Page 16 of Agony

Me: She can meet you at Berkley Park.

Arsen: Aren’t you going to be there too? What time?

That was a good question. I didn’t wake up Addie too early and I didn’t know how long she would sleep for. As for the first part of his question, I didn’t know how I felt about being around him knowing what he was now.

Me: I’ll let you know in the morning. She just got here a couple of hours ago.

Arsen: Okay. I hope you make it tomorrow...

I didn’t respond. Instead I shut my phone off and closed my eyes. I’d let him sweat it out.

There was no way in hell Adesynne would let me stay home. She had obviously come out here with more than one purpose.

I woke up to the sound of the radio blaring in the kitchen and the smell of bacon. I sat up and rubbed my eyes before I went to join Addie who was shimmying to the song on the radio and throwing another round of bacon into the pan.

“Good morning, sunshine!” she said when I sat at the island. “How’d you sleep? Have you talked to Arsen yet? When I do I get to meet the man?”

I shook my head for a moment. Too many questions were being tossed at me already. I went into the bathroom and went through my morning routine. I brushed my hair, then my teeth, and then washed my face.

Addie was leaning on the counter ready to barrage me with me more question, so I held up a hand as I went into the living room to retrieve my phone. I headed back into the kitchen, sitting on one of the stools behind the island and double tapped the screen. I opened my messages sent him a text.

Me: We’re awake. What time is good for you?

Instead of a text response, my phone almost immediately rang. I looked down at it and contemplated sending him to voicemail, but Addie came over to me and swiped the answer button.

“Hello?” I asked giving her a dirty look.

“Hey, I’m ready whenever you guys are,” Arsen said.

“Hold on.”

I put the phone to my chest and looked at Addie who was watching me with serious eyes.

“Arsen wants to know what time,” I said to her.

“Why doesn’t he come over and have breakfast with us? Then we can all go together,” she suggested carefully.

“No,” I hissed.

“Neve, ask him to come over for breakfast. You’re being too stubborn. It’s just breakfast. Then you can decide if you want to go with us. I can tell by the way you’ve been carrying yourself so far this morning, that you’ve been trying to figure it out anyway,” she said, turning back to the stove.

I cleared my throat and tried to sound pleasant when I got back on the phone.

“You can come over and have breakfast with us if you want. If you don’t die from Adesynne’s cooking, maybe I’ll join you guys today,” I said, my voice dripping with fake sweetness.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” he replied with a chuckle.

I hung up without saying good-bye and put the phone down.

“Well?” she asked without turning around.

“He said he’ll be here in ten minutes.”

“Then I guess I better make more bacon,” she said, heading to the refrigerator.

Exactly ten minutes later there was a knock on the front door. I was busy reading news on my phone so I didn’t move. Not to mention that just because I had invited him over didn’t mean that I had to be the one to answer the door.

Addie sighed heavily when Arsen knocked again. She wiped her hands on a hand towel and walked to the front door. I opened one of the drawers in the kitchen and looked for a hair tie. I heard her open the front door and rolled my eyes as they greeted each other brightly. I pulled my hair into a tight ponytail and went back to my news.

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