This Heart of Mine

Ch. 2: More Headaches

Lauren seethed from where she stood; her pale skin burned redder and blotchier by the second.

"Seriously? Why are you even home early?" Lauren asked, sounding like she'd somehow been inconvenienced.

Naina sighed. "I got hit in the head by a client today. Gigi thought it'd be better for me to head home. Besides, what's it to you if I come home to my apartment early?"

Lauren gritted her teeth. "I can't believe you'd say something like that to him! He just moved in!"

"He didn't care!" Naina cried out. At least, she hoped he didn't.

Lauren and she used to be close friends. College had separated them, with Lauren choosing a sorority and parties, while Naina chose her room and laptop. When Lauren's aunt, Gigi, offered Naina a job, she took it, but it came with a catch.

She had to let Lauren live with her, until Lauren found a decent job and income. Gigi was furious at her niece for wasting her time and money crying over boys and booze. Even if Lauren had gotten good grades, Gigi wasn't going to let her off easily.

Which was why Naina was still stuck with her years later. The contract Gigi had made would expire and with it: Lauren being around.

"Whatever," Lauren huffed.

Naina didn't give a comeback; it'd only encourage Lauren. She went to her room and passed out on her bed without changing her clothes.

Something suffocated her in the dream, pushing deeply into her chest. It felt like a bag of bricks moving and gyrating.

She woke up to her Siamese-mix, Queenie, kneading her paws into Naina's chest. Unfortunately, her claws weren't retracted.

"Wha—Ow, ow! That hurts Queenie!" Gently, she picked up the mewling cat and put her on the comforter.

The apartment was deadly silent and out her window, she could see the sun setting, enveloping the sky in brilliant pink, orange and purple colors. Lauren might have met up with someone, Naina thought. She'd forgotten to feed her pet again.

The cat wasn't Naina's. Lauren had adopted Queenie last year, because, she'd claimed, she needed a companion 'that understood her'.

Naina thought it was to boost her Instagram likes and followers. They'd jumped significantly afterwards; once it'd steadied, Lauren seemingly lost her interest in her pet. But Naina loved Queenie.

She was a beautiful Siamese-Tabby mix, with stripes resembling that of a tigers and brilliant sky-blue eyes. Queenie's personality varied on some days; she could be caring and cuddly most days but some days, she'd just jump to the top of the fridge and judge everyone with her icy-cold eyes.

Maybe she knew Naina was hurting; she was fairly cuddly today, jumping on Naina's lap when she'd finished eating and purring deeply. Naina was just settling into a YouTube movie when a loud knock resounded from the front door.

She glanced towards the tall lamp, wondering if she should pick it up. Nobody ever knocked on their door, unless it was Gigi stopping by or one of Lauren's hot guys. The lamp didn't work at all; it was solely there in case Naina was ever alone and an intruder showed up.

She picked it up and headed to the front door.

Damian stood across from her, looking even more pissed off than she'd seen earlier.

"Hi, sorry, I came by earlier," he said, in a rushed voice. "I think something fell out of my wallet, would it be alright if I check your sofa?"

He seemed to notice then, that she was holding the lamp.

"Um." His eyes darted between the lamp and her.

"Yeah, go for it," she responded, stepping aside and placing the lamp down.

He searched through the sofa and underneath it, extracted a small card which he blew the dust off of. Relief poured from his face, despite the grumpiness.

Naina stood close to the door. She didn't trust good looking guys in general; they were the bane of her existence, always causing problems for her since elementary school. When he came up to her, she realized his scowl had disappeared.

Hard to tell underneath his beard, but he was smiling; his eyes at the very least, crinkled in a way that she felt wasn't fake.

"Thanks, for opening it up. I was worried no one would be here," he muttered.

"No problem." She wasn't sure if she could address him by his first name and stood there with the sentence still hanging out of her mouth. "What was it? If you don't mind me asking?"

His eyebrows furrowed towards each other, and fear started itching her brain. He looked really angry.

But with the softest voice, he said, "It's a picture of me and my mom. Have a good night, ma'am. I'll see you around."

"Yeah, um, you too."

After giving a curt nod, he walked away.

"Did that just happen?" she asked Queenie.

Queenie gave her a look of utter boredom, yawned and settled into her kitty bed.

A good night's rest helped her heal and by the morning, the bump on her head only hurt when touched.

Gigi, however, bore down on her with bad news the minute she walked into work.

"There's a new owner of the Carlyle Ranch. He does not want to do any more weddings after the next contracted ones are done."

Naina dropped the files she carried and stared at Gigi, unable to comprehend. "Um, what did you say?"

Gigi started repeating herself before Naina cut her off. "No! I know that. But he can't do that!"

Ollie, who was sitting in Gigi's office, shrugged. "Technically, he can. It's his place, he's more than welcome to close it off."

"But—But—"

"Naina, sweetie," Ollie said calmly. "I understand. It's an important place around here. Which is why—"

"We decided you should go talk to him," Gigi finished.

She looked between the two of them, hoping one of them would yell 'Psych!'

But they stared back at her, small smiles playing on their faces.

She fumbled her words. "Oh no—no, you know—you, seriously? You know how bad I am at convincing people of things! Especially something important like this!"

"Then we lost the ranch, I guess," Gigi stated. She turned back to Ollie, as if to say something.

Naina whimpered, "Can't you go?"

"I can, but I want you to. He's a young guy and I want you to handle it," Gigi said. "I know you'll get this. Just go and see what he really wants."

"But what if I fail?" she whined. Already something was squeezing her heart tightly; her chest constricted in a painful way, and she took her breaths in faster.

"It's alright if it doesn't work," Gigi said, though a bit more soothingly. "I'll take over for your next meeting. Go and convince him."

On the way there, Naina screamed at her wheel.

"Of course he has to close it down now! And of course, she'd choose the most insecure, awkward person ever to go have it fixed!"

She wondered what Gigi really felt about her. First it was sacking Lauren onto Naina's back. Now this.

What was next?

The ranch looked as rustically beautiful as ever. Tall, beautiful weeds grew and danced to the tunes of the summer winds. The sun glared down harshly, as if punishing all who refused to wear shorts.

Like Naina.

~~~

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