Page 66 of Endgame

‘Mel is absolutely obsessed with him.’ Present tense. What the fuck is going on?

Ariella slowly reaches for my hand and I see Dominic notice it. My palms start to sweat because this is not supposed to be in the public domain. I need to stop this but I don’t know how.

‘Oh yeah!’ Kevin continues. ‘She’s had him on her mind for so many years, it left space for nothing else. He’s had a massive impact on her and all he had to do was meet her once. She even went to London to find him. Thankfully, she also came back with you, Ariella, and you are absolutely delightful.’ He takes Ariella’s hand and kisses it. Ariella puts that polite smile on her face that, if you knew her, you’d easily decode as ‘get the fuck away from me, now’.

‘It was a while ago, I’m hardly responsible…’ I try to break his story, but he’s committed and mid-flow.

‘Oh, come on! Me, you, Dominic and Melissa sat at the same table at the Tech Awards, about three, four years back, remember? I think she told me you shared a car home.’

Dominic was there? Kevin looks like he’s telling a happy-go-lucky story, but he’s making it clear that he definitely knows. ‘Or maybe you put her in a car to take her home. It’s hard to recall. Either way, there was a car and she got home. Eventually.’

Okay. I relax. He’s not going to say anything. I know that because Zheng has been driving Melissa since she was six. Evenwhen she went to Stanford, he moved to California with her and drove her around there too. I don’t believe she has ever been put in a car that isn’t hers, ever, in her life. He just wants me to know that he knows. I play along.

‘Possibly.’ I exaggerate my nonchalance.

‘Anyway, I’m glad she got you here. You’ve been her little project and kept her busy for the last couple of years. Now you’re in Singapore, she can mark it as complete and move on to other things.’

‘I’m glad it worked out. He’s an incredible director of sales,’ Dominic adds to end the conversation, even though his expression tells me that he is enjoying this.

‘Oh, he definitely worked out. The very next day after he moved to Singapore to start this role, Melissa finally committed to our wedding date. Isn’t that nuts?’ Kevin confirms to Ariella.

Right now, all I can think about is going to find Melissa. I need to know what Kevin knows and if it’s going to be a problem for me going forward. I just need to get away without it looking like I am beating a retreat after the exchange with Kevin. Dominic gives me the break I need. He’s been unusually helpful this evening, albeit unintentionally.

‘Ariella, can we go for a twirl on the dance floor? I promise to be gentle with your boss, Caleb.’

‘Please return her in one piece,’ I say as I shake his hand again.

‘Well?’ Dominic asks Ariella.

‘Sure,’ she responds, not sounding sure at all, but she lets him lead her away anyway.

I nod my goodbyes to the others and walk in the other direction. When I am a safe distance away, I whip out my phone and text Melissa that we need to talk. We agree to meet at the altar in five. It’s as good a location as any, given the mockery she made of her vows earlier.

I quickly make my way over and find her waiting for me in the dark.

‘Kevin knows?’ I don’t waste any time.

‘Yes,’ she confirms, obviously irritated that she has to.

‘What the fuck, Mel. He’s telling everyone you’re marrying him because of me.’

‘What did he say?’

‘That you’re obsessed with me and?—’

‘Asshole,’ she spits.

‘Did you tell him?’

‘Of course not!’

‘Then how?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘Of course it fucking matters!’

‘Caleb, I don’t want to?—’

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