As soon as Jerry left Gore's office he noticed that the day would be a long one noticing all that was happening. Everyone was trying to figure out secrets, find out information, and stay ahead in the game. No one, probably not even Edward Russo himself, knew what lied ahead of this he thought.
Jerry went to go search for Keira in the halls, the halls that knew everyone's plans and secrets, to see if she had been able to get Patrick Wilkinson to agree to interview her. He knew how important talking to him was because if Keira found out what Edward did to him, then she would realize what happened to her and Orlando's relationship. That was only if…
Instead of finding her though, he ended up running into her other half Orlando who he had just talked to this morning.
"Hello again" Jerry said to him with a grin realizing that it would be a long day for him as well, more than it already had been. "It kind of feels like I'm running around in circles here."
"Yeah I know what you mean" Orlando said being a little more silent then her usually was seeing as he was still thinking about everything that Rupert had told him. "What did he mean by saying Keira's good name would be ruined?" he asked himself in his head. Suddenly he snapped out of his thoughts and put his attention back to Jerry. "Who are you hunting down now?"
"Your other half" said Jerry with a grin. "I've been trying to track her down for the last thirty-five minutes. She was supposed to stay in my office but apparently she gets bored easily, and can't be told what to do."
Orlando chuckled since he out of everyone knew very well that Keira could not be told to do things and also that she could get bored quite easily. "I see. If I see her I'll tell her to go to see you immediately."
Jerry said thank you to him before walking off continuing in his search. Orlando not having anything else to do decided to double check the halls in case she had decided to wander around. As he turned on a corner in the halls he spotted her but who he spotted her with spoiled his small joy.
Right after his small brawl with Orlando Rupert had bumped into Keira right after she had finished her brawl with Kate. Rupert saw that no one was around so he tried to use that time wisely to win her over seeing as usually people would always be around him trying to stop him from doing just that.
"I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the Titanic anniversary this Sunday" Rupert said as he pushed a hair back from Keira's face. "Obviously, you won't be attending with Orlando and I won't be attending with anyone unless it's the woman I hope to go with" he said giving her a small grin.
Keira tried to move her face away from his hands a little but he always made her face him again. "Actually Rupert I was thinking of just going by myself or going with Caleb. So really it's fine."
"You're going to walk down the red carpet of a romantic film with your brother? This just seems like the type of event that you would bring a date to."
"I'm sure that no one will really mind" said Keira not wanting to tell him flat out no just in case that would anger him. She didn't know what to think of him since she knew he had something to do with everything that's been happening the last few weeks.
Rupert nodded against his will knowing that Keira had made her choice and wouldn't change it. "Alright, I can respect that" Rupert said. After she gave him a small smile he saw that she was planning to walk away so he stopped her. "Wait, thought, Keira there's been something I've wanted to say."
Keira immediately gave him her undivided attention actually believing that he would confess everything to her. "Yes, what is it."
"Well, as I'm sure you've noticed I haven't been acting myself around you and I just want you to know that there's a reason behind that. And that reason is that I still love you" he said pulling her back close to him. Rupert knew very well that his actions in the past did not seem to show he loved Keira but he really truly believed he did. As he pulled her close he hoped that somehow some miracle would occur that she would say the same thing back. But he knew very well that even after everything he had done, it would most likely never happen. However, that wasn't going to stop him from trying.
Keira's heart fell with disappointment and also with pity for Rupert knowing that she could never return those feelings back since she gave her heard away a long time ago to someone. The someone who was watching Rupert try to win her affections and the someone who wasn't able to hear her trying to pushing him away. "Rupert-"
"No just please hear me out before you say anything" Rupert said. "I love you and I know I said I wanted you to be with whom you love, and I meant it. Keira I wanted you to be with who you really loved and wanted but it turns out I just can't live without you. After everything that's happened with your break up with Orlando, I realize now that all those things were signs that we belong together-"
"Rupert please-"
"No Keira just let me finish-"
"No Rupert" Keira said sternly this time getting annoyed at the fact that he would shut her up every time she tried to speak for herself. "You are going to listen to me now. I appreciate your love for me. It does not anger me, it does not bother me, and to be honest, it doesn't mean anything to me." As she said it she regretted the way she worded everything and that regret grew even more when she saw Rupert's heart break all over again before her eyes.
"I didn't mean it to sound that cold Rupert I'm sorry. Believe me that after everything you've done for me that's the least thing I want to be but I just don't know how else to phrase it. I care for you as a friend, as someone who is there for me, as someone who will never let me face a situation alone, but that's as far as it goes. I do care for you and I guess I do love you, but not in the way you want me to. There's only one person's love who could mean something to me…"
"He pushed you to the side as if you were nothing though Keira" he said not believing that she still could love him even after that. He knew that she couldn't have known that Orlando did it involuntarily, so for him to hear that she still loved him that much after that shocked him. "How can you stand for someone to treat you like that?"
Keira took a long pause to take a deep breath to recollect herself after feeling terribly guilty and tired of what seemed to be a long day already. "I love you Rupert, but I'm just not in love with you. I know that Orlando broke off what he and I had suddenly and without an explanation but even after that I still care about him. It shocks me just as much as it shocks you. I'm not saying that what he did is okay especially since I don't have an explanation yet, but I still love him. I would be willing to give him and me another chance because I know it's something that could last forever. I am in love with Orlando Bloom and nothing you say, nothing you do, nothing anyone says or does will ever be able to change my mind' she said pausing as she remembered everything she and Orlando had been through and done together. "The human heart is a wild thing and there is no controlling it. It wants what it wants. Mine wants him and only him."
Orlando watched in confusion not knowing what the two exs in front of him were saying. However, what he saw next made him imagine deeps that hurt like hell.
"Well mine wants you" Rupert said. Before Keira could argue any further he reached down, grabbed her face, and pulled her in for a hard kiss. Orlando's eyes grew wide a bit in shock, in hurt, and anger and most of all in fear. Fear that he had just lost Keira in front of his very own eyes. Before even giving Keira the chance to pull away, Orlando left quietly without Rupert or Keira knowing he was there.
Orlando walked quickly away from them therefore not making him able to hear Keira slap Rupert hard across the face before walking away from him. "He won" Orlando kept saying to himself in his head not being able to comprehend any of it. "How could he have won?" he said to himself this time out loud.
"Because they always belonged together" said Kate walking towards him down the black hall. "They always have." Orlando stared at her in confusion as she kept talking. "I knew it all along but I just didn't want to break your heart even more. I thought it'd be best for you to realize it yourself."
Orlando shook his head refusing to believe it, refusing to comprehend it. "Just today she told me she wouldn't give up on me. She-"
"She lied Orlando" Kate said as she stepped right in front of him and touched the side of his face. "She lied to you again to get even more fame then she had the first time. I mean it's obvious she's better known for being Orlando Bloom's own and off again girlfriend then she is for being an actress-"
"She couldn't" Orlando said still shaking his head. He knew that there had to be an explanation. There was always an explanation, he just had to find it. "There's a reason they kissed."
"And that reason is because they love each other. Orlando the answer is staring you right in the face!" Kate yelled getting annoyed. She loved him but she hated how he was gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. Suddenly she realized she had to calm down to get him back. "Orlando I'm also staring you right in the face" she whispered quietly. "I'm here for you, where I always have been."
Before Orlando could ask what exactly she meant by that Kate pulled his face down to hers and kissed him hard and deep on the lips. Orlando instantly tried to push her off but eventually she let go and whispered something in his ear."Whenever you're ready to come back to me just let me know" she said before walking away with a grin on her face believing she had just won.
Orlando stood there in shock and confusion. Then after he realized what had just happened he smacked the wall. He tried rubbing her lipstick off his lips as he replayed everything back. How could he have kissed someone other than Keira? He thought of how it could hurt her, if she still loved him, to know that he kissed someone else, especially Kate. He out of everyone knew very well how it felt as he had just witnessed it a few moments ago. As he was trying to clean his mouth he didn't notice who exactly was walking towards him from behind, someone who witnessed the kiss and not Orlando trying to push her off.
"Would congratulations be the proper thing to say at the moment or should I just pretend like I saw nothing?" Keira asked a bit coldly as she stood there with confused hurt eyes and her arms crossed.
Orlando immediately turned and realized what he had feared would happen just happened. He saw her hurt, he saw her mad, but he also saw she was being hypocritical. She was mad at him for kissing Kate but at least he tried to push her off.
"I could ask you the same thing" Orlando replied with the same coldness. The two exs stood there looking at each other not believing what they had just witnessed the other do. Finally, Orlando broke the silence.
"Again, should I congratulate you with Rupert or are you two still talking things out?"
Keira closed her eyes as she realized Orlando was being unfairly cruel to her. She realized the only way the two would be able to talk this out in a civilized manner is if one of them calmed down. "Orlando, let me explain" she started as she swallowed hard.
"I mean I'm just saying that you two didn't seem to be doing a lot of talking and you didn't seem to be pushing him off" Orlando asked angered at everything that was going on even though it seemed that he was specifically angry at Keira.
Keria closed her eyes again as what Orlando just said had stung her. "Orlando this is not fair" she started once again. "You don't get to bully me for something I just saw you do as well."
Orlando realized she had a point there but he was still angered. "I at least tried to pull her off unlike you and Rupert."
"Are you sure? It didn't seem like you were" Keira replied colder this time. "I mean she seemed to be really happy as she walked away with a grin on her face."
"Well, I did" Orlando said walking towards her and stopped right in front of her. "I did. I tried to push her off with all my strength and I did. She left and now I'm trying to get her stupid lipstick off me."
Keira looked at his mouth and closed her eyes in pure anger as he saw Kate's color on them. "Why were her lips on you in the first place" Keira whispered to him between her teeth. "Why were you in her arms in the first place-"
"Because she kissed me after she told me she stilled cared about me. She told me she cared about me to try and make me feel better after I saw you and Rupert together in the hallway not too far away from this one" he said looking into her honey eyes "Now do you want to explain that kiss?"
Keira shook her head and because she was mad she decided to be stubborn. "No" she started as she turned to walk away. Orlando grabbed her by her waist and held her against the wall holding her completely still there. "Why should I explain mine if you're not going to believe me anyway huh? Why should I defend myself if either way you're going to keep assuming the worst of me?" she asked as stood in his arms.
"I don't assume the worst of you Keira" Orlando replied with the some coldness. "I assume the worst of him."
"Then stop taking it out on me" Keira whispered to him. "Stop acting as if you can't trust me anymore. If I didn't want you then why would I be wasting my time doing everything I'm doing to find out the truth?" Orlando stayed quiet looking at her as she continued talking. "Am I wasting my time Orlando? Because if I am please tell me now so I that I can stop making a fool out of myself."
Orlando knew what Keira was really asking. She was really asking him if he still loved her and so he answered in a way he hoped she would understand clearly. "You know you're not Keira" Orlando replied as he leaned his forehead against hers. "You're not a fool and you very well know that you're not wasting your time."
"No I don't" Keira said shaking her head. "Orlando" she started to say "All this time I've just assumed that you do but I need to hear it from you. Do you still love me?" she asked flat out needing to hear Orlando just say it to her. "I think I know the answer but I want and need to make sure. With everything going on I'm not really sure what to believe and I don't know what's real and not anymore" she said as she touched the side of his face as she looked into his eyes. "I need to hear that you love me from you, from your lips, in your own words. I need to know what you're fighting for. When all this is over I need to know where this leaves us? What do we do? Are you fighting to just have an explanation to give me and to be freed from whatever it is that's holding you back, or are you fighting to get us back?"
Orlando studied her for a moment wanting to ask her the same question. He knew she was exactly what he was fighting for but if she was just fighting for an answer to have then what was the point of his fighting?
"What about you?" he asked her in a whisper. "What are you fighting for?"
Keira released a small tear as she continued to touch the side of his face with both hands. "I'm fighting for us, for what we had, for what we lost, but I don't want to fight for it if you feel it's lost for good..."
"That's not what I feel though" Orlando said as he moved a strand of hair from her face "Keira, no matter what you hear or think you see, don't doubt what I feel for you."
"Say out loud what you feel for me" Keira said not having heard those three words from his lips in three months. "Say it please."
Orlando knew that anyone could have been easily been listening so although he could have told her a million times that he loved her, he didn't, in fear that they would get caught.
"The fact that I'm not saying it to keep us safe should let you confirm that there is no need for your doubt for it."
Keira just nodded understanding that they shouldn't trust the halls with secrets for someone could easily be walking around in them listening.
"But I promise you" Orlando "When all of this is over that I'll say to you a thousand times before you grow tired of it."
Keira nodded giving him a small nod "When all of this is over" she said.
Fortunately for them, it was all about to be over….