Fragmented

Chapter Six

Agnes woke up dazed the next morning. For a moment, she was lost as to where she was.

She was lying on something hard. A fabric of some kind... Denim. She felt the red marks on her right cheek that had been engraved from the uneven surface. A strange smell hovered in the air. She thought she detected raisins, cinnamon, cardamom and... Was that garlic? The alternative pillow moved beneath her, causing her to whimper. With a jolt Agnes sat up and realised she was in the living room. On the floor. When she saw what had caused the unexpected movement she near cried in surprise.

Her uncomfortable pillow was no pillow at all.

"Oh gosh.." Agnes rubbed her tired eyes.

Had she been sleeping on his leg all night?

Chis woke with a yawn, stretching his arms in contentment.

"Hey baker girl." He greeted her with a smug grin.

She remembered all the events that had unfolded the night before and was unable to hide a smile. It was the most fun she had had in the longest time. Chris reached his hand towards her face as if to caress her cheek when she pulled back.

What was he doing?

"Relax," he chuckled and continued bringing his hand to the side of her face, but to her surprise, he pulled it back without as much as a touch.

She frowned in confusion, when he held up a chunk of bread and grinned widely. "This guy got lost in that messy hair of yours."

A blush warmed her cheeks as she laughed along with him.

Their food fight had been epic. They had ended up having to bake the dough into three loaves of bread due to the impossible amounts of ingredients they had mixed in it. Much to their amusement, the bread was inedible and had come to good use in a bread war. For once, Agnes forgot all about her worries and regret. Her misery had wasted away in laughter and smoke from scorched crusts.

The morning passed with cleaning, finding pieces of bread in the strangest of places - the shower and her parents' bed were among the most mind-boggling.

"So," Chris said when Agnes threw the last remains of the bread in the bin. "What're we doing today?"

Agnes rested back onto the kitchen counter with a satisfied sigh.

"I don't know..."

"Great! So I decide." He declared before Agnes could protest. "The weather is perfect for you to see the town. It's really bad you haven't had a proper look at the valley after being here for weeks!"

Agnes groaned at his demand. She had hoped he would decide on a laid-back afternoon with takeout and a movie.

Much to Agnes' surprise, Chris had arrived in his car, but parked it out of sight.

Could have spared her the shock of finding him in the kitchen.

"You're driving." He said as he threw the keys her way.

She did not catch.

"Er, no I'm not."

Chris had already made himself comfortable in the passenger seat.

"Chris! I don't have my license yet!" She said in frustration.

"Now's as good a time to learn as any I suppose." He shrugged and closed the door on her, gesturing for her to take her place behind the wheel.

The car was clearly an old wreck lined up with rust all the way around. The paint was a fainted light blue, occasionally interrupted by bumps and scratches. Apart from the looks of the car, Agnes felt very unsafe when taking the seat behind the wheel.