With Phoebe back in Brighton, both Hunter and Grace had been excited to see her for a catch up. It had been such a long time and it seemed as though their lives had completely changed since the last time.
One of those life changing aspects was Grace's baby and another was Phoebe's new boyfriend, whom she seemed to be living with. They didn't really know a whole lot about him but Hunter had his apprehensions. Grace put it down to him being a little too over-protective of her but he was adamant that there was something about this guy.
"This is Lewis! Lewis, this is Hunter and Grace." Phoebe instantly made the introductions, producing a huge and excitable smile to finally introduce him to her friends.
"Hey. It's good to meet you." Lewis replied in his strong New York accent.
Although it sounded friendly, his body language seemed a bit off. He made no attempt to hug them or shake their hands and instead just took a seat at the table and began sipping his coffee.
When Grace and Hunter glanced Phoebe's way, as though searching for her reaction, she kept tight lipped and smiled back at them.
"So, how has life been in New York? It must be so different to here!" Grace piped up when the awkwardness was getting too much to bear.
"Yeah, it's definitely different but a good different. I love Brighton but there is so many more opportunities out there." Phoebe beamed and you could see the genuine happiness in her eyes. There was no doubt that she was confident in her decision to stay there with her mum after Kaden's decision to move back here.
"You work with your mum, don't you?"
"I do, yeah. I was an intern before but I think I'm leaning more towards working in the marketing side of it now, so I'll have a real job."
"Wow, that's so cool!"
"I love all the fancy parties and stuff. I'll take any invitation my mum gets. It's not really Todd's or Tiger's scene but me, my mum and Amiya are always there... and Lewis too." Phoebe turned to look at her boyfriend with a grin on her face.
"Yeah, we get a lot of free stuff. That's the best bit." He added, still keeping that deceivingly friendly tone while he was giving off a completely different vibe.
"So what do you do, Lewis?" Hunter asked, purposely directing this question at him to find out more about this guy.
Hunter had shamelessly skimmed his social media and found stuff that just seemed odd to him. There was no immediate signs of what his job was and instead, all he saw was him at fancy events in New York and doing anything he could to boost his following.
Lewis didn't answer Hunter's question immediately and just looked over to Phoebe, and she suddenly looked slightly uncomfortable.
"I'm just figuring that out at the moment." He finally said and Hunter just looked at him in disbelief.
"You're not working or anything?"
"Not at the moment."
"Shit, how do you afford to rent with Phoebe in Manhattan then? I can't imagine it's cheap."
Hunter knew that Phoebe had help from her mum but he also assumed that with her boyfriend going half, it made the whole thing a lot more doable. However, is this guy didn't even have a job, how was he paying his way?
"I'm covering it." Phoebe but in, giving Hunter daggers as she suddenly felt protective over Lewis.
"So you're not paying anything? Wow, you got yourself a good deal there." Hunter continued and even Grace was looking at her brother in warning to stop.
"This one loves being the income for us. Her family is all for that female empowerment and shit, aren't ya?" Lewis sang while nudging Phoebe's side and she forced a smile back at him.
His remark hadn't been genuine. It was clear he didn't actually appreciate what her family stood for and what the women in her life had worked hard for either. Instead, he was just using that to save his own back from exposing what was really going on here.
"I'm gonna go to the restroom, I'll be right back." Lewis added before standing to his feet and heading away from the table.
Although that was the last thing Phoebe needed him to be doing right now as she knew what was coming, it was the perfect opportunity for Hunter and Grace.
"Well he's an A class dick." Hunter said, not even attempting to keep his voice down.
"Yeah, I'm sorry V but you should be wary of him." Grace added, not holding back either.
They had just witnessed with their own eyes what was going on here in a matter of 2 minutes. They didn't believe that Phoebe hadn't seen it herself. This girl wasn't stupid.
"He's a good guy, honestly. He's looking for a job right now, he just doesn't know what he wants to do."
"He's sponging off you and your family." Hunter corrected her and he could see her face frown in frustration. "He clearly knew what he could get from you all."
"You don't even know him Hunter, so you can't exactly judge."
"I can judge what I saw in those 2 minutes and he's a dick."
Letting out an aggravated sigh, it was clear that Phoebe didn't want to argue with them but this was nothing she hadn't heard before.
"What does your mum say? Does your family like him?" Grace asked, genuinely confused at how they would just let it slide. They weren't a family to be messed around with, so it didn't make much sense.
"My mum hates him, which is why I don't need this from you two either. I'm happy but no one can accept that!" Phoebe exasperated. She was tired of this conversation. She had experienced the same one with her mum, Todd and Tiger many times.
"Doesn't that ring any alarm bells for you?" Grace asked, attempting to be soft with Phoebe, knowing Hunter was dying to say much worse about him. "Your mum is clearly just looking out for you."
"I know that but she doesn't get it, no one does."
"What is there not to get? He's a dick whose using you for your money and your mum's name? Why would he give a shit about all those fashion events other than getting his face plastered on the internet?" Hunter added, not being able to hold back.
"You're being so disrespectful, Hunter." Phoebe bit and she was so close to losing her temper with him.
"I'm being honest."
"Well, you'll just have to get used to him because we're engaged so..." Phoebe blurted out while holding her hand up to flash a beautiful looking ring, which they guessed he hadn't paid for.
Hunter and Grace were just looking back at Phoebe in shock, as neither one knew what to say.
"You can stop making remarks and judging now because this is the real deal."
"Wow..." Grace was the first to speak, feeling as though she needed to say something. "Does your mum know?"
"Yes, so I don't need another lecture." Phoebe responded before glaring at Hunter, knowing that's exactly what he wanted to do.
None of this made sense to them. Phoebe was such a headstrong woman, she had been brought up that way. However, it was clear that although she did have a lot of the Dubois traits within her, she had a lot of Carter too, which made her see way too much good in everything, even when the bad was screaming at her in the face.
"and you want this? You want to marry him?"
"Yes."
Nodding her head, Grace didn't really know what to say at that point. She imagined that Sophie had done what she could to talk her daughter out of it but what more could be done? Phoebe was an adult. She could make her own decisions now, even if they were bad ones.
"Fuck. I hope we get an invite to this wedding of the year then." Hunter sarcastically remarked, not knowing what else to say.
He was in shock and also gutted that she'd gone and done something so stupid. He wanted to be happy for her, if she was so adamant that she was happy, but how could he? That guy was everything she had always been so against.
New York had changed Phoebe in many ways, most of them good. It had filled her with so much confidence and so many aspirations but at the same time, it had done a lot of bad to her too.
She seemed to be so caught up in this high life that she wasn't aware of what was happening around her. She didn't have enough life experience to be able to spot the people who were using her. She wasn't constantly looking out for herself and instead, was just putting her trust in anyone who claimed to be her friend.
Hunter and Grace knew she had a strong family behind her, but none of that mattered when Phoebe was so blinded by her own decisions and wouldn't listen to a word that anyone else told her anyway.
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