Asking Why
Back in her apartment, Cadence oscillated between rage and uncontrollable crying. Christian had tried to contact her several times on the IAC, but she ignored him. He was the last person she wanted to talk to.
Well, second to last.
As the time that she was supposed to go on her date with Aaron came and went, the tears became even more overwhelming, and she wished she had gone home. At least if she were at her parent’s house, the traditional Christmas Eve routine would do something to distract her. In the solace of her own quiet apartment, she had nothing to occupy her mind.
She knew she could procure a car--possibly a plane--and make her way back to Shenandoah. But there she'd have to face her mother, who would try her best not to say how she had been right all along, but it would be hard for her to do so. As much as going home might help, there was really only one other thing she could think of that would keep her mind off of the events that had transpired. Finally, at about 8:00, she decided to see exactly how fast rumors could fly and contacted Elliott. "Hey, you got room for one more on that hunt tonight?"
"Always," he replied. "But don't you have plans tonight, kid?"
So he didn't know.
"Not anymore," she responded. "Can I come with you?"
"Of course. But what happened?"
"I don't want to tell you," she replied, afraid he might get mad. Or that she might cry again.
"Cadence... if you don't tell me, he will. Whose side do you want me to hear first?"
She pondered his position. "Meet me somewhere?"
"Bar downstairs?"
"I'm only nineteen."
"I'm not."
Elliott was already seated at the bar when she entered. There was no one standing at the door checking IDs, which made her feel a bit better. She sat down on the barstool next to him and ordered a Dr. Pepper. He finished off whatever was in his glass, clearly not soda, and gestured for the bartender to bring him another. "What's up, kid?" he asked, not really turning to face her.
Cadence let out a deep sigh and buried her head in her arms, which were folded on the bar. The bartender brought their drinks before she actually answered. "I screwed up, I guess," she admitted.
"Whatcha do?"
"I kissed Christian," she replied.
Elliott put his glass down on the counter with a little more force then he intended. "What?" he asked, finally looking at her. "When? Today?"
"No!" Cadence replied, leaning away from him a little. "No. The night I killed Henry." Under her breath she added, "No, not tonight. I wouldn't cheat on Aaron."
"What?" Elliott said, not sure he heard her right. "The night you killed Henry? But that was weeks ago."
"I know."
"And you weren't even dating Aaron then. He broke things off with you that same night."
"I KNOW!" she agreed, shrugging. “Thanks to you,” she mumbled.
“Hey, that wasn’t all me,” he clarified. “But I still don't understand...."Elliott said, shaking his head and taking another drink. "So, he found out that you kissed Christian a few weeks ago, and he broke up with you?"
"Yes!" she nodded. “But he thinks I fucked him.”
“Oh,” Elliott said nodding. But then he added, “So? Again… you were not dating him.”
“I know.” This time, she didn’t bother to yell it. She just shook her head and stared at the blackish, amber liquid in her glass.
"But... why?"
Wasn’t that the millon dollar question? Letting out a deep sigh, she repeated what she knew. "He says I lied to him."
Elliott tipped his head to the side and stared at her. "Say what?"
"I mean, technically, I guess he's right. I didn’t tell him I’d kissed Christian. But I just didn't tell him because it didn't matter. It meant nothing. Christian is a nice guy, but I'm not interested in him, not like that."
There was a long pause while Elliott said nothing. Finally, he shook his head and said, "Dumbass."
Cadence was confused. "Me?" she said quietly, though she wouldn't disagree if he was talking about her.
"No," he replied emphatically. "It sounds to me like you didn't do anything wrong, kid. I mean, I should be hearing his side, too, I would think," he muttered, making a face like he was not sure why he hadn't actually heard Aaron’s side yet, "but that seems like a pretty stupid reason to break up with someone. Oh, and Christian is not a nice guy, just FYI. Stay the hell away from that manipulative little bitch."
She wasn’t sure what to think about his remark regarding Christian, but then, it had already become clear to her that Christian and Elliott did not get along. Still, it seemed Elliott had taken her side, which was a surprise since Aaron was his best friend.
“Thank you,” Cadence said, downing the rest of her drink, wishing it were something stronger. But she decided not to ask for any alcohol, even though this guy behind the bar might serve her, since she was going on a hunt.
After another long silence, Elliott asked, "How did he find out?"
"Christian recorded it, apparently," Cadence explained.
"What? Psycho. Told you. Stay away from him.”
"Right? And then he showed it to Eliza for some disgusting reason."
"Eliza?" Elliott asked. His eyes widened, and Cadence swore she could hear his heart begin to thunder in his chest.
Cadence nodded. “Yeah… why?”
"Please tell me... Lord Jesus... he's not over there now is he?"
Though it was a bit hard to follow, Cadence was certain he meant Aaron, not Christian. "I have no idea. I went over there and confronted her, and she laughed in my face. I'm done with her," she replied, really wishing she had some alcohol now.
"For the love of all that's Holy..." Elliott muttered. He was very quiet for the next few moments, and Cadence assumed he was on the IAC. Finally, he said quietly, "He's not answering."
"Guess that's your answer," she replied, reaching across him, grabbing his drink, and downing it.
* * *
Aaron wasn't exactly sure how he had ended up in Eliza's apartment. He was even less sure how he had ended up in Eliza's bed. Thankfully, he had managed to stop things before they went too far. Now, she was lying next to him, in only her bra and panties, rubbing his bare chest as he stared up at her ceiling, thankful he hadn’t actually fucked her.
That would make a bad problem even worse.
After Cadence had left his office, he was so overcome with emotion; it had taken him some time to gain enough composure to even contemplate leaving. Never in his life had he felt so betrayed, so… devastated.
By then, Eliza had contacted him, crying, saying Cadence had threatened her life. The next thing he knew, he was at her door, thinking he should try to calm her down. And then she had somehow managed to work her magic, and here he was, listening to the sounds of her shallow breaths as she stared at him like he was a new toy.
He had turned his IAC off almost two hours ago. He knew Elliott was getting ready to lead a hunt in the next few hours, and he needed to turn it back on. But somehow he knew that his best friend would know what he had done, and he simply didn't want to answer those questions--not right now. Nevertheless, every minute that he had the IAC off, catastrophe could strike, and he was compelled to at least turn the newsfeed back on and find out if he had missed anything.
After checking the headlines and seeing nothing major had gone wrong, he glanced down at Eliza, curled up beside him. The smile she had on her face looked more like a smirk than anything else, and he couldn't help but wonder if, perhaps, it wasn't only the pleasure of being with him that had her grinning.
