Road To Victory

Office Secrets

                “Here she is,” I said gently, not wanting to spook my beloved mare, especially since she was hurt.

                Her head came out of her small stall door. David held his hand out and Tequila sniffed it cautiously, but nuzzled it after a while. “What happened to her?” David asked me, stroking her neck. 

                “Jumping accident. Only happened 5 days ago, actually,” I told him simply, sitting down on a dusty tack box.

                “Were you okay?!” David asked quickly, authentic concern on his face. 

                I smiled lightly and nodded. “Yeah. Just that, well. You know. My career is pretty much over since I’m not getting another horse.”

                David looked me over and grinned. “Maybe you’re not the person I thought you were. I saw you in that pasture, and I knew who you were, right away. I mean, I didn’t really want to attack you and ask you for your autograph and everything, so I decided just to play it cool. You’re like, my dream girlfriend. Accomplished, understanding, sweet. Cute.”

                I blushed, and looked down at my dusty Uggs. Why was he telling me this?

                He wasn’t about to stop either. “And then you like totally told me off and I thought that you were just another one of those too-good-for-you girls. But you’re actually pretty down to earth.”

                “Because I’m not what most people like me are,” I finally said. “Most people except me to be like too good for them, but I told you already, that’s not who I am. Like,3 years ago I was just like you. I was that why-does-she-even-bother-to-ride-here girl. And now, since I’ve won the MaClays and I was in the Hampton Classic, people have been all over me.”

                “Maybe that’s why people liked you, and hated you. Because of your sense of humanity,” David suggested.

                I smiled up at him, noticing he had moved closer to me. “Thanks,” I murmured, standing up. “We should probably get going. My mom still wants me to talk to Lauren.” I moved to leave, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back to him, wrapping his hands around my waist. I gasped, the sound momentarily filling the room. The next thing I knew, he was kissing me. And then, I was kissing him back.

                I giggled softly through his lips as he crushed his lips to mine again, pressing me tighter into his chest. I opened my mouth for him, deepening the kiss just as I heard some shout my name. “Katherine!”

                I pulled away quickly, trying to hold my laughter as I saw David’s upset expression that we had to stop. It turned out to be Lauren, holding out some sheets of paper. “Kat, I know you really don’t want to hear about this, but just look through them,” she sputtered quickly, holding out the papers for me. They were horse advertisements,the same ones she wanted to give me yesterday, and I looked down at them with a venomous expression before ripping them out of her hand. “Okay, Lauren,” I finally said with a sigh, biting the inside of my cheek.

                She smiled gently and left me and David again. “I have to go, Kat. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” he said in what sounded like a concerned voice. Or maybe it was caring? Either way I watched him leave in bliss.

                I said bye to Tequila, planting a quick kiss on her nose. Once I reached the ground level of the stable, I looked for my mother. She wasn’t in Lauren’s office, or any of the rings. I couldn’t find her in any the West aisle, so I decided to check the office. And then the loft.

                 “Ohmygosh, he’s so cute!” I stopped and pressed against the wall silently, not going into the office. Who were they talking about. “Lexa, let me look!” another voice argued. “Guys, chill,” a more mature voice sounded. “David’s so out of our league. He’s like, 17. And plus, he’s already taken.”

                I blushed – did they see us downstairs? But nobody had been down there. Or maybe they saw me talking to him? We were out in the pasture twice…

                “Really? By who?” the first voice pouted, making a small whine.

I winced in pain as I heard the name. It couldn’t be. I’d only been gone for three days. There was no way.

 “Rachel.”

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picture on the side is of rachel. because i know you all hate her. don't worry. i'm not her biggest fan either. she's cute though. ♥ sorry if it comes out squished on some browsers.