#Chapter 245: Open House

Audrey “You keep staring at that place,” Avis laughed. “Why don’t you just go in?” “Hm?” I whipped my head around at the sound of my friend’s voice, momentarily causing my neck muscles to ache in protest. Avis was smirking at me from behind her sewing machine. “Oh… I wasn’t staring,” I lied. Avis giggled and shook her head as she returned to her work. “Yeah, okay. It’s not like you’ve been folding the same piece of cloth and sighing wistfully at the window for the past five minutes.” My cheeks flushed red at that. I quickly turned away from the large window, trying my best to shove the image of the empty storefront out of my mind. “You really could go, you know,” Avis said as she pushed the fabric through the sewing machine. “I’ll be fine here. You’ve helped enough today.” I shook my head and sat down in the plush armchair, picking up a needle and thread to get to work repairing the beading on a dress for one of Avis’s clients. “No, no. I promised to