The Arrangement (28 page)

‘I
want all those things, too.’ She reached across and squeezed
his hand softly.

‘You
can come here.’ It was the first time she had seen him act so
nervous and timid. ‘You can come and stay here at my home.’

Had
she heard him right?

‘You
want me to live here with you?’

‘I
won’t be like your fiancée. I want you. I want you so
much. I know we only met each other a few days ago, but I don’t
do this.’ He waved a hand at the meal and her. ‘I don’t
jump from bed to bed. I keep to myself. I believe in true love and
romance. I always wanted to believe those movies where a man and
woman fall in love and live together forever. I know it sounds dumb,
but I am crazy about you.’

‘Come
here.’ She waved him forward with a finger.

Scarlett
got off her chair and leaned across the table.

Brandon
met her half way.

She
felt like giggling from the way he looked down her open shirt to
check out her boobs. The two of them shared a long and loving kiss.
She pulled back slightly and looked directly into his deep brown
eyes. ‘You are nothing like my fiancée. In the short
time we have known each other you have made me feel happier than he
has ever done.’ She stroked a hand against the side of his
face. ‘I think I am falling in love with you.’

He
was smiling from ear to ear.

‘I
am already in love with you.’

They
kissed again.

‘Will
you stay with me tonight?’ he asked.

Scarlett
couldn’t think of a reason why not.

***

Lucas
switched on the living room light and threw his car keys down on the
coffee table. It was nearly ten o’clock at night and Scarlett’s
car was not in the driveway. It wasn’t like her to be out so
late. He let out a frustrated tut and headed from the living room
into the kitchen. Another light switch was flicked and he pulled upon
the fridge door. He plucked a can of beer from a six pack at the
bottom of the fridge and popped it open.

‘Damn
it.’ He sipped on the drink and headed back into the living
room.

‘Where
is she?’

He
had spent the last twenty minutes sitting in the car around the
corner practising what he was going to say. He was going to come
clean about his relationship with Emma, and how it all started. He
was going to man up and make sure he did the right thing, rather than
have Scarlett find out through someone else. She deserved to hear it
from him.

He
pulled back the curtains and looked out onto the street.

The
headlights of a car blinded his vision before heading off up the
road.

‘Just
calm down,’ he told himself.

Lucas
downed some more of his beer and switched on the television. On
auto-pilot he turned straight to the sports channel to find out the
latest news and gossip. The build up to the big matches, next
weekend, had already begun. It took him about twenty seconds before
he was back up on his feet and pacing again.

This
was not something he could postpone.

Each
passing second weakened his resolve.

He
needed to tell her straight out and get it over with.

‘Where
the hell is she?’

He
power marched into the hallway and snatched up the phone from the
wobbly old phone stand. He speed dialled her cell phone number.

***

In
nothing more than a shirt Scarlett stood overlooking the rolling
waves of the ocean with a glass of wine in hand. She felt so calm and
at peace. It was a sense of relaxation she had forgotten existed.
Today had been a really good day. No. Today had been the very best
day. She had talked non-stop, flirted non-stop, had a lovely dinner,
beautiful wine, and made love to the most gorgeous man she had ever
seen several times over.

A
sound reached her ears

It
was her cell phone.

For
a brief moment she contemplated ignoring it, but that idea was
quickly brushed to one side. Scarlett reached for her handbag on the
living room coffee table and plucked out her cell phone.

‘Hello?’

‘Hey.’
It was Lucas. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Yes.
Why wouldn’t I be?’

‘I
was just worried because you were not at home.’

‘Oh
right. I am at Anne’s,’ she lied. It was the only place
she would normally be if she wasn’t at home.

‘Will
you be coming home tonight?’

‘Um...’
her eyes darted towards Brandon walking down stairs. He was wearing
nothing more than his boxer shorts. Unconsciously, Scarlett bit her
bottom lip, as she admired his muscular torso. That was more than
enough incentive to make her decision. ‘No. I will be staying
here for tonight.’

‘Oh,
okay.’

‘I
will call you in the morning.’

‘Yeah...’
Lucas sounded slightly disappointed, but that was not her concern.

‘Goodnight.’
And with that she flicked off the cell phone.

‘Who
was that?’ asked Brandon, as he walked towards her.

‘It
was nobody important.’ She smiled.

***

Lucas
took a swig of his beer and sat back on the couch. Now that Scarlett
was staying with her sister for tonight all the tension and stress
about telling her about Emma had gone. The television was on, but his
eyes were transfixed upon a photo of him and Scarlett upon the
mantelpiece. It had been taken a couple of years ago when they had
been on vacation. The two of them were smiling from ear to ear. It
had been a time in his life where he had been truly happy. It had
been a time in his life where she had made him truly happy. It begged
the question. What had gone wrong?

It
wasn’t like he never loved her.

He
did love her.

In
a way he still loved her.

Maybe,
a part of him would always love her.

A
strong sense of guilt stabbed at his heart like a knife. Cheating
with Emma was wrong. It was something morally wrong that he never
believed that he would do. He knew one hundred percent that Scarlett
would blame the no sex arrangement as the cause of their downfall,
but that wasn’t it. Things had been turning stale for a while.
The passion he had once shared with her was gone. When it came down
to Scarlett or work, or Scarlett and a movie, or Scarlett and sitting
in a bar drinking. He never picked Scarlett. That was not a good
sign. She used to be the centre of his universe, but in many ways
they are completely different people.

‘It’s
not her,’ he told the silent house.

It
was him.

He
changed.

That
was why making the arrangement with her father was so easy. It wasn’t
like Scarlett was a bad person. He could have happily married her.
She was like his best friend and she was beautiful. That is a good
combination and better than some people get, but Emma was not a
person he could turn down. She was everything he had ever wanted and
more. There was just something about her that made his heart flutter
at the very thought of her. There was no being unsure or not knowing.
He loved her.

‘Tomorrow,’
he sighed. ‘I will tell Scarlett tomorrow.’

***

‘Oh
dear, oh dear,’ sighed Laura.

She
hugged her own body by tucking her arms beneath her armpits. Her long
fluffy scarf, big bobble hat, cosy gloves and big thick winter coat
were no match for the howling winds. It was like someone was trying
to physically push her over with each powerful gale. Thankfully, the
rain had long since stopped, which meant she was not going to go back
home soaked from head to toe. In all truth, she never went out this
late at night, but the weather had delayed her walk.

Her
black and tan terrier, Connie, ran by her with a speed of a rocket.

Come
rain or shine the dog had to be walked.

There
had not been a single day Laura hadn’t walked her dog. She
didn’t mind going out at night, but at her age she didn’t
like going out in the rain. It was very easy to pick up a cold, and
she had almost given up for the night. It was getting late, but when
she was about to have a nice hot cup of tea and settle down for the
night the rain stopped. The thought of waiting for tomorrow did creep
across her mind, but that sad big brown eyed dog filled her with
guilt.

‘Just
a little further,’ she told the dog.

Connie
was quite happily chewing up every stick on the beach.

Suddenly,
the dog stopped and cocked its head up into the air.

‘What’s
wrong?’ asked the old lady.

Laura
couldn’t hear that much over the howling of the wind. Connie
looked up and away from the ocean towards the house on the hill.
Laura always loved to look at this house. She always dreamed that if
she won the lottery she would buy that house. She also liked the way
she could see straight through the windows at the interior. There was
nothing better than being a bit nosey. It gave her something to talk
to her friends about.

‘Oh
my...’

She
couldn’t hear it, but she could just about see it.

‘Oh
my, oh my,’ she said with a smile.

There
were two naked figures within the house upon the hill. With no other
light for miles around the interior of the house shone like the full
moon on a clear night. One figure was bent over with their palms of
their hands pressed up against the glass window, whilst a taller
figure was stood behind. From the way they moved their hips it was
obvious to see what they were doing.

‘Oh
my, oh my, oh my,’ chuckled Laura.

She
whistled Connie.

‘This
way girl,’ she called out over the wind. The two of them took
the slightly longer route home, which just so happened to take them
closer to the house on the hill.

***

‘All
right, all right,’ Lucas groaned angrily at the sound of the
doorbell. He ran half naked down the stairs towards the front door.
He had only woken up about fifteen minutes ago and was enjoying a
nice relaxing lazy snooze in bed. This was not exactly how he wanted
to start his day. He flicked the key in the lock and swung open the
front door.

Anne
was standing outside.

It
looked like she had literally dived out of bed, too. Her hair was all
over the place. She was wearing black sweat pants and a skin tight
t-shirt. He couldn’t deny that Anne was pretty, but she was
nowhere near as beautiful as her sister. The only good quality she
had were her large round breasts, which her t-shirt didn’t
leave much to the imagination with. Although in comparison they would
never be as good as Emma’s. Nevertheless, it took a great deal
of mental strength not to stare at them. Over her shoulder he could
see her kids sitting in the back seat of her car. Her boyfriend was
in the driver’s seat.

‘Hi,
Anne, is something wrong?’

‘No...’
she looked slightly puzzled. ‘I just wanted to speak to
Scarlett quickly.’

Alarm
bells began to sound inside his head.

‘You
want to speak to Scarlett?’

‘Yes.’
She nodded slowly. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked him.

‘Couldn’t
you have spoken with her about this already?’ He looked puzzle.

‘What
do you mean?’

‘Well,
last night.’

‘What
about last night?’

‘She
stayed with you, didn’t she?’

The
penny dropped.

Anne’s
face said one thing, but her mouth said another. ‘Yes. Of
course she did, but I wanted to ask her about something. She must
have stopped off in town on her way back here.’ Just like her
sister Anne was not a very good liar. It was obvious to see that
Scarlett had not spent the night with her sister. Oddly, Lucas didn’t
feel the slightest bit angry or betrayed. ‘Just tell her I
called by.’

Lucas
closed the front door without a word of goodbye.

If
Scarlett wasn’t with Anne, where was she?

***

Lucas
was sat in the silence on the couch. He had called work to say he
would be slightly late this morning and lied about car problems. He
had called Emma and explained what was really happening. He had been
sat here on this very same spot all morning thinking about what he
was going to say to Scarlett. First he wanted to hear what she was
going to say because she had very clearly lied about staying with her
sister, but she didn’t have any other friends. So, who could
she be staying with?

It
was at quarter to ten in the morning that he heard the car pull up.

He
could feel his heart starting to beat faster within his chest.

It
was time to confess about the affair.

How
would she take it?

The
front door opened with a faint click and Scarlett entered the house
humming away happily. That was an instant sign that something was
going on. She only hummed happily after sex, or being very flirty. It
seemed like the only thing that made her happy these days. At least
from Lucas’s point of view. He could hear her throw her keys
down on the phone stand and her footsteps led towards the living
room.

‘What
are you still doing home?’ asked Scarlett. ‘Are you
feeling all right?’

‘I
am fine.’ He greeted her with a welcoming smile. ‘How was
your night?’

A
puzzled expression spread across her angelic face. ‘It was
fine.’ She quickly shrugged it off and headed by him into the
kitchen. ‘Would you like a cup of coffee?’

‘No.
I am fine.’ He followed her into the kitchen. ‘You have
fun at Anne’s?’

‘It
was pretty fun. We just chilled out and had some wine,’ she
lied.

Lucas
leant back against the kitchen counter with his arms folded, as
Scarlett went about making herself a cup of tea. A small part of him
had half expected her to come up with a decent lie, being that she
was an author and good at telling stories, but he already knew she
didn’t spend the night with her sister. If she hadn’t
done anything wrong, why would she lie?