Disclaimer: Objects in mirror are way more important than the way you are driving suggests.

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
― Dr. Seuss

"A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water."
― Eleanor Roosevelt

LAST TIME

"Jeez, Missy." Sano sighed. "And here I thought you'd be bored to tears."

Kaoru scoffed. "Anything but." She fell into the couch, the last apple pieces clutched in her hands. "I mean, we mostly do mundane stuff, but it's fun. I don't really know how, but it's fun."

Kaoru heard the creaking of a door and a feminine murmur before Sano began speaking very quickly. "Sounds great Kaoru. I'm sure it's true love. Send those photos soon as you can. Later, Missy!"

"Sano? Hang on. Sano?" The call had ended. Kaoru looked at her phone in annoyance. "True love, Sano? Really? Marriage has officially made you crazy."

THIS TIME

Kaoru fell into her car and draped her exhausted body over the steering wheel. Her smart-looking black leather folder bounced on the passenger seat once, twice, and then spilt its contents. A dozen identically printed sheets of paper fanned out over the upholstery and down to the floor of the vehicle like an origami waterfall. A stack of cards threatened to follow the current as it teetered on the edge of the seat. Kaoru picked one up and wrinkled her nose at the neat ink letters printed on the front.

KAORU KAMIYA STUDENT JOURNALIST & PHOTOGRAPHER

The backside listed her contact information in equally neat print. Kaoru flicked the piece of cardstock at the windshield and jammed her keys into the ignition.

And that was how her third interview of the day ended: her third rejection. Three times today she had heard the words "I'm sorry Ms. Kamiya, but we don't believe you are the best fit for our company at this time."

Kaoru finally headed the screeching pang in the balls of her feet and tore off her heals. She kicked them somewhere under her seat and pushed her bare toes to the gas pedal. She was undoubtedly speeding and . . . wasn't that light red just now?

Thursday morning, today, she had woken up extra early. Kendo practice had been rushed and Kaoru was sure she had pulled a muscle in her side from swinging awkwardly (thank God Kenshin hadn't been there to see her flailing). She barely ate a crumb but had showed and primped like her life depended on it. Which, in a way, it did. Since graduation three months ago, Kaoru had been sending out resumes and cover letters to every company in Tokyo that was anywhere near related to the world of journalism.

Three had asked for an interview – Kaoru had scheduled all three for today.

Each time she had walked in, all smiled, pressed suit, and confidence. She had given her best. She'd made plenty of eye contact, given concise, unique answers to questions, shown off her knowledge and skills. So, why?

Kaoru bit her lip and clenched down on the steering wheel. Her whole body tensed to hold back the tidal wave of emotion threatening to flood in the wake of the day. Her throat burned with the effort.

She pulled into the driveway too fast and had to hit the brakes too hard to avoid hitting the back fence. She shoved the car door open and all but tripped over herself trying to yank her body out of the vehicle. She cursed. She cursed her pencil skirt for being too confining, her heals for being too hard to extract from under the seat, and she cursed her stupid folder and its stupid contents for not being impressive enough to get her a job!

Kaoru hated to curse.

She walked to the house barefoot; shooting her heals a wrathful look in the process. The sky was thick and rolling with clouds, casting a darker-than-usual hue over the evening. The cool air of the living room reached out and enveloped her as she stumbled through the back door. Sora was watching her intently from the sofa and Kaoru saw Hikari dart under one of the nearby throw blankets. The tip of her fluffy tail peaked out from the folds and flicked back and forth warily.

Kaoru sighed. "I'm sorry for startling you, sweetie. I've just . . . had a rough day is all." Kaoru made a point to make little noise as she set her things down on the counter. She went through the motions of making tea in her little makeshift pot-kettle and the smell of raspberry drained the last of the fight from her system. She breathed in the aroma deeply as she settled herself into the love seat, her way of begging the tears pricking her eyes to please, please go away and come again another day. Some of them didn't listen.

Sora poked her head over the arm of the couch, her ears swiveling to pick up Kaoru's irregular breathing. Karou focused on those ears watching them sweep to and fro like little fuzzy radar. Anything to keep her mind off . . . life.

Sora, after a long while, though it is difficult to tell how long, lifted her front paws to the arm of the couch and jumped over the cushion and onto the floor. Her eyes never left Kaoru as she meowed softly and padded across the carpet toward the love seat. Kaoru's own eyes grew wide in her tearstained face. Sora leapt up and into Kaoru's lap. Kaoru barely had enough time to pull her teacup away before the cat was rubbing into her chest and purring gently.

Kaoru, tentatively, slowly reached out pet the ball of fur, letting Sora inspect her hand before rubbing her fingers over the cat's back. Sora purred louder and closed her eyes looking just about as content as anyone could possibly hope to be.

A fresh set of tears spilt over Kaoru's face. "I guess you've decided to like me, huh?" She wiped the salty streaks from her cheeks and leaned back. "Or maybe you can just sense how much I could use a hug right now." Kaoru's breathing was finally settling down. Her eyelids drooped, suddenly feeling too heavy to bother opening. "Thank you, Sora."

Kaoru fell asleep to Sora's rumbling purr and warm weight cuddled against her stomach.

Kenshin knocked on the back door of Megumi's house with thinning patients. Kaoru hadn't answered any of his calls or texts in the last hour and a half, not to her cell phone or the house phone. Kenshin had been trying to get in touch with her to ask what she would like for dinner. He ran a quick hand through his bangs and twisted his fingers into the tote bag handles at his side.

He knocked again. Three sharp raps.

No answer. Not a whisper of movement.

Kenshin sighed and hesitated a few moments before fishing his keys out of his denim pocket. The house was dark when he stepped inside. Very dark. It made him uneasy. He left the food totes. Left his hands free and ready to move. His breathing slowed as his senses swept the area. Kaoru's car was parked in the drive. Unless she walked somewhere she had to be in. No signs of a forced entry. It could have been someone she knew or trusted. Maybe she was injured or collapsed somewhere in the house.

Kenshin took two silent steps into the house.

There was a movement just in the corner of his vision - a flicker of shadows. He shift toward it and tensed, ready to fight or run.

Two glowing eyes stared unblinkingly at him for just second before they ducked behind the sofa. Just the cat then. Not a threat.

But Kenshin didn't let himself relax until he saw her.

Kaoru was draped across the love seat - her suit rumpled from where she had tipped over into the cushions, Her hair loose and blanketing the armrest in a dark waterfall. In the sliver of evening light Kenshin could make out her features - relaxed in sleep, she was a captivating figure. But the tear tracks painted on her cheeks and shining on her dark lashes had Kenshin frowning and narrowing his gaze, suddenly angry at whatever or whomever had made her cry.

But she was safe and appeared uninjured. Her breathing was steady and she didn't stir as Kenshin returned to the door for his ingredients bags. He lugged everything into the kitchen and turned on the small light over the stove hoping it wouldn't disturb Kaoru's nap. Kenshin had no idea what had happened to her today, but, if it was big enough to drain all the energy she constantly radiated, she deserved a rest.

He rummaged through his bags and tried to make some sense out of what he had brought. He hadn't been able to settle on any one dish while he was planning what he would cook for their little date and his nerves had turned his plan to bring a small variety of general ingredients into bringing what amounted to everything he had bought on their trip to the supermarket along with a few specialty things he had picked up that morning. . . So, basically everything in his house.

Kenshin scowled at the lot and started sorting out the ingredients for a curry udon dish then changed his mind again and switched to yakitori, vowing silently to himself that he would quit thinking and just cook. Enough was enough.

Kaoru awoke to the smell of sesame oil. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her fingers came away with little black smudges on the tips. She hissed angrily when she remembered her eyeliner and snatched up a tissue from the box on the coffee table. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window and immediately went to fixing. She looked like hell. Or, at least like she'd been through it. Her makeup was smudged, lashes spiked and stuck together, cheeks flushed and tear streaked, and let's not even mention the medusa hair.

Kaoru crumpled and trashed the blackened tissue. She tried to finger comb her hair but it just made it worse; too many knots. She huffed and blew at her low hanging bangs before tentatively padding toward the soft glowing light in the kitchen.

"Hey," She said. It was all she could think of at the moment.

Kenshin looked up and Kaoru winced as his eyes did a twice over.

"Hey, sleepyhead." He grinned. The grin did a curious thing to his eyes. It warmed them, brought them to life.

"When did you get here?" Kaoru had to fumble to make that sound less rude "I-I mean, not that I don't want you here, but, uh . . . You didn't wake me up or anything."

Kenshin turned back to the stove and stirred while he answered. "Yeah, sorry. You just looked like you needed the rest."

Kaoru winced again. Ouch "I guess I am kind of a mess." Her left had absently found the ends of a lock of hair and twisted nervously.

Kenshin froze. "That's not want I meant. I, uh, your face . . ." He paused and turned around, suddenly looking very serious. "Kaoru, who made you cry?" The question was spoken slowly, almost menacingly.

Kaoru's hands flew to her cheeks. "Are they still there!? I tried wiping them off, but I guess it didn't work. I really do need to clean up."

Kenshin covered the few steps that separated them in a heartbeat. His hands slipped beneath hers and held them tightly. "Kaoru, you look fine." She really did. Her sapphire eyes were wide and shining at him beautifully. And, if he were being honest with himself, he had been fighting an urge to burry his fingers in her sleep tousled hair since she stepped into the kitchen. "Now, what happened?"

"Well, uh, nothing?" She wasn't looking at him. She couldn't. She would probably start crying again and signal the death of her feminist independence in the process. Besides, Kenshin didn't deserve to be unloaded on like that. Not for something so relatively small.

Kenshin squeezed her captive fingers in censure. "Kaoru, I acknowledge that I haven't known you for long, but you are not the type of person to cry over nothing." Kenshin frowned. Kaoru's body language had shame and fear broadcasting on all frequencies. She wouldn't meet his eyes and kept giving her hands gentle tugs to pull them from his grip. "Kaoru, did someone hurt you?"

"What?! No! No, no-"

"Did they threaten you, then? Frighten you?"

"Kenshin!" Kaoru pulled her hands free, done with the gentle tugging. "I'll be fine, OK. Just drop it."

"Kaoru don't-"

"No, you don't, Kenshin." Kaoru spun around and marched off to the stairwell. She paused when she reached for the handrail. "Sorry, I just don't want to talk about it -" with you. The last two words hung in the air, unspoken but heard nevertheless.

Kaoru dashed up the stairs. She shut the door to the bathroom behind her. She was shaking - from her gut to her fingertips, she was shaking. She bit her lip and faced her reflection in the bathroom mirror. "I totally just blew it didn't I?"

CHAPTER END

Yeah, new chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

So, where do I begin? It's been a while, huh? I've graduated college. I passed my 'state rep' torch at the end of my term. I planned and executed a conference. I've got a new job - two jobs, actually. I had a story published. . . I've been kinda busy, I guess.

P.S. If you want to check out my officially published story you can check it out on Kindle, iBooks and Nook. It's a short story called Hackers Anonymous.

Teaser for Hackers Anonymous by A. H. Wetherington

Sometimes we get in over our heads. We tempt fate. We play with fire. Maybe because we're board. Maybe we want power. What do we do when we can no longer delay the inevitable; when things change? Sophia Kori is fourteen and, as a genius hacker, has the wold at her fingertips. But, when she receives an anonymous hacking request, trouble is only a keystroke away.

I recommend the Nook or iBooks versions since the formatting worked out much better (you really don't want to hear my Amazon Kindle rant).

Later, loves!