"Aria, what a life you are living here... damn!" Lisa exclaimed as she looked around Ariana's room. "I feel like I am in a hotel room!" Lisa expressed.
The interior of Calhoun's room which was the room, Aria had chosen to stay in despite aunt Bianca's pleading that she could move to the guest room that was more accommodating for a female but she loved it. She would rather stay with the scents of Calhoun around her than in a strange room where she didn't know anybody. She would feel like a stranger
"Stop making so much fuss Lisa. It is nothing important," Ariana replied as she folded her clothes into the cupboards.
"No, way! Look at this state of the art wardrobe!" Lisa shrieked again for the millionth time. "I can basically imagine living in this space back in my home town," Lisa said with a giggle.
Ariana giggled too but continued with her work. The room was truly special but Ariana was never one to look at the material things. The room was beautiful and manly, all at once. She couldn't have enjoyed her stay here if she wasn't staying in his room.
"What is here?" Lisa asked as she moved to a door by the side.
"That's the toilet, Lisa! Can you stop inspecting my room now? Look, you said you had something important to say on the phone what's going on?" Ariana asked her.
Lisa stopped the questions and turned to her friend like she was seeing her for the first time. "Yes, I had good information to give..."
Ariana dropped the last of the clothes and came to sit on the bed where Lisa now sat. "So spill," She said.
Lisa smiled brightly like a new bride before replying. "I just found out that Alice Brentwood has turned a new leaf! She is now a good person!" She squealed out.
"Alice?" Aria repeated the name with her left brow raised. "Alice is now a good person..." she trailed again. It was too much information to believe. How could Alice that was so cruel change?
"Yes! I was told she is now a good person. The new secretary told me, she treats her well too. She arranges coffee for the girl and all of that!" Lisa put in.
"Alice arranged coffee for the secretary? Are you sure she is good though?" Ariana asked and Lisa burst into laughter. "I am not saying her action is impossible... I am just saying the girl should be weary. Alice can change at any time but it is just hard to believe."
"That is, by the way, the other day I met with Ethan..." she said curling her hair and looking at Ariana with batted eyelashes.
Ariana frowned slightly and stared at her. She knew Lisa. Whenever she had that expression, she wanted to say something that would make them fight or argue for an entire night.
"Well, he said, he wanted to start over as well."
Her response made the frown on Ariana's face to even deepen. This was not the kind of news she was expecting but Lisa probably wanted to feed off the tension. Ariana refused to give it to her.
"He should do that. It will do him good," Ariana said. She had lost all sort of feelings for him and there was absolutely nothing he would say or do that would make her have a change of mind. Calhoun was her better half and that was it. There was no one else but her.
"I think he still wants you, though," Lisa said in a small voice.
Ariana turned to glare at her. Was Lisa being serious right now? Had Ethan managed to bribe Lisa into convincing her or what?
"I know what you are thinking..." Lisa said raising her hands in defence. "I am only feeling bad for him okay? There is no way, I will ever ask you to leave this paradise and return to that hell called Ethan!"
"Why do you mention him then?" Ariana asked with a roll of eyes. "Why do you keep bringing him up?"
Lisa stopped playing around and moved closer to her best friend. "I know that things didn't go as you would have liked but Ethan is human too. I am just looking out for everybody!"
"Because..." at this point, Ariana was totally confused. There was no way she could understand where Lisa was heading. The conversation was too deep and Ariana hated it. Why was Lisa trying to bring Ethan into her life again?
"I am an angel, that's why!" Lisa said with a toothy grin. "But joking aside, you have been complaining about this family for a while now. I thought that maybe, you could just give Ethan a chance. Things will be different. His uncle doesn't really care about all of these things the Lawsons care about."
Ariana continued staring at Lisa. For a second it felt like this wasn't her friend but someone else. Why was she telling her about Ethan?
"You think Ethan is better off than Calhoun?" Ariana asked almost unconsciously. The words just left her mouth and there was nothing she could do to stop herself.
"I am not saying that. What I am saying is that they both love you very much. You can't deny them!" Lisa said.
"But one cheats on me without mercy. I don't want to be with that person, hell no." Ariana didn't even know if she should be angry at her friend or she shouldn't.
Lisa slapped a hand to her face and took deep breaths. "Do you want to be with the one whose family doesn't accept you?" She cried out. "Look, I know it is hard but for how long will you keep pretending that you are fine?"
This got into Ariana. She kept quiet and frowned. Was she pretending to be fine? Was it really never going to get better? What if Lisa was right? What if everything she was doing was a waste of time and the Lawsons would never accept her?