↘︎ sangfroid ( grayson dolan )

0.9

+NARRATOR
THE PRESENT TIME

"REPARATIONS"

grayson had promised to take calista ice skating seeing as christmas is approaching and it seems to be a popular hobby amongst people. he knocked on the door with a present in his hand and waited for the love of his life to show her face. when she did, the sight made his features crack into a wide grin: she was all wrapped up in cashmere layers upon layers, and her black north face puffer jacket made her silhouette look like a snowball that had sprouted legs.

"you look so cute," he fawned after her, handing the festively wrapped gift to her.

"a christmas present? why?" she smiled, running her fingers over the red, reindeer-covered box.

"well, i bought it weeks ago," he admitted. "you can see it as a token of my appreciation for you letting me spend these next seven days with you."

"i still can't believe i'm doing this," she rolled her eyes in reference to their little 'one week' deal. subsequent to a romantic period of the two standing in the doorway and staring at each other, the kettle clicked loudly signifying that the water inside had finished boiling. "coming in?" she raised a brow.

"of course."
__________

grayson drew out a stool from the kitchen island and perched on it as cal prepared a hot drink to warm up his hands and quench his thirst. soon, the rich smell of melting coffee beans hung in the air which added to the overall snug vibe of the room.

"how's evan?" grayson asked involuntarily.

"i actually haven't seen him since he proposed. is that weird..?" calista asked, unsure of herself. she knew nothing was wrong in her relationship — but that didn't necessarily mean everything was right. "i think he could sense i was reluctant in giving him the 'yes'," she added.

"does he think it's because of me?" grayson questioned with hope shamelessly creeping up his throat. knowing that he was coming between the engaged pair filled his being with promise; even if he was only making a little bit of a dent.

"i honestly wouldn't know. we've not spoken."

cali slid gray a mug with his beverage in it and sat opposite him at the island. she got out her phone and began scrolling in search of something.

"what are you doing?" grayson asked as he stuck his finger in his cup to check whether it'd be suitable to drink immediately. he quickly found out that it needed a few minutes to cool.

"looking for — oh! this," she gave him her phone and studied his face as he looked at the image on the screen. it was taken six years ago when the two of them were eighteen. they were sat in hyde park on the green grass looking at the few stars that were scattered across the summer sky. a nice stranger had taken the picture for them and it displayed their smiling faces, both full of love and lust — a healthy balance of both.

"is this from the night where we had sex outside?" grayson blushed knowing fully well what the answer to that question was.

"yep."

"so this was a couple of days before you dumped me and broke my heart," he clarified as the memory (of him being binned off by the girl he had empty intentions of doing the same to) disconcerted him. cali had beaten him to the punch as ethan had wished but neither she, nor ethan, ever told him that it was because she knew it was coming to her. up until this point grayson still thought calista got bored of the relationship and released herself from it, unprovoked. it certainly made her feel more in control and powerful, but it gave grayson an excuse to argue that he was the one who was wronged and that the pair of them not thriving as a couple was down to her, and her only.

"can we not?" she replied to his earlier comment. she hated whenever he'd play victim but she didn't hate it enough to tell him that it was retaliation for what he had planned to do back then.

"okay," he smiled guiltily, "let's not ruin our promising day. i'm gonna make you fall in love with me like i did when we were kids," he smirked, handing her back the phone.

calista scoffed.

"in the next seven days?!" she sneered, "you are that aware it took you seven years to get an 'i love you' out of me, aren't you?"

"true," he frowned, "but you loved me before that. i'm pretty sure once i told you about my first time masturbating you fell in love with me that instance." cali laughed at how ridiculous he sounded and her heart warmed at the simple fact that her and grayson were sitting in her apartment together, giggling like fools about past days. even though she felt disgusting for betraying evan to hang out with grayson on an intimate level, she was happy that their friendship wasn't completely ruined as grayson said it was a few days ago when he stormed out of her place.

all of a sudden, calista's phone started ringing but it was the name on the screen which halted their hysterics.

' the almighty powers ' was calling.

"that's evan?" grayson asked, biting the inside of his cheek.

"yeah," she smiled shortly, "shall i get it?" grayson shrugged in response which meant 'no, don't you dare' but cali didn't interpret it like that. she tapped her finger on the green button to answer her fiancé's call and she immediately started glowing from the inside out.

"evan powers," she beamed.

"calista omiatahalarafaka," he rambled purposely, trying to win some laughter out of his girlfriend.

"why are you such a dick?" she laughed, playing with the zipper on her coat — dragging it up and down to hear the swishing noise.

"why do you have so much for love my dick?" he clapped back.

"what do you want, almighty?" cali changed the subject, not wanting to get into evan's dick size in front of grayson.

"i haven't spoken to you in ages, b. just wanted to know how my angel is, hear your sexy english accent 'n' all that," evan praised her humorously.

calista looked at grayson who was sat at the table with a blank expression. if you looked at his face close enough you could tell that his ears were straining to hear every word the two lovers exchanged on the phone. she could see he'd been negatively affected by evan calling so she decided to wrap things up.

"well, i miss you too. i promise i'll call you later but i'm a bit busy now, my love."

"a'ight," he sighed, disappointed that he couldn't chat any longer with his girl. "i love you, baby. so fucking much."

"i love you too, handsome. bye," she quickly bid him farewell. calista put her phone away in her coat pocket and looked to grayson, expecting him to have bounced back to his previous self (pre-evan calling).

"shall we go?" she asked.

"yeah," grayson grumbled back — still reeling from listening to their sickeningly sweet conversation. he was delusional before for thinking that he'd made a dent in their relationship; the dent is non-existant, the couple's love is still pristine.

SANGFROID
Copyright © All Rights Reserved