Me: Omg thanks for the goodies Rome byeeeeeeee
Rome: Wowwwwww
Rome: Essence would never
The sound of banging on my door jolts me out of my sleep. I check my phone to see that I had five more minutes on my alarm until I needed to meet the ladies in Dani’s room. Whoever cost me five minutes of sleep better be dying.
I open my door to find an alive and well Arnold. He’s dressed for the evening in his gray and white plaid linen pants with a black muscle-fit knitted T-shirt tucked into it. He’s fitted with his signature Patek watch, his single gold hoop earring, and the gaudy-ass ring I hate that he wears to every special occasion. The thing is the size of a championship ring and every time someone asks him about it, he feels the need to regale them with the story of how he bought it for himself to celebrate his own championship of opening his agency.
“What’s up, Arnold?”
He stumbles over his own feet, using the doorjamb to catch himself. I may have spoken too soon about him being both alive and well. One look at his red rimmed eyes lets me know he’s far from sober.
“Heyyyy, Ellie-Elle.” I cringe at the nickname he always used for me whenever he was drunk. I know when that nickname comes out that he’s fucked up. He once repeated the name to himself thirty times in a row because he was so tickled by it.
“Pre-gamed a little too hard, huh?”
The force of his laughter tips him over and I throw my hand out to help balance him. “Ha, I’ve been drinking since ten a.m.”
I peek out into the hallway, trying to see if any of the guys are walking by so they can help him get to where he needs to go. If Ri sees him like this, there’s bound to be a fight.
“Well, good for you. Did you need something?”
Confident that he’s steady on his feet, I move my hand from his arm, but he grabs it with a vise grip. “I need to talk to you.”
I shake free of his grip and back away to grab a water bottle from the dresser. His eyes track my every movement until I’m standing in front of him again. “Okay, why don’t you have some water and then we can talk.” I try to step around him outside of my room so we can talk in the hallway, but he holds firm to the door. He’s so unsteady on his feet I can’t tell if he intentionally blocked my path or if the door is the only thing keeping him up.
He takes a swig of water, letting some of it drip down his chin, and blinks a few times. “I drank it. We can talk now?” He holds the bottle out to me, but I wave my hand to tell him to keep it.
“What do you wanna talk about? You should probably be going to sober up so Ri doesn’t see you out like this.”
He blows out a raspberry. “Psh, Ri’s always nagging about something.”
He’s not wrong but I’m not about to sit here and co-sign on shit talk about my sister from her man. “She just worries about you. You’ve got a long night ahead of you and you’re already sauced.”
“She ain’t worried ’bout me. She just wants to show you up.” I freeze in place. I can’t take any more revelations about how my family feels about me today. Whatever issues Ri has with me, I want to hear them from her and her only. Arnold laughs to himself, dropping the hand holding the water and I subtly tip the bottle up, keeping it from spilling on the floor. “You wouldn’t nag me. You never nagged me when we were together.”
His eyes roam my face, landing on my lips.Oh fuck.My alarm goes off on my phone, piercing Arnold’s concentration long enough to give me a reprieve from his intense gaze. “Maybe you should go find Ri and talk to her if you’re upset.”
He takes a step toward me, holding his hands out in front of him for balance. “Mmm mmm, I don’t wanna talk to Ri. I wanna talk to you.”
“Arnold, go sober up and get your shit together before you do something you regret.” I don’t want to have to break Arnold’s jaw before his wedding, but I will. I glance over at my phone, wondering if I can grab it without him stepping any closer to me.
“The only regret I have is you losing. Is you. Is losing.”He clears his throat and blinks back into focus. “Is losing you. I made a mistake. I chose the wrong sister.”
Good lord. I just scolded my mom for implying anything would happen between Arnold and me and here this fool goes, saying dumb shit like this.
“Arnold, please shut up. I don’t have time for this. Leave my room.” I point behind him at the door, waiting for him to give in but he steps closer.
“Come on, Ellie-Elle. We were so good together.” He takes another step closer, and I take two large steps back. He follows suit, crouching in on my space, so I back up again and reach for my phone. “You’re so sexy. I wanna try again.” He leans in to kiss me and I duck away from his hold.
“No! What is wrong with you?”
“Don’t you mean what’s right with me? I love you, Ellie-Elle.”
“Fuck off, Arnold. I’m so serious. I’m trying my best not to beat your ass but you’re making it hard.”
He reaches for me again and I slap his arm. “You’re making me hard. We can start over. Come on, baby.”
