See the wait wasn't too bad this time, was it? I could have made this chapter longer, but I wanted to get it posted and move forward with Chapter 6. For the one poster, sorry there's no sex yet, but all these darn obstacles keep ruining Kiera and Grayson's alone time! I know rude, right?
Enjoy! CricketMuse
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Kiera entered A Typical Oasis, the bar she owned with her closest friends, at a quarter past four. Amber was sitting in the office absently flipping through a magazine. She looked up when Kiera rushed in and tossed her purse on the desk.
"You're late," she said without looking up.
"I know I'm sorry. Why are you here, I thought you were off today." Kiera plopped down on the chairs.
Amber simply shrugged. With no further response forthcoming Kiera stood and went to the front where Adam, Jasmine, Mason and one of their part-time waitresses got ready to open at five. She waved off her friends questioning glances and went behind the bar to get herself a bottle of water. Jasmine joined her as she slugged down the water in several gulps, half trying to cool herself off from the residual heat from Grayson's embrace, half to mentally prepare herself for the evening.
"Did you oversleep?" Jasmine asked. She noticed her friend's flushed face and wondered at the cause.
"No, I was out and lost track of time." Kiera couldn't keep the defensive tone from her voice. She was never late and Jasmine made a veritable habit out of it, but no one ever got on her case. Instead they laughed it off as one of the perks of owning their own business. Kiera bit her tongue from saying such as she sensed Jasmine's concern was genuine. No one in the room was suspicious, only confused by her out of character behavior.
"Did you call in Amber for a shift, she didn't say why she's here today," she asked.
Jasmine shrugged, "Nope she just showed up and has been hanging out in the office. When we asked what why she came in she said she wanted to."
The girls chatted while setting up the bar then Kiera went downstairs to work on inventory and the others opened up. Her knack for organization made her the best candidate to keep track of and order supplies. She also worked on the bookkeeping with Mason's help. Jasmine liked to keep things interesting by booking local bands or holding contests. Amber's contribution to the business was to be an efficient worker, but she rarely involved herself in anything else. As a team they had built a successful business that provided enough income to keep them living comfortably. It was a vast improvement from their individual careers, such as they were, and Kiera was very proud of their achievement.
The hours before her shift at the bar rolled by uneventfully, her mind wandering from time to time to her afternoon. She knew something was growing between her and Grayson, but didn't want to think far beyond the moment. Planning ahead had always led to problems in her life since unexpected obstacles often appeared just as she felt like she'd settled in normal society.
She recalled Grayson's question about growing up as an empath, knowing she'd left out a lot of details. Her parents, from what she remembered, couldn't understand why their little girl always cried. When she was old enough to talk and tried to tell them about the pain she felt they took her to the doctor. Of course nothing was wrong with her physically, but she couldn't explain how she felt other's feelings in her head. At the doctor's suggestion they took her to a therapist who asked her questions about her feelings, but when she told him that they weren't her feelings, that they belonged to others he said she had a delusional imagination. For a little girl it was scary to feel happiness, fear, sadness, lust and all other emotions far too advanced for her to comprehend. She just wanted to be loved by her family, but knew before they acknowledged it how much they despised her for being different. She was given to the custody of the state when she was eight and put in a home for disturbed children. It was a living nightmare for her, unable to escape the onslaught of untutored feelings that beat at her brain day and night. It was like a radio turned up to maximum volume until she couldn't sleep or think. She drowned in a sea of other people's emotions and started falling into the madness she'd been diagnosed with.
Then Amber found her one rainy day and without a word took hold of her hand. The simple gesture helped Kiera surface once more and focus on the serenity that flowed from the young girl. Amber was two years younger and put into the home when her drug addicted Mother tried to sell her for heroine. Kiera always suspected Amber was calm because of the drugs that had polluted her body as a babe. They provided her brain a respite from the visions that came unbidden to her. What she knew for sure was that Amber saved her sanity that day and many days forward. Together they worked on controlling their abilities and eventually Kiera could filter the constant stream of human emotion into a manageable hum. As she aged her abilities grew until she could track people familiar to her and project feelings into others. At fifteen she escaped from the home with Amber. They moved to a little Midwest town where she got a job as a waitress. With the money they made she was able to attend the local college and graduated by the time she was eighteen with a degree in education. They moved to Baton Rouge and with forged documents Kiera got hired as a professor, working mostly in the evenings.
They lived comfortably for a couple years and then Amber had a vision about a girl in trouble. The girl had turned out to be Jasmine. They found her outside a night club being accosted by a group of men. Her exotic Persian looks made her a target for small town good old boys who'd had too much to drink. In their first tandem act Jasmine used the confusion caused by Kiera and Amber's appearance to force the men away from her. She used her telekinetic ability to knock them over like bowling pins. Kiera injected their minds with fear, the emotion she was feeling strongest, and the men scattered in terror. It was an acquaintance built on their paranormal abilities, but quickly grew to friendship. Likewise they met Mason when he, capable of astral projection, insinuated himself into Jasmine's dreams. Using the link they tracked him down in Texas and confronted him. Caught off guard he'd admitted that it was an accident, but in finding Jasmine attractive wanted to get to know her better. The threesome accepted his apology and Jasmine and Mason dated for a few months. The relationship fizzled, but they remained close friends and eventually decided sticking together was a good plan. Paranorms banded together in a norms' world.
And so it went through good and bad until they opened their little bar with an unexpected infusion of cash and a silent fifth partner. Moving to Aventon was their clean slate, a new town with no preconceived notions. They chose it because of the warm weather and distance from their previous locations. Three years later they ran a steady business and had their version of normal lives.
Kiera's life had taken a turn for the abnormal 48 hours ago with a painful shock of terror in her weary brain and the introduction to a world she'd never suspected. She guessed her normal life was a thing of the past as long as Grayson pursued her with his smoldering gray eyes and hot touches. The realization brought her train of thought full circle. She couldn't continue to resist Gray's advances, but didn't want to plan beyond the moment.
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With no valid excuse Grayson gave into Lena's urging to join her and Alistair for dinner with Gareth. The man was affable and curious, asking questions about their species and how the myths differed from reality. Lena and Alistair answered most of his questions while Gray sat quietly. He listened as Gareth regaled them with the tale of how he met Kiera and her friends.
He'd been out with his boyfriend in Baton Rouge and they wandered into bar for an after dinner drink. Kiera had been seated next to them and struck up a conversation with them over a bowl of peanuts. Before they left for the night Kiera had handed him a napkin. He'd thought she was trying to give him her number for some reason, but when he got home he'd opened it and saw a note.
He's cheating on you.
Gareth had confronted his boyfriend, Leonard, who after lengthy denials finally admitted to be seeing someone else and using Gareth for financial reasons. He'd gone back to the bar every night for a week looking for Kiera. When she showed up he'd cornered her and asked how she knew about his boyfriend's infidelity. She first told him that Leonard's demeanor gave him away, but confided in him about her empathy when pressed for details. Being a law student made him skeptical to New Age practices so it took another demonstration to convince him. His disbelief sparked her anger and she made him cry in front of everyone. It was hilarious in retrospect, but terrified him at the time. She apologized, offered to buy him a drink and by the end of the evening they were fast friends. He'd met the other girls soon after and the foursome hung out frequently until they moved away. A couple years ago he decided to leave Louisiana and looked for a position in the area and was hired at a prestigious law firm downtown.
"So," Grayson queried, "you two were both in college together?"
"Yes and no. I was a student and she was a professor in the Sociology Department. She helped me through some tough assignments. It wasn't until later I found out the little faker was lying about her age. I'm actually a year older and there I was running to her for help," Gareth laughed.
