PLAY WITH FIRE

CHAPTER 22

SCARLETT VALENTINE

PRESENT TIME

Since the moment we left Martha's house last night, Holden and I have shared probably about 10 sentences at the most; all which were said today at the bureau. When we got in his car last night neither of us spoke a word. I said thanks for the lift when he dropped me home. Then this morning we greeted each other with a simple 'hi' when I turned up at the bureau after Matthews picked me up. Holden was supposed to but apparently he'd asked Matthews to as he was 'too busy' to go 'out of his way' to get me. 

We've asked simple questions like:

Is this helpful? 

What's the paper say?

What's the date?

What's the name of the witness? 

And then before Holden left for the day he told me Schmidt would be picking me up tonight and that he'd see me at the party for Eros. That was it. And not once did he look at me. 

I clearly fucked up by kissing him last night. It was a fucking stupid impulsive move I'd made in the heat of the moment and now regretted. If I didn't kiss him he wouldn't be avoiding me at all costs. If I didn't kiss him we'd be at least acting like...friends? 

I would certainly never forgive Holden for what he said to me 5 years ago, but I'd learnt to separate Holden and Wyatt in my mind. Holden isn't to blame for Wyatt's actions. Holden had in fact been the one to find me innocent. Holden was a friend and had started to become one again. Holden isn't Wyatt. 

And whilst what Holden said could never be justified, he still was, at that point in time, being manipulated and abused into siding with his family. I couldn't blame him. I would've sided with my family too. Every fucking time. 

"Scar, it's for you" I'd been too busy staring at myself in the mirror to hear the knock on the door. I hesitated to move from my spot, feeling uncomfortable in the white dress Quita insisted I wore, that was stuck to my body, feeling ugly, feeling fat, feeling ready to lock myself in the bathroom. I pushed back the insecurities and made my way out of my room, down the hall and into the lounge where Schmidt was stood waiting for me. The second he looked up, his eyes meeting me and what I was wearing, they bulged out of his head. I immediately shook my hands, turning around. 

"Nope. I'm not going" Schmidt laughed behind me before his hand wrapped around my wrist turning me around. 

"Come on, Scar. You look beautiful" I scoffed, shaking my head. 

"Then why did your eyes practically jump out of your head?" I felt so self conscious, I wanted to curl up into a ball and rock myself back and forth until I died. 

"Trust me when I say it was a good reaction" Schmidt replied, eyes falling from my face and scaling down my body. His grip around my wrist tightened slightly. Schmidt let out a long breath, slightly shaking his head. 

"You look...really good, Scar" Whilst he was looking over me I took it as my opportunity to look at what he was wearing. Suit pants and a black dress shirt. Simple but very attractive. Schmidt had always been handsome. 

"You look quite pretty" I replied, Schmidt snorting as his eyes connected back with mine. 

"Pretty?"

"Trust me when I say it's a good reaction" I mocked him from moments ago, Schmidt rolling his eyes, a smile on his face as he let go of my wrist and started walking over to the front door. He opened the door, turning back to look at me frowning when he saw I was still stood in the same spot.