hallway. She went to the window and pushed the white curtain aside so that she could peer out to the city. The usually brilliant area was dark. There wasn’t a single speck of light that she could see, and she found it unusual. Avery had lived here for so many years and had yet to witness a citywide blackout like this. She gazed across the span of the window to look all around, but there wasn’t much she could see. The busy city had to rely on the moonlight to illuminate the crowded streets, but because of the skyscrapers, there wasn’t much light that reached the ground. It was all muddled by the towers. Ville came up to her with a lit lantern in hand. The white light was blinding, and she pushed his hand away slightly so that they could see the view.

“It seems like it’s out for the whole city.” he commented.

“Yeah, it looks that way.” she whispered. “Wow, I never realized how bright our nights are. The city looks so… abandoned now.”

“Mhmm.”

“I wonder how long it’s gonna be out.”

“Has this ever happened before?” he asked, pushing the curtain farther to reveal more of the window.

She scoffed. “No, not that I’ve seen.”

“Hm.” he moved closer to the window with his nose pressed against the glass. His eyes were directed downward towards the streets. “You can see all the cars’ lights. That’s all you can see, though.”

“Oh, the traffic lights are out, too! Damn, I’m glad we’re not out there right now stuck in traffic. Can you imagine what circle of hell that would be?”

“Hopefully the power won’t be out for the whole night.”

“Oh Lord, there’s no way a city like this can function without electricity for more than a few minutes. Are you kidding me? People are probably flipping a shit down there.”

“Yeah, but it’s going to take a while to get the power back, right? I mean, if this is a rare occurrence, I don’t imagine that there’s a procedure that people have been driven to do ad nauseam.”

“Who knows? I don’t have a clue as to the kinds of procedures that would be required… But you know, if it’s this dark down here, I bet it’d be so--oh!” she yelped as an idea came to mind. Turning to face him, Avery beamed and instructed, “Get the food. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?” Ville asked, holding the lantern cluelessly as he watched her skip towards the hallway.

“It’s a surprise!” she replied from halfway down the hall.

Going to the closet in the middle of the pathway, she scrambled to find two warm comforters and two pillows. Without a light to help her, it was difficult, and she used her hands to feel around for the fluffy material she expected to find. Avery pulled them out one by one and set them on the floor; once she had them ready, she lifted the stack of bedding into her arms. The items were big but not very heavy. She held them against her chest, and her arms didn’t quite reach all the way around so she had a loose grip. Avery struggled to close the closet door with her foot and stubbed her toe in the process.

“Ow! Fuck!” she exclaimed.

“You okay?” he asked, holding up the lantern higher to try to direct light in her direction.

“Yeah,” she reassured and came up next to him in the living room trying to catch her breath. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“Go? Go where?” he asked, holding the food in a plastic bag as she had directed.

“Do you know how surprises work? Follow me!” she said with a smile.

He walked behind her with the lantern, and they slipped on some shoes when they were near the front door. He grabbed the keys to the apartment, and they went to the elevator where she hit the 'up' button with her pinky finger while still holding onto the comforter and pillows.

"Power's out, remember?" Ville pointed out.

"Oh, right. Duh. Okay, I guess we'll take the stairs. It's gonna suck, though."

"Where are we going? Who's up there?"

"Not a ‘who’, a ‘what.’ And... You'll see when we get up there." She said.

She directed them to the stairwell and started going up the steps with Ville close behind. With the bedding held out in front of her, it was hard to see where she was going. She had to be careful not to trip over the steps.

"Take it slowly, sweetheart. We're going all the way up, and there's no rush. Take your time." Avery told him, remembering his asthma.

"We're going up ten floors using the stairs? This better be worth it." He said lightheartedly.

"Oh, it will be." she murmured with a grin.

The couple went up the stairs, taking breaks every now and then so as not to exhaust themselves and to catch their breaths. They finally reached Floor 52, and they stood in the landing. There was one door that would lead them out to the floor of apartment suites, and another door beside it with a sign that read ‘Restricted Access.’ Avery held out her hand, signaling for the keys. He dropped them into her palm, and she fumbled with them until she could find the right one. Once she got it, she slipped it into the keyhole of the second door and turned the handle to reveal another set of stairs.

Ville’s shoulders slouched in disappointment. “More stairs, huh? I thought it was the big reveal.”

“Oh, we’re getting there. Close the door behind you.” They walked up the final set of stairs, but this time, she raced ahead of him to scope out the area, making sure it was clear for the two of them. When he came behind her at the top of the stairs, she stopped him. “Close your eyes, Ville.”

He did as told, and she took his hand in hers to guide him. They walked out of the doorway, and he immediately noticed the frigid air of the environment, from which he was able to extrapolate that they were outside on the roof of the building.

“Since when do we have roof access?”

“We’ve always had it. We’ve just never had a use for it until now.” They took a few more steps and stopped, at which point she set the bedding down on the floor. She stood in front of him with both of his hands in hers. “Okay. Open your eyes.”

He did and stared back at Avery to see her looking up at the night sky. He mimicked her gaze and gasped at the sight. Because of the blackout, there weren’t any bright lights to subdue the luminosity of the stars, which were now clearly visible. On a regular night, there may have been a handful of stars visible. Today, though, there were hundreds, maybe even thousands. Each shone with a different hue and intensity, and it was magnificent.

“Oh, wow.” he said.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked and he agreed. “You can usually see stuff like this out in the Hamptons at the beachhouse, but never here.”

“It’s amazing. Thank you for bringing me up here.” he said as he marvelled at the spectacle.

“I was hoping we could have dinner and cuddle underneath the stars. I don’t know how long this blackout is going to last, but I thought we could take advantage of it for now. Just have some alone time underneath the stars. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“Yeah.”

His neck was still stretched back to be able to see the sky for all its glory. In the meantime, Avery walked to the stuff she had brought to create a makeshift bed. Sleeping on the pavement of the roof would be uncomfortable, but it would be worth the sight they would be able to witness. She used one of the comforters to create a mattress, and folded it on top of itself to make the ground feel softer. She set the two pillows on one end and laid the second comforter on top of it all. She climbed inside and sat with her legs folded to be able to finish their dinner. Avery patted the space beside her, calling him to her.

“Come, sit.” she said.

He walked over to her and sat down beside her. They took the Chinese takeout containers out of the plastic bag that Ville had brought and started eating again. Now that he was a little more relaxed, Ville actually took bites of his food.

“I never asked you how your day was, dear. I'm sorry about that. How was work?” he asked once he had swallowed.

“Ugh.” She groaned. “It was a disaster.”

“What happened?” he replied, taking a bite of food.

“I had court today, and I’m defending a corporate client who is being accused of check fraud at his firm and doctoring the payments that came in. Now, I’m up there defending my case because I thought I had all the facts, and I get… completely blindsided by the prosecution that had this affidavit that basically confirmed that my client did it. If I had had that earlier, like before I walked into the courtroom, I would have been able to do something about it, but that didn’t happen.”

“How did you handle it?”

“I got a little flustered at first, but I was able to get a continuance on the case. I have tonight to sort it all out, and I need a new plan before I go into court tomorrow.”

“Wait, then shouldn’t you be at work?” He asked, confused.

She sighed. “I should, but I can’t do it anymore. I can’t. The associates should have had a copy of that affidavit when they did the background research, and I don’t know how they slipped up. It’s their mistake, so I’m having them fix it. They’re not allowed to leave the office until they have some sort of response for me tomorrow. I’m so tired of handling their fuck-ups, I can’t do it anymore. It’s exhausting. They need to learn, too. I can’t always be there to pick up the pieces.”

“Understandable.” Ville agreed. “They need to be able to fend for themselves later on.”

“Yeah.” she took the last bite of her food and put her trash back into the plastic bag for them to take inside tomorrow morning. “I don’t know, I wanted to relax with you. The whole thing today was stressful, and I didn’t have the energy to stick around and deal with it.”

“I’m sorry, honey.”

“No, it’s fine.” she dismissed with a smile.

Ville finished his dinner as well and put his trash into the bag. They lay side by side on the bed that Avery had created. They faced the night sky to be able to view the stars, but their bodies were like magnets and slowly inched together. They were soon on their sides with their chests facing each other. Avery’s left arm was underneath Ville’s torso and her right arm rested on his ribcage. Ville had one arm underneath her neck, pulling her close, and the other on her hips. She had her head pressed against his chest, fitting in the space beneath his chin, and she could hear the rhythmic beats of his heart as they admired the universe.

“Ville, are you feeling okay?” she asked.

He looked down at her and smiled. “I’m much better now.”

“I’m sorry that there’s not much else I can do. I would sign you to a label myself, if I could. I hate seeing you hurt like this.”

“Quite alright, darling… I, uh, I was overreacting in the moment. I’m sure things will work out the way they’re supposed to.” he reassured and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you for trying to help.”

“Of course.” she said and rested her head against him again. “Hey, on the bright side, now I know you’ll be home with me for quite a while. Without some work commitment to fly out to every weekend or whatever, you’ll be here with me and that… well, that’s all I need to be happy.”

He grinned. “That is definitely a worthy silver lining to all this.”