"What?!" Cress' jaw dropped. "But I have Darla! Why do I need another one?"
Kai sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Darla's mother got sick, and she needs to go back to her hometown to take care of her. As soon as Darla's mother gets better, she'll be back. But until then, Thorne will be your new manager."
Cress turned around and saw Darla smile an apologetic smile. Sorry, she mouthed.
Cress groaned, and turned back around. She took off her sunglasses and put them in her purse. Thorne put his hand back into his leather jacket pocket, and grinned.
"Well, I look forward to spend time with you, Miss Moon," he said with a wink.
"It's Cress," she said through clenched teeth. She hated it when people called her formerly.
Thorne shrugged. "Okay then, Cress. Since Darla has to go home right away, I guess I'll be your manager starting…" he looked at his watch. "Now."
He walked towards her without looking at Kai, and walked to the door, pausing to wait for her at the door. When she didn't move, he snapped. "Right! You said you needed to talk to Kai. I'll wait outside then." He winked again and closed the door behind him.
Cress gaped at Kai. "Him? As my manager? Do you know how unsafe I feel right now?"
Kai laughed. "Don't worry. He's very 'safe'," he made the air quotations with his hands, "and if he isn't safe, you have me on speed dial, right?"
Cress blushed slightly, but Kai didn't notice. He motioned for her to sit down, and she did.
"So. What's wrong? I've seen the article on the news, but I have a feeling it's not about Jacin. Am I wrong?" he asked.
Cress shook her head. "No, he's my soon-to-be-brother-in-law. My sister is engaged."
Kai nodded. "Thought so. Then what's wrong?" After a moment of silence, his eyes sparked with understanding. "Are the blackouts more frequent?"
Cress nodded. "I didn't even know where I was when I woke up. I—I woke up in a hotel bed, and I thought I was drugged to be taken advantage of, and I panicked, but…" she trailed off.
Kai shook his head. "Don't you think we should go to the hospital by now? If you're blackouts happen while you're on stage… the consequences wouldn't be very good."
Cress sighed. "I guess so. But I don't want to go to therapy or anything if something is wrong with me. You can do that, right?"
Kai shrugged. "I don't know. If something is wr—different with you, it's Commonwealth Entertainment's responsibility to keep you safe and healthy. If the doctors require you to… you might have to."
She shook her head. "No—I— " she stopped. She hasn't talked to anyone about her past, not even Darla. "I can't. I have my own reasons, so don't let me do it." And even though Cress was not a please person, she added, "Please."
Kai sighed. "Like I said. I don't know. We'll go to the hospital tomorrow at 1:45 pm, alright? You don't have any schedules during that time, right?"
Cress scoffed. "I don't know my schedule. My manager does. I am guessing that you already gave him my schedule for the next few weeks?" She stood up and put her sunglasses back on. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She walked out the door, and Thorne followed closely behind. They stopped at the elevator. When the doors opened, Cress walked in, and Thorne followed. He pressed the 1 button, and the doors closed.
Cress turned to Thorne. "Some rules while being my manager," she started. Thorne raised an eyebrow, but didn't object. "Number 1," she held up a finger. "Exactly NO skin-ship allowed. You touch me on the hand, $10. Shoulders are $20— "
Thorne smiled, playful. "And a kiss?" He stepped closer until Cress' back was on the elevator wall.
Cress turned bright red. "$100. It's a rule for every male manager." She twisted her neck so that she was farther away from him. She cleared her throat, and Thorne laughed deeply, backing away.
"Okay. Next?"
"My coffee. Always a skinny dark mocha, temp has to be 108 degrees Fahrenheit, and extra chocolate chips on top. No extra whipped cream." Cress pressed her lips into a thin line.
Thorne smiled, taking the whole thing as a joke. This aggravated Cress even more. She let out a frustrated sigh, and said, "We'll go over this later. Oh, and I'm going to the hospital tomorrow at 1:45. Don't forget that."
He nodded, this time, seriously. The doors opened. Cress walked out, her heels clicking beneath her. When she got to her car, Thorne took the cue and opened the door for her. She collapsed on the car seat.
"Let's go home. Do you need the address or do you already have it?" she asked when he got in.
He shook his head. "Nope. Kai gave me everything I need via text. Don't worry sweetheart, we'll get there in a minute."
Cress snapped back at him, "Do not call me that." It came out harsher than she expected it to be. But the word was too much for her…
Thorne gave her a weird look. "Uh, okay? We'll start going now sw—Cress." He turned back around to the steering wheel. Cress leaned her head back, massaging her neck. When were things going to get better for her?
"Cress? Cressss? Wake up, Cress! It's 9:10 now. You gotta go to your interview at Star News!"
Cress stirred in her sleep. Thorne grinned to himself. Despite her bratty personality, she was cute when she was sleeping with no make-up on. Cress opened her eyes, revealing two sky-blue eyes.
"AAAACCKKK!" Cress screamed.
Thorne stumbled back, startled. Then he smiled. "Hey, Cress. You awake now? Let's go, we have 20 minutes to get there."
Cress grabbed her blanket, and raised them up to her chin. Thorne saw a slight strip of red on her face. And there was something else too. Fear.
"W-who are you? Wh-where's Darla?"
Thorne frowned. "Aw, c'mon, Cress. Did you already forget about me? I'm not known to be forgotten easily…" He trailed off.
Cress scooted farther away from Thorne. "Who are y-you?! Tell me before I c-call the p-police!" Cress whipped her head back and forth, her wild hair flying all over the place. Then, she grabbed the water bottle that was on her small desk next to the bed. She threw it at Thorne weakly, and Thorne dodged it easily. What was going on?
Thorne put up both hands up in the air. "Woah, Cress. Calm down! You really don't know who I am? I'm Thorne, your new manager? Not ringing any bells?" He waved a finger next to his head.
This time, confusion took over Cress' face. "What? B-but… Where's Darla?"
"She temporarily left her job as manager because her mother is sick. She left to take care of her for a while. You really don't know?" Thorne took a careful step towards her, hands still in the air.
Cress flinched, and reached for her phone. "Don't move a step closer or I'll call the police right a-away!" Her bottom lip trembled.
Thorne stopped moving closer, and decided to call Kai. If Kai explained to Cress what was happening, she would understand, right? He got his phone from his back pocket, and said, "Okay, look. I'm gonna call Kai. He'll explain everything. You believe your own boss, right?"
Cress didn't say anything, so Thorne took that as a yes. He called Kai, and pressed the speaker button. Kai answered after three rings.
"Hello? This is Kai," he said.
"Hey, Kai. This is Thorne, Cress' new manager. You remember me, right?" Thorne replied, expecting a yes.
"Oh, of course. Is there something wrong?"
Thorne sighed in relief. He wasn't crazy after all. "Oh, no. Things are going fairly well. It's just that Cress can't seem to remember who I am, and she's threatening to call the police. Nothing too serious."
Cress was frozen on her bed. Thorne tossed her the phone.
"I'll leave you two to talk. Please don't call the police." Thorne left the room, closing the door. Then, he pressed his ear in the small crack between the door and the wall. He couldn't leave without eavesdropping.
After a short moment of silence, Thorne wondered if Kai had hung up. But then, he heard Cress say in a quiet voice, "Mr. Kai? Is… is that true?"
Kai's next words were thick with worry. "Cress? Did you have another blackout? When was the last time you remember being awake?"
Blackouts? Was that why they were going to the hospital this afternoon?
"I—I was with my sister, Winter. I visited her hotel room… but now I'm in my room. And there's a guy I don't know at all, saying that he's my m-manager, a-and D-Darla's gone— "
It sounded like Cress was on the verge of crying. This was so not the arrogant, stubborn Cress he met in the elevator. It was as if another person was inside of her.
Kai sighed from the other end. "Cress, first get ready to go on your interview. You don't have time to cry. Don't you have to be there by 9:30? You have 15 more minutes to get there! Look, we'll move the hospital appointment to 11:30. You can wait that much longer, right? Now get ready for that interview. I'll see you later." Kai hung up. His words did not mean to be mean in any way, and Cress sniffled a bit.
"Um. Mr. Manger? Are you out there?" Cress cried out, her voice still weak.
Thorne opened the door. "Yes? Do you believe me now?" Cress nodded. Thorne sighed in relief. "Okay, that's good. Now we have 15 minutes to get to the interview. Did I wake you up too late?"
A look of alarm crossed through Cress' eyes. "Oh my stars, is it that late already?!" She jumped up from the bed and went straight into her bathroom. Thorne gulped. Oops.
Thorne could hear the water rushing down into the sink as Cress was washing her face and brushing her teeth. Thorne lingered near the doorway, not sure what to do. Cress came out of the bathroom, toothbrush still in her mouth.
She went over to her closet and started to pick out some clothes as she said, "Pwug in therr iwornwing cowrd anrd therr iwron bwoard. Gert readrdy whern I gert ourt there."
Thorne raised an eyebrow, understanding what she meant, but not sure why he had to do that. Hesitantly, he went into the other closet in the spare room, and pulled out the iron board and iron. He went downstairs to the living room, and set the board up, while plugging the iron's cord.
Cress came out from her room, fully dressed and her hair as crazy as ever. She was holding her hairbrush, and said, "A little help please?"
Thorne made his way over to her, and brushed her hair, as Cress winced from all the tangles he straightened out. After Thorne was done, Cress went over to the ironing board and leaned back so her hair was on it. Thorne looked at her weirdly.
"Iron my hair please. I don't have time to straighten my hair at the hair salon, and I can't seem to find my hair straightener. Please don't fry my hair off," she said.
Thorne smiled. "Life hacks! That's cool. I didn't think you had time for life hacks." He went to the ironing board and grabbed the iron's handle.
"Can I trust you?" she asked, her blue eyes looking up at him.
Thorne winked. "Trust is my middle name."
Cress blushed a little, which seemed a bit odd to Thorne, since Cress didn't seem to take his little comments to heart, but Thorne dismissed the thought. He was probably getting better with his attractive charm.
Closer, Thorne saw that Cress' hair was very long. "How long have you been growing your hair out?" he asked, trying not to burn her scalp.
"A long time. I haven't cut it short since I was born. Just, you know, trims to keep my ends even and stuff," she said, her posture clearly uncomfortable.
"Here, let me get a chair for you." Thorne left the iron board and went into the kitchen to get a small stool.
When he came back, he knew something was instantly wrong. Smoke was rising from Cress' hair, and a smoky smell followed. His heart tightened.
"Um, Mr. Manager? Why do I smell smoke?" Cress asked in a nervous tone.
Thorne made a weak attempt to smile. "You know what?" he said. "I lied. My middle name is so not trust."
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