Always Fraser

by A. K. Steel

  She gathers the clothes. “I’m just going to have a shower. Go see what it is, then we can go out to dinner to celebrate.” She kisses me, heading out of her room in the direction of the shower.

  “Oh, not fair, I’d prefer to stay and have one of your famous long showers with you,” I call after her, and she waves me off.

  I turn up at Shea’s place. I haven’t been here before. It's nice if you like the ultra-modern look. Just a couple of streets back from the beach, this place is massive and white, with cube-like shapes stacked on more cubes. There’s timber screens and massive prickly pear cacti all through the garden. It's what I would expect her to have—sleek, stylish, and a little prickly.

  She probably paid next to nothing for it too, knowing her ballbuster negotiation skills. For that reason, it’s a shame we won't be working with her anymore, but it was just getting too messy so it’s definitely for the best.

  I haven’t seen her since that day in my office when we decided not to work together anymore. I'm really hoping this isn’t going to be too awkward. Just get in, sign the papers, and get out of here and out to dinner with my girl. I knock on the door and Shea opens it in a rush. She must have just got home. She's in her normal business attire, a body-hugging black dress with her tits on full display.

  “Hey, Fraser. Sorry to call you out like this on a Friday afternoon. It just couldn’t wait. I was supposed to have this paperwork in by 5:30pm today, and I was going over it at the office when I realised your signatures were missing. Come in. Would you like a drink?”

  “No, thanks, I’ll just sign the papers then be on my way.” I follow her into the house. We walk into a massive living room, all in white.

  “Of course, you probably have something to get to with Elly?”

  Why is she being so nice? There's something weird going on here.

  “Yeah, we're going for dinner with friends,” I say, trying to keep the conversation short but making sure she knows I’m not hanging around.

  She smiles at me and it's the fakest smile I’ve ever seen. “Oh, how lovely. I’ll just get the papers from my study, won’t keep you long.”

  She marches down the hall on a mission, disappearing through a doorway. I turn to look around. This place is like out of a magazine or one of those perfect show homes. Nothing’s out of place. It's all so neat and tidy, doesn’t even look like someone lives here, not even a cup in the kitchen sink.

  How strange. It looks like it's styled for sale. I thought she said it was her place in the text, but it must be one of the addresses she’s selling. Guess it makes sense, it's only 5pm, she’s probably still working. But I’m sure she said this was her house.

  She walks back in the room with the papers from the townhouses. Placing them on the dining room table, she motions for me to sit at the table as she pulls out a chair and takes a seat next to me.

  She's flicking through and checking over the papers in her hand. Nodding as she checks off each page. After she has gone through the whole document, she looks up with a sideways smirk on her face.

  “I’m so sorry, Fraser, when I checked this afternoon, I was sure we had missed your signature on these, but it's here plain as day now! I have no idea how I didn’t see it earlier, silly me. Sorry I wasted your time. Guess I can get these off today after all,” she says, pushing her chair back and standing up.

  “Okay, I guess we all make mistakes.” I stand to leave. “Bye, Shea, see ya later.”

  “Bye, Fraser. Have a nice evening. Hope it's not too eventful,” she taunts, sarcastically grinning at me.

  I fake a smile and close the door. This whole thing just feels off. Shea doesn’t stuff up. The whole playing dumb act isn’t her. She’s meticulous about everything. The even stranger thing is, she didn’t try anything. The last year I have known her, she always tries something. I just want to get back to Elly and have a nice night with our friends.

  Elena

  I sit at the dining room table, freshly showered, in the cute outfit I picked for tonight’s celebration dinner. I’m wearing a black silk singlet top with a jade-green mini skirt and my sexy knee-high boots. I figure I’d better make the most of wearing all my favourites before I’m too fat to fit in them anymore.

  This sandwich looks delicious, fresh whole-grain bread with salad and mayo. Yum, this is my favourite snack this week.

  Fraser will be home soon, from signing the papers at Shea’s house, and we're going out for dinner with the others. I’m finally hungry again, and now I know I’m eating for two. The doctor we saw this week says I need to really work on eating enough to put back on the weight I lost and then some.

  As I sit down and take my first bite, I hear a knock at the door. Oh, how annoying, who could it be?

  I contemplate not answering it, we're not expecting anyone. It's probably the guy asking about solar panels again. They come at random times of the day and have been driving us nuts since we moved in. We keep telling them we don’t own the place and we can't make these types of decisions. But they just send a new guy the next time and we have to go through the whole sales pitch again.

  I look back at my sandwich, contemplating what to do. Ah, I better open it, it might be something important. I open the door to see Tristan leaning up against the hallway wall, hands in his jeans pockets. “Tris, what are you doing here? Are you looking for Luca? I think he and Indie are out somewhere.” This is weird. I haven’t seen him since the farewell party at the café a month ago. Why would he turn up on my doorstep?

  “Oh, nice to see you too, Elly! I’m not looking for Luca, I’m here for you. You could at least look happy to see me.”

  “I am, I’m just surprised, that's all. Are you missing my awesome coffee making skills already?” I laugh. No one would be missing them.

  “Yeah, something like that.” He looks off, like he’s on edge or something. His eyes keep darting from the stairway to the apartment.

  “What's wrong? You don’t look like yourself.” He’s normally really relaxed and carefree, but not tonight.

  “Can I come in?” he asks. His dark eyes meet mine, and I feel uncomfortable. I’m not sure if it’s just because I know Fraser will be home soon and he’ll get jealous if he sees another guy here, or if it’s because of how we left things between us. But I decide I better let him in and see what's wrong.

  I motion for him to follow me in. “Of course. Do you want a coffee or something? I’m just having something to eat, before we head out for the night.”

  “Yeah, that would be nice, thanks. I won’t stay long, don’t want to interrupt your plans.”

  I walk into the kitchen with Tristan closely behind me, hands still in his pockets. He stands close by, a little too close, invading my personal space. He’s leaning on the kitchen counter watching me as I make our drinks. I’m not sure what to say to him. I didn’t really think I would see him again after how we left things. But here he is, acting all strange.

  I look over to him as I pour the boiling water from the kettle, and his eyes widen as he sees the ultrasound photo on our fridge. It was the first thing Fraser did when we got home from our appointment. He’s so excited about this baby, not what I was expecting from him at all.

  “So it's true, you're having a baby?” he scoffs, his eyes still glued to the photo on the fridge.

  “Um, yeah, it’s crazy. I’m still coming to terms with it myself.” I hand him his coffee hoping to break the weird tension that's building between us.

  He looks at me as he takes his mug of coffee, his eyes still wide in disbelief. “Indie mentioned it, but I wanted to see it for myself. And you’re back with your ex?” He looks up over his coffee.

  “Yeah, we're working things out. He’s really excited about the baby, so am I,” I say with a smile.

  “That’s nice. I’m glad it's all worked out for you both.” A text pings on his phone and he smiles as he reads it.

  “Some good news?”

  “Nah, my sister just texted something funny.”


  “Oh, okay. What's going on with you, Tris? What brings you here on a Friday night?”

  “I was just in the neighbourhood on another bad date. It reminded me of you and our chats at the café. I thought I would check in on you. I don’t get to have our daily catch-ups anymore.”

  “Yeah, I’ve missed your dating horror stories, they're always good for a laugh. What happened today?”

  “Same old stuff. She was nice enough, just no chemistry. You know,” he shrugs.

  My tummy makes a loud rumbling noise, and I realise I haven’t finished my sandwich. I walk back over to where I was sitting earlier at the dining room table, and I continue eating.

  “What are the new girls like at the café? Bet they get your order right.”

  “They’re all right, I guess, they're not you.” He’s looking straight into my eyes. There's a fire there and that feeling of unease washes over me again. Fraser should be home soon, and he’s not going to like another guy being in my apartment, especially when he finds out we went on a date. I may have left that little detail out when I told him about how Indie and I got our tattoos. But the feeling is more than just that I can’t handle Fraser being jealous, especially when he’s got nothing to worry about. It’s that there is actually nothing between Tristan and me, at least not on my side.

  “Elly, why did you take him back? He sounded like a complete dick from what you told me.”

  I look up from my sandwich, surprised by his comment. “He was going through some family stuff. When I let him explain it all made sense. Sometimes things aren’t what they seem, you know.”

  “He left you without a word as to why! Hardly sounds like he’s going to be the best father for your child, don’t you think?”

  I hardly told him anything about what happened. How can he have such a strong opinion on the matter? “He had a lot going on at the time. We’ve sorted everything out now, so it's all good. Why are you so worried?” I’m starting to feel really uncomfortable now, and his questions are kind of pissing me off. Why is he looking at me like that?

  He shrugs it off like it was nothing. “Just think you deserve better and you could save yourself a lot of heartache by just walking away from him now. I can take care of you and the baby. I would be good for you, Elly.”

  I can practically feel my eyes pop out of my head. What the fuck is he going on about, he would take care of us? “What are you talking about, Tris? We're just friends. We have never been anything more than that. Fraser is the baby’s dad and the man I love. Why would I walk away from him? We have sorted it all out. I don’t understand why you think this is anything more. I think maybe you should go.” I go to stand to show him out, but he grabs my wrist, motioning for me to sit back down. His eyes look sad.

  “Sorry, Elly, I have overstepped the mark. I just care about you, that's all. I don't want to see you get hurt, and if you stay with Fraser, you're going to get hurt, it's guaranteed.”

  What is he talking about? He guarantees I’ll get hurt by Fraser?

  “Why, do you know something I don’t? Fraser’s not going to hurt me.”

  “No, I just know guys like him. One way or another you’ll end up hurt.” As he says it, he knocks over his coffee, with the hot liquid splashing all over his shirt. He pushes his chair back, trying to avoid the hot liquid that is spilling from the table.

  I jump up and run to the kitchen to grab some paper towel to mop it up and run back into the dining room to see he’s removed his shirt.

  I hand him some paper towels and he starts to clean up the hot liquid from his chest, then the table. We mop up the rest on the table then I dump the paper towel in the bin in the kitchen.

  “I’m so sorry, Elly, don’t know how I did that. I’m so clumsy.”

  “Are you okay, did it burn you?”

  “No, I’m fine. No harm done,” he says, brushing off his chest.

  “Don’t worry about it. Your shirt’s probably ruined, though.”

  He looks down at the crumpled-up shirt in his hand. “Oh well, didn’t like that shirt much anyway.”

  We hear a click in the door. Fraser must be home. This isn’t going to look so good. If I know Fraser, and I do, he’s going to freak.

  Tristan looks between me and the door. “I’m sorry to do this, Elly. You’re a nice girl. Things could have been really different between us if you just gave me a chance. But I owe my sister a favour and you kind of pissed her off.”

  Before I know what’s happening, Tristan grabs my wrists in one hand and my head with the other, pinning me against the wall, and smashing his mouth against mine.

  Chapter Thirty

  Elena

  I try to pull away, but Tristan has me pinned in place, his lips on mine.

  “What in the actual fuck is going on here?” Fraser is fuming mad. He’s cracking his knuckles and looks like he’s going to rip Tristan’s head off.

  Tristan pulls away from me with the biggest grin of satisfaction on his face.

  I push him away, getting distance between us. “What the hell, Tristan! Why did you do that?” This must look so bad, Tristan here with his shirt off, kissing me. I know I would freak out if the roles were reversed.

  “You don’t have to fight it now, Elly. He’s seen us. We can just be together.”

  “What the fuck is going on, Elly? Who is this dick?” Fraser yells.

  “I don’t know what's going on, Fraser. It all happened so fast. I didn’t want this, Fraser, you have to believe me. We were just friends and he just kissed me out of the blue.”

  “Likely story, Elly. You two looked very cosy. There’s clearly more going on here than just friends.”

  I start to cry and try to stop the tears of frustration. I know what this must look like. But it's just not true. I had nothing to do with that kiss. He forced himself on me and I couldn’t move. I have no idea what’s going on or what Tristan is talking about. His sister and me pissing her off? Who is she?

  I start to walk towards Fraser. “You have to believe me, Fraser. This isn’t what it looked like, I’ve been set up.”

  “Why don’t you tell him who I am Elly? The guy you were seeing while you two were on a break. You have to wonder, Fraser, whose baby is she carrying anyway?”

  I see red and flick my head around at Tristan, glaring at him. What the fuck is going on here? It’s like he’s setting me up. Am I being pranked or something?

  “What the fuck are you saying, Tristan? There is nothing to question, Fraser. I never slept with him, he’s making it up.”

  “How can I believe anything you say when I walk in on this scene? Him with his shirt off, his hands all over you. How stupid do you think I am?” He's so mad you can practically see his nostrils flaring, and I half expect him to march over to Tristan and thump him. This time I wouldn’t stop him, he fucking deserves it for what he just did. “I’m fucking out of here.”

  “No, Fraser, don't go. I need to talk to you, to tell you what actually happened,” I plead with him, trying to grab his hand so he will listen to me. I’m desperate now. I don’t want him to think I’ve been cheating on him. I would never do that, even when we were broken up. I couldn’t even think about anyone else like that, because it felt like cheating on him, my heart belongs to him. I would never do anything to destroy what we have.

  Tristan looks between us and makes his way over to the door. “Well, I’m out of here. Good luck with cleaning this mess up, Elly. Don’t say I didn’t warn you about Fraser. Things could’ve been so different if you just listened to what I was saying,” Tristan sneers, as he walks off and out the front door.

  My eyes are still focused on Fraser. I'm too scared to take them off him in case he runs. “Fraser, please let me explain,” I sob through tears.

  “I saw it with my own eyes. There's nothing to explain,” he mutters, looking down. He just looks defeated now. “I never thought you could hurt me the way you have tonight, Elly.”

  “I didn’t do it, Fraser, he forced himself on
me. I was trying to get away from him. He’s setting me up for some reason.” I feel like I’m just repeating the same lines over and over again, but I don’t know what else to say. How did this night all turn to shit so quickly?

  “I’ve got to go, I can't be near you right now.” He turns and takes off out the door.

  I run into my room and grab my keys and take off out the front door after him. I can’t let him go off thinking I kissed someone else on purpose.

  What the fuck was Tristan talking about? I should’ve listened to his warning and I would have avoided this? I have no idea what’s going on.

  I slam the front door behind me and run down the hallway and stairs. As I run down the stairs, my foot slips on something and my ankle rolls. I hear a snapping sound and my legs go out from under me. I slide down a few stairs and land with a massive thump on my arse.

  The pain throbs through my ankle and it fucking kills. More tears stream down my face. Can this get any worse? My ankle’s got to be broken. It hurts so much, but the pain that really worries me the most is the dull cramping pain I have in my lower tummy. I hope the baby’s okay.

  I try to pull myself up to standing with the stair railing but it's impossible, and in my rush to go after Fraser, I’ve forgotten my phone so I can't even call anyone. I'm stuck here until someone comes and finds me. I close my eyes and try not to focus on the searing pain radiating through my body, but it’s impossible. The pain is taking over my brain and I feel so sick. I don’t care about my ankle. “Please let my baby be okay,” I silently pray.

  I have no idea how much time has passed when I see Indie round the corner with a massive smile on her face, but it soon changes when she sees me. She runs to me.

  “Oh my God, Elly, are you okay?”

  “No,” I cry. I'm in so much pain now.

  “Can you stand up?”

  “Not by myself, I tried. I think my ankle’s broken.”

  “Come on, I'll help you, we need to get you to the hospital.”

  She places her arms around me and carefully tries to help me up to standing. As she lifts me, we both see little spots of blood left behind on the stairs where I was sitting. Her eyes widen at me, but she doesn't say anything.