Her Home, His Heart | ✓

☆*✿TWENTY-FOUR (24)❀*★

♪♪ Aren't you something to admire?

'Cos your shine is something like a mirror

And I can't help but notice

You reflect in this heart of mine. ♪♪

ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ[Mirrors] - [Justin Timberlake]

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You. Cannot. Tell. Petra.

The stern tones of Ronnie and Hermione rang in Esmé's head, drowning out the sounds all around her. Her co-workers' voices bidding her goodbye wafted through one ear and out the other.

She's been through a lot. This news will devastate her.

Esmé jerked backwards and her eyes widened in shock at the loud horn that penetrated her thoughts. She recognized the marble white Ford Fiesta parked in front of her and wondered how long it had been there.

Kian wound down the window of the passenger's side and bent his head to get an unobstructed view of Esmé. "Are you not getting in?" he asked her with his eyebrows drawn together in concern.

"Right." Esmé chuckled dryly with a slack expression and opened the door.

"Stressful day at work?" Kian asked her while she got into the car, noticing her gaunt appearance and vacant stare.

Esmé nodded in response and with a tone that lacked vitality, she said, "Yeah, busy day."

The dismissal of the topic was there, plain and clear. Kian understood she didn't want to talk about it, and he got where she was coming from. For someone who knew a lot about not wanting to talk about something, he respected her answer and didn't push further.

The moment the engine of the car picked up, Esmé slacked further into her seat thankful Kian didn't make a force out of it. During the ride, she drifted back to the thoughts that plagued her mind. Fragments of her conversation with Ronnie and Hermione the previous day played in her head like a track on repeat. She felt they placed a heavyweight on her shoulder because of what she had seen and was told and there was also an additional one for how she had to handle the information she held.

It's not your secret to tell.

A part of her got their point and intention, but that didn't mean she liked how she felt knowing about it. Her chest felt heavy at the thought of Petra finding out through her, especially after the last time.

Esmé had avoided Petra's calls all day with the pretence that she was extra busy. With the inner conflict she was having through the day, she wasn't sure how she would pick up the call and act natural.

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Kian glanced at Esmé while he drove. The down-turned expression on her face was one he hardly ever saw. This made him more concerned, so as much as he respected her decision, he didn't see letting her just go into the house with a long face as the right thing.

He understood getting her mind off whatever had her so down would do the trick, and he thought of the one thing that might just work perfectly.

Esmé didn't steer when he turned off the ignition, which further fueled Kian's reasoning to help. He alighted from the car and went to the house to get Archie.

It was Archie barking that jerked Esmé out of her trance. Her heart raced at the sudden flow of adrenaline. She turned to her side, wondering when they got home to meet the seat by her side empty.