Stupid Favours - Favours Series #2

Chapter 34

The chaos died down an hour later. The police kept the media that had arrived to the front of the building as we left through the back.

Michael had disappeared as soon as I'd felt better to stand. Charles had walked out with me and Katrina. He apologised for not seeing the signs, for not stepping in as an adult. He made bad decisions in the heat of it all.

Katrina simply nodded, not forgiving him either and left me to find the girls. Charles had more to say to me.

"Clearly my son cares about you. Don't abuse this Camille. I don't take threats lightly."

"I promise, I won't abuse it. But I can't be responsible for possibly breaking his heart. I can't control his or my emotions."

He takes a moment to understand what I mean. Then he nods, "Thank you for today. I'll see to it that Hans gets what he deserves. And that Katrina has her safety and financial security."

He didn't have to do any of it, but he felt he owed it. And frankly, we could use some adult supervision. Francine definitely wasn't strict enough. With those final words, Charles Thompson walks away.

"What did my father say?" Michael appears with his frown, forever etched to his face.

Trying to ease the frost between us, I roll my eyes, "Nothing new. Just that you're a mess." He quirks a brow. "He asked me not to break your heart."

His face drops to a blank slate. Maybe I shouldn't have blurted it.

"That's not your responsibility." Sometimes, it did amaze me how our thoughts were the same. "I'll nurse my own broken heart."

"Broken already?"

"When you give me heart attacks like this, it's a wonder I'm alive." He takes in a breath, "What were you thinking Camille?" While his volume was low, I could sense the brewing anger he wanted to unleash.

Fortunately, I'm saved from answering when the girls rush to my aid. "We did it!"

Viv's infectious happiness makes me grin, "Yeah we did."

"Thank you Camille. Thank you to all of you. I cannot begin to repay what you have done today." Katrina's eyes gloss as she hugs us.

"You two held up good in there," Rose remarks as we pull apart. Unfortunately, that ticked the last box for Michael to lose his marbles.

He stalks up to the blonde. "Held up good? Are you joking? She almost got herself killed!"

"She was not going to die. We had it under control. You're the idiot that barged in and gave him the-"

"Rose, its fine." I stopped her before she racked guilt into Michael like he was doing to her. I hate that they fought over my involvement.

Michael wasn't done yet though. "Were you all crazy? Going against Oliver and Hans Wallin by yourselves?" He turns face me, "Why didn't you tell me?" His tone softened, and I felt the abandonment he felt.

"You chose your path. We didn't chose the same thing." Something about my words drove his expressions down. My eyes flicker to the girls, "Katrina needed an out and we helped her. Nothing went horribly wrong, its fine." I soften my own voice, hoping to get through to him.

"And if it did? What then? Would I get to know only once something went wrong?"

"You were left out of one plan. Relax. We handled it."

"Right yes. Good job. You saved Katrina." He walks forward, pausing beside me to whisper, "Don't think I can't see your self-destructive behaviour."

"You don't have to care about-"

"But I do. So please for my sake, for the sake of everyone who cares, stop putting yourself in danger." With the final words said, he walks off. I try and brush it off as I give the girls an uneasy smile.

"What are we doing still standing here? Let's go grab some champagne and celebrate! This is still a party."

-*-*-*-*-*-

We ended up celebrating at Dean's cafe, grabbing coffee and tea to talk about Kat's future.

"You can always stay with me as long as you like."

"You forget your parents. They're not going to like what happened today." Rose swears. "But maman wouldn't mind. Until you get grounded, you can stay with us."

"I'd offer, but you would have to move to Medfield, and endure my mother. That's another type of torture."

Kat's eyes are glassy as she looks at all of us, "Thank you, all of you. I suppose I could stay with you Vivian, if you don't mind. Until they finish their investigations."

"Of course I don't mind. It'll be the longest slumber party of your life."

Viv spirals into another conversation and I think back to the Katrina I first met. She was such a haughty rich girl, willing to claw to get that imaginary position of Queen Bee at Thornton Prep. But after I'd broken through to her, and we'd both sat bare, with our weapons on the floor, she was a different person altogether.

She was finally allowed to drop the heavy mask of being a confident teenager, ambitious girl and perfect daughter. Kat let go of the mask, and mended all her relationships with each of us. All because we let her be her. Kat, the one who didn't want to stand out, who wished to actually be friends with people, who didn't want to be like her family.

Who knew under all that hard exterior, she was the softest person ever? It brought a smile to my face, realising how far we'd all come.

"She could get a small apartment, get into a nearby clinic, and no one else has to know."

I blink rapidly, tuning back into the conversation. Rose was talking excitedly now. "She could finally have her life back."

"Is Anna ready for that?" Viv asks.

Annabelle Carson. The poor girl was still back in Sweden, but she was doing extremely well as a nurse in training. Would her parents find out if she came back? What would they say to the daughter they shunned?

"I don't know. But we'll figure it out. Together."

Rose's smile was a nostalgic one. She missed her sister for so long. But finally she has a chance to fix things between them, to get their relationship back on track.

"And we're here if you need anything," I add. Never thought I'd be saying those words to my once enemy Rose Carson. Oh how the world changes.

"Hi ladies, anything you need?" A black haired Dean approaches our table with a smile.

"Hey Dean, we're good for now."

"I heard about Mr Wallin. I'm guessing you girls did something."

"Why would you guess that?" He shoots a pointed look at me. "Yeah okay, we may have had a part in it."

"Is everything good?" He runs his gaze over everyone, especially Kat.

We smile collectively, "It's better than good, right girls?" They nod in response. "Another successful plan darling."

"Good to hear. Any future plans?" he quirks an eyebrow at me. I laugh.

"No. I think we've put all our enemies to rest."

Sure there were some unexplained mysteries, but we'll battle them when it comes around. Until then, we were free to enjoy our lives. It's the least we all deserved.