Stupid! Why did Ray have to come in at that moment? She hated me now.

I slid down the bathroom door, hugging my knees in my arms. Why was I overreacting? She and I weren’t in a relationship therefore, it was fine, right?

A knock on the door startled me.

“Tie, you are annoying me. I am not in the mood. Go away already!” I hissed, irritated.

“Kichi.”

My heart throbbed. “Ray.” Tie must have told her where to find me. “Did you want something?”

“You’ve been in there for some time. Are you all right?”

I wasn’t all right. But I couldn’t tell her that.

“I am fine. Be out in a moment.”

“Okay. Well, I have to get going.”

“You’re leaving?”

“There’s something I have to take care of. Someone I need to see.”

Someone. Who?

My fingers gripped the towel tightly around my body. My heart was beating so fast, I felt dizzy.

“O-o-okay.”

“Goodbye, Kichi.”

Does this mean I won’t see you again? Will my last memory of you be that pain in your eyes?

My thoughts wouldn’t quiet. I kept wondering what to do… if there was anything I could do or say to keep Ray in Chester a while longer. But she had to return to her world, where she belonged. That was all right. Whatever happened yesterday on the train was enough for me, even if my memories were hazy. It was enough because Ray was with me.

~*~_ ~*~

I put on a lace boy shorts underwear — then secured my breasts into a padded bra. Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I shoved my bangs upward to inspect myself. My large eyes flickered over the image looking back at me.

Just like I thought. Nothing special. Nothing that could keep Ray at my side.

Releasing my hair, I turned toward the bed where my clothes for the day were. Shorts and yellow scoop neck crop top. As I reached for my top, I heard a cell phone ring. I froze momentarily before pulling back my covers.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Who is this?” an angry female voice demanded. “Where is Ray?”

“Ray?”

“Yes! The owner of this phone!”

Oh.

I pulled the phone away from my ear and saw the name “Rias de Claire” on the screen. Ray’s manager. The unfriendly woman who treated me like an unwanted guest at a dinner party during my interview.

How did her phone end up in my room?

My morning quickly turned from bad to worse rather quickly.

“Rias, it’s Kichi.” I recoiled like a scared child who’d just learned about the bogeyman.

“Less than a day with you and the newspapers are already speculating.” Her words hissed into the phone.

I didn’t know what to say, so I remained quiet.

“Where is she? Put her on the phone.”

“She’s not here. She left for Bridgeport. Had something to take care of. Someone to see.”

“She is still in Chester,” Rias informed me. “Just find her.”

“Ray is still in Chester?” Just knowing that made my heart quicken.

“Don’t sound relieved. You’re not the reason she’s there. However, I need you to deliver her phone.”

I sat down on the bed. “I don’t know where she is.”

“Ray’s childhood friend, Arah, has a liquor store downtown Chester, by the same name. It’s easy to find. I’m sure that’s where she is. I will call back in a few hours.”

I clicked out of the call with a heavy heart. I wasn’t the reason Ray was in Chester. Here I was thinking she boarded the train because of me, but there was a whole other purpose.

I bent forward and picked up the newspaper with Ray and me from the floor. I crushed it into a ball and tossed it across the room out of frustration.