Into My Heart

XIII

Five days had now passed without seeing Christen Press, but not one second has passed without thinking of her haunting green eyes.

Uneventful days, to be honest: Rachel had been hired by Mrs Press as the new gardener, which is quite nice because she and I get along quite well ; Sam and Kristie have been quite nice to me - since Pat had to return to Nevada in order to visit his sick mother, we had had a nice sisters time, as Sam had invited me over every night. The conversations were getting deeper and deeper, but also somehow easier, which is unusual. My relationship with Mallory, as well, as evolved into something more like friendship rather than only client-worker, which somehow makes me worried about the outcome of my "mission", which is, finding out how her family is connected to my father's death, and ultimately destroy them.

My stomach is hurting with anxiety as soon as I think about that, or about Christen, who had found out what I was up to somehow.

This morning was my morning off, as Mallory had horses classes anyway, so I decided to grab Kristie and show her the nice coffee shop Alex was working at. Making my only friend other than Rachel in this city meet my sister - I admit that, although it is quite odd to be saying this word while mentioning her and her little sister, I kinda got used to it pretty quickly, more than I thought I would... - might not be a great idea, given Kristie's temperament. Either way, I didn't really have a choice, since Alex really wanted to meet her anyway.

When we walk inside the restaurant, I immediately spot Alex, who comes to me and hugs me shamelessly - those last few weeks, especially since my father died, she really had been an amazing friend, and we grew very close. Furthermore, she made me meet some of her friends: Ali and Ashlyn, a very nice and fun couple ; Kelly, a girl totally crazy but so nice that I immediately got along with ; Tobin, a mysterious yet very chill and nice person; and Allie, a tall blonde that should totally be a model but who's too funny.

After hugging me for a few seconds, Alex takes a step back and stares at Kristie, cracking a smile.

"I think we've already seen each other somewhere, right?"

Kristie nods.

"Probably at school a long time ago" she nonchalantly says, and I give her a quick blow in the ribs, which she responds to by throwing me a dark glare. Nevertheless, she sighs and adds: "I mean, we were all in the same school in the end, I just was anti-social."

Alex smirks. 

"Nice to meet you now then, better now than never right?" the brunette exclaims, before tapping the blonde's shoulder and turning back to me. She then smiles: "Christen was looking for you here yesterday, by the way."

I frown, as I feel Kristie's eyes on me.

"Um... Did she say why?"

"Nope, she just left when she realized you weren't there" Alex explains, before something behind me catches her attention. Rolling her eyes, she says: "Excuse me, duty calls, have a seat girls I'll be right back with the brunch menu"

With that said, she walks toward a table, and starts working again.

I know Kristie is about to say something about Christen, but I really don't want to hear it, especially since I had been thinking about her for some reason lately. I grab my sister's forearm as we both sit at one table. From afar, I can see Kelley and Tobin getting some coffee, as they both wave at me and my sister. As we wave back, I can tell Kristie is quite tensed: I know the whole story with the Press family is making her both sad and utterly angry, which is quite hard to deal with.

Especially since Sam and her rely on me in order to find out what happened...

"Well, that Press chick really wanted to find you I guess..."

"Kristie, don't-" I start.

But Kristie doesn't look at me.

"Behind you" she only says.

I turn around not subtly at all, and I immediately see her standing right at the coffee shop's entrance, looking around the room, frowning. With her, appearing only just now, is Rachel, Becky's daughter and the Press' new gardener. As soon as the Brit also appears in our sight, I feel Kristie tense up like never before. But I cannot turn toward her at the moment - Christen's eyes had found mine, and she is slowly walking toward us, her eyes going from mine to Kristie, who obviously was angry at her.

When she stops near our table, she says to both of us:

"Hi, sorry to bother you" and, seemingly uneasy because of Kristie's cold stare on her, she focuses her eyes on me, before adding: "Can I speak with you for a second, please?"

I nod.

"Sure, but you can do it in front of Kristie" I say, testing her limits.

Christen sets her jaw.

"I need to speak to you privately" she says, obviously not understanding my sudden change in behavior - who can blame her, I cannot even understand my own behavior toward her because I am so different with her than with others - before whispering: "I insist."

Nodding my head, I get up and follow her right outside of the coffee shop, leaving Kristie lost in her thoughts. Right before I exit the shop, I can tell she and Rachel aren't really talking and that she constantly looks away.

But the door closes, as I jump a little bit. Christen, on the other hand, only stares at me.

"So?" I let out nonchalantly, not really understanding why I am that irritable with her. Staring right at her, I ask: "What is it you can't tell me in front of my sister?"

I can tell my attitude is slightly throwing her off guard, but she still remains calm and only states:

"Listen, if you don't wanna find out what happened to your dad after all, I can use somebody else's help"

"No"

My word has been immediate, as I grabbed Christen's arm in the process, holding her back. In shock, she coldly stares at me, before taking her arm back, obviously bothered by my sudden swings of mood. 

Sighing, she just rolls her eyes.

"Are you in or not?" she asks, obviously hesitant to speak to me now.

I nod my head confidentially. 

"Yes, I am."

"Something weird happened, this morning..."