Double Identity

Chapter 9 : Christmas Horrors

Chapter 9 : Christmas Horrors

Mark P.O.V.

I had called as soon as I was at Kiana’s place and told the restaurant to change our time booking from seven to eight. This was the first time Kiana actually let me choose the restaurant, so I chose my personal favorite, Linguini’s. Damn their pasta’s good. She would probably kill me, so I decided to make it up for her before dinner.

We lay there, panting and under the pink covers of her pink bed. Kiana is flexible, but, for some reason, she just seriously starting to get on my nerves. I looked over to her pink bedside table and saw her pink digital alarm clock. The pink numbers flashed ’07:40pm’. All the pink was starting to give me a headache. Her bedroom was probably thrice the size of the suite, and yet, there wasn’t a single piece of furniture or appliance that isn’t in the color pink. It drove me nuts. It didn’t before, but, ever since the first day trip, I couldn’t stand it. Maybe the boys did have a point., I thought. I sighed, and got out of her bed to redress myself.

“Honey, where are you going?” Kiana asked in a high-pitched, exhausted voice.

“I already postponed our reservations, so we better get going.” A leaned over the bed and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. She smiled, and she got out of bed to get dressed as well.

We walked out of her penthouse apartment and towards Linguini’s. Despite it being cold, she wore a mini-dress that showed off her perfect body. I swear I fell in love with her all over again. I was glad that she brought her coat with her, and she actually wore a beanie. It was a miracle. I had my left arm slung over her shoulders, and her tiny left hand was intertwined with my left hand. From afar, we probably looked like the perfect happy couple, and at that moment, I felt like we were. Somehow, whenever she genuinely smiled, it was contagious. I have no idea what the guys are talking about., I convinced myself.

“—And she was, like, laughing like a hyena!” She had just finished telling me a story, and being a polite half-British gentlemen (somewhat), I laughed, and buried my face in her hair. Kiana was really tall, taller than Frank, even, and I was extremely grateful for that. Being 6”5, it made me do everything with her much, much, much easier.

“Happy Christmas,” I muttered into her hair. I kissed her head as she smiled up at me.

“You too,” She said. We were nearing Linguini’s; it was just across the street. As we neared, two people sitting at a table caught my attention. The guy looked a lot like Anthony, with his reddish-brown hair. I squinted at them, trying to make out their faces. “What’s wrong, baby?” Kiana reached up to stroke my hair.

“Nothing,” I told her. I focused at them harder, and soon enough, we were close enough to make out their faces; it was Anthony. With some mystery girl, who looked pretty good in that simple black dress of hers. When we walked into the restaurant, Kiana talked for me, since I was still too busy trying to figure out who Anthony was with. Why didn’t he tell me?

“Good Evening, welcome to Linguini’s. How may I help you this beautiful Christmas night?” The waitress behind the podium asked.

“Yes, we have a booking. Avery, Mark Avery,” Kiana told her. The waitress punched something into the computer in front of her and grabbed two menus.

“Yes, yes, of course. Come this way please.” She started walking towards Anthony, and we followed. But unlike the waitress, I stopped by Anthony, causing Kiana to halt as well. Only then was I able to see who Anthony’s date was. Franchesca.

“—So, I’m like, seriously? And she said yes! I couldn’t stop laughing!” She laughed, and Anthony followed suit. Then they seemed to notice us. “Oh! Hi there!”