Tension

Snuck this one in just under the wire! I hope its length will make up for my lateness in posting it. Have a great week, see you guys on Saturday! 

*****

The next evening, Gavin and I met with our realtor, Maureen, who was a friend of his mom's. Offers for the Winchester house had to be in by 6 PM on Wednesday. We decided to offer just over the asking price, which basically put us at the top of our budget.

"Well, this is a very generous offer," she said as we signed the papers. "However, it's not leaving you with much wiggle room if there's a counter offer."

Gavin and I looked at each other. We had discussed this at length after leaving the open house. "Well, we don't want to risk missing out by low balling," Gavin said, parroting my words from the previous evening.

"Okay, well as long as we're on the same page," Maureen replied.

We finished signing all of the paperwork and pushed it back to her. "Wonderful!" she exclaimed. "I usually hear back an hour or two after offers go in, so I'll give you a call Wednesday night and let you know. Good luck!"

Gavin and I walked out towards our cars. "Do you want to come over to my place on Wednesday and order Thai while we wait for the news?" he asked.

"Yeah, that sounds good..." I started to say, before I realized something that had me groaning in frustration. "Shit, I can't. I have stupid mock trial prep with my group."

"Can't you skip it?"

"I wish I could babe, but it was really hard for us to find a time that worked with all of our schedules."

He sighed with exasperation. "This is a one time thing, Allie. Can't you just miss this one study session?"

My spine stiffened with tension. "Gav, it's not just a study session. The mock trial starts Monday and we have to prep for it. I can't just bail on them."

"But you can bail on me?"

I pressed my lips together and took a deep breath in an attempt to stay calm. "Gavin, I'm not bailing on you. These plans were made weeks ago. I can't just screw over four other people." I tried to put a conciliatory note in my voice. "Look, we are supposed to be done by 8. I'll try to cut out a bit early and come over -"

He cut me off, his jaw rigid. "Don't worry about it," he said in a cold voice. "I'll just text you or something."

With that, he slid into his car. He didn't look at me once as he pulled away. I know, because I watched until his headlights faded away in the distance.

I slunk into my car and closed my eyes, resting my head back against the seat. Frustration welled up at me, both at law school sucking up all of my time, and at Gavin for making me feel like shit about it. I pounded the steering wheel in frustration, accidentally hitting the horn and shocking the hell out of a pedestrian that happened to be walking by.

I stewed in my anger the whole way back to my apartment. When I got home I went straight to bed, leaving my phone on my dresser so I wouldn't give in to the temptation to call or text Gavin. Why should I have to call? I told myself. He's the one being unreasonable.

I tossed and turned half of the night. When I woke up the next morning, I had no new messages.

*****

I arrived at my friend Bridget's apartment at 5:24 on Wednesday, bearing books, binders, and cookies from a bakery around the corner from my place.

Lianne and Wyatt were already there, their notes and snacks littering Bridget's kitchen table. The four of us had met up during our first year in Contract Law class, and had formed an unofficial study group that had managed to stick together over the lag few years. Law school is kind of like high school in that way; once you find your clique, you stick with them.

I plopped my stuff down and Wyatt immediately began hoovering a cookie. I swear he didn't even chew it. At six foot five, with flame red hair and a physique often compared to a flagpole, Wyatt definitely stood out in a crowd. His striking appearance was only outshone by his ridiculous goofball sense of humour. "Fuck it," he groaned, already halfway through his second cookie. "Let's just bribe our fake judge with these cookies."

Lianne cocked an eyebrow. "That would require you to show enough restraint to actually leave enough cookies for someone else." She smiled, brushing a short lock of jet black hair behind her ear. Lianne was small and slight, basically a wisp of a person. Her size often led people to patronize or cutesify her... Until she shredded them to ribbons with her razor-sharp wit.

Wyatt paused, the cookie halfway to his mouth, considering this. "Fair point," he conceded. "Withdrawn." He popped the rest of the cookie in his mouth.

Bridget came over and pulled the box away.  "Try not to devour all of our snacks before Julian gets here," she said playfully. Her long, strawberry blond hair was pulled back off of her face, showing off her classically beautiful looks. Bridget was my closest friend in law school, and the only one I actually spent time with outside of school-related functions. She was kind and helpful, but was also one of the most hardworking and determined people that I'd ever met.

"Oh God," I groaned at the mention of the only member of our little group that o really and truly could not stand. "I was hoping he'd bailed."

The others exchanged looks. The animosity between Julian and I was not exactly a secret. "Allie," Bridget said in an overly patient tone one would use to reason with a kindergartener who didn't want to share the purple crayon, "Try to be nice to him. It's going to be a long night if you're constantly at each other's throats."

"I'm always nice," I replied in a bratty. kindergartener-like tone.

Just then, the Devil himself strolled in. Ugh. Julian Pierce. The name says it all. He was an obnoxious, arrogant, trust-funded, pocket square wearing, Harvey Specter-wannabe douche. Just all around ugh.

"Hey all," he said lazily. "Wyatt, Lianne, Bridge." He smirked at me. "Alexandra."

"Julian, so nice of you to join us!" I said in a sickly sweet tone. "I was worried something had happened to you, but fortunately it was just your complete disregard for our time."

He chuckled. "Looks like you upgraded the pine tree up your ass to a California redwood."

I opened my mouth to retort but, catching Bridget's eye, clamped my jaw shut and opened my book. "Now that we're all here," I said, "Shall we get started?"

We worked for the next few hours. Somehow I managed to refrain from vaulting across the table and scratching Julian's eyes out, swallowing my rage at every snide comment he threw my way. I caught Bridget's gaze every so often and roll my eyes in Julian's direction. She'd shrug sympathetically, but somehow didn't seem to find him as insufferable as I did.
Yet despite how much I despised him, I had to admit he was incredibly smart and a good asset to the group. Not that I'd ever admit it out loud.

As six thirty, then seven, then seven thirty rolled around, I subtly checked my phone under the table more and more often for news from Gavin. I'd barely heard from him since our standoff on Monday night, and I was tense waiting for the news.

I was checking my phone for the umpteenth time when Wyatt waved a hand in front of my face. "Hellooooo Allie?" he said.

"Sorry, what did you say?" I asked.

"We need the shopkeeper's testimony. Do you have it in your pile?"

"Yeah I think so, sorry." I started shuffling my papers around.

Julian's silky smooth voice had my hackles up. "Who has you obsessively checking your phone? Trouble in paradise with the blue-collar boyfriend?"

Ah yes, mocking Gavin and our relationship. One of Julian's favourite pastimes.

I willed down the annoyance that rose at his comment, which had hit closer to the mark than I wanted to admit. "I'm just expecting a call," I said, through gritted teeth.

"What's the thrilling development taking place? New laundry detergent? Boyfriend needs your help choosing between tube sock brands?" Julian mocked.

Wyatt seemed to sense my murderous feelings, or else he saw the steam pouring out of my ears. He quickly defused the situation.

Yet I couldn't shake the tension coiling me up my insides. Between Julian's perpetual smirk that I itched to slap off of his face, and the radio silence from Gavin, I was wound tight as a wire.

When my phone finally buzzed at 8:17, my jaw was aching from clenching it with tension. A tension that tightened and snapped when I read Gavin's message.

Another couple counter-offered. We didn't get the house.