A Word of Praise
Chapter 45

As they sat down, Kiara realized how hard it would be to eat a sandwich without her hands. She kept looking at it but eventually heard him laugh and get a knife, fork, and plate to cut it into small pieces for her. When he was done, he took a piece and brought it to her mouth. What the hell?

"You are not hand-feeding me." She lowered her brows. He must have noticed how pathetic it was, so he dropped the fork and sat back. Her hands might be hurt, but she could still get the fork between her index and middle finger. They ate a few bites in silence, and she felt the need to circle back to what he had said before.

"So, you're adopted." She noticed how he sucked in a breath before answering. Tough subject, clearly.

"Yes."

"Is there something else you want to tell me about that?" It couldn't be just that. His being adopted explained nothing, except the lack of family resemblance between them.

"Edgar and Patricia are not easy people to deal with," he began. Well, that was not exactly news. But he wasn't meeting her eyes while speaking and she knew that whatever was coming, was hard on him. "When I was growing up, I came to understand they had certain expectations for my life."

"Ok." That was all quite normal so far. All parents did.

"As you might have noticed, they don't really like being questioned. Edgar was especially fond of this plan he had for his own life, and that included some plans for mine."

"Like taking over the company."

"Yes. But it began way before that. Ever since I was a kid, some attitudes and hobbies simply didn't match their view of the future." His face contorted, and she felt her heart sinking at the thought of a shackled childhood.

"That sucks." She couldn't relate, but she could imagine. Her childhood was actually amazing, until... well, until it wasn't.

"It does, but lots of kids have strict parents." Chris stopped talking, trying to gather his thoughts. Kiara knew there was more, so she just waited. "The first time they told me I was adopted, I was ten. Have you seen any James Bond movies?" He asked.

"Let me guess, something to do with Die Another Day?" She said with a knowing smile. She didn't remember exactly the year it was released, but about eighteen years ago was a fair guess. Putting the pieces together, it must have been about that. His eyes widened a bit.

"How did you know?"

"Well, you do have the car." She remembered thinking about it the first time she saw it. It was not her favorite Bond movie, but she couldn't deny the car was nice.

"Fucking hell, can I kiss you again?" Yes. Wait, no. She put another piece of tuna sandwich in her mouth to avoid giving in and motioned for him to continue. "Right. Yes, Die Another Day was released that year and I was crazy about it. So I asked my father to enroll me in a fencing class"

Kiara couldn't help but imagine a cute ten-year-old Chris getting into sword fights in one of those little white outfits. She smiled, but Chris didn't.

"What happened?"

"They said no. But I was a stubborn kid, so I kept bothering them with it and calling schools I found on a catalog."

Apparently, his determination came from an early age. Cute.

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"Things took a sour turn then. Edgar said if I wanted to have a place in the family, I should comply with its rules. But I was a smart kid, perhaps smarter than I should. I knew parents couldn't give up on their children, so I called him out on his bullshit."

His words gave her the chills, and she knew there was some fucked up shit there. She was already feeling the anger boiling under her skin but didn't want to let it out and keep him from opening up.

But instead of talking, Chris stood up and took out the plates, going to the sink to wash them. Kiara wanted to ask him not to, but he seemed lost in thought and perhaps needed something to occupy his hands. "Are you ok?" She asked, getting up and facing his back.

"Yes, it's just... It's been years since I last talked about that."

"You don't have to." But she really did want to know. He was hurting, and she didn't know how to help if he didn't tell her why. Which made her quite hypocritical, but she wouldn't think about that now.

"I do. I want to." He breathed in again, still not looking at her.

She wanted to touch him, but since her hands were not an option, she brought her cheek to his back and rested there. She felt him relax a bit, perhaps enough to go on.

"Edgar drove me to an orphanage and on the way there, he said I was not like other children. He explained that they had adopted me as a baby and that if I didn't meet their expectations, they could get another child that would." "Shit. What the fuck, Chris?" She couldn't keep her mouth shut, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Yeah, but I didn't quite believe him. I mean, my mother was strict, but she was also affectionate. And Edgar used to give me presents, which I saw as his form of showing he cared."

She couldn't stand not meeting his eyes, so she tugged him to turn around, flinching when her hands touched his arms. He looked at her and she saw how vulnerable he was. How incredibly sad his eyes became. "What happened?"

"He left me there. Not long, just a couple of days." Her eyes widened. What kind of fucked up man did that to his child? She was fuming. "When they came to get me, there was not a word about it, but I understood the message." "Damn, Chris, I don't know what to say."

"No need, it was a long time ago. I'd say it doesn't matter anymore, but that's not true. I don't think about it as much, at least."

Kiara felt something wet and warm run down her face and got startled. Her eyes widened and she touched her face with her forearms to make sense of what was happening. Could she really be crying after all those years? She must have looked ridiculous with that confused expression on her face because he began to cock his head and squint his eyes.

"Sorry. Sorry, go on." She knew he had more to say, even though it wasn't needed. She understood now. Why he was so keen on pleasing his parents, why he bent to their wishes time and time again. Childhood scars didn't fade when you crossed to adult life, she knew that well enough.

"I know that doesn't justify what I put you through. I just wanted you to understand where it came from."

Not knowing what else to say, Kiara got to the tip of her toes and pecked his lips. It was long and gentle, a grateful kiss for sharing his pain with her. But he didn't allow her to stand down and embraced her by the waist to pull her closer. "I meant it, you know," he murmured against her lips, and she pushed back to look at him. "What I said in the car. I'm in love with you, Kiara."