A Word of Praise — Chapter THIRTY-SIX

“You had no right to do that” Chris was beyond furious at that point.

“Maybe not, but you had! Why didn’t you?” The nerve that woman had was simply unbearable. And she was saying it all like she was entitled to an opinion, as if he was the one breaking all the rules there.

“Stay away from my business Kiara”

“So you can live on as a coward? No, thank you. You need to stop living the life they chose for you”

“Stop talking about things you know nothing about” He pinched the bridge of his nose, wishing he could talk some sense into her.

“Why do you work so hard to please them? To please him?”

“You don’t know shit about what it’s like. Why do you think you have any right to talk about my father?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” She shouted back, and he couldn’t hold back on his next words.

“Your parents are dead, aren’t they?” Fuck. He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth but was too angry to take them back. However, it didn’t stop him from seeing the look in her eyes.

He didn’t miss how she balled her hands into fists, or the slight shaking of her whole body. When her face contorted and she turned around to hide it, he felt like maybe it was too low of a blow. But she was wrong too, and he wouldn’t back down because of a few misplaced words.

She caught a couple of loose clothes, threw them on her already messy duffel bag, and strode out of the room without a word. Chris had no idea where she’d go, since they were trapped in an island until their flight the next day, but didn’t really care. She could sleep in hell for all he cared, after all, that’s where he’d find himself on his next conversation with his parents.

He laid in bed and stared at the ceiling for an undetermined number of minutes before he heard someone knocking on the door.

“What?”

“We’re coming in” he heard Marcus’ voice on the other side, and knew Luke was the other part of the ‘we’. He was not in the mood, but they got in anyway.

“What did you do?” Luke asked. It was not an accusatory tone, but Chris knew it held blame.

“I didn’t do shit” And didn’t feel like talking about it either.

“Then why is Kiara sleeping with Amanda and Luke is being tossed into my room?” Marcus demanded.

“Plenty of room in the house, she can sleep anywhere she wants”

“Not in the state she’s in” Marcus murmured, and Luke shot him a glare that didn’t go unnoticed by Chris. He felt a sour taste in his mouth, but pride wouldn’t allow him to go crawling back to apologize. Not after what she did.

“Do you need anything?” He asked sarcastically, still laying in bed.

“Nothing we can get today” Luke said, turning around to leave. But Marcus seemed to have other plans.

“The hell we can’t. Chris, you are an idiot. And I’ll tell you why because the other person that would is trash-talking you in the next bedroom. That little reality check for your parents? Long overdue. I wish I had the guts to do what she did. I don’t know what kind of shit you told her when you came up, but you should be sucking face with the girl by now for the gift she gave you”

“Gift? Are you insane? Do you know the amount of shit I’ll have to hear now?”

“Nothing you haven’t heard before” Luke contributed.

“You should know better. I can’t believe you two!”

“How long will you keep using that same excuse?” Luke had that knowing expression that got his anger boiling even hotter.

“Don’t you fucking dare analyze me right now. Get out!” He knew it was wrong to throw them out, especially when they were the only ones who could understand his reasons. But they were taking her side, and that was too much for him to handle.

When he heard the door clicking behind him, he felt the weight of the day taking shape in the form of a throbbing headache. His Saturday began better than his hottest dreams. He didn’t know then that the roller coaster would come crushing so fucking fast.

***

Chris woke up the next morning before seven, as he was used to. But instead of feeling impatient to get up and start the day, he was empty. He’d have to face the insufferable atmosphere in the house until their flight back, after lunch. He didn’t know if he could stand being in the same environment as her and his parents again. The thought of her got his stomach clenching, and he wasn’t entirely sure it was out of anger.

He wanted so bad to remain angry at her, but since she left the room the boiling hatred he felt was being gradually replaced by something else. Something that felt strangely like remorse. He wanted to believe it was reasonable guilt, caused by him being a bit blunt on her he night before. But he knew it wasn’t just that.

Trying to swallow up his pride, he texted the one person that could always help him in that situation. Luke came knocking on his door not long after, and Chris almost gave up and sent him back. But pride works both ways, and he couldn’t think of a rational reason to push him back out.

“Up early too?” He began, motioning to his friend to sit on the armchair by his bed.

“You know how it goes” Early mornings were one of the reasons the two of them became friends, waking up on school sleepovers before anyone else.

“How is Amanda?”

“Sleeping, I think. Didn’t check”

“Oh, right” He almost forgot they didn’t sleep together.

“So, what’s going on?”

“I’m not sure”

“You’re not my patient Chris. I won’t spend years trying to figure out your life. Give it to me straight or I’m leaving”

“Fuck, how do you get any clients with that attitude?” He joked, but it felt empty. But that was his feeling at the moment, so perhaps that was a good place to start. “I’m not angry”

“Ok”

“But I should be. We had a deal, me and her. She fucked it up”

“She did. Why aren’t you angry?”

“I don’t know. I was, but then she walked out and now I don’t know what to think”

“Why did you bring her to the island?”

“I told you, my parents forced my hand”

“No, why her? I know your she-list, you could have brought someone else, someone you could control”

“It was a calculated risk. She has this thing about rich people, so she’d never want a serious relationship. And I knew my parents would buy it because she’s hot. I could fake-dump her later without much trouble because she’s not the daughter of a business partner or whatever.”

He watched Luke rolling his eyes and wondered how that man could be a shrink with that sort of condemning reaction. But then again, he was probably not like that at work.

“Are you lying to me or yourself?”

“What?”

“You like to think you are all rational and only take ‘calculated risks’. Bullshit” Luke imitated his voice and added the air quotes, which was making Chris lose his already thin patience.

“What is your point?”

“You didn’t bring her here because of logic, you did because you don’t want to be away from her”