The Arrangement

Chapter 3

Ellie's P.O.V:

    After seeing that Eric had arrived home an hour earlier then planned, I quickly cleaned up my mess before walking to the main house to greet him. As I'm exiting the garage, I can't help but smile as I'm greeted by Eric's smiling face. 

    "Why hello there stranger" I scream out while running towards my brothers open arms. As we embrace each other in a hug, he pulls away from me, taking a good look at me. 

    "Hey sis, how's it going. Let me take a good look at you. Looking on the thin side now aren't we?" he chuckles. 

    I roll my eyes "Well you know how it goes when you go through a break up. No motivation to eat, and you just work out all the time". 

    "I still can't believe that a** did that to you. Just wait till I see him"  He says while shaking his head in disappointment. 

    I sigh "It is what it is. He wanted a piece of a** more then a family I guess". As I shrug my shoulders and look up to look away from my brothers disappointed face, I notice the spare bedrooms light is now on. "Umm... Did you bring a stray home with you as well?" I ask curious as to what he would say. 

    "Oh yeah, as a matter of fact, a Sargent from my regiment is going to be staying with us for a while. Well until he recovers. He had no where to go and you know me. I mean I took you in ..." He smiles while I can hear my inner self conscious, Ha-ha very funny him. As he sees the look on my face, his expression changes to a slight smirk "I am really happy to see you sis. Catch up more tomorrow morning? I am whipped from today's travels and I think it's time to hit the hay."

    I smile "Sure thing. I work tomorrow, but would love to cook you and Sargent..." I pause to wait for the name of the mystery person. 

    "Sullivan" He smirks. 

    "Sargent Sullivan breakfast tomorrow before I have to go in at 8". I smile sweetly. 

    As my brother and I go our separate ways, I can't help but wonder who this Sullivan fella is. I retreat back to my cozy little home and find my perch back on the balcony. I pour myself another glass of wine and turn back on my music. Wonder by Shawn Mendes begins to play, and something about that song just makes me ponder the direction my life is going. 

Matt's P.O.V:

    I awake to what feels to be the middle of the night. It's still dark out, so i assume that it has to be sometime around midnight. I glance at the alarm clock on the beside table and see that its 6 am. As I awake a little more I begin to hear music coming from somewhere within the house. Unsure if this is one of Rogers weird quirks when he's home, I decide to proceed with caution. 

    As I make my way down stairs the music begins to get louder. The closer I get to the kitchen, the louder the music gets. When I reach the door way I see a women near the stove, dancing and singing to Edge of Midnight by Miley Cyrus and Stevie Nicks. Rogers never mentioned to me that anyone else was living here and I was under the impression that he was single. 

    I make my way closer to the mysterious women. An uneasiness begins to set in as the room falls silent. As the women proceeds to turn around and smack whom ever was approaching her, I fall into defense mode and restrain her. 

    "What the f**k, who the h**l do you think you are?!" She screams. "Eric get your a** in here and help me!"

    I see Rogers round the corner holding a baby with a oh s**t look on his face. 

    "S**t... Sullivan! let her go man!" he pleads. 

    I release my grip knowing that I possibly made a mistake. 

    "Sullivan, this is my sister Ellie. Ellie please meet Sargent Matt Sullivan. Ellie has been living in my guest house for the last month and a half with this little guy right here, Ollie." Rogers says with a snicker and a smile. 

    My face immediately drops realizing that I am a complete and total dumbass for doing what I just did. 

    "I'm sorry ma'am. I didn't think Rogers had anyone living with him. Seems that he may have left that part out" I say while glaring at Rogers. 

    "Ma'am is what you call my mama. It's fine though... no worries." Ellie say's with a slightly shocked face. I can tell she is a bit uncomfortable and I can't help but smirk. "Well, this just got awkward. So, on that note I am going to go get Ollie and my self ready. We have to leave soon. Hope your hungry. I made pancakes" She says smiling at me before rushing out of the room. 

    Rogers and I sit at the table and begin to eat. I can't stop myself from thinking about Ellie's reaction to me restraining her and the tingling sensation I felt as I held her hands behind her back. 

    "So, what's the deal with your sister?" I blurt out before realizing what I was saying. 

    "Ellie? Well she's currently going through a divorce, which is why she's currently living in my quest house. A year ago she found out she was pregnant with Ollie. Then her long term boyfriend asked her to marry him, an five months later they were married, only to later find out that he was screwing a fellow Dr. he works with." Rogers face hardens at the thought. "I haven't spoken to Steven about all of this yet, but I expected a lot more from a guy who used to be my best friend in high school."

    I can tell Rogers is becoming uncomfortable with the topic at hand. Before he could say anything else, Ellie appears back into the room. I remain sitting at the table taking in all her features. Her brunette hair is still tied up in a messy bun, her deep brown eyes reflecting a bit of sadness, but still deep enough to pierce your soul. She really is a beautiful women when you take the time to look at her. My thoughts are quickly interrupted by her voice. 

    "I'm sorry I can't stay to catch up with you today Eric, but if your up to it when I get off tonight at 8, I would love to talk about everything that has been going on. Oh, and to get to know you as well... Sargent Sullivan was it?" She says my name as if she doesn't remember it. "An before I forget... Steven is set to pick Ollie up from daycare and drop him off here an hour before I get off work. Would you be ok watching him till I get home?"

    "Sure thing. Now get going, we can't have you or Ollie being late" Rogers says with a smile while getting up to hug Ellie goodbye. 

    As Ellie leaves, I can't help but blurt out more questions. "So, what does Ellie do for a living?"

    Rogers looks at me and smiles "for someone who doesn't talk much or like to get personal, you do ask a lot of questions" he chuckles. "She's a surgical technician at Georgia Regional Hospital".

    Rogers stands up and begins to clear the table. For some reason I just can't stop thinking about Ellie.