Secrets & Lies {On Hold}

~*Twenty-Five*~

Rachel stands up instantly, her knees suddenly weak as she stares at Chandler's beaming face.

Demon.

Claire scoffs slightly beside her, saying "You're so clumsy! Look at how you ruined everything with your soup!"

That's when it hits Rachel that she dropped her soup spoon which was full of soup when Chandler came. She looks down at Scarlet's dress, seeing the huge stain made by the soup on it and also some soup splattered on the table.

Her mom looks at her slightly embarrassed and she look towards Peter Reid to offer an apology.

"I'm so sorry." Rachel mutters, her mind still in disarray "I'll go clean up in the bathroom."

Without even a second look at Chandler, she grabs her small purse and rushes over to the bathroom, turning on the tap when she reaches the sink.

Rachel tries to clean the stain on her dress but her hands become ineffective all of a sudden, the implication of Chandler being back in Lakewood hitting her in full force.

She closes her eyes.

Please let me be dreaming. Please don't let this be real.

The hands that set itself intimately on her hips mixed with the unforgettable scent of peppermint has Rachel's eyes springing open urgently.

Her black eyes catch Chandler behind her through the mirror and she is shaken stiff, completely frozen in place as he tightens his grip on her broad hips and leans into her ear to whisper "Even after all these years, you're still so very beautiful."

Rachel flinches, goosebumps invading her skin in irritation as she pushes Chandler's hands off her hips, taking several steps away from him afterwards.

"What are you doing here?" Rachel croaks, disbelief still prevalent in her voice.

"I told them I needed to use the bathroom as well." Chandler shrugs, his blue eyes trained on Rachel as his gaze drags down her body lustily causing a shiver to run down Rachel's spine.

"I didn't mean the bathroom!" Rachel says through gritted teeth, her fists at her side clenching "I meant in Lakewood. What are you doing back here?"

"Unfinished business." Chandler chides with a smile and Rachel can sense the unspoken promise in his words. "How's your boyfriend? are you two still together? Oh what was his name again?"

Rachel remains silent, the fear in her veins mating with the anger and hate in her heart to make her feel unsteady and ready to explode as she clenches her jaw while Chandler just stares at her, the amusement and sadistic glint in his blue eyes never once fading as his lips morph into a lopsided grin.

"That's none of your business!" Rachel yells, the firmness in her voice taking her by surprise while Chandler chuckles.

"Enrique." Chandler proffers "That was his name, Enrique. Such a sweet fellow he was, too bad his girlfriend couldn't match his loyalty." Chandler shakes his head purposefully in a taunt and Rachel finds herself biting back tears as memories of her past begin to flood her mind.

"Go to hell!" She rebukes, the hatred in her eyes clear as day.

"You sound just like my fiancée." Chandler admits, remembering the various curses Kaitlain Cassidy had let slip from her mouth over the months.

He smirks in sudden joy.

"Poor soul she is to be tied to you." Rachel points out "I hope she realises how much of a monster you truly are before it's too late for her. You're a demon."