An Arrangement of Love (22 page)

“And you’d better have an explanation for the trip!” Wendy stumbled up the pathway to the house.

“I can’t believe you checked where I took Jasmine and then told Wendy.” Chase glared at Dawn. “What happened to your rule about not checking what I do for each of you on your date nights?”

Dawn pointed at him. “You’ve been breaking the rules for the past two weeks. So I figured I would do it, too.”

Lucy walked over to me and whispered, “I’m so sorry about India.”

“No.” I shook my head. “It’s okay.”

Chase and Dawn began to argue, but I couldn’t make out the words. They both yelled over each other. My nerves fluttered with unease. I hated being around fights. I’d been around enough of them during my childhood. Mom always fought with whatever guy she’d been dating. At times they fought all night and none of us could get any sleep. Even worse, our neighbors in South End always dragged their arguments outside of their houses so everyone could see.

“Come on.” Lucy hooked her arm around mine. “Let’s go. Once they get started they won’t stop.”

“You showed Wendy the credit card bill intentionally!” Chase roared. “I try to come here and start us off on the right foot and you’re instigating chaos.”

“She had a right to know what was going on during her day.” Dawn backed up. Her eyes filled with rage.

“It was your damn rule to begin with—”

“Well, you’re breaking the rules. Why can’t I?” Dawn hit her chest.

“Not that again!” Chase stormed off.

“You never do this!” Dawn cried and ran after him. “Never! I told you—”

“Yes! Yes!” Chase raised his hands in the air.

I swallowed.
I won’t make it past a week in this place. I should just turn around right now.

“Don’t worry about your bags.” Lucy tugged my hand. “The chauffer will take them up to your apartment. We each have our own servants. You’ll meet her in the morning.”

“Maybe I can move in tomorrow.”

“No. Then Chase will do something else crazy that will piss all of us off.” Lucy guided me to the house. I tried my best to not watch Chase and Dawn’s arguing as they screamed and walked off in another direction.

“Don’t worry. They’ll do that for an hour or so.” Lucy shrugged. “There’s a garden around back, near the batting cage. They usually argue there.”

Poor flowers.

“Why do they argue in the garden?”

“When Chase gets really mad he likes to go to the batting cage and hit balls, but Dawn always stops him from going in so they yell in the garden.”

“O-Kay.” I chewed the inside of my cheek.

We stepped into the house. A large foyer greeted me, with a huge staircase in front. Mailboxes with labels numbered one through five were on my left.

“So do you know much about the founder of Oshane City?” Lucy asked.

I shook my head.

“Well, old man Oshane used to own this property and live here. He was really paranoid that somebody was trying to kill him so he had five apartments built into his mansion.” Lucy moved to the double doors on the right side of the staircase and opened them. “This leads to the living room and dining area. It’s where Chase and Dawn entertain people.”

“Just Chase and Dawn?” I peered in.

“Yeah. If we want to entertain guests, Dawn prefers we do it in our apartment or somewhere else.”

The living room was as big as the apartment I shared with Vivian and decorated in cream and silver. I was about to enter the area and drink in the elegance until I spotted the oil painting over the fireplace. It was of Chase and Dawn embracing and gazing into each other’s eyes. They looked younger, as if the portrait had been painted several years ago. My stomach burned with envy. I hugged myself and rushed away.

“You want to see the dining room?” Lucy smiled.

“No,” I muttered. “It doesn’t seem like I’ll be down here much anyway.”

“Yeah. When Chase and Dawn’s friends come over they usually hold their dinner parties here.” Lucy gestured for me to climb the stairs. “There are also guest rooms for their friends on the first level. If people stay, Wendy and I usually just go on a trip or something.”

So they hide you. Of course
.
What did I think would happen?

“So if his parents come over or anything?” I asked.

“Well, Chase’s mother was killed when he was seven, but when his dad or other family visits Wendy and I stay away.” Lucy glanced over her shoulder. “That’s the same with Dawn’s family.”

“So what happens when our family comes to visit?”

Lucy gave me a weird smile. “They wouldn’t come here. Dawn prefers for us to entertain them somewhere else. Chase goes with us wherever the meeting spot is.”

“So basically we’re glorified mistresses?”

Lucy paused at the top of the stairs. “You have to understand how hard this is for Dawn. Chase and her have been together since they were fourteen. I’ve been close with Chase forever and the few times he wanted to break up he just couldn’t do it. He loves her so much.”

I drowned in jealousy. Pain sliced through my heart like a sharp knife in the hands of a serial killer.
Of course he loves her.
My blood rushed. My hands shook. I focused on breathing as I hoped I wouldn’t get an anxiety attack.

“Are you okay?” Lucy asked.

“Yes.”
He loves her. I knew that. Calm down.
Yet, the pain in my chest remained.

“All of our apartments are on this floor.” Lucy wrapped her arm around my waist. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I nodded.

A long hallway with silver walls and carpet stood before me. Two white doors were on the right with a black number in the center. On the left were another pair of white doors with black numbers.

“Mayor Oshane was so afraid someone would sneak in and kill him that he had these apartments built. Each day between Monday and Friday he slept in a different apartment,” Lucy said.

“What did he do on the weekends?”

“He left the country.” She pointed to the first door. “Dawn’s apartment is number one. Wendy is door two. I’m three and you’re four.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Where’s Chase’s apartment?”

“On the third floor. His door has a number five on it.”

I groaned and rubbed my eyes. I didn’t like how things were set up and could imagine Chase sitting up in his apartment like some king elevated over his females as we hung out in our apartment like good girls, waiting for him to attend to us.

Oh my god! What am I doing?

“You look like you’re going to vomit.” Lucy released me. Concern etched her face. She pressed a red button on the wall.

“Yes,” a woman’s voice sounded from a speaker next to the buzzer.

“I need Mabel to give Jasmine her key. I also need some Pepto and something for an upset stomach.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the woman replied.

“I’m okay,” I said.

“No. You’re not.”

I combed my fingers through my hair.
Am I just a number four?
“Why the numbers? Did Chase decide this?”

“No. Dawn thought it would be fun to have everyone numbered in the order they came into the relationship.”

“It sounds like she wants everyone to know their rank.”

Lucy averted her eyes. “Well that too, but not in a mean way. Dawn isn’t catty.”

A black woman scurried up the stairs with a key.

“This is Mabel.” Lucy pointed to the black woman. “She’s your assigned maid.”

Mabel smiled and handed me a solid black key. On the top of the key, white gems formed a four. I gazed back at Mabel. Her gray hair was tied into a bun on top of her head. She had eyes like my grandma, dark brown with a liquid effect.

“Are all the maids black?” I blurted out.

Lucy’s mouth dropped open. “Y-yes.”

Mabel’s smile remained. She took my hand and gently squeezed it. “So how do you feel now?”

“Worse.” Rage coursed through my veins. My heart beat so fast I thought I would collapse.
Why am I so mad? Why do I care if the maid is black or...
Tears spilled from my eyes. Mabel hurried and opened my door. I wiped the tears away, tried to get a hold of myself, and stepped into the living room. My body froze once I spotted the furniture.

Holy shit. He must’ve hacked into my computer somehow.

Last month, during my job search phase, I would play online to pass the time while I waited for callbacks or email responses from interviews. I’d spent many hours on an online game called “House Design” where the person could create and plan a make believe place to live in. Standing in the apartment Chase provided for me, my living room captured my online game’s design to every small detail.

“How did he get into my computer?” I asked.

“Someone did it for him. It was during the process of learning about you,” Lucy said.

A shaggy plum carpet rested on the floor. A chocolate brown couch and loveseat surrounded a black coffee table which was done up in four inch cubes that jutted in and out in an elaborate design. An oil painting of my favorite fantasy characters hung on the wall above my couch. I knew before I checked that a flat screen TV was on the wall across from the couch. Framed photos of my mom, nieces, brothers, Benny, and Vivian all sat on a shelf. On the other shelf were loads of candles.

Goodness. He even figured out I have an addiction to scented candles.

“Where did the photos come from?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” Lucy shrugged. “Chase works with a team to put our apartments together. My place was different. We designed it together.”

“Why?” I watched Mabel go into an all-white kitchen. Pictures of sunflowers hung everywhere. A huge amber vase full of sunflowers stood on the counter by the sink.

He even learned my favorite flower.

“I think there’s medicine in this cabinet.” Mabel opened it.

“Well, decorating my place was different because of my past. Some of the tiniest reminders of my life can take me to a...place I don’t want to go,” Lucy admitted. “So he wanted to make sure nothing freaked me out.”

“You and Chase have been close for a long time?” I stood in the middle of this apartment, not ready to sit down or move in too much. The experience was too unsettling. I felt like my private life had been invaded. Sure Chase’s intentions were good, maybe, but it was too much for me.

“Our fathers were friends,” Lucy mumbled. “But I don’t want to talk about that.”

I faced her. “Okay.”

Lucy stared at the floor.

“You said Chase’s mother was killed. How?”

“No one knows.” Lucy’s fingers shook. “Chase found her.”

“Oh my god.” I covered my mouth. “So—”

“I don’t want to talk about any of this.” Lucy lifted her head. “Today is already a bit depressing with everyone fighting and being pissed. We can talk about it another day.”

“I could only find Tylenol,” Mabel called out from the kitchen. “There’s ginger ale in the fridge. That could help.”

I waved her away. “No thanks. I think I’d rather have a drink.”

“There’s no liquor in here,” Mabel said.

“Wendy has some,” Lucy offered.

“No.” I scanned the room, ready to escape it. “I think I’m going to head off to a bar. I’ll probably grab something to eat there, too. You want to come?”

“Definitely!” Lucy clapped. “Sounds like a girls’ night.”

Yippee! Now I can’t escape Lucy either. Oh well, might as well start a party.

“Mabel?” I glanced over my shoulder. “You want to come? Food and drinks on me.”

She exchanged glances with Lucy and said, “No, ma’am. I’ll be here until you return.”

“Take the night off.” I rushed out of the apartment.

“A-alright,” Mabel said.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Vivian’s number.

“Hello, stranger,” she said after the third ring.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Laying in bubbly bath water with your hot brother.” She laughed. Troy’s chuckles drifted from the phone.

“Ick. I hate you.” I headed to the stairs.

“I’ll ask Wendy if she wants to come!” Lucy speed-walked in the other direction.

Oh great. Now the wineglass-throwing girlfriend can join us, too.

“What’s up, Jasmine? How was France? Or are you still there?” Vivian asked.

“I’m back in Oshane. I’m staying with Chase,” I muttered.

“And his girlfriends?” Her voice went up an octave and I heard a splash.

I groaned.

“What?” I heard my brother say.

“I need a drink. Do you feel like meeting me downtown?” I asked. “I need to be around you for an hour and see if my head is clear.”

“You sound weird,” Vivian said.

“I feel weird.”

“Okay. Let’s meet at Juniors.”

“Sounds good, but just you. I can’t tell you what I want to say if Troy is around. He’ll just kidnap and lock me somewhere far away from Chase.”

“Whereas I would just do that to Chase.” Vivian giggled. “I still have my meat grinder, you know.”

Lucy and Wendy stepped into the hallway.

“Not funny, Vivian.” I headed down the stairs. “Oh yeah. I’ll be bringing two of Chase’s girlfriends.”

“Oh goodie.” Vivian chuckled. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

Chapter 23

“
We’re just dedicated
to Chase.” Wendy stirred her pink iced drink with a straw. The waiter had told us it was called a
Pinky Panty Pull-down.
“I know it’s difficult to understand, but he’s a man of many needs.”

“Whoa.” Vivian kept her head propped in her hands and elbows on the table as she gaped at Wendy. “It’s like he brainwashed you with his penis.”

Lucy choked on her diet soda and fidgeted in her chair.

I nudged Vivian with my elbow. “Sorry, Wendy. Vivian really means this is difficult for her to understand, so—”

“No. I meant brainwashing.” Vivian shook her head. “Or maybe he indoctrinated you into a sort of cult-like relationship.”

“No, he didn’t brainwash me. Maybe you’re just closed-minded.” Wendy sipped her drink. “I’m sure you’ve shared many a man in your lifetime, you just didn’t know it.”

“This is true, but that form of sharing was called cheating,” Vivian replied. “And when I caught them cheating, I jabbed an inanimate object into their groin. What do you do when Chase sleeps around?”