The Arrangement | Book 2 | Completed

26

Call me. Now.

As I read the text, I grow anxious instantly. First, Frailey calls my dad out of no where. Now, he's sending me texts like this?

"I'll be right back. Frailey needs me to call him." I say, interrupting my mother momentarily.

As I get up from the table, I feel all eyes on me. I quickly go into the other room and wait for the phone to stop ringing.

"Dude." Frailey answers after about three rings.

"What is it? Why did you call my dad earlier?" I ask nervously, getting straight to the point.

"So Melissa came back to Vancouver." He says slowly.

"Okay?"

"She showed up at our fucking house, Matty. Crying. No, completely bawling. I'm talking hysterical over your breakup. Or lack there of..." He mutters at the end.

"What the fuck?" I exclaim in a whisper.

"Yeah. So, Megan kind of took the lead on the entire conversation." He tells me.

"What did she say?" I ask, praying that she didn't say anything about me and Candace. "Did she tell her about...?" I ask, fearing the worst.

"No. She told her that we didn't really know too much about the entire thing. We told her that you have been staying pretty low-key. You're going to have to tell her about Candace eventually, Matty." He tells me what I already know.

"I know, I know. I'm going to tell her. I just...I need to see where things with me and Candace go first." I say quietly, checking behind me to make sure no one has walked in.

"Well, better make it fast. She's completely losing her mind."

"I know." I groan, rubbing my face in frustration. "Listen, I've got to go. I'm at dinner with Candace and my parents right now." I tell him.

"Alright, well call me later. I'm not done talking about this yet." He tells me.

"Yeah, I will. I've gotta go now, bye." I mumble, hanging up the phone.

This is too much. This is too fucking much. What the hell does she think she's doing by showing up at Frailey's house? What the actual fuck?

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. She's just...mourning? I guess we all handle shit in bad ways sometimes. Well, this is her handling this situation terrible wrong.

"Who was that?" I hear behind me. I know it's Candace before I even look up.

"Frailey. I guess he just had someone show up to his house unexpectedly. No big deal or anything. Come on, let's go back and finish dinner." I say, completely brushing this off.

This is going to blow up in my face. I know it. I'm just waiting for this to completely blow up.

I can't even engage in real conversation with all of my attention for the rest of the night. Something isn't right about all of this. Maybe it's the overwhelming guilt that I feel. Or maybe it's something more. I honestly can't decide which one it is.

"Matty?" My mother asks, shaking me away from my thoughts.

"Hmm?" I hum, taking a bite of my food.

"Your mother asked you a question." My dad says with a quizzical look. The look on his face tells me that he knows something is up, but I have no plans on telling him what it might be.

"I'm sorry, what were you asking?" I ask with a quick shake of my head. Come on, Matty. Get your fucking shit together.

"I was asking what your plans were for the company holiday party." She says with a small chuckle, completely brushing off the fact that I was in a different world.