41. Secret

Genre: Paranormal romance, drama

Type: Series
Characters: Krisis, Leigh
Prompt:024. Secret

Word Count: 1320 +

Warning: language

Rating:  M- (coarse language, adult situations, nudity. N.B-Applies to the whole series)

Summary: Michaela and Leigh explore Shang Simla.

024. Secret

________

Shang Simla, present day

Every year in September, at the start of spring, Krisis Infinity took one week off from their hectic schedule. No tours, no concert, no music video launch parties. Pure bliss and relaxation.

Krisis was ecstatic because their one week off coincided with Leigh and Michaela’s trip to Shang Simla, for one of her school assignments.

After much persuasion Krimsyn and J.D finally agreed to make a surprise stop on their way to France, the land of romance.

Krisis had his reasons of course, for the quick stop. He knew if he just showed up alone, Leigh would see it as an ambush and he’d send her running. But if they were there, under the pretext of the band having to do business then she’d have no reason to suspect he was trying to win back her affections. It could be just coincidental they were in Shang Simla, at the same time.

Things between them had cooled down considerably since his confession two weeks before, and he was afraid if he let her carry on sulking, they might never find their way back to each other. That he would not allow.

Michaela knew about the visit, but Krisis had sworn her to secrecy. He wanted to catch Leigh off guard. If she knew he was coming, she’d prepare solid arguments, and put up walls around her. It was best to surprise her.

“So are you ready to win her over?” J.D asked a little while later, after they’d checked into their hotel and had had some time to relax. He craftily dodged Krisis’ high kicks.

Both men were very good at sparring.

“How did you know I lost her?” Krisis asked, aiming for his opponent’s midsection.

“Because you’ve been growling like a bear with a sore head, and she’s been pretty waspish lately. So what did you do this time?” J.D. sent him reeling back.

“It’s the business with Jacqueline. I told her she’s pregnant, and she hasn’t said anything since!” Krisis quickly regained his composure, and he went flying in the air, but once again J.D. artfully dodged his kicks.

“It’s a complicated mess, and you can’t expect her to be pleased. When you go after her, make sure you know it’s for keeps this time. You can’t chase after her, only to break her heart in a few weeks. This baby will be arriving in three months, and knowing Jacqueline…” J.D. let the rest of his sentence hang in the air. Yes, Krisis knew Jacqueline; if he didn’t know better he’d think she’d planned this.

“I know who I want, and it’s Leigh. I want to spend the rest of my life with her,” Krisis shot back, claiming victory.

“Go get her, tiger,” J.D slapped him on his back, before walking off to freshen up.

“I don’t want any trouble Krisis,” Krimsyn warned him before he left. She didn’t approve of his relationship with Leigh, especially because Leigh was her employee, and she looked like Laura. 

She thought he was reliving his life with Laura, but he wasn’t. Their looks were the only thing in common Laura and Leigh had. Inwardly they were as different as night and day.

On the other side of the village Michaela was not having a great day. They were in Shang Simla for three days now, and she knew her chances with Jett vanished with each passing hour.

It wasn’t fair that she couldn’t keep in touch with him. She had no international roaming on her cell phone, all Krimsyn’s doing. Her mom insisted she had to focus on her school work, and there’d be plenty of Jett when the school was out in November, which seemed so far away.

The heart wants what the heart wants NOW, not in November!

“I don’t see how learning to break kung-Fu boards or whatever it is, is going to help me achieve an A,” she grumbled as yet another flashbulb smacked her in the face, causing her to lose her temper.

“Can you get that piece off shit out of my face please?” She glared at the news hound, and almost snatched the camera from him. Though she’d been raised in the spotlight all her life, she still found the constant reporters and photographers scary.

“Imagine how unique and interesting your essay will be when you recount things you’ve experienced from memory, rather than imagination,” Leigh explained for the millionth time, as she artfully dodged the photographer.

She too, was almost cracking under the constant glares from the reporters. Back in Bridgeport, she could ignore it because she always had Krisis on hand, and he knew how to evade them. But here, it was a totally different matter.

She missed him dearly, but she had to let him go. Move on with her life. Though she hadn’t made their break-up official, she thought he knew by now things were over between them.

“Leigh, is it just a coincidence that K-Infinity is in town the same time as you, or did you and Krisis plan this rendezvous?” The reporter asked boldly after more flashes from the camera.

She was tempted to give him a few choice words when she saw him scribble something is his notebook.

How many lives has he destroyed with all his rubbish?  How many relationships has he broken, or false accusations he’s sent to be printed because at the end of the day it’s all just business to them? Leigh thought sadly, remembering the media blitz in Bridgeport, back when she and Krisis started dating.

It had been brutal. Every day a different scandal, rumors of breakups, insinuations, and assumptions about why Krisis was with her. He’d assured her time and again, it had nothing to do with the fact that she looked like Laura, and she believed him. But the ugly stories still hurt.

No doubt by tomorrow morning my life will be splashed all over Shang Simlan newspapers. She thought pensively before offering the standard non-reply Krisis had taught her.

“No comment.”

“So is that a yes? Which hotel is he staying at? Are you staying with him?” he continued, despite the “no comment” which always worked back home.

Krisis was in town. She was still reeling from the news. She looked at Michaela, and she shook her head, an innocent smile on her face.

She was about to punish her student by adding an extra 20 boards to her workout for keeping the news of Krisis’ visit a secret when a man, a little younger than herself, asked for an autograph.

She was taken aback and for a second she didn’t know what to say to him. How did she explain to him she was just a school teacher and not a real celebrity without sounding like she was brushing him off?

“Please Ms. Leigh, sign it for my sister. She likes you so much, she thinks you’re very pretty. We’ve seen you lots of times on VMC with Krisis,” the guy was almost pleading now, the smile in his brown eyes caught her heart, and she relented.

She drove the pen right through the paper, convinced the man was laughing at her. Her first autograph and she’d made a mess.

“Sorry,” she mumbled softly.

“That’s okay, you can write here.” He tapped a small space on the piece of paper that was still untouched.

“Okay, what should I say?” She asked, really warming up to this.

“How about, ‘my darling Pong, you’re always in my heart, your love, Leigh?’” He smiled sweetly.

“I thought this was for your sister?” Leigh raised an amused eyebrow, and quickly scribbled, five words, ‘To Pong, with love, Leigh,’ and added her signature L with a flourish. By now Pong was in a state, and Leigh was convinced he would have a heart attack right there on the martial arts stage.

“Thank you. Thank you. You are so much nicer in real life!” Luckily he was still alive when Leigh handed him his signed paper…

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