The Arrangement Anthology 1(235)

I’m ready to bounce out the window when Beth grabs my wrist and hauls me to the front of the room. She shoves me behind the curtain and hisses in my ear, “If you freak out now, Gretchen will steal your job. Snap out of it. Whoever this guy is, he isn’t worth it.”

The tinsel curtain in front of me flutters, but it conceals both of us for the moment. The male voices grow louder until the door is yanked open. The curtain rustles and I’m in full freak-out mode. He can’t be here. He can’t see me like this. At the same time, Beth’s right. I can’t skip out. Bruce will run me over with the van and there’s no way in hell they’ll ever give me another cent.

I stand there, frozen, unable to think. Every muscle in my body is strained, ready to run, but I don’t move. My bare feet remain glued to the floor as I smash my lips together.

Then, I hear it—that voice. It floats through the air like a familiar old song. Oh God, someone shoot me. I can’t do this. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. What guy wouldn’t want a party like this?” Jonathan is talking to someone in that light, charming, tone of his.

“Uh, your brother, Peter. Do you know the guy at all? He’s going to act like he loves it and get the hell out before you can blink.” Glancing through the curtains, I can see the second man. He has dark hair and bright blue eyes like Jonathan. The only difference is their posture. Jonathan has all his weight thrown onto one hip with his arms folded across his chest. The other guy’s spine is ramrod straight, like he’s never slouched in his life.

Peering at Jonathan through the tinsel, I see a perfect smile lace his lips. “Sean, I know him better than that. Pete is going to love this. It’s exactly the kind of party I’d want if I was getting hitched.”

“Yes, I know.” Sean’s voice is flat. He glances around the room with disgust, and slips his hands into his pockets. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Oh come on! It’s Peter. What’s he going to do?”

Sean laughs, like he knows something that Jonathan doesn’t. “Don’t let that English teacher façade fool you, Jonny. He’s as hot headed as I am. No one fucks with him. He’s going to consider this a slap in the face, an insult to Sidney. Cancel the strippers before he gets here.” Sean leaves the room without another word.

Jonathan Ferro lets out a rush of air and runs his fingers through his thick, dark, hair. The aggravated sound that comes out of his mouth kills me. I’ve heard it before, I know him too well to not be affected by it. That’s the sound he makes when he knows he’s screwed up, when he sees that he isn’t the man he wants to be. There’s always been this wall between Jonathan and his family. I guess he still hasn’t gotten past it. Jon paces in a circle a few times and then darts out of the room.

“Holy shit.” Beth looks at me and hisses, “What happened between you and him?”

It feels like icy fingers have wrapped around my heart and squeezed. I stare after him and utter, “Nothing, absolutely nothing.”