The cold war 28

Chapter 4 – Confusion

“Where is she this morning”? Irina thought to herself as she stood in the gym looking out of the window at the sprawling city beneath her.

It wasn’t like Bunny to be late, and she had definitely heard her up and about in her room as she passed by earlier. Deciding to give her a few more minutes before she went to look for her, Irina started doing some light stretches, bending down to touch her toes.

As she held the position feeling the muscles in the back of her legs stretch, she suddenly felt annoyed. Bunny had just started to come out of her shell, looking happier than she had ever seen her, but then that arsehole Jake had to go and ruin things.

She’d had her own share of heartbreaks over the years, but the way Jake had seemingly led Bunny on, only to dump her by text and ignore all her calls was just cold and heartless, especially given their history together.

The news had devastated Bunny, leaving her depressed and miserable. For the past week, Irina had done everything she could think of to cheer her up, but no matter what she tried, nothing seemed to work.

Ten minutes past and there was still no sign of Bunny, and now slightly concerned, Irina got to her feet and decided to finally go check on her.

Tapping lightly on the door she was told to enter. Pushing open the door slowly, she peered in, seeing Bunny dressed in her workout gear but just sat motionless on her bed, staring down at her phone.

“Good morning”, Irina called out, “you’re not working out today”?

Ben looked his face expressionless, “I think I’ll give it a miss today”, he replied, “I’m not really in the mood”.

“Not in the mood!” Irina exclaimed with a puzzled look on her face, “but you’re already in your gym gear".

“umm… yeah, I was going to join you but then I… I… started thinking about something and kinda lost track of time”, Ben answered, his voice quiet and sad.

“Thinking about Jake, you mean”? Irina shot back, moving across the room to join him on the bed.

Ben slowly nodded, “I just can’t stop thinking about him, Reeny, it just doesn't make any sense”, he said, his voice going up an octave or two, “I think he might be in trouble”.

“Did he contact you”? Irina replied.

Ben lowered his head, “no, but that’s why I think somethings wrong, I’ve known him for years, it’s not like him to go radio silent like this”.

Irina took hold of his hand, “listen Bunny, this is not going to be easy to hear, but Jake a boy, and boys are cowards, he probably just panicked and decided to take the easy way out and ignore you hoping you'd forget about him”.

“No”, Ben shouted loudly, wrenching back his hand, “Jake’s not like that, it’s got to be Danila, he’s got something to do with this, I just know it”.

Shocked by the sudden unexpected outburst, Irina leaned back a little, “I'm sorry, I was just trying to help”, she said not knowing what to say.

Ben upon seeing her reaction, burst out in tears, “Oh...I’m sorry, Reeny, I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m just all over the place at the moment, I don’t know why I’m so emotional lately”.

Irina smiled and edged a little closer, “there’s nothing wrong with showing your emotions”, she said soothingly reaching over to gently rub his back, “I think what you need is some closure, how about later on today, we go over to Jake’s place and get some answers”?

Ben looked up as a tear slowly rolled down his cheek, “what if he tells me to go away again”? He asked pouting.

Irina smiled reaching up to wipe away the tear, “well you'll have your answer then, and this time you can look him right in the eyes”, Irina replied, “If he’s lying you’ll be able to tell, right”?

Ben thought for a second before slowly nodding, “Ok, and you’ll come with me”? he asked.

“Of course, what are big sisters for”, Irina said jumping to her feet, “but first you need to pull yourself together and get that cute little butt of yours to the gym, it’s time to work out”.

(See image 4.1)