Highest Bidder

“You haven’t noticed how exhausted you are these days? And how you’re constantly eating something? You always look as though your mind is a billion miles away. And now you won’t order ice cream with alcohol in it even though it is your favorite and you always have it.”

“And so your conclusion is that I’m pregnant?”

“Well, what else could it be?”

“I’m not pregnant, okay?” I growled at her, turning my face away.

“Okay then,” she said. “When the ice cream comes, you’ll take a bite out of my rum and raisin to prove it.”

“Whatever.”

She put her headphones on to her ears.

I had a problem, but it wasn’t that I was pregnant.

I turned to her. “I haven’t spoken to Brent in three days.”

“And?” she asked. “Is that a big deal?”

I couldn’t take it. We used to be so close and now she was always angry with me. I felt as if I wanted to cry.

She turned to me. “Did you two fight?”

“His father summoned me to their manor three days ago,” I said.

Her mouth fell open. “The Duke himself?”

“Yeah.”

“I smell drama,” she said, and retrieved a bag of skittles from her purse. She tore it open and began to munch on it. “What happened? Did he warn you off his son, or something?”

I sighed at her and focused my gaze on nothing as I thought back to that night.

“Come on you have to talk. You can’t start and then stop. Is that how you and Brent got into a fight? What happened?”

“He was furious that I had accepted the call and gone over to the manor, so when I tried to stop him from hitting his brother, he flung my hand away and stalked off. Since then, I haven’t heard from him.”

“I don’t follow,” she said.

I wanted so badly to share what his father had told me about the enmity between them but I hesitated since it was intimate details about Brent’s family matters. I focused on what was really bothering me. “He was meant to be in New York for three days, but I suddenly saw him in the house.”

“Where does the hitting his brother, and you getting involved come in?”

“His brother provoked him,” I said vaguely, “but the reason I’m angry is because he lied to me that he was still in New York and since then, he hasn’t called to explain or apologize. He even flung me away when I tried to bring him to his senses, and then drove off from the manor without me. The butler had to call a taxi to take me home.”

“Wow!”

“Since we’ve been together, there’s not a single day has ever gone by without us speaking … until now.

“Hmm … you’ve also be spending almost every night in his home?”

“I will not respond or go to him, unless he explains or apologizes.”

“Good,” she said hardily. “You still have your backbone. I thought love had melted it all away.”

I scowled at her just as Ella returned with three ice cream cones.

We took them from her and Maddie instantly pushed hers towards me, her eyebrows raised. “Take a bite,” she insisted.

I did as she asked and shook my head at her.

“If you’re careless, I won’t forgive you,” she muttered to me. “I need you to get out of this scot free. It’s already gone on for much too long.”

“What did I miss?” Ella asked.

Freya

We arrived back at Maddie’s apartment to find ten bouquets of what looked like a hundred white roses in each one outside our door.

Ella squealed with delight, but Maddie scrunched up her face with distaste.

I knew they were for me and my heart had started to beat really fast. I stared at the extravagant act of apology— dumbfounded.

Ella instantly ran up to it. “You are secretly dating someone, Maddie?”

“Those are not for me,” Maddie said icily.

Ella turned to me. “Oh my, are these from the Duke then?”

“Maybe?”

“Let’s look for the card and take them all in.”

“I hate roses,” Maddie spat. “I don’t want them in my apartment.”

“Oh, Maddie, stop being such a killjoy,” Ella sang.

Maddie and Ella went into the apartment.

I quickly searched the bouquet for a note. I found an envelope and as I opened it, I immediately recognized his handwriting.

I’m sorry, Freya. Call me. Please.

I couldn’t help the warmth that flooded my chest at the message, and although I was still furious at him, I felt my anger start to dissipate like air out of a balloon. I wasn’t ready to call him yet, though.

“Freya,” Ella suddenly screamed from the living room, startling me.

I walked in through the door. “Why are you screaming?”

Both Maddie and her were bent over and looking at something on her phone. They turned to me with wide eyes.

“What is it?" I asked.

Ella came forward. “Brent’s brother is in the hospital,” she said.

I instantly stilled. I was almost too afraid to ask. “W-why?”