An Immortal's Favour

Jack- Picture Perfect

*

The doorknob squeaked as I twisted it, and the back of the door crashed into a stack of boxes, knocking them over. I turned around, key poised before the lock in front of me. The hall was so packed with stuff, I could hardly walk without watching my step. Unopened boxes littered the place, balancing in tall, unstable towers against walls or arranged in groups on the floor.

The lounge was no better, and it seemed like the room itself was straining to keep everything inside. The silvery curtains had been taken down, and the brown walls were bare, with discoloured patches being the only nod to the pictures that'd once hung on them. But, on what furniture was left, there were piles upon piles of clothing- a fair amount of which were mine.

"Sh-" My shin knocked against the leg of an oak end table, and I rubbed at it, dropping my leg back down as I took everything in once more. For all the clutter, a certain emptiness still lingered.

I closed the door to the lounge behind me and asked myself what I was doing, what exactly I expected to get from a home filled with so many painful memories.

Against all rationale, my feet guided me to my bedroom. No, our bedroom. Kaia's and mine. The last time I'd been here was when we'd had our fight. I'd just come back from Teruna Bay and came home to find her in the lounge, which, at that point hadn't been any less chaotic than it was now, circling words and pictures of expensive furniture in a catalogue. For a good five seconds I stood in front of her, and still, she didn't look up. "Kaia."

Finally, she lifted her head, though it was clear she would've preferred having the catalogue's pretty pictures in front of her eyes instead of my sorry face.

"Good evening." She set her things aside and ran a hand through her hair, stopping to twist one curly strand. "How was your tri-"

"We'll talk later," I interrupted, feeling dread worm it's way through me at thought of our inevitable confrontation. "I'm starving." I placed my bags down on the floor and fled to the kitchen, avoiding the problem, just as I'd thought I would.

At least I was able to lose myself in some cooking, even if Kaia was aware that I had knowledge of what she'd done. Three years in culinary school and one cookbook later, I still lacked that special touch that made my own food stand out from everyone else's. But it tasted good, and that's all that mattered.

Which is why it was such a shame I couldn't taste anything during dinner.

Kaia picked at her fried shrimp but didn't eat anything, and a lot of food was wasted that evening. After the dishes had been cleared away and washed, the both of us got ready for bed, having said almost nothing to one another at all. Once inside our bedroom, Kaia leaned forward, lowering her face towards mine, but I grabbed her arms and pushed her away.

"Jack-"

"How could you tell her about my parent's...about their- their..." I had to stop myself and swallow before continuing. I couldn't use the word swimming around in my head and said in its place, "Their marital problems."

"I didn't mean for it to-"

"I know you didn't mean for it to happen!" I snapped. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes as she flinched at my words. "You didn't mean it. It 'only slipped out'! Well, where were you to pick up the pieces of your mess? Hell, where were any of you while the press ate the whole thing up?"

I rubbed at my eyes in frustration and grunted.

"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry. I didn't think she'd tell anyone about your parent's talk of divorce. Denai, I didn't think-"