Chapter 6: Dispute

Voices from the balcony caught Cadence’s attention as her eyes opened to a bright, early-afternoon sun. She recognized them immediately. Aaron was trying to keep the volume down, probably because he didn’t want to wake her. Elliott sounded pissed about something, and his deep voice reverberated through the air like a bass drum.

Checking the time on her IAC, she saw that it was almost 1:00 in the afternoon. She had several missed messages, mostly from Aurora, which seemed odd at first, but then she realized if Elliott was here and angry, the two issues might be related. She also had some messages from her sister who was still upset she hadn’t been allowed to come to Vegas.

Deciding to ignore all of those missives for now, since there was something wrong with Elliott, Cadence put on a robe, made sure it was belted well-enough not to give away any of her secrets, and headed out to the living area where the balcony door was located.

They were headed back inside before she could even say anything. She caught Elliott mid-sentence. “I’m just gonna head home. I don’t need any more bullshit.”

“Are you going to take an airliner?” Aaron asked, following him in. He smiled at Cadence but was clearly concerned about his best friend and didn’t say anything directly to her yet.

“Nah. Those damn seats are so cramped. I’ll just rent a bike or something. Hey, kid,” he acknowledged Cadence but was headed toward the door.

“What’s going on?” she asked, looking from one of them to the other.

“Nothin’,” Elliott said dismissively, his hand already yanking the door open. “Just... be thankful you two have each other. And don’t be jackasses, no matter how mad ya get.” He was out in the hallway, still muttering to himself, and Cadence watched him go, confused.

Aaron followed him out the door, but she couldn’t hear what else he said. Maybe something about being careful, though that seemed like an odd thing to say to someone who couldn’t die. He could’ve meant be careful he didn’t do anything he’d regret, she thought.

She heard her friend’s footsteps echo down the hallway, and then Aaron came back in and closed the door. He stood there for a second, rubbing the stubble on his perfect jaw, his blue eyes looking in her direction but not quite at her. “What happened?” she asked again.

He sighed and ran a hand through his light brown hair. The beige shirt he was wearing was slightly wrinkled, and she was pretty sure he was wearing the same jeans he’d had on the day before, which told her he must’ve thrown them on in a hurry. It wasn’t like him to look even remotely disheveled, though she kind of liked it.

Before he answered, he crossed to the sofa and dropped down, and she moved so that she was perched on the armrest at the other end. “Roar’s pissed. He went to a strip club while she was asleep, and when he got back, they had a huge fight.”

“Oh.” Cadence wasn’t sure what else to say. She had to let that sink in for a moment. They were in Vegas after all, and while Aurora didn’t need as much sleep as Cadence did, she still had to sleep some. “Who did he go with?”

Aaron made a face, like he didn’t want to tell her. He glanced at her and then looked away.

“Not you?” she asked, her eyebrows knitting together.

“No,” he said quickly, and she felt her heart flutter in her chest as its pace returned to normal. “I was here with you. All night.”

She slid onto the couch next to him, not even sure why she was so relieved to hear that. Was a strip club really so awful as long as nothing happened? Still, she was glad he hadn’t left her in the middle of the night. His hand fell to her knee, and she tried to decide whether or not Aurora had the right to be mad until she realized he still hadn’t answered her question. “So... with who?”

“Some of the local guys,” he replied slowly before adding, “and Jamie.”

Cadence’s head whirled around to look at him as her mouth fell open. “Jamie?”

“Yes.”

“Jamie—Dr. Joplin?”

“Yes.”

Cadence looked away, her mouth still hanging open. Of all of the people she’d ever met in her life, Jamie would be the last person she could imagine going to a strip club—except for her mother, of course. “What does Ashley think about that?”

“Ashley didn’t mind. I think that’s one of the reasons Elliott’s so pissed. In fact, Ashley said, ‘Go, have fun.’ But then... Jamie asked Ashley first, and she probably knew there wouldn’t be anything to worry about. Jamie probably sat in the corner with his eyes on the ground the whole time.”

“Huh,” Cadence said, sinking back against the couch cushions. “Huh.”

“Anyway,” Aaron continued, gently rubbing her knee, “I guess Aurora’s pretty angry, and Elliott says he’s done with that.”

“Yeah, it sounded like he was pretty mad, too.” Even as she was speaking, another message from Aurora came through. She sent a quick message that she had just woken up and would be over as soon as she could be there. “What are we going to do about this?” she asked, turning to look at him again.

“What can we do? It’s really not our business.”

He had a point, but she hated to see either one of her friends upset. And then there was the fact that they still had to work together. “Maybe they’ll sort it out.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. It sounded like she was trying to make this into something it isn’t, or at least something Elliott didn’t think it was. I think he’s been clear all along that they’re not a couple, so she really shouldn’t be trying to tell him what he can and cannot do.”

“True,” Cadence agreed. “But she’s been more invested all along, I think.” She remembered a few times when Elliott had made comments about how it wasn’t really a relationship, and while Aurora had agreed, she’d seen in her friend’s eyes that she didn’t really feel that way. “I guess I better go talk to her.”

“Are you going to take a shower first?” Aaron asked as Cadence contemplated pulling herself up off of the comfy couch.

“Are you saying I stink?”

He laughed. “No, I was just thinking, if you are, I can order you some breakfast while you’re getting ready.”

“That would be great.” She leaned over and kissed him—quickly so as not to fall into anything else—before hopping up off of the couch and heading toward the bathroom.

“What do you want?” he called after her.

“Surprise me!” Cadence shouted back. One less thing to decide. She turned the water on and took care of a few other bathroom necessities before stepping into the warm deluge. Thoughts of what Aaron had mentioned to her right before she dozed off came back to her, and she realized she owed him an answer. Would she be willing to go ahead and get married while they were in Vegas, and if so, would that make things any less complicated? The idea of being his wife at last was comforting. But the thought of keeping the truth a secret for the next couple hundred years was not as appealing. As she ran her hands through her hair, washing away the suds from the shampoo, she hoped he wouldn’t bring it up again but thought that wouldn’t be the case. It was just one more decision she had to make, and that’s what she’d been trying to avoid.