《Burned (Hate at First Flight #2) ✔️》21. Frost-like Atmosphere
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Life is and will always be a mystery. And mysteries are what make up life. That I had learnt from Nancy when I was eleven after I wondered out loud why us humans just happened to survive on an ideal planet that was coincidentally enough placed in the perfect spot in this universe we call home.
I learnt that life sometimes had mysteries that were worth solving and sometimes it didn't.
Now, life decided to throw me another one.
In this case, who was Georgia Frost, really?
Now this mystery, unlike the many I have yet to understand had many answers I discovered as we sat down seconds after our weird and on my part, paranoid, introduction. The answers came after Georgia talked about her visit to the Amazon rainforest to study wildlife. This of course threw me into another confusing twist. She didn't look like the type to enter a dangerous place like the Amazon rainforest, with its exotic and toxic wildlife. She also at Will's behest said that her brother, Jace would be coming for a visit in February after six years away, studying.
So far, I learnt that she was pursuing a degree in Biology and Wildfire or whatnot. She was more than her outward appearance which would lead others to believe she was the type that wouldn't hike through a rainforest. She was the epitome of 'don't judge a book by its cover'. She had a brother named Jace and that he had been away from Los Angeles for the past four years, who she adored highly. They had all been childhood friends, and all grew up together. Her parents owned Frost and Frost, one of the cities biggest law firms that incurred an annual income of $60 million from their equally renowned clients.
And the one final fact that surprised me the most of all?
Douglas Burns was undeniably in love with her.
The fact wouldn't have escaped me even if I was blind.
I wanted to laugh as this thought developed.
Douglas Burns, the demon spawn, was in love with Georgia Frost.
Then the pieces started to fall together.
Georgia. The name of his thoroughbred. He most likely named it after her.
This was the leverage Will had against that prevented him from telling his father about last Saturday. This was what Will meant when he had said he had something Douglas wanted.
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This was why he had been so nice to me for the past week. This was why he had let me go out with Will today, so he could spend some time with her.
My gleeful attitude soured as it all made sense. And here I was thinking the ass had developed a conscience and wanted to mend broken fences. Then again, I had thought he was the second coming of Regina George.
Georgia Frost.
Her name was a near fit to the infamous Mean Girl. She also somewhat resembled her, blonde hair, perfect fair and proportions. Perfect everything really. I would've steered clear of her instantly just by her outward appearance.
But something didn't fit right. Her smiles looked too genuine. Her laughs were joyful and her manner of speaking was humbling really.
I watched from my seat, by the small armchair to Will's left as she relayed their childhood memories about how she had been bullied by Douglas and her brother, Jace because they didn't want her to follow after them when they were seven and her six.
"What about you, Krystal?" She asked me all of a sudden, breaking into my thoughts. "Have you got any older brothers making your childhood hell?"
I stiffened as I gathered myself, wanting to not come off as mean and the only one not following the direction of the conversation. "B-brothers?"
She nodded as she smiled at me encouragingly. "Yeah. Or older sisters?"
I shook my head as sadness dawned at the thought of siblings which led to my thoughts drifting to my parents. "No, not really," my voice was low. I had always wanted siblings. I remembered begging my parents for one, that is back when I thought you just magically went to the hospital and the lovely doctors there just handed you one baby to take home.
"Younger ones?"
I shook my head again. This time unable to muster up my voice to answer.
She frowned before she smiled at me again. "Oh, your parents didn't want another one?"
I shook my head. "I gues-"
"Her parents died three years ago, Georgie. Let it go."
I looked up at his words, shocked to see Douglas watching me with an almost pitying look. The atmosphere had tensed instantly as no one knew what to say.
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"I'm...I'm sorry," I heard Georgia apologize seconds later. I could almost feel her looks of pity directed at me.
I didn't bother to soothe her conscience as my eyes darkened to a glare as I stared at Douglas. He looked almost surprised.
What was he expecting? A thank you for divulging my life story?
"What?" He asked me after I continued to glare at him. "I was just telling her the truth and to save you the time of explaining it to her."
"It wasn't your story to tell," I gritted out as I felt Will's hand on mine and patting it slowly to comfort me. "It is mine!"
"What?" He scoffed. "Do you expect an apology now?"
"Yes, you degraded spoilt fool! You damn well owe me an apology. I respect your privacy and you owe me the same courtesy. You don't go around telling people my story when I told you that expecting you to not go around mouthing it off to everyone you know."
"I haven't been mouthing off to everyone I know!" He argued as this time his eyes darkened.
"You just did, Douglas. It might not be a lot of people but it's still enough. You don't see me going to the press and releasing every single detail of how much of an ass you are and how you got me fired from an internship I didn't even start, now do you?"
He looked at me with shock at my words before a look of confusion dawned.
I sighed before I added, "That would've been an insult to you and would have removed any sense of humanity I have. I know its not the same with what you just did, but it still is something. My private life and what happened in it should be told by me. You can only talk about it after my expressed permission, not before. And I don't care that you thought you were helping me out, I could have explained everything myself!"
I felt my tears threatening to fall, so I pulled my hand away from Will's and walked out of the room as fast as possible. I didn't like it. I didn't like the looks of pity that I got from people when I told them about my parents. Pity should only be awarded when there was an ounce of regret or a lack of something gained.
I didn't like pity. It made me feel like people thought that in the short time time I'd known my parents that they didn't give me enough love. They did. They always did. That was why I didn't like it. If anything, people should smile at the happy memories they left behind. I didn't like the fact that they died but it couldn't be helped. It was in the past now, and all I could do was remember them fondly. The pity just made me lose my resolve. It made me want them back. It made me rethink and question why they had to die when they did. It also made me bubble over with grief.
Pity also made me dwell on what would have been, what would it have been like if they still were alive. If that happened, it would be an insult to Nancy, who had always been there for me for the past three years. The one person who had done everything she could to give me a sense of normalcy.
I didn't like that Douglas said those words so easily, with no restraint of forethought. He had said it like he was saying 'They're on a trip to the South of France'.
I was now by the picnic table out in the backyard, overlooking the masterfully trimmed hedges in the form of Greek deities, trying to gather myself and calm down. I still had an hour to go until I could leave this place and until then I couldn't, not if I wanted to get into trouble with Mr Burns. And something told me, Douglas would not be giving me any form of leniency anymore after what had happened in there.
I felt someone hug me from behind tightly, leaving me stone frozen.
Who could it be?
"I'm sorry."
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