Moving day; the day all friendly favours were called in so there could be as much labour on the ground as possible. Unfortunately for Kenadie, Aurora had to work that day leaving the daunting task of unpacking their lives into the new apartment in the hands of Sebastian, Finn and herself.
Since the day they signed the lease, they'd slowly been bringing their belongings into the space but after two days it was time to do the heavy lifting. The space was currently littered with boxes upon boxes of everything and anything. That coupled with the overbearing presence of the camera crew made for an uncomfortable and chaotic environment.
Part of Kenadie longed to be by her window in her condominium with a good read.
As she unpacked boxes with her good china, Sebastian and Finn staggered in through the door with what looked like two huge wooden cubes in their hands. They set them down quick enough to keep from squashing their fingers, making a loud thud. Sebastian removed the one stacked over the other one and set it on the floor as well.
"What are those?" Kenadie asked as she stepped towards the living room.
"Coffee tables shaped like Rubik's cubes. You like 'em?" Sebastian said with a huge grin plastered on his face.
"But there's already a coffee table here."
"I know but it's kinda boring don't you think," he said frowning at the wood and glass table in question.
"Oh yeah and Rubik's cubes are so much fun."
"Right?" he said clearly not picking up on her sarcasm.
She was about to return to the kitchen when she saw Sebastian pick up one of the brown boxes to show her something.
"I also brought these," he said pulling out a black cushion with binary printed on it in white.
He grinned widely like a young boy showing off his toy collection. Finn observed quietly from the side as the beginning of decorating quarrels began to unfold.
"Oh dear Lord," she put a hand on her temple. "Okay lets compromise, either you keep the cubes and ditch the cushions or keep the cushions and the glass table stays."
Sebastian's eyes darted from the cushions to the tables before he stuffed the cushions back in their box. "Tables it is."
Both Finn and Kenadie laughed at this. She realised lots of little decisions like this would be made over the course of their time together. The seemingly unblinking eyes of the camera crew made her wonder if any of this was worth watching. This would be part of the footage they just edit out. She made a mental note to still try and ask for it afterwards.
After all the moving the boys had done, she couldn't have been more thankful. Sweat seeped through Sebastian's baby blue t-shirt and beads were trickled over his forehead, the June heat doing little to cool him. At least it gave her a great view. She couldn't say the same for him as she had on an old pair of shorts, a tank top and a head scarf.
"You guys want some ice tea? More water?" she said as she grabbed glasses and opened the fridge.
"No hard stuff?" Finn asked.
"Unfortunately."
"Then water it is."
She looked over at the two camera guys and Roberta who had their eyes fixed on their equipment.
"You sure you guys don't want something to drink too? It's been a long day."
One of the men looked like he was about to say yes before Roberta shot him a wide glare as if to remind him to be professional. But after a little pleading, Roberta conceded and the crew had their glasses of water.
"You're so hospitable," said Sebastian.
Kenadie chuckled. "It's my mom. No one leaves her house without having something to drink. If you stay long enough she'll even cook for you. Too bad our fridge is close to empty."
"I'll order pizza," he pulled his phone from the pocket of his jeans and tapped away.
Twenty minutes later, a large pepperoni pizza was delivered to their doorstep. Sebastian paid and tipped the delivery man and went to the living room where Finn and Kenadie were engaged in an episode of The Big Bang Theory.
"I could never live with someone as obnoxious as Sheldon," Kenadie said.
"Yeah well, you're in my spot," Sebastian joked. The three of them shared a laugh.
He set the pizza box at the centre of the Rubik's cube coffee tables and each person grabbed their own piece. They enjoyed the first few moments of their meal in silence as they focused on the television.
"Have you ever lived with anyone before? Like a girlfriend?" Kenadie asked as she grabbed a slice of pizza from the box.
Sebastian's eyes widened at Finn, who had an eyebrow raised at him. She assumed they were having some telepathic conversation about how to handle her question and she already had a feeling that she wouldn't like the answer.
"No, I've never lived with a girlfriend," Sebastian finally answered.
He stuffed his face with the cheesy dough to avoid any further questioning. But he couldn't chew forever. Finn shook his head at him to which he shrugged. Kenadie was growing irritated of these little conversations she couldn't listen in on, but she continued to watch. Sebastian swallowed and sighed.
"Okay yes I have. But we weren't boyfriend and girlfriend. We were engaged," his voice was low and his eyes were cast to the floor.
The laugh track sounded from the TV and she too had to assume he was joking. She muted the sound and shifted on the couch so that her whole body was facing him, one of her legs propped on the couch.
"Why haven't you mentioned this before?" she asked.
"Um, you never asked?"
"There's a lot of things I never had to ask that you still told me. This should have been one of them," Kenadie's voice grew louder with each word.
She felt the couch shift as a weight lifted off it. Finn grabbed one last slice of pizza before heading for the door. He waved at the couple.
"Where are you going?" Kenadie asked.
"I think this is my cue to leave."
Sebastian shot Finn a glare to which he shrugged and sped out the door.
Kenadie slammed her back on the couch and stared at the ceiling, arms folded. How was she supposed to deal with something like that? Especially since Sebastian seemed to want to keep it a secret. So many thoughts churned through her mind as she sat on that couch that she couldn't even hear the man next to her call her name until he shook her arm.
"Kenadie?"
His blue eyes pierced through her expectantly. She sat up and he let go of her arm and put his hand on her knee.
"I was going to tell you, bu-,'
"But you didn't. Why?"
"I don't know. I guess I was just afraid about how you would react."
"How long were you engaged for?"
"About four months, but we'd dated for three years."
"Three?"
Kenadie nearly jumped out of her seat.
"Well what happened then?" she asked.
Sebastian took a deep breath before answering. Whatever happened must have been a huge boulder he was hesitant to push out of the way. But she still awaited an answer.
"She met someone else," he spoke so low that she almost didn't hear him.
Kenadie sank back onto the couch. Half of her wanted to throw a couch cushion in his face whilst the other wanted to comfort him. Instead she just sat still, unsure of what to do or say.
"Kenadie I'm sorry I didn't tell you soon enough. But it doesn't matter anymore. I moved on with my life and now I'm with you. We're starting our life together and that's what's important."
He unfolded her arms which were crossed over her chest and held them.
''I'm with you. We're starting our life together and that's what's important."
He unfolded her arms which were crossed over her chest and held her hand. He leaned closer and his lips brushed her cheek. She then tipped her head onto his shoulder.
She couldn't help but feel like she forgave him too easily, as though every time some form of argument came around a simple kiss and an apology was all it took for her. But what else was she supposed to do. Spend the entire month and a half fighting every battle to the very end, wearing herself thin and making him grow resentful by the day?
She couldn't do that.
What she felt in this moment wasn't exactly rage. Just a persistent curiosity over who this woman was; what she looked like, how they met, the experiences they shared, the way she made him feel. He loved her.
He obviously loved her.
No one would want to get into a lifelong commitment with someone they didn't love. Except, that's exactly what they did.
Heyyyy guys! Yes, I'm alive and I feel horrible for not keeping my promise of updating more. Writing more is actually one of my resolutions for 2019 haha. Anyway, please accept this short chapter as an early Christmas gift and I hope you enjoyed it!
Happy holidays xx