Destiny is Served

Chapter 32

-Tell me a secret

Kara stares at the eight by ten images in the picture sitting face up on the floor.  Reaching down with a shaky hand she picks it up throwing it on top of the stack of pictures that slid from the large manila envelope like she’s been scorched by fire. 

Amelia’s face can clearly be seen in it, there’s also a man whose face is buried between her legs.   Why does Braylin have these pictures?  Please don’t let the man be him.   With a heavy heart and full of dismay she falls into the chair at the table.  Gathering the pictures into a stack she takes a deep breath. 

Gazing at the first few pictures brings gut wrenching sorrow but a strange sense of relief, immense pain and dread mixing her emotions.  Her stomach is in knots she feels ill.  In her haste to run to the hallway bathroom she bumps a picture hanging on the wall.  It falls to the floor breaking the frame and shattering the glass.   

Braylin is already awake.  He comes out of the bathroom having just brushed his teeth contemplating how he is going to tell Kara about Logan and himself.   Seeing his suite jacket laying across the arm of the bedroom chair by the bed he remembers where he mistakenly left the envelopes. 

“No….no….no….noooh….”  He races out the bedroom door to the hallway. The trail of broken glass, the fallen piece of art lying on the other side of the hallway and the sounds of her throwing up in the nearby bathroom causes him to assume he’s too late. 

He returns to the bedroom to quickly slide on a pair of jeans and some shoes.  Making his way down the hallway pass the broken frame and hallway filled with glass he opens the door to the bathroom.  She’s on her knees bent over the stool throwing up.   

He reaches out to gently pull her hair away from her face, holding it up for her. 

“Don’t touch me.”  She abruptly says pushing at his legs in between choking.  Her nose is red there are tears in her eyes.  She sits back on her hind legs holding her hand to her forehead. 

“Let me help you?”  His voice is full of anguish he grabs a towel from the rack nearby squatting down next to her to wipe her mouth.  She snatches the towel from him turning her face away doing it herself. 

“….I don’t want your help, go away.”  Her voice breaks.  

Instinctively he takes a step back running his fingers through his hair he leans against the wall near the sink.  Looking at her implacable expression he wonders if she still has feelings for Logan.  She had to see the pictures why would she react this way if she didn’t care. 

“Did you look in the envelopes that were on the dining room table Kara?”  He grudgingly asks. 

“Isn’t that why you left them there?  You wanted me to see what a fool I was all those years ago.  You…you wanted me away from him….You were so mad at me in New York.”  She murmurs getting up from the floor. 

He reaches across to help her she stumbles away from him in their confined space.  Still holding onto the towel she turns on the faucet staring at the running water. 

He reaches across to take the towel from her, she moves it out of his reach.  A defiant fire blazes in her eyes.  She wets the towel then starts to wipe her face. 

Braylin tries to formulate what to say to her, while watching her with a rueful eye.  “Kara, I know I was mad, I was jealous.  I can’t stand to see you with him.”   

“How many times do I have to say it? We were just having lunch, it was just lunch—“ Kara lays the towel across the towel rack turning to look at him with an intense glare.