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She sighed. Had her father been preparing her for his own demise?
"Earth to Giselle!"
She snapped out of her thoughts at Chris's voice. She looked at him and blushed a little. His face reminded her of the last time they were together. She'd seen a different side of Chris—intimate. For the last two days, that one particular moment kept playing inside her mind. Chris had been too close to kissing her. And more than that, Giselle had felt her rebellious belly flutter at the thought.
"What's wrong with you, Pigtails?" asked Chris, a playful smile on his lips. He wore gray sweatpants with a white shirt and held two steaming mugs in his hands. "I called you three times. I mean, if you need tightening of the screws inside your head, I'm your man." Giselle began to protest but he cut her off, "I mean, I knew Psychologists were half mad, but I didn't know it'll affect you this early on."
"Hey—" she began.
"Maybe," he cut her again, half-smiling, "you were already half cracked."
Giselle tried to find a smart comeback, but it seemed like her witty self was lost somewhere. She shook her head, her mouth trying to form words, and finally settled on, "That was a lame joke." She huffed and looked toward the street again.
Chris stood beside her as he handed her the mug. "That's all you got? You're getting rusty."
"Yeah, I know," she murmured with a soft smile.
He cleared his throat. "There's a charity auction next week. Would you like to go with me?"
She stared at the street. "What would I do there?"
"Charity, dumbo. I've got a plus one."
"What about Abby?"
"Uh, I'm going on behalf of The Beaumont Enterprise. You should come."
She sighed. "Fine."
His arm touched hers. "It'll be fun. I promise. It'll just be the two of us."
She looked at him and smiled. "I'll look forward to it, then."
"I'll text you the details, Pigtails. Hey, that rhymed!"
She rolled her eyes. "You're a child."
"You're Pigtails."
"Don't call me that!"
"What, Pigtails? You don't want me to call you Pigtails? I won't call you Pigtails. Okay, Pigtails? The word is—"
"Yeah, yeah!"
It was sudden. Laughter rumbled through her system and poured out of her lips. She couldn't understand why. Maybe, it was because she got reminded of how easy it used to be. Before she went to Petrichor, these silly conversations with Chris were the highlight of her day. Whenever she felt sad, he was the only person who came to her mind, for he never failed to make her smile.
She kept her mug on the patio table and belly-laughed. Then as sudden as the laughter had come, a sob escaped her lips. She breathed in sharply and sobbed again.
He asked nothing. He put his mug aside as well, grabbed her arm, and pulled her toward his chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her face under his chin. A few more tears fell, but that was it. She sniffed, then softly chuckled, closed her eyes, and tightened her grip around him. It felt right. Her heart wished to stay wrapped up in his warmth for as long as possible.
"Giselle..." he whispered. She felt his chest vibrating with the words and smiled.
"Yeah..." she whispered back, wondering if he could hear her.
He didn't reply, but she knew he'd heard her, for he exhaled deeply.
He felt like home.
