Suddenly, There was Kai

Chapter22

I am scheduled to go there in another week and I somehow managed to invite Ian to come for a visit since I am going to stay for a week. I think I am hoping that the trip and his presence are enough to distract me from thinking about- to keep me from thinking about- Kai. It occurred to me while in the shower this morning that he has only one more week to go. The 27this quickly approaching; a little too fast if you ask me. I have tried my best not to think about the wedding or him, but my success rate is negligible if this moment is any indication. It also didn't help that Seon-Joo had sent pictures of her wearing the wings for the photo shoot earlier this week either. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly as I hugged myself. When I opened them again, my vision was distorted by unshed tears. It wasn't the absolute worst day of my life, but it was a close second. Greg had to come over and babysit me. Bless his heart.

I hadn't heard anything from Kai since he dropped me off that morning. He had held me the entire ride back as I slept, constantly stroking my hair and humming softly. Almost like-

Almost like he was cherishing that time with me because it would be the last.

I guess it was. He would be a married man soon and no longer be able to just show up at random and whisk me away to parties and events.

I remember studying him in the images that she sent me. His eyes, his lips, and the way he smiled at her. I came to realize that he looked the same in those photos as he did in the pictures that Garren had sent and it put things in prospective a bit for me at that moment. Perhaps the reason he looked at me the way he had was because he had been thinking about her when those pictures were taken? There was no other way to explain it. Like I had told Greg before, all he had ever spoken about was Seon-Joo. Why should I have assumed that would change because he hadn't said much about her in the few weeks leading up to Rena's party? Or even since I found out about the engagement? It is entirely possible that he could've assumed that I was tired of hearing about her and to some extent, he would have been correct in his assumption.

I feel bad for allowing myself to be held and coddled, for giving in to my deepest desires and allowing myself to love him because he was only entertaining me, because that is what friends do. He was being a good friend right?

A hand waved frantically in front of my eyes startling me and thus bringing me back to the meeting I was supposed to be a part of. My hand was pulled away from me and a cup of cold liquid was put into it. I looked around confused for a moment before I remembered that Janet had returned with my order of caffeine. I smiled weakly and mumbled my thanks as I looked down into the cup.

"I am pretty sure she was standing there asleep with her eyes open." Brian said laughing which elicited several other chuckles.

"Drink up sleeping beauty." Jonathan said as he eyed me carefully.

Janet smiled at me as she put her hand on my arm. "I got you an iced caramel frappe with three shots so you wouldn't have to wait for it to cool down." She said quietly before she moved away to claim her spot at the table.

"No need to sit Janet, the meeting is just about finished." Jonathan said suddenly. "I want you to take her Highness here and go over to the Jazz festival."

I looked over at him eyes wide in mid-slurp. "You want me to go over to the Jazz Festival?"

"Yes. I have changed my mind. I need you to take that gorgeous face of yours over to the festival for publicity. Also, it will help you to stay awake and finish out your day. David just texted me that he won't be back until after two anyway."

I wasn't sure if I should be excited or not. "Okay, thank you." I looked at Janet and she did a fist pump, she was ecstatic.

"The only thing now, is that you will no longer be able to get off at 4:55 p.m. So I hope you take this opportunity to relax a little and maybe then you will be tired enough to actually get some sleep at home instead of here. Neither of you will be required to stay for the entire event, but if you did so, that would be good for you." He retrieved his sport coat from the back of his chair. "Alright show's over, get back to work. You all have your assignments."