A Word of Praise
Chapter 37

"You are wrong.

"When I sit and wait for people to lie to me, I'm usually paid in the process" If he didn't need the man's help, he'd throw him out of the room.

"Shit Luke, I'm not lying. I didn't know anything about her back then. I don't even know her that much now."

"Right. What do you feel about her?"

Chris kept staring at him for a while, unsure about what to say.

"She's different," he murmured and thought Luke would give him some credit for opening up. However, his friend's blue eyes rolled up once again. "What?"

"She's different? Really? You sound like a teenage boy trying to get into a girl's pants by saying she's different from the other girls."

"Fuck off! What do you want me to say? I never met anyone like her, so she's different."

"Jesus Chris, it feels like I'm doing child therapy. Ok, let me get the whiteboard for you." The arrogant prick actually mimicked an air pen and drew his next words on an imaginary board. "Everyone is fucking different."

"You shouldn't say 'fucking' in child's therapy," Chris retorted, making both of them laugh, and lighting up the mood a bit.

"But seriously though, people are different. You just happen to like her type of different."

It actually made sense, and Chris thought about it for a while. There was no point denying he felt attracted to her, he did since the very first moment. The only reason he didn't pursue her with his original intentions was because of the ring, but he didn't feel any anger left because of it.

"Fine. But she fucked it up last night."

"Why?" Luke asked in an honestly curious face. Chris knew it was manufactured, because the man had that sort of ability, but it annoyed him anyway.

"Can you stop that? You know what she did."

"I know, but she doesn't."

"That makes no sense at all, man."

"It does if you look at things from her perspective. She likes you. Then you go to dinner and she hears your father talking down on you and your ideas. You don't stand up to defend yourself..." "You know why I don't!"

"How long are you going to keep using that as an excuse? I've told you to go to a therapist to sort this shit out."

"I don't need it."

"Don't you? You were so caught up on not upsetting your father that you missed some of the amazing things she said about you."

"I didn't," he mumbled. He did hear when she said he had amazing ideas and could be a business superstar. He smiled a bit at the thought, letting the feeling of being believed in sink in for a while. "Well, good. Now you need to do some thinking. And get a damn therapist to talk about your real issues because she's not one of them."

"Fuck off." He threw a pillow at his friend's back and waited for him to leave to lay back down.

Luke was a condescending jerk sometimes, but he had some fucking brains. It was not the first time he helped him sort his feelings out, and probably wouldn't be the last. The only thing he never talked about was his parents' issue. They fought hard on the subject when they tried to discuss it, so it was not worth it.

But all that talking led him to a pretty scary conclusion. He liked her. A lot. A lot more that he told Luke about, definitely more than he should at that point. She was not just a great fuck - and it was more than great - or a fun bickering game. She was... a promise.

The way she took life by the throat and made art out of it, the way she fucked with no wariness of the aftermath. The way she stood by him when he wouldn't do it himself. A promise.

Chris got worried when she didn't come down for breakfast, and even more when she didn't show up for lunch. He wanted to check on her, but Amanda was pretty adamant that he shouldn't. He shot her a murdering glare when she said it, but Luke's expression made him back down from the fight.

It was rather ineffective to do all that just to avoid him, considering they'd go back on the same flight. He knew she was upset about that shitty remark about her parents, but if she didn't come out, he'd never have the chance to apologize. And if he didn't, there was a real and quite scary possibility that he wouldn't be seeing her again. No, they couldn't part on bad terms. It was almost time for them to leave anyway, so he could wait until then. While he was packing, he noticed Batman was clingier than usual. The dog always loved a petting session, but the constant nuzzling made it seem like he was petting Chris instead of the other way around. "Hey buddy, I'm not sad ok?" The low bark he got as a response was a clear sign that the dog didn't believe him. Not much he could do there.

When he was ready to leave, he heard the doorknob turning. When he saw her getting in, his heart halted in a way he didn't expect.

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"Hey, where have you been?" He tried to check the temperature before getting into unknown waters.

"I'm just getting my dress." Her tone was angry, which was bad. But it was better than apathy, he supposed. She went into the closet and got a hanger with her beautiful red dress from the thanksgiving party.

"I hope I can see you wearing it again." He knew it was a risky move but went for it anyway.

"No fucking way. You don't get to say that. You just don't," she blurted out in a tight voice.

"Kiara, we need to talk. I'm sorry for..."

"Stop. We had a deal and now it's over. You don't need to smooth things over since we'll not be seeing each other again." She began to walk away, forcing him to follow right after with his bag. She kept wandering through the corridors with no apparent aim until he called her out.

"You can't run away from me; we are on the same flight home."

"Maybe, but I can ignore you."

"Why are you doing this?" When he said it, she suddenly halted and looked him in the eye for the first time since their quarrel. She was spitting fire, but there was also hurt there, and it killed him a little.

"Because you are an entitled jerk that has the world at your feet! You think you can say whatever you want and get away with it."

"What am I getting away with?" He demanded. It didn't seem like he was escaping any of the blame.

"Fucking hell, you are also clueless. You are just like the man who killed her."