Les Femmes Fatales [2]

▪ Twenty-One

"I'm back!"

Stella let the door of the apartment close behind her as she got in the house, leaving her bag on an armchair and making her way to the kitchen. She had just reached it when she heard a groan in the vague direction of the guest room. Confused and curious, she made her way over to the room and peered in through the half-closed door, only to see no one inside.

"Chris?"

Her boyfriend's head appeared behind the bed and as her eyebrows shot up in surprise, he sent her a small smile. "I remembered we had left an album with photos of us under the bed and tried to find it. The good news is that I found it." With that, he raised his hand with the album in the air. "The bad news is that I hit my head on the bed while trying to slide back out."

With a shake of her head, she moved over to him and ruffled his hair before ourstreching an arm towards him. He accepted her help and soon, he was standing on his full height once more, peering down at her with a sheepish smile. "Do you want to see the photographs first and then eat lunch?"

"The food will get colder the more we wait," she pointed out as she grabbed his hand and led him to the kitchen. "We can always look at the album later."

"I heated it up, by the way," he informed her as he left the album on the couch and followed her in the kitchen. "It also seems delicious."

"I certainly hope it tastes delicious too," she laughed as she let his hand fall and served the food while he washed his hands. She handed him his plate along with a fork before getting her plate and fork and sitting down beside him. She took a bite and almost instantly, let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, that's not too bad."

Chris tried some for himself, letting out a small hum as he turned to face her. "Not too bad indeed. You're a quick learner."

"So I've been told," she smiled before turning to her food. "How was your day?"

"Mike gets more talkative whenever you're gone," he admitted with a shrug, "let's just say I was looking forward to leaving."

"That's understandable."

"Then I got home and you weren't here but I read your note soon enough so I wasn't all that worried. How is Aili?"

"Badly bruised but she'll get better in a few days. She's had worse injuries, I'm sure. However, if she hadn't been rescued, she would have died. They would have stabbed her to death, most probably."

Chris looked up with a frown and she supposed it was because of Aili's situation but she wasn't entirely right. "So, she almost died but she was saved in the last minute. Why do I sense hesitation on your part on telling me who rescued her?"

Stella kept her eyes on her food as she spoke. "Ian found her."

He froze slightly but then, he forced himself to keep eating, as if he hadn't been surprised by the information. "And?"

"And I led everyone to his house where he kept Aili and took care of her injuries and I might or might not have told him we could still keep in touch."

Chris almost choked on his drink. Her eyes widened as she watched him closely, her face a mask of concern as he coughed. After a while, and when he was sure he was alright, he spoke once more, voice hoarse. "I thought you had asked him to stay away from you."

"Unless it was an emergency and Aili's case was an emergency. But I told him he can approach me again. If he wants to keep in touch, that is."

She had been waiting for him to snap at her in anger but that time never came. Instead, he only cleared his throat, his eyes remaining on his food as he answered. "Alright then. It was your decision to make anyway. If you believe that's the right choice, then I don't have anything to say about it."