After Arlington

Chapter 10: Lola

Special thanks to roses-27 for the trailer she put together, which is linked above! 💕

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Lola had answered the phone reluctantly, oblivious to the fact that her little shopping trip was about to be cut short by four little words.

"He's asking for you."

Once, this would have induced a screaming panic to conform to his every wish, but today she argued with Greene Senior.

"I told you I don't want to be involved with your family anymore," Lola said between clenched teeth, balancing an array of shopping bags at her elbows.

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate," Francis' father said hesitantly.

His son had just been arrested for multiple counts of reckless driving and endangering life, but of course, his dad was still running around after him at his beck and call. And if that involved fulfilling his demands by calling up his ex-girlfriend, then he obviously had no qualms.

"Is there any way I can get out of this, Mr. Greene?" she asked with a sigh, collapsing onto one of the metal chairs surrounding a coffee shop. She could say no to Francis a thousand times over, but she could already sense her own father's displeasure if she dare denied Francis' father.

"I'm afraid he's being quite demanding."

As if to further his point, there was a loud thud in the background.

"Please, Delores. I know you're happy without him but he needs to calm down. I'm worried about him."

And of course, there was a good possibility she could be the one to calm him, despite the risk it posed to her. If he was unhinged, that made him unpredictable, even to Lola. And she knew him better than anyone.

She let out a rattled breath. "Fine. But I'm not being around him alone."

"Of course."

Lola hesitantly made her way back to her car, not even tempted by the exclusive new lines displayed in the shopfront windows. She dumped the bags into the back seat and clasped her fingers around the steering wheel, taking heavy breaths.

There was a reason she'd blocked his contact from her phone after their last encounter, and that was because she was over him. Coming back home to begin with had been a mistake. She should have stayed away.

But, even so, she had to admit, spending time with her neighbor's new gardener had been enough to relieve some of the stress induced by a lingering Francis. Though she did wish he'd be easier to shake free.

"Get what you wanted?"

She glanced to Alex beside her in the passenger seat, all oblivious white smiles and twinkling brown eyes.

"More than I wanted. We need to make a stop on the way home."

He raised a brow in her direction as she shifted her car into gear.

"My call went good, thanks for asking," he said, grabbing onto the handle above the window, flexing his muscles as she swung out of the parking lot.

"You got the job?" she asked, the enthusiasm she'd wished to project lacking in her tone.

"Interview. I got the job interview."

"Well that's great," she said, forcing a smile. "Really."

"It's catering."

"Oh," she said, unable to stop herself from scrunching her nose. A caterer. Now she was sleeping with a caterer.

"Why am I so satisfied with disgusting you?" he mused.