Mr. Bad Influence

Chapter 7 - Part 1

Kerri switched on the TV and moved over to the long white leather couch her mother had just purchased. She didn't want to go back to her empty house, so she'd driven straight to her parents' place after leaving the lake house.

"I mean, look at that. They're clearly still in love with each other."

She rolled her eyes at the TV. The rest of the media had jumped onto the bandwagon. Everyone had dissected the video of her and Nick's incomplete interview and launched into different assumptions about what was said and the looks exchanged.

The media seemed to love the last part where Nick pulled her into his arms.

"Look at the small sigh she gave when she leaned on his shoulder."

"Maybe it's just familiarity," the other presenter on the talk show debated.

She sighed softly as she thought about Nick's arms around her.

Things with Nick were familiar.

"Miss Adams, you have a visitor."

She switched off the TV and looked over her shoulder to catch the back of the maid and a familiar face standing in the hallway. "Eric."

"Are you okay?" Eric Wales strode over while folding up the sleeves of his white long-sleeved shirt with thin light blue vertical lines. His short brown hair combed neatly to the side. His look hadn't changed throughout all these years they'd known each other, and they'd known each other since they were born.

She supposed Eric never had much choice. Brown hair, blue eyes. He had the right look to be a powerful player in politics, and his father had made sure Eric never strayed from the pre-determined path.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said and laughed.

"You seem perfectly fine."

"I am," she said. "What are you doing here?"

Eric joined her on the couch. "I saw your car on the way home and thought I'd drop by to make sure you're not drowning in your own tears."

"I can swim."

"I heard you went missing yesterday."

She shrugged. "I needed a break."

"You should've let someone know where you were going."

"I didn't want to be found." She returned the remote to the TV console and didn't have to turn around to know Eric was staring at her.

"I thought you'd decided to make a clean break with Nick."

"I did."

"But now that you're back at work, you run straight back to him."

"That's not true."

"Who were you with yesterday?"

She frowned. "You really don't like him."

"I saw what he did to you."

She sighed softly. "I told you. He didn't do anything to me. Every drop of alcohol I took, every party I went to, was my choice. I wanted to experience something other than film sets and church."

"And he didn't break your heart by cheating on you? He didn't let you down by choosing his drugs over you? He—"

"All right, I get it. He made mistakes, but so did I."

"You're still protective of him."

She wanted to throw something at Eric. "Because he is protective of me as well."