The Arrangement | Book 2 | Completed

17

Matty's POV

"I'm sorry. That was fucked up, and I'm sorry." I mumble to myself as I walk down the unusually lonely Seattle street.

I have to apologize to Candace. I have to apologize to her because she has done nothing wrong. She was right. She is always fucking right. This isn't her burden to carry. I should have never made her feel like it was.

As I mumble what I plan on telling her while walking down the street, I come across a street vender selling an assortment of things. Flowers, fruit, and little pieces of cheap jewelry cover the old man's cart. I stop and look at the assortment of items.

"How are you today, son?" The man asks. I look over and see a short man staring up at me with determined eyes. I'm probably the first and only person to stop by his stand today. No one is crazy enough to be out in this kind of weather. Well, except me.

"I'm pretty good, you?" I say with a smile.

"It's a bright, new day. I'm alive, so I can't ask for much more now can I?" He asks with a smile.

"Right you are, sir." I tell him. Although, after last nights fight with Candace, I kind of wish I was dead.

"So, what lucky lady are you shopping for today?" He asks with a wink.

"Oh, what makes you so sure I'm shopping for a girl today?"

"You're looking at the flowers and jewelry. It's either a new relationship or you're in the dog house right now." He says in a voice that makes him sound so sure of himself. Although, he is right.

"Yeah, I'm in the dog house right now. Kind of want to make it up to her in some way." I admit shamelessly. How can I try and hide the fact that I fucked up? Even in front of a complete stranger, I am admitting to the fact that I'm wrong.

"Buy ya lady a rose, son." He says, holding a single rose in front of me. It's red and beginning to wilt, but it still looks alright for being out here for who knows how long.

"I think I will. Go ahead and give me a dozen." I tell him, pulling my wallet out of my pocket. He happily begins to pick through his assortment of roses and pulls out pink, white, and red pieces and wraps them together in brown paper and string.

"That'll be thirty six dollars." He says happily.

"Thirty six dollars?" I ask, making sure I heard him correctly.

"Yes, sir. They're three dollars per stem." He informs me. He sees me hesitate and then adds, "But you can't put a price on love. They're not just for anyone, remember?" He reminds me. He's right.

"Do you have change?" I ask, handing over two twenty dollar bills.

"Nope." He says, taking the bills and tipping his hat at me.

"Thanks." I grumble as I take the roses from his hand.

I can't believe I just paid forty dollars for a dozen half wilted roses that Candace probably won't even care about. She's never really been one for flowers.

As I walk down the street, I finally approach the building that she told me she is working at while in Seattle. Really, it's just a large hotel. She told me that they do most of the work from the conference rooms. As I walk into the building, I follow the signs that are pointing in the direction of her store manager meeting.

I hear a loud crowd of women down the hall and figure that following them will be my best bet.

A few women look up at me and whisper to each other when I walk into the room with the roses in hand. I try to avoid their stares, but it's best if I just ask where the fuck I'm at and how to get towards the right direction.

"Uhm, hi." I say nervously. "I'm looking for Candace Hobbs?" I ask them with a slight shrug.

"Candace, huh? And who are you?" One woman asks. She has a smokers voice and dark brown hair. Her glasses are covering most of her face, but I can see the dark eye shadow covering her eyelids. She looks a lot like a raccoon with makeup that dark.

"I'm Matty. Her-" I'm cut off before I can explain what we are, which I'm kind of thankful for. I'm not sure what I would say anyways.

"What are you doing here?" I hear Candace ask. I turn around and see her incredibly angry stance. Her arms are crossed and her cheeks are heating up. Oh, she's pissed.

"I came here to see you." I tell her, feeling defeated.

"Okay. Well you see me. Now leave." She says, pointing towards the door the same way I did with her last night.

"Candace, can we talk? Please?" I ask softly. She stays staring at me with crossed arms. I hold the flowers out to her and she just stares. I let out a sigh and let my arm slump to my side, flowers still in hand.

"Candace, go and talk to the boy right now!" I hear one of the ladies urge. Candace huffs and turns to them.

"You could at least take my side right now." She grumbles, arms still crossed.

"He brought you roses! Go and talk to the boy!" Another lady chimes in.

Candace groans and stomps over, grabbing my arm and pulling me into an empty conference room.

"Okay, you can't just show up to my job like this! This is like...my job! I don't need to be distracted by whatever tricks you're trying to pull!" She yells in a whisper.

"I'm not trying to pull anything!" I yell back in the same hushed tone.

"Okay, well what do you want? I don't want to see you! You don't want to see me, either! You made that very clear last night!" She reminds me.

"I know. I just...I'm sorry, Candace. I was a dick, okay? I was a massive fucking asshole, and you don't deserve any of that! I can tell you that I'm sorry left and right, but I know it's going to take more than just that to prove how sorry I actually am. I just need you to know that I'm sorry, okay?" I say with pleading eyes. She ignores what I say completely.

"You need to leave." She tells me as she turns around to leave.

"I'll leave her!" I yell before she can walk into the other room. This causes her to stop and turn around slowly. She doesn't say anything, so I take this as a sign to continue. "I'll leave her. I'll break up with Melissa. It's not fair to either one of you that I'm doing this, but I don't want to lose you right now. I know that we won't be able to continue this after the month is over...but I want you for as long as I can have you. If that means ending it with Melissa so I can have two more weeks with you, the i'll do it." I ramble.

What the fuck am I saying.

"You're going to breakup with your girlfriend so you can continue to see me for two more weeks?" She asks, doubt and surprise clear in her voice.

"Yes. Yes, I will. If that means that I get to keep you for even two weeks, then yes. I don't...I just...I need you, Candace. I don't care for how long." I say as I walk towards her and reach for her hands.

"And what about when the month is over and I go back to Vancouver? What happens when I leave and you stay here?" She asks, staring up at me with sad eyes.

"Can we not think about that and just think about right now?" I sigh, not wanting to think about that moment at all.

"You'll really leave her for this?" She asks quietly.

"Yes. Yes, if it means keeping you. Yes, I will." I assure her and pull her in for a hug. I inhale the familiar scent of her and feel her do the same. She hugs me back and we stay this way for awhile. She's tracing little patterns on my back, and I am surprised by how much comfort it brings.

"Promise you'll end it with her as soon as possible?" She asks.

"I promise." I say.

As fucked up as it may be, I know deep down that this promise I just made is a lie.