The Real Reed

Chapter 30

The old painting on the wall stared back at me with sadness laced in its eyes
Lacking the colors of life, its skin seemed like it had been bruised to the last
Wrinkles screaming in agony, as the dust veils every glimmer of hope
Beauty forgotten, elegance misplaced, I could see it fade into nothingness

       
                                               -Krystal

Anikkah's POV

I was utterly confused.

Andre had sounded just as confused when he called to give me a heads up that Harry was coming. Apparently, he had gone to look for him at the hospital to ask for my number and my idiot -yet extremely attractive- boyfriend had decided that it would be a better idea to give him his house address instead.

I knew he wasn't cut-up with what was going on. The night Reed left Harry's house and came here, he was on duty at the hospital. When he got back, I just told him that I felt more comfortable with Reed around me and he didn't question me, which I was extremely grateful for.

I knew why Harry was looking for me. He was just trying to find Reed, which meant that he either didn't have her phone number, or she wasn't picking his calls; I was pushing towards the latter because it seemed like a more likely and understandable scenario.

The fact that he had to go through all of this trouble to find her was both amusing and irking. His efforts were commendable, but did he really think this could all just magically go away?

Obviously not, because if he did, he would have been looking for her to try and resolve it with her personally, like I had initially believed.

But no, he wasn't looking for Reed.

When I opened the door and saw him there, I had told him that Reed had gone out for the day and wouldn't be back until dinner time. I saw a lot of emotions flash through his eyes, from relief to pain to regret, but what I didn't expect was for him to remain at the doorstep. I guess the stupid part of me thought that he'd come all the way here to look for her, find out she wasn't here and then just leave.

It turns out that dear Mr.Styles was looking for me instead. And I knew he could have stood a better chance talking to Reed because I definitely wasn't ready to hear anything he had to say.

He had no right to treat Reed the way he did, then dump her at the side like she was some old pair of sneakers he had outgrown, only to try and weave his way back into her life like nothing happened.

I blamed myself for getting her into this situation in the first place. It was my fault that the curtain had caught on fire because I was careless enough to leave the candle at the windowsill after lighting it, instead of placing it back on the kitchen counter. I was the one who stupidly tried to put out the fire instead of waiting for the fire department to get there first, even though I have asthma.

I was the one who let her stay with him even after I was leaving the hospital. I failed to remember the fact that, as famous and nice as he was, he was still a stranger.

Sure, I was being a hypocrite by moving in with my boyfriend of two months, who I had only known for two months, who still technically was a stranger. But, I'm an adult and I can handle myself. Besides, it would have been safer and more logical to have her with me since I'm technically her legal guardian now and this city is still foreign to her; I know that Andre wouldn't have minded.

But the moment I saw how well Harry took care of Reed, I decided to go with the irrational "let life do it's thing" mantra and look where that got us.

"I don't think you came all the way here to not say anything." I say a bit harshly, feeling my patience run out by the second.

"Of course not, Miss Eichab." Harry's sister, he introduced as Gemma, responds politely.