A Strange Arrangement

I aimlessly wandered the streets of Philadelphia for over an hour thinking about what Sara had shown me.

“Should I confront him? No, I'll just look like a stalker. I should've just minded my business. Curiosity really did kill the cat. But the cat's supposed to have nine lives. So that was one really fucking foolish cat, I guess. What the hell am I even talking about anymore?”

I sat down on a ledge in front of a fountain and buried my head in my hands.

“This whole situation is my fault. I should've just stayed in Alberta. Damn it. I want to go home.”

But unfortunately, all that required was a 20 minute walk east of where I was sitting. That was a walk I wasn't ready to make yet. I needed to speak to someone. There was only one other person who knew me better than Kris and who I trusted to be my voice of reason.

“Sophia.”

I pulled out my phone and dismissed the missed call and new text message notifications from Kris, Sara, and Eric. I dialed Sophia's number and waited anxiously as I listened to the monotonous ringing, hoping she would pick up now of all times.

“Well hello, stranger. I was beginning to think I'd never hear from you again.” Sophia's cheerful voice said to me on the other line.

“Hey, Soph,” I said trying to keep my voice from breaking but failing.

“Lex? Are you okay? What's wrong?”

I chuckled as I fought back tears. “Everything. I can't explain it but things aren't going the way I planned.”

“Life has a tendency to do that sometimes, love.”

“I know but...I did something really stupid.”

“Oh fuck, did you sleep with him?”

“No, well...yeah, but not like physically, just...we slept in the same bed together but we didn't sleep together. You know what I mean. That's not it though. He's been lying to me a lot lately, Soph, and I didn't understand why so I kind of got one of my co-workers to spy on him.”

“You did what?! What's wrong with you?” she yelled. “You have reached a new level of crazy, my friend.”

“I know. I just didn't know what else to do.” I tried defending myself.

“You could've, oh I don't know...talked to him? Called him out like you never seem to want to do because you're always so afraid of rocking the boat and seeming too clingy or, God forbid, letting him find out you have feelings for him.” Her words hit so hard, they rendered me speechless. She sighed knowing she had hit me where it hurt. “So, what did you find out?”

“He made Valentine's Day reservations at some exclusive local restaurant, had lunch with a major local event planner, and showed off some necklace that he bought to her.”

“And you're upset because...?” she asked waiting for me to fill in the blanks.

“Because the thought of this all being for me doesn't seem plausible.”

“That's because you have the confidence of a chicken.”

“Chickens happen to be very territorial birds who will attack when they feel threatened. I'm pretty sure there have been reported cases of people being pecked to death by chickens.”

“Stop deflecting, Alexandria. Where are you, right now?” she questioned me sternly.

“Sitting by a fountain in downtown Philadelphia.”

“You need to go home and talk this out with him once and for all. It's just going to keep eating you up if you don't.”

I knew she was right even if I didn't want to admit it. “Fine.” I sighed.

“And Lex...” she began.

“Yeah?”

“Don't mention that you sent someone to stalk him. It's probably best to leave that part out.”

I laughed. “Okay. Soph?”

“Mmhm?” answered Sophia.

“I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

-x-

I stood outside the door of apartment 1208 having an internal struggle with myself about whether or not I was ready to go in.

“Best to just get it over with, I suppose.”

I opened the door carefully. I smelled something vaguely familiar almost instantly.

“Is he...cooking?”

I stepped in and closed the door behind me. I stepped into the hallway and peered towards the right into the kitchen. There he was, oblivious to my presence, stirring the simmering chicken that was cooking in a pan. I put my bag and keys down on the counter. Kris turned towards my direction and smiled widely.

“Hey, kid! I've been trying to get in touch with you all day.”

“Yeah? Sorry. Things were kind of crazy at work. I had a tough deadline to beat.

“I wanted to find out what time you were coming home so I'd know when to be done by. You never picked up so I figured I'd cook now and leave it for you to find in the fridge when you came home. I'm making your favorite.”

I saw on the counter opposite from him soft pita wraps.

“Taquitos?” I laughed. “Since when do you know how to cook?”

“Since I got a concussion and have nothing but time to look recipes up online.”

I remembered all that had troubled me that day and my mood changed slightly.

“Why are you doing all of this?” I asked him.

“Why? Well you're probably the second most important person to me aside from my mother. It occurred to me that we haven't eaten at home together since you got here. And I wanted to thank you for being there for me when I got hurt.” he looked at me and winked. “Now go take a shower and get comfortable. Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes.”

We finally sat down to eat 45 minutes later due to my freshening up taking longer than anticipated. He made a toast simply “to us” and we began to dig in. We sat there in silence for a few minutes avoiding eye contact. Or at least I was, anyway. I knew what I needed to say, I just hadn't thought of a good intro to lead into it.

“So, you're eating it all but you're not saying anything. I don't know if that's a good sign or not.” he said.

“Mmm, no. It's good, really good.” I said in between bites.

“Alright. Awesome,” he said smiling. His eyes darted around the room for a second. “I'll be right back.” He got up from the table and headed towards his room.

My chest tightened up as my nerves became more intense.

“I just have to say it. Just rip it off like a band aid and get it over with. Good or bad. No fear. No second thoughts.” I sighed deeply as he walked back to where he had been sitting.

“Uh, I'm really happy you're here and I'm really glad that you're following your dream and actually writing for a paper. That's really amazing, King. And I just wanted to show you how proud I am of you by getting you a little something.” And out of his pocket he pulled out a box identical to the one I had seen in the pictures Sara took. He opened the top and revealed a beautiful silver necklace. This was definitely the one I had been shown earlier. He took it out of it's case and held it in front of me.

“It's got a Canadian coin charm to represent our memories of home and a harmonica charm to represent your love of music. A guitar charm seemed too cheesy.” he laughed. “Do you like it?”

I nodded my head because I couldn't find words. I was in disbelief and felt like a fool. Slightly. This didn't mean that everything else I had been informed of today was also for me. Regardless, I didn't want to ruin this moment. Everything was completely perfect and I wanted it to stay that way for as long as possible no matter how temporarily.

“Here, I'll help you put it on.” he said as he walked behind me. I moved my hair to the side and a rush ran through me as I felt his hands on the back of my neck clasping my new gift.

I thought back to what Sophia told me I needed to do but I wasn't ready to do it now. I had held it in this long. It could wait a little longer.