The Functional Arrangement

Chapter 19

"Tish, seriously. It's not what you think," Leon said quickly, holding his hand out as if trying to calm her. He glanced over at Morgan. "Stephanie knows I'm here, Morgan."

"Really?" Morgan gave him a commiserating look full of disdain, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "So when she called me earlier today and mentioned you were on a business trip, she actually meant you were going away for the weekend with another woman?"

Leon's face went, if possible, even paler, and sweat began to bead on his forehead. He swallowed, clearly unsure of how to dig himself out of this situation. "Look - I... y-you don't understand..."

"Do you have a girlfriend, Leon?" Tish asked, her voice quivering as tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. When he didn't answer she shoved him in the chest, causing him to stumble back slightly. "Tell me, goddammit!"

"Tish," Leon said, his voice a mix of pleading and exasperated.

People around them began to look over at the commotion, whispering amongst each other as they stared. Marcus glanced around, gauging how many people were in the vicinity, and was slightly relieved to see his parents and Sasha far enough away to not notice what was going on. He quickly reached over and grasped Leon by the arm, digging his fingers roughly into his flesh. "Let's take this outside, shall we? We don't want to cause a scene."

"Dude, look. You don't need to do that - " Leon began, trying to pull his arm away while looking nervous.

"Shut the fuck up," Marcus yanked him closer so he couldn't escape. "You mess with my sister, you mess with me. That's all I need to understand. Come on."

With another yank, Marcus began to pull Leon toward the entrance of the dining room toward the foyer, Tish and Morgan following in his wake.

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Morgan was not okay. She followed Marcus, Tish, and The Bastard out of the dining room in a daze, and she was thankful Marcus had the presence of mind to lead them away from prying eyes since she certainly didn't have the capacity to at the moment. The sheer rage she had felt the moment she caught her best friend's boyfriend cheating on her with Marcus's sister had by no means dissipated at this point. A part of her wished this was all just a terrible dream, one that she would wake up from at any moment, but she knew beyond a doubt this was the disturbing reality she now had to deal with.

And it was a reality Stephanie had to deal with too. Morgan had to tell her as soon as possible.

This sick, sinking feeling in the pit of Morgan's stomach was grossly familiar, and one she had hoped to never experience again. The last time she had felt this sort of betrayal was when she found out Justin was cheating on her, and although Leon wasn't her boyfriend, she had always seen him as like a brother to her since Stephanie was like her sister.

The pain was too real.

"Out here," Marcus led them out the front doors, where thankfully no one was milling around. There was a wide porch that spanned the entire north face of the house, as well as several wicker benches and chairs strewn about. Marcus pulled Leon over to the nearest bench and shoved him onto it.

"Ow - hey!" Leon stumbled and fell back on the bench, his suit jacket practically ripped off his arm as it slid off his shoulders. "Watch the suit!"

"Zip it, asshole!" Morgan snapped angrily, marching toward him and jabbing a finger at him. Her heart pounded with adrenaline and rage. "You don't get to say anything. Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

Leon narrowed his eyes at her. "You're not my mother, Morgan. You don't have to tell me what to do. I haven't done anything wrong!"

Morgan shook her head, her eyes filling with tears as her chest constricted. This man in front of her was a far cry from the lovable happy guy she had come to know over the years.