There was an eerie silence as I sat on the couch that evening. It was almost seven o' clock and Conner, Alana and I were all ready to go ahead and execute the last phase of this whole Calder McKnight case except for one slight problem called Zadia.
"So Blake, how's your Art classes coming along?", the very woman herself asked.
She was leaning against me on the couch, practically sitting in my lap with our close proximity.
Scratching my head a bit I pulled my hand out of her grip, "Uh its fine".
She raised a brow at my vague answer, "Just fine?", she asked again.
I could see Alana rolling her eyes at us from across the room and honestly I couldn't blame her. Because the only person Za was annoying more than her was me.
My phone battery had long since died and was left charging in my room so I had to wait a while before I could resort to using candy crush as a distraction.
"It's uh, it's really fine thanks for asking", I answered instead and she gave me a small smile.
"How much longer is this gonna take", looking over, I narrowed my eyes at Alana and her antics, "do I really need to be here for this?".
Luckily for us Conner emerged from the kitchen to tell us that dinner was ready and we all but raced to get to the dinner table.
******
We were submerged in an awkward silence for the third time today. Everyone seemed to be more interested in playing 'who can shovel their food down their throats the fastest'.
Sad to say but I was leading the others by far. Because I was not gonna be the first one to talk. No. No way.
Heather had finally contacted me today. But all she said was that I needed to call back on my engagement with Zadia. She stressed how important it was that I do so but she gave no real explanation before she hung up.
Though she didn't say anything I knew, Dexter had done something to her company, he probably had leverage over her. Heather was in the process of getting new investors for the business so I could think of ten ways he could use that to blackmail her. It wouldn't be the first time. The degree of what mom knew wasn't as deep as my knowledge, for all I know Dexter might be agreeing to help her pull in investors if she pushes me into this marriage.
Clearing her throat, Zadia brought all of our attention to her. And I anticipated in horror the words that were bound to follow soon.
"The food is amazing Conner", she complimented, taking me completely aback since that was not what I had expected her to say. "Again thank you guys for having me over".
"Ain't nobody invited you", I heard Alana mutter from where she sat across from me at the table.
I responded by kicking her shin underneath the table which shut her up but also earned me a glare so cold it rivaled an iceberg.
I smiled sweetly at her before turning my gaze to Zadia, "You're always welcome here Zadia. Mi casa es su casa. After all we'll be moving in together after our engagement party, we might as well get used to seeing each other's faces every day again".
Everyone at the table went completely still. Well except for Zadia. A broad smile spread across her face.
I had no idea why she felt the need to try so hard around my friends. Conner and Alana may not know just how fake my engagement to Zadia is, but still...
"What about my ring?" Zadia was now leaning against my left shoulder with a glazed over look in her eyes as if she had already forgotten that we were not alone, "you brought it to the jeweler right? Did he have the alterations made?".
Carefully I pulled my body way from her, "It's like I told you last time. I dropped it off and now I'm waiting for him to call me back".
She rolled her eyes obviously not satisfied with my answer, "Ugh, just hurry up alright".
Tilting my head I took a really long look at her before shrugging, "Right, I'll just wait a little bit faster then", and I made sure that she heard the sarcasm in my voice.
This chick was gonna drive me crazy.
Alana shot me annoyed look as if asking when Zadia was going to leave. Considering that our plan was to conclude phase three tonight then I needed to think of something fast.
I was getting tired of hanging out with Zadia all the time. It's times like this that I wonder if an arranged marriage was really worth it. Especially with the way that Heather had treated me over the past two years. Though she didn't outrighted tell me her company was having some hardships I was smart enough to infer it from what she told me. I was also smart enough to put the dots together. This was Dexter showing me the amount of control he had over my life. If I played my cards right he'd back off. But that didn't change the fact that even though I am, I
know I shouldn't even be doing this, especially for her.
But then again, I'm not just doing this for her. Though Dexter didn't threaten my friends I definitely wouldn't put it pass him. And I'm far too invested in this to back out now.
"So Zadia", Conner interjected breaking up our glaring contest, "when's the wedding?".
He was too far away for me to kick his shin so I settled for a glare instead.
"We haven't set a date yet", I answered for her.
Her eyes narrowed at me, "Actually we have already agreed on a date".
Wait, what? We did? When?
"Really?", It was Alana who asked this sounding a bit too interested.
A coy smile spread out unto Zadia's face, "We did actually, December 23rd".
My eyes snapped to hers then narrowed into slits, "That's two months from now", I grounded out darkly, "I bet that the fact that it's also on my birthday was also a coincidence?".
"It was no coincidence".
"We are not getting married on my birthday", I said completely serious, "that day belongs to me not Us so you might wanna choose another date and one that's not in December".
She looked taken aback as if she had expected me to just go along with her shitty idea.
"You two don't seem like a happy couple at all", Alana piped in matter of factly.
That girl had an uncanny ability to always say the wrong things at the wrong time.
Zadia snarled at Alana and was either getting ready to give her a piece of her mind or throw the plate of casserole at her head. I couldn't tell anymore.
Conner had already held unto Alana's wrist since her hold had tightened around her dinner fork.
I'm certain it would have been world war three had there not been a knock at the door that snapped all of us out of whatever was about to happen.
I rushed to the door and flung it open. I was partially prepared to worship whoever the hell it was who had just about arrived in the nick of time to save my night from complete ruin.
But when my gaze met a pale faced Wayne standing on the other side of the door I already knew what was wrong and suddenly the problems that I had thought were so great at dinner began to pale in comparison.
All he said was, "We need to go. Now".
Truthfully, he didn't have to say anything else. I was already reaching for my jacket and pulling on my shoes.
But really, it was stupid of me to assume that I could just leave like that.
"Wait where are you going", Zadia's voice sounded as if she was a few meters behind me.
Wayne and I locked eyes for a moment and he subtly shook his head at me.
"I'm going out", was all I said as I started to leave again.
Unfortunately, she hadn't planned on just letting me leave.
"But I thought we could watch a movie tonight", she pouted and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
I was no longer in the mood to put up with Zadia at the moment. Regardless of a certain threat made towards me earlier this morning.
My blue eyes impatiently met her brown ones, "Go home Zadia. No one likes a clingy, needy girlfriend. I can't deal with you right now and I'm pretty sure my friends don't wanna hang out with you either. So just stop pretending like we're this happy perfect couple and just, go home".
I didn't wait for a reply I just left with Wayne. And yes, I was aware I had said girlfriend instead of fiancée.
*************
As Wayne and I got into his car I couldn't help but to think about how crappy my entire day has been so far. No to mention we were supposed to conclude phase three tonight but I had messaged Conner on my way out telling him I wouldn't make it.
Which brings me back to my current situation.
"When did he call you?", I asked.
Wayne kept his eyes on the road, "Fifteen minutes ago I think".
I nodded and waited for him to expound further.
He sighed and looked at me for a second and when he looked back at the road his grip on the steering wheel tightened.
"All he said was that we should be there by nine thirty. He didn't even call, he just sent the text with the address and said I should bring you along".
I nodded because that sounded exactly like what our boss would do.
"Wayne, I have a really bad feeling about tonight".
He didn't answer immediately, "He's sending us to Mile's again. That's two town's over, we'll be gone for hours. If we get caught..."
"We won't get caught Wayne, we've been doing this for a year", I brushed off his concern but really I was concerned myself.
"He said he left the car in the parking lot and we have to get this done before one o'clock else we're screwed".
I managed to crack a small smile, "Then it's a good thing we've never screwed up a delivery before. And I don't plan on starting now".
For the first time all night, his mood seemed to lift a bit as he smirked at me, "Touché".
Only a few minutes later we pulled up at the address that the boss had sent us.
I was barely out of the car before my phone began to ring.
Wayne shot me a dirty look, basically telling me not to answer since we were almost running late. I would even have hung up too if it hadn't been Natasha's number on the caller ID.
My eyes shot up to where Wayne was standing pleading with him, "Come on dude I have to take this, it's Natasha. I've been trying to call her since this morning".
He just rolled his eyes at me in frustration. "Whatever man, just stay here I'm going to go get the car then we can leave in five minutes".
"Thanks bro", I smiled as I quickly answered the phone.
"I've been calling you all day", were the words I greeted her with.
The sound of her soft laughter greeted me on the other end of the line. And I sighed a bit relieved. "Hello Blake. I saw the nine missed calls, but you should know that I was busy".
"Really," I asked a bit amused, "are you sure this doesn't have anything to do with you running into my fiancée this morning?"
This time when she laughed there wasn't an ounce of humor in her voice.
"Speaking of which", she drawled out in her thick accent, "when were you going to tell me that you were engaged? Was that before or after the wedding?".
I didn't find it funny.
I was becoming more serious now, "Listen Natasha. I was never with Zadia while we were together".
The silence that greeted me next was deafening. But I could still hear her faint breathing in the background until..
"Do you love her".
I didn't need time to think about it, I just answered, "Not anymore. I did love her once but that was a long time ago".
I could hear her sharp intake of breath she probably hadn't anticipated my answer.
"Then why are you marrying someone that you don't love?".
Sighing, I dragged a hand through my blonde hair, the reflection of my blue eyes looking back at me in the car glass.
"It's business Natasha. I don't exactly have a choice".
She wasn't even angry when she spoke next, "Everyone has a choice. Look Blake I like you a lot but I'm not going to wait around for you to change your mind".
I looked up at the stars above me, switching the phone to my other ear. "I really like you too you know, but you're right Natasha and I'm not going to ask you to do that".
I could imagine the sad smile on her face as she said, "Goodbye Blake", probably because I was wearing the same sad smile.
I stood there for a while before I realized that Wayne had been gone for almost twenty minutes that was Fifteen minutes longer than he had said he'd be gone for.
Something was definitely wrong.
But I didn't confirm that until I heard multiple shouts coming from inside the building. We were supposed to be the only ones here.
Shoving my phone into my pocket I ran as fast as I could towards the building.