The Arrangement | Book 2 | Completed

37

"Good morning." Melissa says, walking into my office with a hand full of paperwork.

I immediately start fumbling all of my actions. Almost spilling my coffee all over myself, I quickly take control of the situation.

"Hey, good morning." I say, standing up from my seat. I go over to the front of my desk where she's standing and pull her in for a hug. She hesitates but hugs me back tightly, leaning her head on my chest. It's been so long since i've seen her. Well, since i've seen her in a good mood. Although i'm sure she isn't pleased with everything that's happening, this sure does seem better than her screaming at me again.

"How have you been?" She asks, pulling away and then going to shut the door to my office.

"Good! Yeah, i've been really good. Just staying busy." I tell her, trying to figure out where the best hand placement is right now. I hate that i'm nervous. It's just Melissa.

"How's Candace?" She asks. I'm not quite sure how to answer her question. Is this the introduction to a fight?

"She's good." I say quickly.

"That's good." Melissa smiles. "I'm really happy for you, Matty." She tells me. I love it when she calls me Matty. She rarely does it.

"Are you good? I mean, happy?" I ask.

"Yeah, I am. Things are different but it's going really well for me right now. I'm glad to be back home, though. I'm ready to get things at my apartment settled and organized." She tells me with a bright smile.

"Yeah, about that." I mutter, scratching the back of my head nervously.

"About what?" She encourages.

"Do you think you could come over tonight? You know, so we can...talk or whatever?" I ask.

"Or whatever?" She asks with a laugh.

In this moment, I'm reminded of our first date. I remember how nervous I was to ask her, and she was so quick to brush off all of my nerves with a laugh. It's kind of ironic how we're ending the same way we started.

"Yeah. I just...I have some of your stuff over at my place. And we should probably talk about our phone plan and bank account situation." I mutter.

She looks down at her hands and nods a small nod.

"Yeah, of course." She says, voice cracking a bit. Right as I think she is about to cry, she inhales deeply and then hands over the folder in her hand. "These are the sales reports for the Vancouver office. We should probably go over everything once Kyler gets here." She tells me.

"Of course. We can discuss everything in the meeting." I tell her. "3 P.M." I remind her.

"I'll be there." She tells me and then walks out of the office. I watch her as she leaves and feel a longing that I haven't felt for her in a very long time. The skirt she's wearing emphasizes her ass and legs, making my dick harden at the thought.

This is fucked up. It's all fucked up.

As I close the door behind her, I lean against the wall and let out a breath that I wasn't even aware I was holding.

"Fuck." I sigh. "What the fuck are you going to do?" I mutter to myself.

The next hour is filled with meaningless emails and phone calls that seem to be leading absolutely no where. I can't even focus on the paperwork that Melissa left with me so I have even the slightest understanding of what I am about to have to discuss at 3.

A knock on the door attracts all of my attention immediately. Honestly, I need some kind of distraction. Absolutely anything in the entire world would be better than this.

"Come in." I yell loud enough so the person on the other side can hear me.

"Mr. Fain." I hear a familiar voice say. I jump out of my seat and approach Frailey with a hug.

"How are you doing, man?" I ask, happy to finally see my best friend again.

"I'm good. I'm really good. We just landed here in town. We arrived a little bit early, yeah?" He says with a large smile. It feels like a weight has been lifted off of me the second I start talking to Frailey. Face time and text messages can only do so much.

"Much earlier than expected, yeah. I'm so glad you're here." I tell him.

"Don't get too sappy on me, Fain." He says with a laugh. "How have things been here? You know, with your double life and everything?" He asks with a smirk. This is exactly what I missed about him.

"I'm not living a double life." I say with a laugh.

"Whatever you say, man. But anyways, how is all of that going?"

"Oh, it's going." I mumble.

"Oh shit. You're really going through it, huh?" He asks with a laugh.

"Well, Melissa just came back to work this morning. And Candace has been practically living with me this last month. I told Candace that I have to talk to Melissa later tonight, so she went back to her hotel for the night. I have no idea how all of this is going to go." I sigh.

"Hey, it'll be okay. Just think...in a few weeks, at least one of them will be gone. You won't really have to worry about it after that." He shrugs. He's right. In a few weeks, Candace will be going back to Vancouver and Melissa and I will remain in Seattle. That's the reality of all of this. This entire thing was always meant to be temporary.

It's my fault for trying to make it anything more than temporary.

"You're right." I mumble, knowing the outcome from this entire situation is inevitable. "Anyways, enough about that shit. I want you to meet Evan." I tell him, sending a text to Evan. I know both he and Clarissa are in the office. I'm sure that's by her influence.

"Yeah, I'm pumped to meet him. Let's see my competition. My replacement." He says with a laugh.

"He's not your replacement." I laugh with a shake of my head.

"You're right. He could be yours." Frailey teases.

A few minutes later, Evan comes walking into the office.

"Hey, man. I wanted to introduce you to Kyler Frailey. He just got into town." I tell him. Evan extends his hand to Frailey and shakes it firmly.

"It's so nice to meet you. Well, in person." Evan tells him.

"Same here. How has America been treating you?" Frailey asks.

The two continue their conversation as my phone vibrates in my pocket. As I read the message from Candace, I can't help but feel guilty for something.

I think i'm going to run to the grocery store to make something for dinner. Do you need anything?

Instead of replying to her message, I slip my phone back into my pocket. I turn my read receipts off and silence my phone. I just can't deal with anything right now. Even something as innocent as asking if I need anything from the store is making me feel pressured. I just want to sit through this meeting and make sure it goes as smoothly as possible. I can't juggle all of these people at once.

"Are you guys about ready for this meeting?" I ask, interrupting Frailey and Evan's laughter over something I surely missed.

"Ready as we can be." Frailey reminds me with a laugh. I laugh in reply and grab the USB off of my desk and slip it into my pocket.

"Well, let's go." I say, already dreading what is bound to be the most tense meeting i'll ever have.