After Arlington

Chapter 1: Lola

And then the door knocked.

She almost laughed, how fortunate that he would forget something. Now it was her turn to play smartass. With one arm holding the sheet in place and the other finding the door handle, she let a contented grin settle onto her face.

Only, it wasn't Alex waiting for her on the other side.

It was Francis Greene.

The smile was quick to fall away.

***

She hadn't said a word.

Though she now had the dignity of wearing actual clothes, she couldn't fight the surge of emotions traveling at lightning speed through her veins. He was here, in her kitchen, as she brewed up a cup of coffee for each of them. She even remembered exactly how he liked it.

"Sorry to have interrupted," he said, his voice low, as if completely aware she could lose it at a moment's notice. It was a change from what things were like before, where she would be the one afraid of his temper.

She swallowed, feeling as if she'd been screaming for hours. Well, in some aspects she had been. But she wouldn't let herself be embarrassed. "Well, it's certainly unexpected."

It had been a year since she'd last spoken to him.

After she'd drawn a line through what would be their personal relationship and their public one, their interactions had sizzled down dramatically. He'd traveled through every spectrum of Francis Greene: the apologetic, the mad, and the careless. Eventually, their public relationship had fractured too.

She'd thought of it as good riddance.

His hair had grown out. What had previously been golden curls were now blonde waves, combed out of his eyes. He was a contrast to Alex really, blonde and fair. His ocean-blue eyes caught her peering from behind the benchtop and she averted her gaze.

Why was he here?

"You seem different," he said as she placed a mug on the breakfast bar in front of him. She wasn't going to escort him to the tea room in her magnificent family home, or offer him to eat outside by the rose garden. She was hoping his visit was brief. The kitchen would do.

"How so?" she asked, her cheeks flaming again under his scrutiny. She couldn't help the instinct telling her to be on high alert around him. It ran strong.

"Well, you've grown your hair."

"You have too," she noted. He was right, though, what had been hair to her chin in high school had grown to be past her collarbones.

"How's college?" he continued. He was bouncing his knee beneath the table top. She knew that was a sign he was on edge.

Once upon a time, she'd soothe his stress with seduction, or run away altogether. Fight or flight. Today, she had neither of those options.

"Fine," she said. College was amazing. Though she'd always known a new start would be a blessing, she didn't realize how exhilarating it would be. She'd created a new person – dress-up had always been her favorite game as a child – who was everything Lola had been but better. To them, she was Dela. Back here, she was Lola again. Fallen queen-bee Lola who had more games than she had sense.

"Look, Lola," Francis said, his gaze now locking with hers. "I'm not here for games."

She couldn't stifle the laughter in time before it left her lips. "Since when was Francis Greene not playing games?"

"Since I realized I was alone."

The spoon she'd been using to stir her own coffee dropped from her hand, clattering onto the marble benchtop.