Faceless Instincts

Friendy Liars

Dorian and I were walking side by side after leaving the cafe, the fog was rolling down the hills and the temperature had dropped quite dramatically. We paused near the edge of the road and leaned on the railing overlooking the town, "it was not as intense I had imagined it would be," Dorian spoke looking over.

"What did you imagine it would be like?" I asked turning to face him.

He shrugged, "I don't know I just thought that I would be expected to bare my soul in front of you."

Chuckling, I turned to face the town again, "Not for at least two more sessions." I said and pursed my lips.

I felt him look at me as he laughed, I liked the sound of it, "I'll get better, won't I?" his voice was almost and whisper.

"You'll have to trust the process for that to happen, also I would like to believe that you will."

This time he turned completely and looked at me, "I find it hard to trust people."

His eyes looked lost, I saw uncertainty in them but I had to assure him, "you don't have to trust me, Dorian. You have to trust yourself."

His gaze was intense and he didn't take his eyes off me for a long moment and I looked back at him, I knew he was assessing me, thinking hard whether to trust me or not, whether to keep a safe distance between us or close the gap.

I guess something got the best of him and he turned away again to look over the city,
"you should know that I trust you. I don't go breaking into offices for fun."

I saw a small smile stretch at his lips, and I laughed. I glanced at him as he stared at the outstretched town, "I am not even going to ask why you did it."

"You'll know on your own one day." His tone was indicative and I nodded.

After a few minutes, we walked down the path that led to my car when Dorian hesitated, "what happened?" I asked.

He seemed uncertain about something, "can you give me a minute?"

"Are you okay?" I stepped closer placing my hand on his elbow. He didn't look sick or even paranoid.

"Yeah, I just forgot something back in the cafe, you go ahead I'll come straight to the car."

I nodded and watched him run back towards the cafe, as his silhouette faded I continued down the path. In the distance people were talking, laughing and then someone called my name, I stood still in the place recognizing the sound "Kiara?"

Olivia's voice came from behind me, "What are you doing here?"

A million thoughts crossed my mind, I had already lied to them about not feeling well and asked them not to disturb me.
I was still unsure about what excuse I would give when another fear came into my mind, I can't lie about Dorian, he'll come back any minute now, my eyes searched for him when two fingers snapped right in front of my face, "hey." Is all I said.

"Hey?" Olivia's face twisted in doubt. "I thought you weren't feeling good when I asked you to come out with us tonight"

My mind raced to build up an excuse, "yeah, I was not feeling very good earlier today." I looked back and forth between them.

Tanner placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, "then what are you doing here, shouldn't you rest?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I did rest and I was feeling fine later on, but then I had already told you guys to go on without me, I didn't feel like disturbing you."

"Disturbing us?" Olivia sounded hurt.

"I mean I didn't know where you were going, and I wasn't sure if I was ready everywhere so I just came here for a coffee."

"I didn't realise you knew about this place."
He thumbed towards the cosy place.

"Oh. I didn't, Amy told me about this." Tanner and Olivia both shared a very quick but fretful look, "Amy sent you here?"

"Yes, I mean not exactly sent, she mentioned it in a conversation the other day, why?" I looked at them closely they both were looking agitated.

"What-?" I was discontinued by the arrival of a man who patted Tanner on the back but straightened up when noticed me. Tanner laughed and pulled him forward, "Finally you guys meet."

He stepped forward and held his hand, "Nikolai, it's nice to meet you."

I held his hand and gave a firm shake, "Kiara." I felt like I knew him from somewhere, but I couldn't quite put my finger where.

"I have seen you somewhere." He blurted out before I could.

"Strange, I was having the same thought."

We were interjected by Tanner who separated our hands and we both stepped back awkwardly. "Now that you have met before but the memory's blur, why don't you guys have an official coffee?"

I started to protest and suddenly it clicked, "Aren't you the cop that was present on-site the night my office got broken into?"

His face brightened at the memory, "Exactly, now I remember. I knew I had seen you, it's just you looked different that night."

I muffled a laugh a little embarrassed, "yeah that night was a mess." As I spoke, memories from the night flooded in my brain.

From Olivia telling me to get dressed to the laughter and chatter, from the notification on my screen to Dorian sitting in front of me revealing his bruises on his neck. It felt like a crash, where nothing functioned well and I felt myself trying to reach for support.
"Kiara..!!" Tanner had steadied me, I looked up at his concerned face, "what happened?"

I straightened myself and gave a small smile, "I am good like I said I wasn't feeling very good."

Tanner gave a sharp look to Olivia and she immediately moved away and pulled her phone to her ear, "you want me to drive you home?" He asked.

I laughed, "No, I am fine I promise, also I don't want to ruin another night for you people."

Nikolai looked at me and smiled, I smiled back, Tanner was still holding me, "Are you sure?"

I gave his arm a reassuring squeeze, "I promise"

"Well, if you say so. You both can have a coffee some other day then" he chuckled.

"Sure we can," I said and looked at Nikolai.

While I was passing by Olivia I stopped to say goodbye and caught the snippet of last of her conversation, "No, we don't see anybody. She is here all alone. Yes... Yes.. no... Of course, we caught her by surprise... Yes, we kept an eye on her-"

"Olivia?" I interjected.

She turned to look at me and the blood drained from her face, "Y... YOU" she said stuttering.

"Who were you keeping an eye on?" I asked sternly.

"A... A... A girl"

"A girl? Who?" I looked around.

"She's cheating on Nikolai" her eyes widened.

"Nikolai has a girlfriend?"

"Mm... Yeah"

I narrowed my eyes and studied her, she was lying but I decided to play along, "well, if you say so." I smiled. "By the way, I am leaving, see you tomorrow okay?"

She didn't speak, just smiled and hugged me, I hugged her back but the feeling of doubt had already set inside my mind and I knew it won't go away so easily.