With All Of My Heart

conquests ii

"Anyone can become angry- that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, with the right purpose and in the right way. that is not easy."

-Aristotle

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~   l e s l i e   ~

I dropped my bag on the kitchen island and slid over it to rummage around the fridge until my eyes found the prize.

Strawberry yogurt. And not just any yogurt, my all time favorite Wallaby's Organic jars. I settled on the stool with a sigh. Aunt Lisa was an angel.

My phone screen lit up with a new message and I got up to retrieve my phone from where I had dumped it next to my stuff.

Unknown : Hey

I opened the chat and rolled my eyes when I saw 'Thank you Torreto' and a hundred and forty exclamations marks from yesterday's chat.

Kiara Hartville.

I was on the verge of regretting saving her from a car crash. She was skateboarding in the middle of a dozen parked cars with a ridiculous amount of excitement that was hard to miss. I had seen the Toyota coming from a long distance and when she skated right in its path, I was running, and our bodies went slamming to the sides to her before I had the chance to rethink.

I had honestly expected her to throw a fit or cry, hell, I was a little spooked myself, but she had looked at me, eyes wide as saucers and brimming with pure wonder and compared a real life situation to one of those over the top action scenes. The reference was not lost on me, but the humor in it sure was.

My mind wandered back to all her nosy questions. I had figured she was feeling grateful and would drop the curious tom act after today. I texted back a quick reply, annoyance spilling from my fingertips as they flew over the keyboard.

What?

Unknown: You left something in the car.

I typed back:

What?

Unknown: Um, apart from your very charming and verbose presence?

Unknown: Your shades.

I rolled my eyes. But before I had the chance to reply, Aunt Lisa emerged from the stair case, Rodrico, her wiry terrier latched to one arm and the other holding a duffel bag.

"Honey are you sure you don't have anything better to do? It's a Friday and I could always ask Rick to drive me there."

"It's no problem Aunt. I'll drive you'll to the vet. Just give me a minute." I gathered all the empty jars.

She messed my hair and smiled back, "It's nice to have you here Lee."

I smiled back at her gratefully. She never forced me to talk about it. It was like she respected my privacy and at the same time made sure to let me know she was there if I needed someone to talk to.

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it", she walked into hallway," and hurry up with the yogurt already while I get this boy settled in the car."

A slow smile settled on my face as I turned to get one last jar of the creamy goodness from the fridge. It had been barely a month since I'd moved in with Aunt and she was already stacking the fridge with my favorite treats.