Page 25 of Arden and the Girl Downstairs

“Poor Unfortunate Soul. Ella has been trialling some new drinks at the bar,” Chad says.

When we moved into the new house, Chad moved in with us. His house flooded and there was a lot of damage. But he has since moved out, and I missed some of the details about why or where he’s moved to.

“Well, Ella created a great cocktail. Girl’s got skills. How’s she doing?” Yasmin asks Chad. This brings my attention back to the conversation. Everything about Ella drives me mental, but the girls like her and have been hanging out with her. She’s still pissed at me for organising a doctor and paying for her private room at the hospital so she could get a second and third opinion while she was there. I’m not sure what her specific issues are, but Yasmin told me Ella has been having ongoing problems, and no one has been able to figure it out. So, I did what I normally do. I called in some favours and made sure she got some answers before she was discharged.

Her family didn’t visit her in the hospital, so Yasmin, Ally, Ralph, Chad, and even Rhys took it in turns to sit with her. Chase has been working twelve-hour days, otherwise he would have been there with her as well.

Everyone seems to have a soft spot for the infuriating woman. Everyone except me. Everything about her gets on my nerves. Especially those bloody unicorn slippers and slogan tees. No joke, she was wearing a shirt yesterday that read, “Don’t talk to me, I’m antisocial.” The girl works in a pub. Pretty sure it isn’t appropriate work wear, but Chad doesn’t seem to care, and from what I’ve seen, the patrons find it funny.

“She’s okay, I think. She’s stubborn, that’s for sure,” Chad admits and huffs out a breath. “She’s still not telling me what the doctors said, and she’s definitely still pissed at Chuck. She’s the same Ella that I met when she was fifteen and demanding a job at Grumpy’s, but something isn’t right—she’s missing some of her sass. I have no idea how to help her, though. She’s a good kid that was dealt a crappy hand. I’m just glad she’s here and you girls aren’t giving up on her,” Chad says honestly, then takes a long drink of his beer. He must not be working tonight.

“We’ll keep trying,” Ally says, eyeing me suspiciously. “All of us.” Her eyes narrow, and she levels me with her death stare.

“Whoa,” I put my hands up in defence. “I’ve been nothing but nice. I paid for the tests and consults. What else do you want from me?”

“Have you tried having a conversation with her?” Ally snaps.

“Yes, no. Wait . . . how am I the bad guy here? She clearly hates me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Really?” Ally glares at me. “Think about it, Arden. Really think. You despised her from the beginning because you couldn’t pay to get her out of her apartment. The only conversations you’ve had with her are while you’ve been too drunk to remember and then you feel bad and decide to throw some cash around to make yourself feel better. We’ve all been quiet about what’s going on with you. But enough is enough. It’s time to pull your head out of your ass. What happened with Julia isn’t your fault. You know this, we know this, andshesure as hell knows this. She wouldn’t be here if she blamed you.”

Ally stops yelling at me to look around the table. Everyone is shocked—I’m not, though. Ally never sugar coats shit, and honestly, I’m surprised she took this long to say something.

She turns her focus back to me, her expression dead serious. “You’re always so in control, Arden, but not today. Today we’re in control, and here’s what’s going to happen. First up, you will apologise to Ella. It doesn’t matter if she hates you, you will apologise and you will mean it. Second, and this is not up for debate, you are going to get help. Third, no more benders. If you go out, you take one of us with you.”

Ally isn’t backing down. How the hell did we go from discussing Chase and Yasmin’s relationship to a freaking intervention? A flurry of emotions hits me all at once. She’s right about everything. I lower my gaze, unable to look at anyone, and pick at the label of my beer to hide the slight shaking of my hand.

A small pair of arms wrap around my neck, and I lean back, gazing up into Yasmin’s face. I didn’t even hear her move from her chair.

“We love you. This is for the best, you know that, right?” Her eyes are glassy with unshed tears.

The wall erected around my heart cracks a little.

I didn’t fully realise just how much I have been hurting my friends by shutting them out. “I know, Shorty. I’m sorry.”

She leans down to kiss my cheek. “We’re not the ones you need to apologise to. We all love you, regardless of how much of a douche canoe you’ve been the past few weeks.”

Yasmin tightens her grip and hugs me. For the moment, I just let her hold me.

I couldn’t resist taunting Chase when he started dating her, but there’s no way I’d ever steal his girl. They’re destined to be together.

“I’ll apologise after lunch. You need to eat.”

“Okay.” She kisses my cheek and lets me go, sitting back down.

Martha and Ralph walk out with plates of food which they place on the table, then join us to eat. They are only helping out here until Julia goes home, but I made sure they know that we want them to eat with us. They may be paid to be here, but they are our family.

I glance around the table, watching everyone eat and chat among themselves.

I’ve missed this.

“But I’m not getting help. I don’t need it, and as much as I love you guys, you can’t make me.”

“Umm, sorry to interrupt, but that’s where you’re wrong. I can make you.”

I look up at the quiet voice coming from the doorway. There stands Ella, and today’s shirt reads: “Probably Hangry.” She has her stupid unicorn slippers on and is holding a heat pack on her stomach. She’s staring at Ralph, who gives her a subtle nod and pulls out a chair for her.

“I highly doubt that. If they can’t make me, you definitely can’t.”

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