Bad News

Bad News
\[A Little Over a Year Later\]

“Hello?”
“Hey, sweetheart.”
“Hey, Reggie. Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”
“Because you’re calling.”
Reggie released a heavy sigh on the other end. “I know we’ve been broken up for a while now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you, and we agreed we would remain friends, right?”
“Right,” Arianna agreed. “Um...how have you been?”
“Besides missing you? I’m living. How about you?”
Arianna felt the same way, but life had a way of being ironically cruel. Every time Arianna thought about her fate, she started to maniacally laugh, cry until her pillow was soaking wet, and then she’d rush to schedule an emergency session with her therapist. Arianna’s therapist wanted to write her a prescription for her depression, but Arianna stubbornly refused.
“I’m living,” Arianna replied.
“Are you still seeing your therapist?”
“I am, and I’m going to support groups as well.”
“Good. Good.”
Arianna furrowed her eyebrows at an incoming text.
“Hey, Reggie. I’m sorry to cut this short, but I really have to go. I’ll check in with you soon, okay?”
“I highly doubt that. Take care, Ari.”
“You take care of yourself, too. If you already aren’t, I think you should take advantage of a therapist, too.”
“I’m already one step ahead of you. Goodbye, Arianna.”
Reggie hung up the phone, and Arianna quickly read and reread the urgent text message from Patrick.
Patrick: Pierce is in the hospital, and he might not make it through the night. I just wanted to let you know in case you wanted to say your final goodbyes.
Arianna called Patrick several times to confirm, but he never answered.
Patrick: I’m sorry. I’m at the hospital right now, and the service is terrible. I can only text at the moment. Meet me at my house, and we’ll go to the hospital together. I’m sure you’ll need emotional support.
Arianna: Thanks, Patrick, for being such a good friend. I’m packing a bag. I’ll be there soon.
“This is the last fucking thing I need,” Arianna cried into the palm of her hands. “Fuck!”
Arianna scheduled a flight on the Stevens’ jet once she received the all-clear from Jynelle and packed a bag. She filled Legs’ automatic food and water dispensers to the brim and cleaned his litter box. “I would take you, Legs, but I can’t be worried about you and everyone else. Please behave. I love you.”
Arianna locked her apartment and bolted towards the elevator. “Please don’t go before I can say goodbye, Pierce,” she whimpered.

Arianna pulled up to Patrick’s house and flew out of the car. Patrick had texted her once she landed and told her he might be in the shower once she arrived and to let herself in.
“Patrick! It’s Arianna!” she shouted once she entered the house. She locked the door behind her and placed her carry-on on the foyer floor. “Pat?” Arianna called out again as she made her way through the bottom of the house.
Arianna gasped in shock once she saw Patrick handcuffed to a chair with a gun pointed at his head.
“Harry...what the fuck is your problem?! Put that gun down!” Arianna shrieked.
“You look good, Arianna. And may I say, you filled out quite nicely,” Harry commented with a salacious grin on his face. Arianna had put on nearly 20 pounds since leaving Texas, which contributed to her petite but shapely figure.
“Put the gun down, Harry.”
“Gladly.”
“Please tell me you didn’t text me from Patrick’s phone and claim Pierce was sick to lure me back to Texas.”
“You’ve always been the brightest crayon in the box,” Harry commented.
“So...Pierce is okay?” Arianna asked with tears welling in her eyes.
“Pierce is just fine, Arianna. He’s doing better than ever,” Patrick relayed.
“Oh, my sweet Rose. There is no need to cry,” Harry cooed as he attempted to gather her in his arms.
“Get the fuck away from me,” Arianna growled, causing Harry to jump back. “You need to release, Patrick. Now!” Arianna demanded.
“Sir, yes, ma’am,” Harry responded before immediately complying.
“I-I-I need to find something to calm my nerves,” Arianna mumbled before heading to the kitchen. She put a kettle of water on the stove for tea and locked herself in the pantry where no one could see her and ugly cried. Harry and Patrick exchanged looks as Arianna’s loud crying reached the living room. She sounded like a dying walrus.
“Just for the record, I want you to know, in case you didn’t already know, that you’re the biggest dick on this fucking planet,” Patrick growled.
“All you had to do was tell me what I wanted to know.”
“You didn’t need to know! No one knew! Only I knew!”
“Which is exactly why I had to hold you hostage and convince Arianna to come back. No way would she not come back to say her final goodbyes to Pierce.”
“You’re fucking demented. Don’t you hear her crying?!”
“She obviously needs to see a therapist if she’s crying that hard over Pierce. He doesn’t even have that much to offer, and it’s been like two years. Plus, she’s moved on.”
“You need a fucking therapist! And how do you know she moved on?”
“With that ass she has now, she’s been taking backshots. Trust me.”
“Get the fuck outta my house!”
“Shut up. I have the gun,” Harry reminded. The kettle whistled for several seconds, and it was clear Arianna had no intentions of removing it from the stove. “How would you like to join us for a spot of tea?” Harry offered.
“I rather not.”
“Too damn bad. Into the kitchen, you go.”
Patrick mumbled underneath his breath as he led the way to the kitchen and selected a stool. Harry hummed to himself while he prepared the tea.
“Rose, you might as well come out of the closet just like your dear friend, Jesse.”
The pantry door suddenly flew open.
“What did you just say?” Arianna asked in disbelief.
“Your friend, Jesse. He came out of the closet during your absence. Excuse me, “they,” Harry heavily exaggerated.
“You’re lying. That man couldn’t get enough female attention,” Arianna argued.
“It boils down to simple psychology, Rose. They were forcing themself to indulge and endure the female attention because they weren’t ready to face the music.”
“B-But why did Jesse want to be with me so bad?”
“Simply put, you were a safe option to experiment with. You two had a tight emotional connection, and they trusted you. If they finally came to the conclusion they wanted to be with men, they would’ve felt comfortable coming out to you, and you would understand and not judge them.”
“Is that why the Vanderbilts didn’t track me down?”
“Believe me. They wanted to. They were ready to sic the hounds on you, but Jesse stepped in and set the record straight about their sexuality and why it would never work between the two of you.”
Arianna was beginning to form a headache, and she didn’t know if it was from the crying in the pantry or from the whirlwind of information about Jesse.
“How is Elite SA?”
“Thriving. It’s not the same, of course. We hired another receptionist. She’s such a twat, and the guests don’t enjoy her as much as they enjoyed you. A lot of the guests still ask about you from time to time.”
“Why did you hold Patrick hostage and send that text about Pierce?”
“We were due for a reunion. Don’t you think?”
“No...I don’t think so.”
“Arianna...is there something going on with you that you haven’t even shared with me?” Patrick asked.
“Um...”