Wanderlust [ editing ]

20. Valerie (Abel's POV)

  I make my way to a chair avoiding contact with anyone that will notice who I am. After sitting, I wait for Krissa.

  I swear, I hate airports. Weird, huh? An artist who tours every year yet hates airports. I don't know. They just make me uncomfortable. I went 21 years without being in an airport or being on a plane and the feeling I get in my stomach when I'm at an airport is just terrible.

  After a couple minutes I see no other than my beautiful baby girl walking near me. She walks faster and faster then she attacks me in hug. I smile. Her touch makes me realize how I much missed her.

  "Hi baby" I kiss her soft lips.

  "Hey! How are you? I missed you." She grabs my hand and we begin walking out of the airport.

  "I'm good. Been in Toronto this week. I'm working on a new album. I gotta stay focused and Toronto inspires me." I say and grab her luggage for her as we walk to my car.

  "Wow! Can I hear it?" She asks

  "I'll think about it...no." And she laughs

  "Nah, I can't let you hear. I'm perfecting the craft." I say as I load my trunk with her luggage.

  "Fine. I'll wait." She says as she gets into the passenger seat.

  I start the car and make my way out the parking lot and onto the freeway. It's the afternoon and I'm really trying to get home. These past few days have been just crazy. Alice won't leave me the fuck alone and the guilt is killing me.

  "How was your trip?" I break the silence

  "Fine" she looks down "How's everything here?"

  "Fine" I reply to her question.

  The car gets silent again. I feel like she's not telling me everything. She seemed fine, but now she's not responding as she usually does. Was it something I said? It's so awkward being here. The car ride back is like 2 hours long and she's making it feel longer.

  "Kris, babe. You okay?" I ask and she nods.

  "Are you sure?" I ask and she sighs.

  "No, Abel. I'm not okay. And it's not you. It just... There's something I haven't told you." She says and my head quickly turns to look at her. The look on her face tells me she's being really serious.

  "What's up?" I ask her nervously

  "Uh" she hesitates "Nothing babe. How are the guys?"

  I don't ask again. I know how Krissa is and obviously she's hiding something, but she's also very stubborn and I can never get anything out of her. Well, I can, but whenever I do I basically have to beg and push her into telling me and she always ends up crying. I swear she's such a softy, but in a way she's a tough shell to crack. She thinks she can hide shit from me, but I know her and I'll always find things out. That's the thing with Krissa. She's good, way too good, at keeping her mouth shut. Sometimes I think she doesn't trust me. We've been through so much together and I have never judged her. I think I'm a very understanding person.

  "They're good. We chill all the time. Especially late nights at the studio. We go out for drinks and shit." I answer her question.

  "That's good." She says as she plays with her phone.

  "How's your mom?" I ask as I snatch her phone.

  "Abel, what the hell?" She tries to reach over me to get her cell phone which I'm holding by my window.

  "I haven't seen you in a while. If I'm going to talk then you ARE going to listen." I put her phone in my back pocket "Once again, how's your mom?"