Ch 6

Can I kiss you

What's that suppose to mean,I'm not on of his women,Chiara thought

Jack bursts out laughing at her expression,"oh come on,I was talking about a peck on the cheeks if you're not ok with that ,can I get a hug instead",he manages to say

"I prefer none",Chiara grumbled

He's so annoying

"Ok,I get it",Jack says smiling and ruffles her hair,she pushes his hand away and glares at him

"I'm not a kid you know",she says to him

"23...you're definitely a kid", he tells her as if explaining to a 5year old,

"now run along".

She got home late and decided to rest awhile then she'd prepare to go to her parent's place.

Resting took a while but she was in no hurry,packing a few belongings she left a note for Eunice and left.

Driving slowly through the night,she wanted to delay her ride as much as she could.

Thinking of how the day went,she smiled. Jack's good and their outing was peaceful and quiet which she now admits , relaxed her even though she zoned off a couple of times. It was that outing that she had decided to visit her parents.

She had arrived home,or rather her parents home now.

She knocks ,...no response and again she knocks ,there's a shuffling inside and then the door opens .

Her dad stood in front of her with a wide smile

"Darling, you came",he said

Not sure how to answer that,Chiara nodded

"Come in,you must tired and hungry", he let her in and led her to the living room. Her mom was asleep on the sofa,

"She fell asleep watching a movie with me",her dad said when she kept staring at her mom.

Gently tapping her arm,dad woke mom up.

She smiled brightly when her sleepy eyes fell on her daughter ,"oh she's here,....will you be here when I wake up",mom asked

"Yes",Chiara said as her father led her mom to their bedroom.

Judging from their comments they had been talking about her which seemed comforting

Her dad came downstairs and took her to her old room.

"Sleep well, we'll talk tomorrow",he said and walked out

He must be tired as he forgotten to feed her as he's the one who told her she must be hungry which she was not and very thankful for that.

Looking at her old room brought memories she had been burying these years.

Marco's laugh echoed the house," Chiara ,I can't sleep,Mama's singing is terrible, will you come do me and mama a favour and read a story to me instead".

Oh how sweet he was,Chiara cried herself to sleep.

Things turned out well in the morning, her parents conversed with her reminding her of years ago before Marco came into their lives when her parents thought they had no hope with another child and she ruined that again.

But this morning with her parents she felt like her guilt is being suppressed with something more comfortable. She stayed with them through out the week,the days flew by and soon it was time to go back to work.

A cheerful goodbye was exchanged and she went back to her house as if huge weight had been lifted.

Eunice stood at the doorway smiling. She didn't look weary anymore,she was just gorgeous with her light brown skin and braids and a welcoming smile that never wavered.

"Chiara !!!",she shouted

I flinched ,the girl had voice,I thought while she half run,half walk for a hug.

"I missed you,I was starting to worry",Eunice said

"I needed to talk with my parents", saying this I hugged her back

Inside the house we chatted while unpacking my things. I told her how my little holiday went whilst she told me she was still a nurse with shifts ,how tired she was and blah blah blah,

"Well I'll be like you now that I'm back",Chiara said when her friend was done

"Ooh ,I almost forgot ,your boss came here a couple of times and wow he's gorgeous and he seemed a little worried",Eunice said ,her face scrunching up as if to remember something important.

"I told him you had gone to your parents' place and I didn't know when you would be back since you didn't tell me"

"Ok,now let's get something to eat and wear something nice",Chiara said eyeing Eunice's baggy shorts which by the way she has loads of them and wears it most when she's in the house

"Why do I need to change when I'm going to prepare something for us to eat", she said raising her eyebrow

"We're eating out,today's your day off and I'm resuming work tomorrow so we'll just roam and have a little girls time",saying this Chiara pushed her puzzled friend out of her room

Two hours later they were out having 'fun'. They had ate out as they planned but girls time wasn't going too well. They had planned to go to club but their outfits won't permit them and it wasn't even nightfall.... they both hated clubbing anyway so they ditched the car and wandered off. They walked and laughed till they ended up in the wrong neighbourhood ,Eunice hadnt stayed in the area for long and Chiara just moved to this part of town so they were practically lost.

Seriously a 26 and 23 year old women couldn't find their way home, that's a nice welcome back,Chiara thought grumpily.

They walked some more and gave up asking around seemed too embarrassing for them so they kept on till Eunice called a friend. She tried to tell her friend their whereabouts and some signs that's would help locate them,the whole thing lasted for 10 minutes. Chiara was so occupied that she didn't ask who Eunice's friend was till 7 minutes later. She saw a familiar car drive towards them,Eunice run to the car and hugged the man that got out. Chiara walked towards them and there he was ,standing in front of her with amusement written all over his face

"Ms Chiara Kingston ,I'm at your service",Jackson Sommers said with a dramatic bow

"Hi, I didn't know you were friends with my friend", Chiara said,her question was directed at her boss,she didn't want Eunice to get hurt,but Eunice answered for him,"We got know each other when he came by to see you"

'Ok', now what

"My PA, shouldn't you have thought of using your phone's GPS",Jack taunted

GPS.....

Oh shit ,why hadn't I thought of that,

So much for girls time.....