folklore; conrad fisher

27: boyfriend?

I woke up to a loud clanging noise downstairs. I rushed down the hallway to see what the commotion was, when I faced Aunt Julia for the first time. I ran into Steven and her at once, and she scoffed at us.

"How many people are in this house!?" She said, running downstairs.

I looked up, ready to laugh as I saw Steven squeezed into some children's pajamas, but he instantly covered my mouth.

"Yeah, I remembered to lock the door last night, I'm not a child." He said to his phone. He gave me a look that told me it was imperative that I kept quiet, and I realized he was most likely on the phone with Laurel. I was trying to squeeze past when Taylor walked out of the bathroom. Unfortunately, Steven wasn't able to get to her quick enough, and she snickered loudly when she saw him. I left as she began teasing him. Taylor's presence would be easier to explain than mine.

I brushed my teeth downstairs before heading up to change. I threw on an oversized Harley-Davidson tee with a pair of my shorts, putting my hair into a slicked-back, long braid. I put on some light jewelry and a bit of makeup before going to the kitchen to make myself breakfast. There were muffins on the table that I was dying to eat, but Aunt Julia forbade me from taking one. I ended up making a bowl of cereal instead, and I was eating it in the living room when the doorbell rang.

I went up to the door, where a woman I assumed to be a realtor was standing. She was wearing a burnt orange button up and a string of pearls, while also holding a stack of flyers in her hands. I asked what she needed, and she confirmed my theory by saying she was here for the open house.

"Aunt Julia decided to cancel." Said Conrad, butting into our conversation as he stood beside me, now holding the door open.

"Conrad Fisher, right?" the realtor said, "It's nice to see you, I'm sorry about your mom."

I laughed, "Yeah right. You're not sorry enough to sell her house."

"I'm just doing my job," She argued, "Who are you, anyway? Conrad's girlfriend?"

"Yeah," He said, "She is, and she's right. Have a nice day."

Conrad went to close the door, but Aunt Julia came skittering towards us, "Ignore them, ignore them!"

She pushed through us to speak to the realtor, "There will be an open house today, but there does seem to be a minor problem with the AC. It died."

The realtor looked infuriated now, "That is not a minor problem, Julia. It's supposed to hit 95 today."

Aunt Julia sighed and pulled her outside to continue chatting. Conrad closed the door. I was still stunned by the whole interaction. Conrad had answered 'yes' when the woman asked if I was his girlfriend. I didn't know if he did that to save her from asking too many questions, or if it was just by instinct.

He didn't say anything before he began talking to Belly and Jeremiah to discuss the situation. I couldn't be in that room. My head was spinning, and it only got worse when I saw a text from Cole.

Hey. I'm off from practice this weekend, and I'm gonna book a train to be in CT by tonight. What's your address?

I wanted to throw my phone into the wall. The last thing I needed after all of this drama was a visit from Cole. Still, I knew it was time to end our relationship, and I'd been waiting for a chance to do it in person. I told him I'd gone to Cousin's Beach and sent him the address to Susannah's place. He replied with a thumbs up and said he'd book his tickets for the next two days 'ASAP.' I wasn't thrilled he'd be coming, but at least I could get this breakup out of the way and lift a bit of some burden off of my shoulders.