fandomtownies | Fandom Post Office, Monday, 2/11

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Fandom Post Office, Monday, 2/11

Annette dragged herself into work. She was wearing her bunny slippers. It didn't matter, she was going to be comfortable, dangit.

She set out the bell with a note that read: The Post Lady is busy. Ring bell once for service. But only once! Or... else!! She also set out a big bowl of Red Hots. That should keep customers busy and happy so they won't bug her to death.

Pulling up a chair behind the counter, she curled up in it with the blanket she brought with her and closed her eyes.

What? She'd totally be working if someone came in.

The Post Office is open.

[ETA: Annette left work after A.J.'s visit, so if you come by, please note in the subject line that it is before his visit. Also, Annette's and A.J.'s conversation is NFB.]

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And ring the bell dangit!

Unless you try to ring it during her 3rd period class. 'Cause you'll just keep ringing it and ringing it and no one will ever help you. Poor you.

Yeah, whatever. They're here if you need 'em.

Insomnia? Sucks.

Okay, really?....Really?

That note was just asking for it. Annette should know better.

A.J. laid on that bell in rapid succession, lots and lots more time than just once.

Annette? Flailed right out of her chair (that she had so nicely been snoozing in) and onto the floor before she scrambled up and tried to make herself decent.

"Yes, can I help-" She frowned at A.J. "You pounded my bell?"

Despite himself (and he really, really did try hard!), A.J. couldn't help chuckling a little, biting his lip and attempting to seem apologetic. Annette didn't seem to hurt herself or anything amidst all that flailing, so it was all good, right? "Like I could miss a chance to pound your bell, Annette," he commented, teasing. "Seriously, that note made me do it."

"Ugh," she ran her hands over her face then up and back through her hair. Her slippers came off and she stepped back into them. "You liked pounding my bell, I could tell by the way I fell out of my chair and onto the floor. Is there no appreciation for the Post Office Code of Silence?"

Annette tried to look all pouty and angry but ended up smiling at him instead. But only very slightly.

"I didn't realize there was a Post Office Code of Silence," A.J. admitted, still unable to keep himself from grinning dorkily as he leaned his elbows on the counter, "but, on Wednesdays, Beauty does let me have a cool hat." Very quickly from that, though, his expression shifted, into one lightly worried. "You doing okay? Or is it just Monday? You don't strike me as one to sleep on the job..."

"Yes, there is," she totally lied. "Kind of like the library." Whatever. She didn't feel like making crap up right now. Her head was all fuzzy. Annette pretended to straighten a pile of stamps that were already stacked neatly. "How about I let you take this bell with you? You can place it by your bed and think of me," she gave him a saucy grin that was more teasing than anything else. Beauty. Annette didn't want to talk about Beauty.

She shrugged. "I've been overly tired lately. No big deal."

"I wouldn't want to deprive other of the chance to pound your bell, Annette," A.J. commented, his fingers playing with the base of it, turning it around slowly, tempted to ring it again to be obnoxious, but she seemed to be in a sort of mood, so he thought better against it. The concern look came back quickly after the weak jab. "You sleeping okay?"

Annette pushed the bell away from any tempting fingers and she wouldn't meet his eyes. "With a little help, yeah."

There might have been a slight pout as the bell was pulled away, but it sounded like there were other things to worry about than a silly bell. "What do you mean, with a little help?"

Annette gave him a look. "Nothing, nevermind... did you come in here today just to see me?"

The whole fact that she avoid answering the question made A.J. all the more certain that it was something he might need to press her about, but he decided that maybe, all things considering, he could maybe wait. Instead, then, his head bobbed, nodding. "Uh-huh. Wanted to catch up on how you're doing."

"I'm great actually," she said though her tone implied otherwise. "I've been staying up really really late and falling asleep with guys I hadn't even realized I invited over. Oh, and yeah, about the Valentines dance, don't think I'm going. Trevor called. I might be going home for the weekend to see him. And another thing, I've learned that when someone loves someone? They can easily and readily forget about that person. Yep. Forget they even ever existed. I wonder how someone does that? Do you know?" Annette's mood could use improvement, yes.

Well, that was...uh...a lot to process, that was for sure. A.J. stared, a bit slack-jawed, not sure what to say. He wasn't even sure he'd really heard all that correctly, nor did he know where to even start responding.

"Uhhhh..."

"...well..."

"Erm..."

Yeah, he was completely lost.

"Yeah, I know," she said with a smirk. "You ask me, I tell you, and then you never know what to say."

A.J. frowned, worriedly pouting. "Well, to be fair," he muttered, "that was a hell of a lot to say. I don't even know where to start. Well, okay, maybe I do. No, I don't think that you can love someone and then just forget about them, not if you really loved them." His frown deepened. "Is that about Dick?"

"You're right, it was a lot and I kind of..." she sighed and lifted her hand, only to drop it to the counter. "Dumped it on you and no, it's not about Dick. Maybe a little about Dick but more about someone else. And it just doesn't matter. I'm going out, I'm having fun, and that's just... all. Really." Except she looked really tired, a touch pale, and it was obvious she's lost weight.

A.J.'s frown deepened. "Annette. You don't exactly look like you've been having much fun at all. And going out? What, with your exboyfriend who, if your dad hadn't accidentally shot in the ear could have hurt you? Annette. You can't honestly stand there and tell me that this is a good idea..."

She shrugged. "He said he was sorry and I'm trying to have fun. I figure if I just jump right back into things, I'll get over my stupid pity-party that much sooner. And I am. I'm just really tired while doing it. Yesterday was a busy, fun-filled day," she said, glad that he hadn't mentioned the radio. She didn't want to have to explain anything Dick said about her.

A.J. had been meaning to start listening to radio again, but he kept forgetting. His frown wasn't going anywhere, either; in fact, it just kept getting deeper. "He said he was sorry, and what, so you just believe him? Just like you believed everything Dick ever told you, too, I'm sure..."

She just looked at him before she told him in a dry tone, "I believed you too and look where that got me?" Honestly, she wasn't trying to be sarcastic, it's just that... she was.

Blinking, slightly stunned by that, A.J. straightened from where he was leaning on the counter defensively. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" His voice was dry, too, catching in his throat, until it slipped by and turned into a little bit of anger. "'Cause that's funny, I don't remember doing anything to put me on par with an abuser and a cheater, but maybe I just forgot. Must have gotten lost somewhere in all that being there for you and caring and shit..."

"That's just it, you didn't do anything, even though, even though, A.J., I know deep down, you want to. You may not be an abuser or a cheater, but you are one of those types of guys that don't say what you really want to say. Before all this shit I went through, do you ever think about before when you said so little to me yet your actions and the looks on your face said so much?" She shouldn't be talking to him like this here, now. Even at all but she wasn't exactly herself. "New Years Eve was not so very long ago. Don't tell me the way you held me, touched me, was nothing. Is nothing. You'll be lying, I know it."

A.J. pulled back, shaking his head. "I can't believe this," he muttered. "I can't fucking believe this. Get a new damn story, Annette. That one's getting rusty and old and the worst thing about it is you know that it's not true. I never said it wasn't nothing, and you know perfectly well why I never said anything."

"But I want you to say it now," she said, shuffling around the counter so she could stand in front of him. "I can't get a new story when this one is still not finished. Come on, A.J., aren't you tired of not knowing the things that are left unsaid? I know I am."

That was...pretty damn bold of her, saying what she did and then asking what she was asking. It didn't help that she was moving around the counter, either; A.J. backed up a bit, getting close to the door as if worried about being cornered. "Trust me, Annette," he said, "it's over. It has been for a while now, okay?"

Annette would never corner him. Not intentionally. Besides, she just stayed put, watching him retreat.

"Then stay away from me, A.J., stay away from me completely..." she turned and stepped behind the counter to grab her blanket and her purse, then she walked towards the door. She wasn't staying at work, not when she felt like she did.

"...it's too hard seeing you. I know that now. I realize it and I just can't deal with it..." she needed her room, her pills, and the blackness behind her eyes.

"I'm sorry for any hurt I've caused you, but I don't want you in my life anymore."

"Annette..." A.J. reached lightly for her arm as she came near the door. "Come on. Don't be like that..."

She had to close her eyes a moment before she turned her head to look up at him. "Be like what?" she asked softly. "I've lost you when I never really even had you. Do you know how bad that hurts? I've never admitted it but I'll say it now because I'm not afraid anymore." She glanced down at his hand on her arm. "I wish you and Beauty everything that you want... really. I'm just so very tired..."

A.J. dropped his hand. You know, he should be feeling some sort of satisfaction for hearing that. Now Annette knew what he went through, right? Except there was one difference, a big difference. Beauty was good for him; he couldn't exactly say the same about Dick for Annette. "You know I've always been there for you, Annette," he said quietly. "You're just saying that, thinking that right now because you're feeling lonely, and I'm there, and that's all it is."

Her brows knitted in confusion. "What? No, I can't believe you actually think that... that I just... no, god no," she whispered, looking away because the tears came. Whether from exhaustion or just knowing that everything, anything, that was ever between them is just gone... the tears came and she couldn't do much to prevent them.

"If you would like to think that, then that is fine, but I will tell you that I love you. And no, not like a friend, or a buddy, or just someone I know. I love you and I have for a long time. If you want to think that it is loneliness talking then you believe that. Maybe it will help me to know that you don't believe me. However you choose to deal with it, or not deal with it at all, at least you know. At least I told you and though I hurt because of it, I feel better for you knowing. But I can't keep seeing you. It just won't work. I... I can't hear about you and Beauty anymore. At least not for awhile. I'm her friend and that is hard enough. Just... I'm sorry, but I can't stand here anymore. I'm tired, weary, and I'll just keep crying and end up apologizing over and over again when I just don't know if I'm sorry for anything at all."

"No, just--" A.J., frustrated, annoyed, confused, not knowing what to say, wanting to hug her but feeling that that wouldn't be the right thing to do at all, just dropped his shoulders defeated and shook his head. "I'll go. You shouldn't leave and potentially get in trouble 'cause of me. I just...just think about all this other crap you're throwing yourself into to help you get over this, and maybe consider that this is all just another one...Sorry for bothering you."

"Right... because I love heartache so damn much," she whispered and stepped out the door. She wasn't staying at work. She just couldn't.

"Bye A.J."

Well, that certainly was the way it kept looking, time and time again. Why the hell else would she keep making so many god damn mistakes over and over again?

He shrugged against the chill, shoving his hands into his pockets and heading the opposite direction. A walk would do him good right now. "See ya..."

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Fandom Post Office, Monday, 2/11

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