Page 16 of Arden and the Girl Downstairs

“I honestly thought you were making it up.”

“There is no way I could even begin to make something like that up. Ella is one of a kind.” Chad walks over to me and wraps his arms around me. I allow myself to relax into the familiar comfort.

“I know that now.” Ralph looks at us and smiles genuinely. I want to be pissed at them for not telling me, but it’s hard. Chad is one of my favourite people, and Ralph may be a good ally if I agree to do what he is asking and officially declare war on Arden. “Message me when you are finishing, and I’ll come and pick you up,” Ralph says as he makes his way to the door.

“Bye, Ralphie,” I yell at his retreating back. Chad laughs and finally lets me go.

“Only you’d get away with calling that big brute Ralphie. How you feeling, kiddo? You sure you’re up for being here?” he asks, concerned. Chad became my family when my own were too busy to notice me anymore.

“I’m okay, a little woozy with some of the new meds, but there is nowhere else I’d rather be.” I lean down and get a bottle of water from the fridge under the bar. “I’ll let you know if I need to leave, but for now, let’s do this.” I grab the remote and change the music to my playlist.

Chingy’s “Right Thurr” starts to play on the speakers, and I turn it up. Chad rolls his eyes and walks away. A flyer on the wall catches my eye . . .I pull it down and read it over. A laugh escapes me.

“Hey Chad, have you seen this?” My voice carries over the beat of the music.

Chad’s head pops around the corner, and he takes one look at what I’m holding and shakes his head. I don’t know if he is shaking his head because he hasn’t seen it, or he knows where my train of thought is going and he is telling me no. Either way, I decide to have some fun.

“You should apply.” He doesn’t respond, just retreats back to the office, so I grab my phone from my pocket and send off a message to the email on the flyer.

I smile and look around; the bar is full of regulars and it’s nice to be back in a place I know. I couldn’t stand the hospital. It was too sterile. I need a little chaos in my life, and lucky for me, Chad allows me to indulge in occasional shenanigans at work.

Best boss ever.

Arden

Ella got discharged from hospital today. I know because Yasmin has been using the group chat to keep everyone updated. I don’t respond, though.

Something about Ella just gets under my skin.

I have no idea what she was talking about the other day, but I’m one hundred percent certain it has something to do with drunk Arden.

I shake my head, trying to remove the thoughts of Ella from my mind. But that’s a mistake. The minute she disappears from my head, she’s replaced by an image of Julia hooked up to all the machines, lying in a hospital bed.

I try to shake this image away, but it’s no use. It’s been haunting me for months. I was thankful for the temporary reprieve with Ella occupying my thoughts, but it seems I’m a sucker for torturing myself.

I throw back the amber liquid in the tumbler in front of me and immediately refill it. This is how I spend my evenings. I was drinking my way through every bar in New Hope, but the past few days I’ve taken up drinking in my room instead.

Ella has been staying in the hospital room I’m paying for, and I haven’t felt the need to go out. Caleb called me the other day to get the okay to run some tests on Ella, and I advised him to do what needed to be done for as long as she lets him. I know she’ll clam up one day and say no to the help. I also have a gut feeling she’s only accepting my help because she’s picking her battles—whatever I’ve done to piss her off in the past is most definitely going to come flying out the minute she sets her sights on me. She doesn’t seem like the type of girl to bite her tongue or stew on something. No, she’s going to tell me exactly what’s on her mind.

A soft knock at the door brings back the guilt of how much of a shitty friend I’ve been recently. There is only one person who’d knock softly like that. Chase and Rhys would let themselves in, and Ally would yell out to put clothes on because she was coming in. That leaves Yasmin—the only person polite enough to wait before being invited into my personal space.

“Come in, Shorty.” I lean back on the double couch I’m sitting on in my living area. The best thing I did when I designed this place was put apartments inside of it. It means we can all live together without being in each other’s pockets. I’m not silly—I know my friends will need some alone time, and eventually there will be marriages and kids. When I renovated this place, the goal was to create our forever home. Somewhere Chase and Yasmin can raise their kids. Kids who will be very spoiled by their aunties and uncles.

I also wanted a place for our family and friends to stay as well when needed.

It’s come in handy. Chad has been living in my spare room for the better half of a month.

He flooded his apartment, and it’s taking longer than he expected to get things sorted. I told him I’d handle it, but he said no. All he needed was somewhere to crash for a while.

I was happy to offer. Chad is as much family as everyone else.

Yasmin walks straight over to the lounge and sits beside me. She bumps my shoulder with hers.

“You ready to talk yet?” Her tone is gentle. She’s not going to force it from me, but I need to give her something.

“Not really.” I want to open up to her, but I don’t know how.

“Chuck, you need to give me something. I’m so fucking worried about you. I’ve been trying to give you space. We all have. School has been hard, not having you around has been hard . . . We’re all struggling. Chase has been wanting to work on Wander, but I won’t let him. Not until we can all work on it as a family. Even Rhys and Ally are going to help. I know you blame yourself, and I know nothing I tell you will convince you otherwise . . .” She pauses to turn and face me.

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