A Love Story

11)

Diana was too queasy to eat the breakfast that Mr. Chandler had brought her, pushing her eggs across the plate and frequently stabbing the yolks, the contents of which were smeared across her plate. He seemed to be having the same problem, but he seemed better at faking it. When he'd spotted her heading over to the table of the restaurant, he'd waved away the attractive blonde woman—wife, maybe?—and leaned forward to pull out a seat for her.

With one leg stretched out and an odd look on his face, he'd started firing off questions about her name… where did she get it… who gave it to her… any minute now she expected him to ask her to recite the names of the Capitals in alphabetical order off the top of her head. Yet, she couldn't just leave… especially not with that strange urge to tell him to get his elbows off the table. It almost felt like she was eating with Cady.

When he'd asked for the picture of her daughter, she'd tugged it out of the bag, handing it over with an odd sense of calm. But now, a half-hour after his eyes had latched onto it, she wondered if he was ever going to hand it back. Maybe she should ask for it— "Is Cady her real name?"

Diana finally pushed her full plate away, meeting his eyes, feeling more unnerved about feeling unnerved… was she losing her mind. "No, it's a nickname. Her—her real name is Kate, but she says that it's a boring name."

"A three-year old said that the name was boring?" he asked, head cocked as he passed the picture over, those intense blue eyes boring into her. Talk about blue eyes, she thought absently, clearing her throat and looking away until after she had accepted the picture of Cady and Jinxie back.

"Yes, and she also decided to ride the dog the other day… and let's not forget the pudding incident," she added under her breath. "Mr. Chandler, why are you asking me all these questions, about me and my daughter and—look, if you don't take you elbows off the table, I swear you are going to be in so much—" Feeling a flush of heat fill her face, Diana shut her mouth, feeling a wave of horror pass over her. Oh, god, she had just threatened the Chandler heir!

But, surprisingly, there came no backlash, no flare of anger and, when she rose her head from her hands, she found him staring, just staring. When she shifted slightly, unnerved by the focus of his gaze, something strange passed through the back of his gaze, an odd sort of something that destroyed her urge to jump up and run out of the restaurant. Still, his elbows are off the table now, she thought absently.

He looked away, leaning back in his seat, and she had the feeling that he didn't want anyone to look him in the eyes. When he finally spoke, finally broke the growing anxiety she had in the pit of her stomach, his voice was empty, but it was more than that. It was like an absence of anybody behind that voice. If she had heard that voice over a phone, she'd most likely have wondered if it was a computerized one.

"I need to know what happened before that crash, Ms. Cole. I've tracked you down for a reason and I need to have these questions answered, especially now."

"I don't—look, I don't remember the crash—"

"Do you remember all- ahem, excuse me, allthose surgeries?"

"No, I… it's all so hazy, and it's just so difficult to bring up… Janine says that I'm blocking it out, so, apparently, it was horrible…" she hesitated, then dragged her fingers through her hair, feeling the familiar ache in her mind from trying to bring up those blocked memories. "I just… I survived and I had my daughter… and, isn't that enough of a miracle?"

"But you've never thought about it? What might have existed before the crash? Don't you care?"

"Nobody came looking—" She stopped at the flinch he gave, going quiet and shutting her mouth.

He rubbed his face, still refusing to look at her. "Do you ever wonder about, at all? About the family you might have had?"

"It doesn't make sense, people would have come looking, for me, for my little girl. We wouldn't still be here."

"You look different."

"What?" she stopped, tensed, looked around, clearing her throat, "What are—"

"I knew you… before the crash…" He hesitated, rubbed his face and she had a sudden flash of a boy biting his nails when he got stressed. It was a familiar image, that little boy, but, again, she brushed it aside, forced it back, trying to focus in on him. "Are you… you knew… know me?"

"Really well," he said quietly, still refusing to look right at her. He inhaled, let out his breath through his nose, and she disliked the edge of stress in the sigh. "I knew you really well."

When Vivianne found herself being watched, it took her a few minutes to figure out why her stalker looked so familiar. The pictures in Dixie Cooney's file had included a few flashes of him. Tad Martin, right? Her stomach sinking, Vi shifted, sliding around a nearby door to get out of his view. And, of course, he followed.

Goddamn sonabitch. Maybe she shouldn't have so obviously ran away from him. She'd been a PI long enough, hadn't she? Pushing blonde hair over a shoulder, Vi was pathetically grateful he hadn't seen Mr. Chandler in there… she didn't even want to imagine his reaction if Mr. Martin decided to see who the woman was.

By the way, how was she supposed to happily inform her boss that his biggest pain in the ass was somehow In Switzerland? Just the thought caused her to feel ill. It was easy to work for JR Chandler. He was generous with pay and all he wanted in return was loyalty. Stopping, Vivianne looked out carefully as a busboy went bouncing by—nice ass—and studied him. Blue yes met hers and she felt a surge of embarrassment, clenching her fists… until she realized something: he hadn't noticed her boss yet.

Okay, fine, let's take a different road here, Vivi. Maybe, if she could play a little game of "stupid detective", he'd never even have to know about Diana Cole, right? Feeling calmed at the thought of not losing her monthly check, Vi glanced again, hesitating a moment before darting away. For a moment, she was worried, until she caught sight of him rushing after her. She smiled to herself, flipped her hair happily and began lifted her cell phone off her jeans clip. This is why he pays me, she thought as she dialed the number for her boss's boss.

"You better stop acting like some chivalrous knight, buddy, I'm not falling for it." Her tone was superior, and the look in her eyes as she stared coolly up at him was even more so. She'd calmed down over the car ride back to her apartment and now, as she stared up at him, holding open the car door for her, she tried very hard to ignore her wild urge to run out and get him a suit of armor… not that he needed to know that.

Zach just snorted, continued to hold open the door to her and she finally stepped out through the Rover door, knowing it was useless to resist. Slamming the door as she pulled her coat tighter around herself, he slid his hands into his pockets, watching her until she finally heaved an irritated sigh and looked over. "What do you want, Mr. Forehead?"

"Why do you do that?" he asked curiously, actually interested.

"Do what?" she snapped, starting off across the parking lot and trying to ignore his presence at her back… shouldn't it be irritating?

"Pretend like you don't about people?"

"You are no person, Zach… you are barely a thing." He just smiled slightly, followed her, hands still in his pockets. She shouldn't be this much fun, right, after all, this was Kendall Hart, pariah of Pine Valley, so how could she possibly be so much fun? Stopping at her door, shooting him a scowl over her shoulder, before reaching into her bag to dig out her keys. "You… would you shoo?"

"Well, I should make sure that my loving wife is safe in bed, Spunky."

"You ever come near my bed…" she muttered, and she twisted the key, making that noise in her throat that he was becoming familiar with. Stepping through, into the darkened room, she turned halfway, offering him a chilly glance as he stepped in too. Switching on the light, she stopped him with a hand to the chest, forcing him back slightly.

"Don't you dare pull that crap with—"

"You get away from my daughter you sick son-of-a-bitch!"

Zach's head snapped up; Kendall spun, her eyes widening when they fell on her mother, Bianca at her back, absolutely furious. In that moment, Zach saw the full resemblance between Erica and Kendall. Erica may break her neck looking up at her eldest daughter, but the eyes, though different in color, had the same blaze there.

They looked the same when they're pissed, Zach thought in fascination, studying Erica, striding over with all the fury of a tiny torpedo while Bianca, in black slacks and a dark top, just stared at Zach in wide-eyed shock… but her eyes grew even wider when her sharp gaze fell on the glittering gold and diamond ring that so nicely caught the light.

Bianca's mouth opened partly, she took a step forward… Erica grabbed Kendall, shoved her back behind her protectively… and one small hand caught him across his left cheek so hard that he half-expected to go flying out of the apartment… before he could completely recover, his head snapped the other way and he decided, very calmly, that he was going to have fun at their first Thanksgiving together as a family.

Micaela stared at the door, unable and unwilling to use the key to go in. She needed to, right, because, technically, it was her place to sleep. Was this going to be the rest of her vacation? Instead of mud baths and back rubs, she'd be having to dodge jabs from the five-year old in a twenty-something year old body with a lot of money and power.

Ugh… this is ri-goddamn-diculous, she thought unhappily, studying the door, shifting her shoulders… glancing to the left, she studied the door with the large sign that she was supposed to be sleeping in. She wanted to sleep there, away from Mr. Bitchy…

Don't worry, Micaela, you can always strangle him with his stupid tie… stupid tie, she thought unhappily, moving forward to open the door.