Shifted

32 - The Offer

Bright and early on a Sunday morning, the peaceful suburban street was disrupted by the arrival of a vibrant red Tesla. The sleek modern car stood out among the more modest vehicles parked along the curb, catching the attention of early risers who couldn't help but wonder who the new arrival could be.

From the driver's seat of the Tesla emerged Victoria Argent in a yellow stretch pencil skirt that hugged her curves and a flowy navy blue long-sleeved blouse that contrasted with her pale skin. As she stepped onto the pavement, the early morning sun caught the chain of the locket tucked inside her shirt.

The woman walked up the McCall driveway with purposeful strides. She rang the doorbell and waited patiently, she didn't sway or tap her feet, perfectly content to wait there until she was welcomed inside.

Minutes later, the door opened to reveal Melissa McCall, who had clearly just woken up if the messy hair and dressing gown were any indication.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Good morning, Mrs. McCall." She smiled, "I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning. My name's Victoria Argent, would you mind if I come in? There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

Melissa remained blocking the doorway, "What about?"

"It's about your son, Scott."

The mention of her son facilitated Melissa's last few steps to wakefulness. "What about Scott?"

"Oh it's nothing serious." Victoria assured her, "In fact, I'm hoping to be able to help. Would you mind if I come in?"

Seeing nothing wrong with this, Melissa pulled the door open further to allow her unexpected guest entry into her home.

The click clack of Victoria's heels followed her as Melissa led her into the dining room. The living room might have been ideal but with the hospital and everything, Melissa hadn't had the time to really clean the house and the living room was still cluttered with Scott's things.

"Sorry about the mess." Melissa said picking up Scott's stuff on the dining room table. "Raising two boys is not really conducive to a clean house. Would you like a coffee or water?"

"Coffee will be just fine, thank you. No cream, no sugar, please." Victoria frowned sitting on one of the dining chairs, "Two boys? I thought Scott was an only child."

Nodding, Melissa set about preparing an extra cup of coffee for the other woman. "Oh, he is, but his best friend Stiles is practically family."

Truthfully, not at all bothered about small talk or the dynamics of the McCall home, Victoria kept the polite smile on her face. "That sounds lovely. I often wish I was able to give Allison a sibling but it just wasn't meant to be."

"Allison?" She asked handing the cup of coffee to Victoria and taking a seat across from her, "Scott's girlfriend?"

"Yes, the two have been dating for about a week now, I believe." Said Victoria. "You should know, I think you raised him well. Not many teenage boys go to the trouble of going to a girl's house and formally inviting her to an event."

"Scott, did that?" Melissa asked.

"Yes. Yesterday, he came over to the house to invite Allison to the game." She smiled, "I thought it was charming and old fashioned. Anyway, while he was over at the house, I gave him some of my homemade bruise paste to help with the bruise on his abdomen and I wanted to check and see that he hadn't had any adverse reactions to it."

Just as she expected, Scott hadn't told his mother about his accident with Chris' car the other day.

"A what? What happened?" She leaned on the dining table, needing to know what happened to her son.