Kcris & Jeena

Kcris finally visits Casey.

Jeena gets a clearer picture of the events that happened and also the reason why Kcris is standing with her back toward her. Jeena recalls the time when Sky has told her that Kcris has never let anyone know that she is hurting or for that matter even cried. Kcris has always carried herself as this iron-clad lady who is totally impervious to any pain, weakness, or vulnerability. Jeena totally gets that Kcris doesn’t want Jeena to see her like this. So, Jeena gets up, takes Kcris’ glass, puts both glasses on the table, and without any second thoughts, hugs Kcris from behind.
“It’s ok. You can feel it, Kcris. Please put your guard down and let these emotions take over you. I know you are confused right now. All sorts of emotions are coming and going through your body and mind. Please, don’t try to contemplate them. Kcris, just let it be. Trust me, once you are done feeling these complex emotions, they will start to subside. In the end, all the hurt, the pain, and the feeling of longingness will outweigh every other emotion.”
Jeena is still holding Kcris tightly when she feels tiny water drops fall on her hand, so she says, “It’s ok, Kcris. Let it all out.”
“Jeena, (and then Kcris’ voice starts to break) I miss her. I really miss her. I hate her. How could she do something like that? You know what, during our last call she said she loved me and usually I would also say ‘love you too’ but that day, I didn’t. I was very happy that I was coming back, so I thought I would say it in front of her as I desperately wanted to see her reaction. I hate her for doing this to me.”
Jeena says nothing and is only listening to Kcris silently while holding her firmly from behind. Jeena, herself has been through a situation like this, so she already knows that it’s just a matter of time before all this will start to take a toll on Kcris physically. And not to her surprise, Jeena can sense that Kcris legs are giving up and she may fall. Despite her strong will, Jeena knows clearly that she won’t be able to handle it if Kcris’ legs go numb. Though Kcris has a slim toned body, she also has a height of around 6 feet, making her weigh slightly more than Jeena can handle. So, to prevent a situation like that, Jeena makes Kcris sit on the chair. Kcris right away pulls Jeena towards herself, making Jeena stand closely, with her one leg slightly touching Kcris’ right thigh and her other one being sandwiched between Kcris’ legs. Although it is a sad situation, the way both are holding each other is so beautiful; Kcris hugging Jeena tightly and crying, and Jeena constantly stroking down Kcris’ hair and slowly patting her back.
After some time, when Kcris stops to cry, she lets go of Jeena. Seeing Kcris feel a bit uncomfortable, Jeena helps her by saying, "Your secret is safe with me. And don’t worry, I am not someone who judges people just because they can feel vulnerable at times. Rather it’s the opposite. I respect those people more, who are capable of letting others see that they are hurting because it takes a whole lot of courage to do so. For me, AQ is as relevant as EQ.”
(AQ or adversity quotient is the measure of one’s ability to deal with adversaries or go through a rough patch in life without losing one’s mind whereas EQ or emotional quotient is the ability of a person to deal with his/her emotions in daily life.)
Kcris is still not able to think straight and this is why she does not know what to say to Jeena, so ends up saying, “Thank you, Jeena.”
Jeena takes Kcris’ hand and makes her follow to the bed. Jeena makes Kcris lie down on the bed, and closes Kcris’ eyes with her hand saying, “You should have some sleep. I ain’t going anywhere. I’ll stay with you till you wake up.”
After saying this, Jeena sits near Kcris’ head holding her hand. Seeing Kcris fall asleep, Jeena tries to pull her hand out of Kcris’ hand so that she can go and sleep on the other side of the bed. But, being unable to do so without disturbing Kcris’ sleep, Jeena decides to sleep like that only. Jeena then slowly slips into the blanket and after some time she also sleeps, resting her head on the headboard.
The next morning, Jeena gets up listening to the voice of two women talking. She gets out of bed, opens the door, and is shocked to see a lady mopping the floor. Before Jeena can understand anything, she hears another woman’s voice from the kitchen, saying, “It’s ok, Jeena. No need to get scared. She is the cleaning lady, Rosé.”
Jeena gets around the cleaning lady and comes straight to the living room or to say the kitchen area.
“Good morning, Jeena. My name is Maria. If you could remember, you saw me at CC square café. Kcristina asked me to come here and make some breakfast for you as you didn’t eat anything last night.”
Jeena is still not fully awake and before she can say anything, Maria goes like, “I am sorry that I took the liberty of calling you on a first-name basis without asking. I hope you don’t mind."
“Don’t worry. I won’t mind. Anyway, where is Kcris?”
“Oh! She left early in the morning as she needed some documents from the hotel suite. And yes, even before that she has to go see Casey. At least, this is what she told me.”
“Does she visit frequently?”
Maria has a small laugh and then with a questioning face goes like, “Frequently?... No, Jeena, not even once. She has visited Casey’s grave not even once since she left us.”
“Huh?... But why? Kcris always says that Casey is so important to her, then why? I thought she refused to talk about Casey because she didn’t want to revisit those painful memories again. I didn’t know that Kcris never visited her.”
Maria smiles with sad eyes and says, “My love, you answered your own question?”
“Huh?... How?”
“You, yourself said that Casey was important for Kcristina, right? Sometimes when you love someone deeply and all of a sudden, when that someone leaves you, all your love is converted into anger. Nobody wants to feel the pain of losing someone they love, so as a way of protecting themselves, they get upset with that person. Kcristina also did the same.”
There is silence in the room when the cleaning lady asks Jeena to go to the other side so that she can mop there too. Jeena goes to the other side and stands near Maria. Maria smiles at Jeena and compliments her, saying, “You are quite a tenacious one. Nobody had the audacity to even talk to Kcristina about Casey let alone ask her to forgive Casey. Only you know what you did?”
“Whatever I did, did I do it right… or wrong?”
“Perfect. Whatever you did was perfect.” Listening to Maria say this, Jeena is happy.
“Jeena, you go freshen up. Breakfast is ready.”
“Any idea, when Kcris will return? We can wait for her and then we all three can have breakfast together.”
“Oh! Dear, I am sorry. Kcristina won’t be coming. She is flying out of the country today for at least 15 days.”
Listening to this, Jeena is slightly disheartened, and seeing this Maria tells her, “Oh ho, don’t think too much. Just go and freshen up, so that we can eat together. I am famished.”
“Ok. Ok. I am sorry. I’ll take only five.”
Both start to eat their breakfast and while they are at it, Maria tells Jeena, “Kcristina has left you flowers and a note. And she has also asked me to tell you to call her secretary. What’s her name? Umm…”
“Tessa?”
“Yes, it’s Tessa. Just give her a call.”
“Okay, Maria… But… why?... I mean, what for?”
“Tsk… well, only Kcristina knows. Who knows what tricks she has up her sleeves?”
Both finish the breakfast and Jeena helps Maria do the dishes. When Maria is leaving Jeena asks her, “Where are you going? And what will I do here?”
“You can take your time, Jeena. Stay till you want.”
“What about locking the house after I leave?”
Maria smirks and goes like, “Well you know how to lock and what to do with the key… (After a pause,) These are Kcristina’s words, not mine.”
Maria then picks up her bag and leaves, waving Jeena bye. Once Maria is gone Jeena sits in the living room and opens the note left by Kcris which said,
“As I was picking some flowers for Casey, I decided to pick some for you too as a token of my gratitude for helping me see things better. I am sorry that I didn’t wake you up because I didn’t want to disturb you. I’ll treat you to a meal once I am back.
P.S. Remember to call Tessa.”
Jeena picks up her phone and searches for Kcris’ secretary’s number in her contacts and dials her.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Tessa. It’s me, Jeena. Kcris asked me to call you.”
“Good morning, ma’am. Miss Pattinson told me to ask you beforehand if you have any specific detail that needs to be put in the contract so that the contract is made fully as per your requirements and conditions. So, is there any chance you can swing by our office in a day or two? And if you are too busy, you can also tell us the time and place of your suitability and we can see you there.”
“Wait. Wait… Tessa. What are you talking about? I know nothing of any contract for that matter.”
“Miss Fabre, I thought you and Miss Pattinson have already talked about this. Anyway, what Miss Pattinson told me is that she wants you to work as a model for our company during your summer break. And so, she asked me to contact you so that we can set the terms for it.”
Though Jeena is a bit confused about this, she right away turns the offer saying, “Tessa, I really am very grateful for the offer but I don’t want it. Thank you”
Jeena after disconnecting the call straight away collects her things and moves out of the house. She locks the door and puts the key under the same pot. It seems that Jeena doesn’t want to stay even a minute longer in that house. And this can be seen from the fact that she booked her cab while standing outside the main door when she clearly could have done that while waiting inside the house. The moment the cab is there, she rides off.
In the evening, Jeena is sitting enjoying her favorite series, when she gets a call from Kcris.
“Hey, Jeena. Tessa called me saying that you don’t want to work with us.”
“Yes, I denied.”
“But why?”
“See Kcris, I know what you are trying to do. I don’t need your charity. Flowers and thank you are enough. I don’t need any favors from you.”
After hearing this, Kcris yells at Jeena, out of anger, “Are you out of your mind? I am not doing any favors.”
“Don’t you raise your voice at me, Kcris? Isn’t it true that you are asking me to work with you because of what happened last night? You are trying to compensate me for helping you deal with your emotions regarding Casey.”
This enrages Kcris even more than she already is.
“Jeena, I never knew that you could think so less of me. (Kcris lowers her tone before saying further.) The other day, Ray and Sky were in my office when final copies of your photoshoot came and that was when Sky told me to hire you as a model as you were already looking for a part-time job.”
Jeena interrupts Kcris saying, “And after yesterday, you thought what better way than offering a job to a girl who already has been looking for one, to return the favor.”
“Jeena, please stop. My intentions are not contentious, so please stop arguing about them. Yes, I agree that I am thankful for your help. But can you please not put a price tag over it by saying that I am offering you a job for that help? What you did for me is priceless and in no way, I can think of compensating for it, let alone actually doing it. Can you still not understand that your helping me, and me offering you a job are entirely different things? I may not be a very good business woman but I do know how to separate personal and professional. My professional expertise told me that if you work for my company, it would definitely be beneficial for us. And this is the only reason why I offered you the job. Now, can you please rethink the answer that you gave to Tessa when you know that the real reason is your talent?"
Jeena immediately realizes that she has again misunderstood Kcris, so she right away apologizes, "Kcris, I am really sorry for the misunderstanding."
"Leave it be, Jeena. I am used to it by now. Anyway, will you work for us?"
"Kcris, can you give me a few days so that I can discuss this with Alex?"
"Why do you need days for that? Given that Alex is already back, one day should be enough, right?"
Jeena laughs and teases Kcris, "Don't tell me you saw Alex again?"
"Yes, I did."
"Like the same way you saw her yesterday?"
Kcris in a sarcastic tone goes like, "No, not like yesterday. Actually, I did talk to her, she was with her brother. So can you please stop laughing as there is nothing to laugh about?"
Jeena is perplexed, so to confirm, she asks again, "You said that you met and talked to Alex, and she was with her brother, right?"
" Yes, Jeena. This is what I said."
"Where did you meet her, Kcris?"