The Arrangement | Completed | Wattys2020

83

Matty's POV

"Hello?" I ask into the phone. I quickly cut the onions on my cutting board and add them into the pan on the stove. I love the sizzle noise it makes when the oil and onions meet.

"Matty? Are you home right now?" Candace asks, seeming out of breath.

"Uh, yeah. Why, what's up?" I ask. "Do you want to come over for dinner? I have some onions I'm sautéing at the moment. It smells pretty amazing in here, if I do say so myself." I laugh lightly.

"Yeah, I'm like two seconds away." She mumbles.

"Well that was fast." I laugh, "What's up? Why were you over on this side?"

"We need to talk." She says curtly.

"Okay, about what?" I ask. She's acting weird, but who knows why. I am starting to think it's just a girl thing at this point.

"Just some stuff." She mumbles. "I'm about to pull up." She tells me and then hangs up the phone.

"Okay then?" I question to myself. The onions are still cooking when she walks in the house. She goes to the kitchen immediately and looks at me as I cook.

"Hey, pretty girl. Come here." I tell her, eyeing her cautiously. Her face is pale and her nose is red. Her eyes are glossy, giving me the feeling that she has been crying. "Hey, what's wrong?" I ask, turning the burning down and going over to her instead. When I step in to hug her, she jerks back and looks away.

"When were you going to tell me that you're moving to Seattle?" She spits out, taking a step back from me.

There are very few moments in my life where I feel completely cornered. Very few moments in my life where I feel as though my back is completely against a wall. There is no where for me to go. I am completely trapped in this situation that ultimately, I caused for myself.

"I...who...how did you find out?" I ask, shaking my head to try and get my brain to form my sentence correctly. As hard as I'm trying to stay calm, I know I am doing a terrible job of doing so. I can feel the cold sweat forming, and there isn't anything I can do to stop it. She found out.

I'm caught. There's nothing I can do now but tell the truth.

"Megan. I guess everyone knew expect me. You know, the one person that will be most effected by this." She says, tearing up and voice cracking through the tears.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry. Candace, I...I don't know what to say other than I'm sorry." I tell her, begging for her forgiveness. This is all I can do at this point. I can beg. I can get on my knees and beg for her to stay with me. I can ask for her forgiveness and try and work this out.

But what good is this going to do? I am leaving for Seattle in only a few days. I haven't gotten a head start on this move at all. That's why it was so easy to keep it a secret. I haven't started packing at all. I don't even own any moving boxes. I just...I want to forget about it. I want to pretend that it isn't actually happening.

I want to stay in Vancouver.

"How could you do this, Matty? How? Why? I thought we were over everything that happened. I thought that....I thought that you forgave me." She sobs.

"I do, baby. I do forgive you. But...I don't fucking know what I was thinking. I have fucked everything up. Time after time, I continue to fuck this up for you. For us. I'm so sorry, baby. I don't know what to say other than I'm sorry." I tell her.

"How could you do this? I mean...fuck! Were you even going to tell me? What the hell were you going to do? You move in just a few days! When the hell were you planning on telling me?" She yells at me. Her words and tone are harsh, but I deserve it. I fucking deserve all of this.