STAR STRUCK: epilogue continues (book 2)

Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

Detours

still 21 days before take-off

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"So, who is this guy again?" I asked.

"He's amazing!" Vincent said as an opening sentence, which proved to be unhelpful. I glared but he didn't see, his speech continuing without a failed beat. "He taught me all the things I needed to know. I don't think I would ever understand what I know now if it wasn't because of him. It's still a mystery to me why he's here and not up there, but I don't ask why that is. All I know is that without him, I'd probably be so confused about what I am," Vincent said. 

"What are you now?" I asked. "And all those things, they don't answer my question. Who is he, Vince? I really wanna know."

He smiled as his eyes were focused on the road. "You'll see," he said.

He's been like this for the whole car ride. He doesn't give me a name or even a description. I've heard nothing but praise for the past half hour. It doesn't appear to be convincing when you're being told that this certain person is gonna help you and yet you don't have a clear picture of what they look like. It's like imagining a person and all you could manage are the sticks for the limbs and a circle for the head. I don't see a face at all. 

I figured I wouldn't get anything out of him even if I tried so I kept the questions at bay for now. Maybe I'd just have to ask the actual person himself when we get there. 

I reached out to turn on the radio of the car as a last resort to not getting what I want. I switched through the channels that I knew of with ease, the familiar sounds engulfing the both of us. 

I liked car rides. That was a fact that my father somehow knew as he suggested that he buy me a car. What he doesn't understand is that I liked car rides when I'm not the one driving them. Boss would take me from time to time when he likes it, especially when we have deliveries or some sort to a special customer. Those rare moments when a rich friend of his from downtown would request big batches of his cakes and bonus coffee lattes. It would turn out to be the sort of father-and-daughter activity that I never had with real sperm donor. Not since the good times as far as I could remember. 

The ride, more specifically the car itself, made me smile with the memories. It was the same one Boss would use when he needed a run around town and the island. He lent it to Vince for the time being as he ended up being the one in charge of the deliveries this time around. The cafe couldn't survive without the manager recently and every one of the unlikely tourists preferred Boss's special brew more than Vincent's boring ones. Their words, not mine. 

I let out a chuckle as I realized how useless the car is to Vincent if you think about it. He couldn't even survive on his own without me coming along with him.

"What are you laughing about this time?" Vincent asked. His eyes were focused on the road so I doubt he saw me smiling. I guess my giggles were loud enough for him to hear.

"Nothing," I said. "Just, something funny."

"I know it's funny. That's why people laugh, because something is funny." I laughed at his matter-of-fact tone along his knitted eyebrows. "So, what is it?"

"Why are you even curious?" I asked. 

"I heard it, now I can't ignore it. You're probably laughing something about me again anyway."