RED

25. Daises

Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.

by James A. Baldwin

At the sound of someone coming in through the door into the penthouse, Kiana quickly jumped to her feet and made her way out of the living room. At the very sight of Enrico, she came to a standstill. As he caught sight of her, he came to a standstill as well. Silence and untold stories filled the air. Kiana could barely tell herself what next to do at the moment. She had been crying, trying his number and waiting for hours for him to get home, but when he was there, she stood like a statue unable to do the needed purpose.

The hardest part about staring at him was the fact that she couldn't seem to tell what was going on in his mind. His face held no expression. Sadness, happiness or, at least, anger. Nothing could be seen, but she was thinking back to the way he left the restaurant, she was sure that he was crossed with her. Suddenly, he shifted his eyes away from her and to the direction towards his room.

"Enrico, wait." She instantly rushed to catch up with him, without thinking twice about her action. All she really wanted to do was clear up this misunderstanding. Seeing him that way was hurting her way too much.

He eventually came to a stop, but wouldn't look to her side.

"What you saw really isn't what it seems." She stated, hoping this one statement would make him interested in hearing what she has to say. Her eyes hadn't gotten dry from all the crying. They still grew watery with fresh tears ready to roll down her cheeks. No matter what she did, she couldn't help it.

Ignoring her once more, he attempted his first step away, but Kiana quickly rushed to his front and blocked his path.

"There's nothing between me and Nicolas. I promise. In fact, the first time I met him again after all these years was a few days ago. He promised me that he's a changed person and would only like to talk and patch things up. I didn't tell you anything about tonight, because of your history together. Please believe me." She explained all at once hoping this would be sufficient to clear up the misunderstanding, but Enrico just stared at her blankly for a moment before speaking up.

"What do you want to happen now?"

"What?" She asked, her voice a little lower than earlier. His question had taken her unaware. That was not what she was expecting.

"You lied to me, Kiana. You... you proved once more that my feelings don't matter to you."

"That's not true!" She defended right away, amidst tears.

"Yes, it is... I don't even know why I'm bothering to speak to you. You'll never change, Kiana." He stated, before walking past her and heading directly towards the staircase.

She stood there as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Every part of his words were like a stab to her soul, but she was also mad. She really did all this for him and it didn't make sense to her that he wouldn't listen. She wasn't going to bed with yet another riddle on her mind. She needed answers and she was going to get it. With that thought, Kiana made a turn and hastened her pace to block his path once more.

"What do you mean I'll never change? Enrico, I'm trying. I'm trying really hard to make everything around me work. I accepted this job knowing fully well that you might take out all your anger regarding the past on me, but I did it anyway. I didn't tell you earlier about Nicolas, because I knew you would be hurt if you were to set your eyes on him. I'm sorry, I lied to you. Please, forgive me." She pleaded, sincerity evident in her eyes, her voice and on her face bit Enrico just forced himself to look away from her once more as he attempted to walk past her. Kiana, on the other hand, wouldn't let him.