Dear Stranger

Chapter 15

Yes, walking around in my bare feet around the office might have earned you some looks from the employees. But you didn't seem to care. 'Head up' you thought. You tried to walk as quickly as possible. Ricky was waiting for you at his office door. "Have you been crying?" he asked as you took back your heels and put them on. "No" you said coldly. "Mrs y/f/n?" you heard behind you. You sighed and mumbled "God, can't you give me a break for one fucking second?". "Thanks for the welcome" a familiar voice said right after. You froze. Without turning around, you asked "Jen?" "Yep, that's me" she answered. "Ok... I have something to do and then I hug the hell out of you. Deal?" you said with a slight smile. Your manager couldn't stop frowning at you. "Deal" she responded. You could almost hear her smile. You nodded and walked into the office, followed by your manager. "Here you are" Trey smiled cockly. "Yeah, not for long. I won't sign this contract" you informed. "What?" both your managers and Trey said in perfect unison. "Listen, the things that have been happening lately over the news and stuff had completely ruined my personal life. I'm not willing to sacrifice it over a songwriting contract" you explained. "Please take some time to think about it. We can reschedule this meeting" Trey's manager proposed. "That won't change my mind. I don't want the deal" you shrugged. "You're missing a good opportunity here" Trey warned you. "Without sounding cocky, you need me way more than I need you" you smiled politely. You clapped your hands together and said "Well. That was nice. I'm out. Take care". With a satisfied smile on your face, you grabbed your purse and walked out. Jen smiled the second you walked out. You went to her, and as promised, you hugged the shit out of her. "I've missed you, little sis" you grinned. "Don't be all emotional on me" she smirked. You pulled apart and ruffled her hair. "Blue hair, huh? I love it" you exclaimed. "Mom and Dad didn't approve" she shrugged. You rolled your eyes discreetly. Jen looked behind you and chuckled, "It's that your boyfriend?". You turned to see Trey and sighed. "No, not that one. Didn't I tell you to stop reading shitting magazines? They're full of crap! Come on, let's find some food" you put an arm around her shoulder and guided her to the elevator. "Have you been crying?" she asked. "No" you answered and smiled politely. She stared at you for a while before you admitted "Ok yeah, maybe I did cry a little".

"So! Tell me, how's high school?" you asked her. You set the plates on the table as she took the food out of the bags. "Good, I guess" she shrugged. "I'm happy you're here" you smiled at her. "When do you fly back? This time I could take you to the airport" you proposed. "I won't" she almost whispered. "Won't what?" you said. "Go back. I won't go back there" she exclaimed. You stopped for a second and looked at her, "Then where are you gonna live?". "With you?" Jen asked. You chuckled nervously and emptied your hands on the table. "Wait... I think I missed something" you breath out, "I probably missed the moment you called me to ask me if I was okay with it". She looked down. "Jen, how could you do this without giving me, at least a heads up or something" you asked her, now pissed. It's not like you were the kind of people who never answered or who would have say no. It's a decision that needs to be thought of. You sighed and rubbed your head over your forehead. Just stay calm, y/n, "Ok let's just... Let's go back to the beginning. Why do you want to leave?" "You know why. They kept screaming at each other, without giving a shit about your existence. That's why you left" she pointed. "Yeah when I was 18 to go to college!" you argued. "You would have done it sooner if you could" she looked at you in the eyes. Hers were filled with tears. "Do they know you're here?" you said slowly. She shook her head. "Jen!" "Will you let me stay with you?" she asked openly. You felt so conflicted. In one way, you did understand her. You left the house for the same reasons and you know how awful it is to live that way. But how were you supposed to care take of a teenager? You only had one room here and you were travelling a lot for work. "Listen... How long do we have until you really have to go back to school?" you asked. "I don't know. A week I guess" she guessed. "You stay here and I promise to think about it" you said. She grinned. "Don't get your hopes up" you pointed at her. "I might say no. And you will call or at least text Mom or Dad tonight. Got it?" you said more firmly. "Yep" she smiled, "And thanks". You smiled back and continued setting the table. "So is your boyfriend living with you?" Jen asked. You chuckled nervously. "Ouch. Wrong thing to say?" she guessed. "We had an argument. Just stupid stuff" you explained. She nodded. "Guys are hard to understand anyway. Girls are easier" she smirked. "Bet they are" you playfully hit her shoulder. You both eat and talked a lot. It's not every day you got to see your sister or talk to her. And it's never the same on the phone. She was always there for you no matter what. The fact that you were 11 years older than her didn't matter. You always had that bond. But she was more rebellious that you were or ever will be. You knew she would be leaving in the house earlier than you anyway. You had no idea if you were ready to take care of her. Well, you were not even sure you could do it, but you'll find a way not to let her go back there if that's not what she wants anymore. You will.

TV on and laying on the couch, Jen was starting to get comfy here. It was nice. Way nicer than at your parents, for sure. The nicest thing was that they weren't around either. Someone knocked and since you were in the shower, Jen had to get up. She opened it to find a curly guy. "Uhm... Hi" he said and frowned. He stepped back to look at the number of the apartement to be sure. "What's up?" she asked. "Is... is y/n here?" he asked. "You're the boyfriend, right?" Jen hunched, looking him up and down. "I guess" he nodded. "What's your name?" she asked. "Darren" he chuckled. "Listen, Darren" she said and put a hand on his shoulder. "If I had a big fight with my girlfriend and I wanted to get her back or something, I wouldn't come empty handed" she explained and rose her eyebrows. Darren looked down at his empty hands, "Oh" he exclaimed, "Okay" he smiled. He ran away and she closed the door and took her original place on the couch. You came out of the shower with a towel around your hair and sat next to her. "What are you watching?" you asked. "What is bad? The fight with your boyfriend?" she asked instead. "Kinda. Why you're asking?" you frowned. "I don't know. Will you be ready to forgive him?" she demanded. "It's more complicated than that. He has to forgive me too" you explained with a sad face. There was a knock on the door. "I'll get that" Jen said happily. She walked quickly to the door and opened it. She looked down at the red roses and smiled at Darren, "Good choice" she whispered to him. "Y/n, mysterious curly guy here for ya?" she winked. Darren chuckled. Your eyes grew wide and you threw away the towel to get to the door. "Dare?" you said as you reached it. "Hi" he smiled. "I'm gonna go find a Starbucks somewhere..." Jen said umcomfortably as you both looked intensly into each other's eyes. "Uhm... Do you have any cash?" you asked her. "Yep. Took some in your wallet" she smiled and left. "We'll talk about that later young lady!" you shouted to her back. "My sister. Come in" you asked Darren. He nodded and handed you the flowers before going in. "Thanks" you smiled. He looked around as if he was exploring the place for the first time. You put the flowers in some jar, sat at the table and waited. You had no idea how to start. "I have a problem with trust" Darren beat you to it. His voice refleted his sadness and that broke your heart. "My ex-fiancé used to cheat on me and for months, I didn't notice. So now I have a problem with trust" he chuckled. "But you're right. I should trust you. And I want to. I really do" he explained. You nodded. "But when I saw someone holding your hand or doing whatever he was doing with you, I just got crazy. That's how I am. I'm the jealous kinda guy. I won't let myself in a relationship that could burst at any moment because of a booty call or something" He walked back and forth in the apartment. "I'm not your ex-fiancé" you explained as you stood up from the table to walk to him. You stopped him by taking his hand, "She may be a bitch. She may cheat on people she cares about. But I don't. I'm not that kind of person. I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror and to tell myself that I do everything I can to make this work because I like what we have. I want to be the girl you get jealous about. I want to take in your jealousy crisis. I will take every one of them, any day, without saying a word if that means I can be with you. That's how I am" you shrugged. He looked at you in the eyes and chuckled. Darren took your other hand and walked closer to you until both of your foreheads touched. "I liked your flowers" you whispered. He smiled. "I thought it will make you forget how much of a jerk I've been with you" he answered. "It worked" you admitted. His lips touched yours again and everything felt right. None of this crappy fight was in your mind anymore. Jen got back and ran upstairs, "Get a room!" she adviced. You pulled apart and laughed. He looked up and then back at you, "Uhm... Maybe I have some things to catch up on?".