The Arrangement

Chapter Five

Taylor's POV

I park my car and get out, heading towards the mall doors to get some things.

Once I reach Target, I grab a few clothes I like and make my way to the fitting room. I FaceTime Sophia to ask for her opinion.

"Hello?" She answers the phone after 3 rings.

"Hey Soph," I sigh in relief once she answers. "I need your opinion about some clothes I picked up at the mall."

"Alright," she says.

"Here's the first outfit," I put my phone down and turn side to side, allowing her to see everything. The first outfit was a brownish, long sleeve dress with strings on both sides.

"Ooh girl you look so hot," her face lights up as she lays down and pulls the covers above her.

"Thanks Soph," I pose jokingly and start giggling.

I finish showing her about 5 more outfits before she hangs up on me, explaining that she has to get ready to go and see Aubrey to talk.

I sigh as I grab all the clothes from the fitting room, deciding on buying all of them and a nice necklace I spotted in a jewelry store.

I head back home, choosing not to go to the park and just make a nice dinner for both me and Sophia. I decide to make some chicken alfredo and garlic bread.

I grab some fettuccine noodles from the pantry and some chicken from the freezer, running it under some hot water in the sink. I put some water on the stove and wait for it to boil as I preheat the oven.

After about 7 minutes of waiting for the oven to heat up, I place the garlic bread in the oven.

While I wait on that, I decide to try on the necklace to see how it looks on me. The front door suddenly opens and closes. I smile as I realize Sophia just got home from her talk with Aubrey.

"Soph!" I call out. I hear footsteps coming towards my room and I get ready to show her my new necklace. "Come look at the new necklace I just bought at the mall. I got you one too," I smile and adjust it on my neck.

I gasp and stop dead in my tracks as I look up in my mirror at my bedroom door, my heart beat fastening.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, my breath quickening.

"Hey quiet girl," Nicolas steps forward towards me and closes the door as I take a step back in fear. "We need to talk," this keeps happening until a wall stops me from backing up any further and he gets closer to me, my breathing quickening.

"That was you who texted me off that unknown number last night, wasn't it?" I ask him.

He hums in reply blankly, our eyes locking.

"Please, just go," I look up at him. I turn my head to the side and bite my lip nervously as his fingers barely graze my face. "I promise I didn't see anything—"

"I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to talk to you about what happened last night at the club, and what you saw," he explains as he sighs and puts an arm on the wall behind me, trapping me.