Lily of the Valley

Chapter 22 | Brains and Brawn

"Excuse me, but you're on my bench." I say to the man indulging the nice shade and comfort that my beach chair offers.

"Don't see your name on it." he says, without even looking at me.

"If you flip it over then you will." I put my hands on my hips, which clearly shows I am starting to get annoyed.

"There's plenty more benches over there." he now takes off his sunglasses, and points at the rest of the empty chairs in the early morning.

"Yes, but this is specifically reserved for me. A resident in that townhouse." Now it's my turn to point at the three story structure located right behind the ignorant jerk.

"Well, excuse me, Ms. Bratty Rich Girl. I'm just trying to enjoy Hawaii as much as possible before I go back to my crappy apartment in the crappy city of Los Angeles with my crappy roommate and crappy neighborhood." He says before covering his face with a towel.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. You're still on my chair though." I said, jokingly.

"Here, use my beach towel." and throws me a towel that looks too beautiful to sit on.

"Wow, this is gorgeous pattern. Did you get this from Anthropology?" I asked.

"Anthropology my butt. I designed that myself."

"Very impressive. You work in textiles?"

"Nope, that's just my hobby. I'm in Research and Design" he replies.

"Mr. Big Bucks, I see. Brains and brawn." I say while applying sunscreen.

"Sorry, I'm not into women." He utters.

"Ok, good. I was just making sure. Can you rub some sunscreen on my back, please?" I hand him my lotion.

"Come closer then."

"Wait, if you're in R&D, why do you live in a crappy neighborhood?" I ask curiously.

"So all of a sudden we're best friends?" He says sarcastically.

"I was just wondering!" I exclaim defensively.

"Fine, I lied. I don't live in a crappy neighborhood and I don't have a crappy apartment. I only said those things to make you feel bad for kicking me out of your bench. Although, I do have a crappy roommate." he confesses.

I turn around and yell "Evil!" and we both laughed.

"You're pretty cute. Are you here with your boyfriend?" he asks.

"I don't have a boyfriend, and I'm here alone... Maybe I shouldn't have told you that, since I just met you. Too late now, though." I mumble.

"Perfect. I'll just kidnap you in a few minutes and send a ransom note to this townhouse."

"Well then I'm just gonna have to kick you in the balls so hard they go up your throat. You'll die of asphyxiation due to your own testicles."

"Wow, that sounds scarier than my kidnapping attempt." he ponders.

"Yea, I was a military brat. I learned self defense and trash talk from the pros."

"Nice. You're feistier than you look."

"Thanks. Do you have plans today? Maybe we could scuba dive or surf together. I promise it'd be fun." I ask, hoping that I just made a new friend.

"Sure, scuba diving sounds fun. Just don't get too close to me, guys might think we're dating."

Not only were we inseparable the entire time we were there, we also became best friends ever since.

I arrived at the cafe five minutes early only to discover Kris already sat down and sipping what I'm guessing is a chai latte. He gave me a smile and a wave when he spotted me by the entrance.

"Have you been waiting long?" I asked as I sat down adjacent from him.

"Not really. I was doing some work before you came." he said, patting his briefcase on the chair beside him.

"I see. So, how are you?"

"I'm fine. Let's cut to the chase, deary. I am worried about you and your involvement with Tom." he says, wasting no time.

"Uhm, can I at least get a drink first?" I ask

"Here, this is for you." he handed me a cup on the table that I was only noticing now.

"Oh, thank you. Mexican hot chocolate?"

"Of course. Anyways, let's go back to the topic."

"Alright. Well, all I can say at the moment is everything is going fine. I have grown and matured thanks to you, Mel, and Steph. If or when he decides to bolt again without notice, I'll be sure to not fall into a pit of depression because that would tell me he's just not worth it. He's not worth my time and energy."

"I know that you know what you're 'supposed' to do. I'm just afraid you won't do it, but hearing you say that actually makes me feel a little better. I can definitely vouch for your maturity and personal growth throughout the years. Just remember, we'll all be here no matter what happens. Don't push us away for any reason, because we also need you. I love you, Karen, and I hope and pray to God that you don't get hurt again."

I stood up and gave him a long, genuine, tight hug. "I love you too, Kris. Thank you." was all I could say.