Page 3 of The October Arrangement

“Yes, Simon?” She stepped into my office.

“Cancel everything after tomorrow.”

“Everything?” She frowned.

“For the next three months,” I said.

“Uh, are you going somewhere?” she asked.

“Apparently, I’m moving to fucking Los Angeles.”

Chapter Two

Bella

I was halfway through editing a photo when something slammed against the wall in Kendra’s office. I froze, staring at my monitor.

“What was that?” my coworker, Sarah, asked.

“Who knows.” I rolled my eyes.

Kendra and Scott argued. Everyone at Hearth & Harbor knew that. They’d been married for twelve years and somehow managed to build a company together without killing each other. This wasn’t anything new. They were both stubborn and argued every single day. If they hadn’t, I would have believed something was seriously wrong. But lately, their arguments had gotten worse and louder than usual.

“I’m done talking about this,” Scott snapped.

“Well, I’m not!” Kendra shouted. “You don’t get to make this decision by yourself.”

“I already did,” Scott said. “I can’t take it anymore.”

“Oh shit,” I mouthed to Sarah, widening my eyes.

“After everything we’ve built, you’re just going to walk away? What about this company?” Kendra shouted.

“This isn’t about the company,” he said.

“How can you possibly say that? Everything is about the company! Our house is tied to this place. Our savings are tied to it. We have employees out there who depend on us.”

“I fucking know that, Kendra.”

“You promised me we’d work through this,” Kendra said.

“And I tried,” Scott said.

“For what? Two weeks, Scott?”

“For two fucking years!” he shouted. “But the fact is that I can’t get over what you did. I tried. I really did.”

“We already had this conversation many times. I told you it happened once and it meant nothing.”

“Maybe it meant nothing to you. But it meant something to me. I can’t live another day not being able to trust you. It’s destroying me, and that’s no way to live. Every time I see you texting, I wonder if you’re texting him. Every time you have a dinner to go to, I wonder if you’re lying and secretly seeing him. I can’t do it anymore. I want a divorce, Kendra.”

“You don’t mean that,” she said.

“I do mean it.”

“You’re in charge of the financials and distribution. Half this company is yours!” she shouted.

“I know. And honestly, I don’t want any part of it anymore. I’m starting over. Free of you and this damn company.”