81. Disappointed

Genre: Paranormal romance, drama

Type: Series

Characters: Leigh, Krisis, Krimsyn, J.D., Michaela & Cameron

Prompt: 84. Disappointed

Word Count:  1500 +

Warning:  language, I think.

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

Summary: What a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive.

84. Disappointed

________

Bridgeport, present day...

The next morning, Leigh padded into the kitchen and found the band and Michaela already seated around the breakfast nook, snacking on plasma juice and fruit. Lily was no where in sight, evidently she was still sleeping in the nursery.

Leigh sighed disappointedly when she saw Krisis wasn’t around, convinced he was still at the Council’s headquarters. Instinctively she knew something was wrong, and his absence intensified her fears all the more.

Michaela looked up from her juice pack, and squealed merrily as she leapt from her seat and rushed into her arms.

“Aunt Leigh, I’m so glad you’re back. We were all so worried about you. Uncle Krisis was going out of his mind. And I missed you. Guess what? Jett is old news, there’s this…” She went on and on, oblivious to her aunt’s state of discomfort.

Leigh smiled engagingly at Michaela, but her mind wasn’t on the teen’s chatter. When Krimsyn brought her to the penthouse the previous afternoon, her former student was at a friend’s house, and Leigh had gone straight to bed in Krisis’ bedroom and cried herself to sleep, so she hadn’t seen Michaela for almost three months. The young girl's clinginess was understandable, but Leigh was anxious to hear about Krisis and the Council’s decision.

“That’s great honey,” she patted Michaela’s hand, and gently eased her way from the teen’s chatter.

“Any news?” She asked Krimsyn and JD. She saw the strange look pass between them, but she didn’t say anything.

“Krisis is fine. He came home last night,” Krimsyn explained.

“And he didn’t wake me up? What did the Council say? Is it bad?” Leigh’s panicked voice rose shrilly with each passing second.

“Leigh. It’s okay. Krisis will be home soon and he’ll explain-” J.D. paused then, afraid he’d say too much. 

She saw the strange look pass between him and Krimsyn again, but this time she didn’t let it go.

“Why are you all skirting around me? Why can’t you look me in the eye? What’s going on?” She cried. Krimsyn came over to her and put her arms around her, but Leigh brushed them off and stood her ground.

“What are you hiding from me?” She demanded forcefully.

J.D. felt he was way out of his depth, and he didn’t think it was their place to tell Leigh about the Council’s decision, so he led Michaela from the room, leaving Krimsyn to deal with the mess.

“The Council gave their ruling, Leigh, and it’s not bad. Krisis will be okay. You’ll both be okay,” Krimsyn murmured.

Leigh saw right through her crafty explanation. There was a lot that wasn’t said, a lot that Krimsyn wasn’t planning on telling her.

“If it’s good news, why isn’t he here? Why did he not wake me up when he got home last night? Why did he sneak off and leave me here with you?” She asked as calmly as she could muster.

Krimsyn held up her hands, it wasn’t her place to tell her more than she already had.

“He’s not here because he has to arrange Jacqueline’s memorial service. He hated her, but she was Lily’s mother,” Krimsyn justified her brother’s absence, but Leigh wouldn’t have any of it.

“Fine!” She stormed from the room.

Inside the bedroom, she quickly changed into her day clothes and collected her luggage bags and called for a taxi.

Ten minutes later, her phone rang. It was the taxi driver. He wanted to know if there was another entrance he could use. The reporters were still camping outside the main entrance. Leigh informed him there was no other way in or out, and he should wait out there, she’d be fine. She hoped she would. Moving through the throngs of deranged reporters wouldn’t be an easy feat.

“Where are you off to? You have to stay here and wait for Krisis. Those damn vultures are still outside,” Krimsyn cried.

“I’m going home. I need to be with Devon and Eloise,” Leigh replied, jabbing hard at the elevator button.

“But if Krisis…”

“I don’t care what Krisis thinks. If he cared at all he would have been here to explain everything to me!” Leigh retorted, not giving Krimsyn a chance to change her mind.

At that moment she didn’t understand Krisis and his actions. For someone who had hated Jacqueline, he was suddenly neck deep in her affairs. Clearly, arranging the green eyed witch’s memorial service was much more important than informing her of the Council’s decision…

The elevator flew open, and Krisis came out.

He looked at Leigh, and then at Krimsyn before glancing back at Leigh and her bags. Wordlessly he picked up her luggage and went back inside the lift, Leigh followed behind him.

Krisis had read her thoughts. She was pissed at him. Anything he said at that point wouldn’t matter. She was so hell-bent on going back home, to Eloise and Devon. As much as he wanted to keep her with him, he knew he’d be busy over the next few days with Jacqueline’s memorial service, and cleaning up the media mess. Taking her back to Devon’s place was the best solution. For now. Or until he had worked through his feelings about the Council’s decision.

He was too proud to admit he was afraid and feeling vulnerable, and he needed some time; and he needed her to be patient with him over the next few days. He chose to suffer in silence instead and glared straight ahead, bracing himself for the media chaos outside.

Leigh was disappointed he wasn’t begging her to stay. But she was too stubborn to tell him what was on her mind, and so she let him guide her through the reporters waiting outside and safely inside his car. He paid the waiting cab driver before he got behind the wheel.

The drive to her apartment was tense. She glanced at him a few times, and opened her mouth to say something, but she quickly closed it when his blue eyes stared back at her, the cold fury evident.

“So you were just going to leave?” He asked after a while. His voice was deceptively calm and she knew she was in trouble. What she didn’t understand though, was how their roles had changed so swiftly. He had no right to be mad at her; he was the one withholding information from her.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” Leigh replied in a small voice, shrinking in her seat. “You came home, and you didn’t wake me up. You knew I was anxious to know about the ruling!”

“You were sleeping so peacefully and I didn’t want to disturb you. The past few days have been hard on you. You deserved the rest. Leigh, I’m going to be very busy over the next couple of days. I have to arrange Jacqueline’s memorial service…” His voice trailed off and she waited for more, but he didn’t say anything else.

“What did the Council say? Is everything sorted out?” She asked, feeling more in control now.

It took him a long time to reply. She felt him withdraw from her, felt him block her out. As hard as she tried to concentrate on hearing his thoughts and sensing his emotions she couldn’t. Her attempts were met by a deafening silence, threatening to drive a wedge between them.

“Why are you shutting me out?” She asked softly, a confused look in her eyes.

She waited for his answer, heard him hesitate and she knew he was thinking up lies to tell her. And all she could do was hope and wish he would change his mind and tell her the truth instead.

Her heart broke a little when he finally spoke. “I’m not shutting you out. And everything is fine. But there are some things I need to do. Things I can’t tell you about. Remember when I came to you about Vladimir, I told you about our people, and I also told you there are things I can’t tell you, things I can’t talk about? The outcome of my meeting with the Council is one of those things. I’m sorry.”

Just like that, the matter was closed, it wasn’t up for discussion. By then they’d arrived at her apartment. She slammed his car door hard when she got out, wishing it was his head she was pounding on.

“Leigh, whatever happens, know that I love you,” he murmured. She turned back and looked at him, long and hard, trying to understand the meaning behind his words.

She knew she should turn around and leave before they were both pushed into saying things they’d later regret, but her feet were rooted to the spot. She waited for him to change his mind, for him to let her in and trust her, but he stubbornly held out on her, and she was the first to give in. She walked away without a backward glance.

“You sure have a funny way of showing it, Krisis Frost, I know something’s wrong, and I wish you’d trust me. I wish you’d let me help you.” She whispered to herself, quickening her pace as she rushed inside her building...