Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3) (2 page)

Chapter Two
Conditions
Aidan

Oscar and I left Dixon’s apartment,
heading home to clean up and prepare for a night out. Dixon was going to give
us the
Dixon special,
as he called it.

Once I was showered and in the
appropriate clothing for the club, I sent Oz a text saying that I was on my
way. He drove this morning, so I was driving tonight. We would meet Dixon
there. Once Oz was in the car, he called Dixon to tell him that we were on our
way.

Dixon got there before us and told us to
meet him inside at the bar. Calling ahead, I got Oz and I on the list, so when
we arrived the bouncer let us right in.

Inside, the dance music was pounding
loudly and lights were flashing. During the fade between songs Oz smacked my
arm and pointed toward the bar. There was Dixon.

"Hey man," Oz said as he
slipped in next to him.

"Shh, just watch, this is a perfect
song," Dixon responded and motioned with his head to look forward.
‘Dangerous’ by Akon was pumping and in front of us was a tall, perfectly curved
blonde. She looked like she could have easily given Marilyn Monroe a run for her
money. She was gorgeous.

"That’s Celia," Dixon said in
a cocky tone.

Lilli moved in next to Celia, they
started dancing and singing to each other. I think every person at the bar was
a guy, a lesbian or would have definitely become a lesbian. People crowded up
at the bar, hollering and whistling, as well as drooling, over the contrast of
beauty in front of them.

Celia was six feet of intimidating curves
and long blond hair with lightly tanned skin. Lilli was mahogany waves, cream
colored skin, probably no taller than five feet five inches but with well-proportioned
curves for her frame. She had a very pinup girl type of figure. Celia had
bright blue eyes and Lilli’s were hazel.  They were a complete contrast but
seemed to blend perfectly.

Then Celia and Lilli threw bottles, flipping
them in the air. Circling around each other, they ground and sway against each
other, pouring drinks. Like Dixon had said, she knew how to draw a crowd.

Lilli appeared before us.

"Need a refill?" She smiled at
Dixon. He pushed his glass out to her. While Lilli was making his drink, she
yelled over to us. "What can I get you guys?"

"Can I get a Corona?" Oz
yelled.

Lilli nodded and looked to me with a
raised brow as she sat Dixon’s drink down.

"Bourbon." Smirking at my
request, she moved to get the drinks. Lilli slid the beer to Oz and then placed
the Bourbon down in front of me with an umbrella in it. I laughed when she
winked and smiled at me. Then she was gone, moving on to the other patrons.

Oz and I finally dragged Dixon to a
table near the bar. We sat talking and flirting with women most of the night. A
tall, lean red head appeared at our table and requested my presence out on the
dance floor.

"Hey there gorgeous," the red
head leaned down to me. "I think you need to dance with me," she
grabbed at my chest, gripped my shirt and pulled me onto the floor.

Who am I to hurt her feelings?

As we passed the bar, I heard a loud
burst of merriment and noise.

"Oh, dude, she totally burned you!"
A guy with slick dark hair yelled at a sulking blond haired guy. Then I noticed
Celia high five Lilli and toss her head back.

At the end of our night, we said goodbye
to Dixon who was waiting till closing for Celia and Lilli. Oz drove since I was
way too many drinks under. The plus side being that I had more time to
preoccupy myself with Lorna in the back seat.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Waking up to the familiar blue walls and
large windows of my bedroom the next morning was brutal. It was even worse when
the redhead from last night found out I couldn’t remember her name. Then I realized
she was still dressed.

So wasted I couldn’t perform, nice
Aidan.

Monday rolled around too quickly. It was
time to get back to AIS and Grandfather. The week passed with long hours and
boring client dinners. However, the weekends became a change from the normal go
out, drink, hook-up and move on routine.

Oz and I had started spending more
Saturday mornings playing ball with Dixon. We even spent more time hanging out
with him at his place. We were very close to becoming the three musketeers. It
was nice to having another guy to hang out with since Oz would often have to
work a weekend shift at the hospital.

Lilli hung out with us occasionally. She
liked baseball, some video games and had a massive
guy
movie preference.
I found out through small conversations with her, or with Dixon, that she was
trying to finish college while working nights and weekends. I was confused as
to why she worked more than went to school. That seemed a little odd to me, but
it wasn’t my business. I just enjoyed her when she was around. Lilli was
becoming a friend and was fun to hang with.

When we introduced James into the mix, I
was little nervous. He can come off a little blunt. Dixon was put off at first,
but learned to just brush James off and give it back to him. Lilli seemed to
tolerate him, but when he was around she would avoid the group. At least that’s
what it seemed liked.

A couple of months went by and we seemed
to become a group. Dixon came to my place with Oz after work one night when I
wasn’t working late with Grandfather.

"Holy shit," Dixon exclaimed
when he entered the two story apartment. "Explain to me why we have been
hanging at my shitty place when there is this option?"

"There is nothing wrong with your
place." I handed him a beer and we gathered around the pool table in the
game room.

The game room was just an extra room
that could have been a dining room but I wasn’t holding dinners here. So in its
place went the pool table, dart board, chess board, etc. James showed up with another
friend and we hung out for most of the night. It was just us guys, until James called
over some
friends
. James
friends
were typically of the young,
fake breasted variety.

When the doorman buzzed up, James barked
his order to let them up. I apologized to Jeffrey immediately.

"James, don’t fuck with Jeff man!
He’s a cool guy!" I smacked his arm.

"Whatever, he should have some
respect for who you and I are."

I rolled my eyes.

On the Saturday morning before my life
entered a fucked up reality, I arrived to Dixon’s place. I was supposed to meet
him so that we could all head out to a Yankee’s game. We were meeting Oz and
James at the box.

Lilli answered the door. Her eyes were
swollen and red. It was obvious she had been crying.

"Dixon’s not here," she said
as she opened the door.

"Oh…he told me to meet him here, is
he…?" she walked away from the door. "Hey are you okay?"

The messy knot of hair on top of her
head shifted up and down with her nod.

"Yeah, I’m fine." She was a
bad liar.

"Are you sure? If something is
wrong I can—"

She forced a smile.

"Everything’s fine, thanks. Just
reality comes crashing in on me every once in awhile," she laughed half-heartedly.
"Dixon is probably running behind. You can wait here for him." She
forced another smile and went down the hallway. I sat down feeling really
shitty for interrupting her ‘moment’.

I couldn’t help but notice the papers
that were on the coffee table in front of me. Bank statements, a letter, pay
stubs and some other financial paperwork sat scattered all over. Dixon burst
through the door. I turned my head to him quickly.

"Hey man, sorry. I got caught in
traffic. Just give me ten—"

"You may want to check on
Lilli," I glanced toward the hallway leading to her room. "She looked
like she was crying when I got here." I added the last part quickly, so he
didn’t think I'd done something.

 Dixon studied me before looking down towards
the bill covered coffee table. He moved quickly down the hall.

"Lilli," he said softly and
knocked on her door. I heard the creak of the door. "Oh Lilli," he
exclaimed and I could hear her sniffling. "It’s going to be alright,
shhh."

"How can you say that?" she
seemed upset. "You know that he’s going to lose the house," she
sobbed. "He has nowhere else to go if that happens!"

"I know, but we’ll figure something
out," Dixon was trying to soothe her. Unintentionally, I moved closer to
the hallway to better hear them.

"It’s not your responsibility,
Dixon, it’s mine." The defeated tone in her voice gripped at my chest.

"I think you should take me up on
not paying part of the rent—"

"Dixon Thomas Haywood, don’t you
even finish that sentence! I am not going to let you pay for me to live here,"
she shouted. "I’ll just have to get another jo—"

"Don’t
you
finish
that
sentence," he yelled. "You’ve already pushed yourself down to part
time status at school and now you won’t finish up when you originally planned. Besides,
you work way too much as it is!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do,
Dixon?"

The guilt of my eavesdropping started to
sink in so I went back to sit on the couch. When I sat down, I couldn’t help
but glance at the papers again. I saw something about a mortgage and a past due
notice, along a letter with a lawyer’s letterhead.

Dixon emerged about twenty minutes
later; fully dressed, but his mood wasn’t the same.

"Dixon we don’t have to go."

"Oh, don’t get me killed, Aidan. If
the harpy down there finds out I skipped the game she will rip off my balls and
feed them too me. She’s vicious when she’s angry."

He smiled lightly, but not the normal
Dixon smile. Sighing, he led the way to the door.

Monday arrived again. I got into my
office with my grandfather sitting at my desk and immediately knew what kind of
day this was going to be. He was going to be relentless and brutal. His first
attack was to grill me on the different things going on with the company. His
test to make sure I was paying attention. The second attack was to start
criticizing the different deals that we had on the table with multiple media
outlets; another one of his tests to see if I could argue a case for each deal.
Third was the usual attack on my personal life. This was the lecture of
marriage, an heir, the Iverson name and having a purpose in life. I just
couldn’t grasp why he thought that marriage was what anyone needed for
‘purpose’ in life. It didn’t make sense to me. Once he was finished, I got my
usual half hour alone in my office before being ushered into meeting after
meeting.

It was Wednesday and I was just walking
in the door when my cell phone rang. I hit the silent button and threw myself
onto my bed. It had been a brutal day and it was ten at night. I was beat. My
cell rang again. I sighed, ready to mute it again when I saw it was Vi.

"Hello?"

First, I heard the sobs. Panic seized my
lungs of air but finally released, allowing me to rush through an array of
questions.

"Vi! What’s wrong? Is it Liam?
Maggie?"

"No," she sobbed. "Aidan,
it's your grandfather."

This time it wasn't panic seizing my
lungs.  Terror stilled my body, yet churned in my gut long enough to bring
nausea. Without saying goodbye, I dropped my phone and was out of my apartment.
Before I realized my surroundings, I was in the car speeding through New York.

No matter how much we disagree and
argue, Grandfather was dear to me. To lose him felt as if a piece of my soul
would be torn from my body.

Arriving to Grandfather’s mansion, I rushed
through the door. Most of the family was gathered downstairs crying. I ran to
Viola and wrapped my arms around her.

"Oh, Aidan, he had a heart attack
when he got home," she sobbed. "Mrs. Giles found him when she went to
offer him his nightcap." She sobbed louder.

"Is he—?"

Liam entered the room. I looked to him. 
His face carried deep lines of stress, reflecting his age.

"Is he...?"  I couldn’t choke
out the word.  It was so final.

"He doesn’t have much time left. He
—"

Liam didn't have a chance to finish. I
flew up the stairs.

Grandfather had been a tough man and
hard to love. But, for how much he had done and given me, he held my respect
and my love. I rushed to his side.

"Grandfather," the whisper
fell from my lips.

"Aidan," he croaked. "My son,"
He coughed.

"Don’t talk…just get some rest."
I knelt to the side of his bed.

Afraid to touch this unusually fragile
man before me, my hands gripped the edge of his mattress. Tears rolled over my
cheeks. His skin was ashen and glistening with sweat, as if each word was an
effort for his body.

"No crying." He tried to
demand but his ragged cough stole from his stern intention. As much as I hated
his reprimands and disapprovals, it broke my heart that he couldn't yell at
me—swear at me—like he used to. Closing my eyes, I tried to hold in my tears.