Chris joking around and making dinner for Kiara above.

que sera sera

(prov.) what will be, will be

Keeping things casual, Kiara opted for an all-black ensemble cropped tee, leather mini and thigh high boots as she squatted past Vijay's window to get to her car. Unbeknownst to him, Chris had invited her to his home for their second date tonight. Since she and Vijay were neighbours, he could pretty much always tell when she left the house which meant she had to sneak out to prevent being interrogated tomorrow. After years of learning to evade paparazzi, she had become somewhat of an expert at identifying and losing any tails so could say with certainty that she hadn't been followed. She parked in the street by Chris' house, walking up the driveway to ring the doorbell as she anxiously rubbed at her wrist, waiting for him to let her in.

A wave of cinnamon invaded her senses as he opened the door and leaned against the doorframe, looking as if he'd just stepped out of GQ magazine, "Come on in."

How Chris managed to pull off the tropical Hawaiian shirt look, Kiara would never know but somehow it only added to the attraction. She moved expecting him to step back and make way for her to enter, swallowing nervously when he smirked and remained in place. Standing close enough to the point where their noses were touching, she side-stepped past him into the house as he followed, shutting the door behind him. He watched in rapt interest as she carefully took off her shoes, eyes trailing along with her fingers as they slowly unzipped the boots.

Swallowing thickly, he intervened, "Oh, you don't have to take your shoes off."

She placed her boots at the door, standing in her pink fluffy socks, "In my culture, it's disrespectful to walk around someone's house in shoes."

Making it a point to look away from the adorable socks, he tried his hardest but failed to keep a straight face, "Why the fuzzy socks?"

"They're comfy and warm!"

"I can see that."

Unsure of where she was going but refusing to admit it, Kiara pouted and turned away as Chris laughed before grabbing her arm and tugging her in the opposite direction. As soon as they walked into the hallway, the fluffiest dog jumped up onto her as it tried to lick her face. He playfully scolded his dog, Dodger, and led her into the kitchen where she was immediately enveloped in the delicious smells of cheesy goodness.

Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw what was baking and ran over, pressing her fingers against the oven door, "Are you making lasagne?"

Resting his hip against the kitchen island, he smiled, "Yeah. It's your favourite, right?"

She turned to face him and nodded excitedly, "Okay, I think I'm in love."

He laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling, "Well damn, I would've expected it to take longer."

Raising a brow, she sassed, "Oh that's cute," bending down to kiss Dodger's head, she continued; "but I was talking about this handsome fella."

Grabbing a beer out of the fridge, Chris laughed and joked around with Kiara as they settled into the familiar rhythm of good conversation and light-hearted fun. Eventually the timer went off, reminding them the lasagne was ready as he plated hearty portions to serve and brought them out to the living room. Being a non-drinker, she grabbed a glass of water and watched in amusement as he juggled the plates unsteadily before setting them down. Making herself comfortable on the ground, she leaned back against the foot of the sofa as Dodger curled up beside her and rested his head on her lap.

She patted the area beside her as Chris followed in suit, bending down to speak to Dodger, "Sold me out real fast, huh?"

Shoving Chris playfully, she ruffled Dodger's fur and kissed his head, "Don't listen to him, I'm way more fun."

Watching Chris as he laughed boisterously, Kiara felt the ice around her heart melt slightly as she found herself liking him more and more. She found herself trapped in a never ending cycle of falling for him then becoming frustrated at herself for trusting someone again so easily.

She raised an inquisitive brow, "So what's in store for tonight?"

Taking a sip of beer, he rubbed the back of his neck, "Good food, some entertainment and hopefully great company."

"That sounds amazing."

"What do you feel like watching?"

Tucking her legs underneath her, she shrugged, "Surprise me."

Setting up the TV, Chris chose one of his favourite movies, 'Legends of The Fall', since Kiara hadn't watched it yet. In all honesty, the plot didn't sound all that appealing to her but seeing how emphatic he was about the film made her want to watch it if only to prolong the child-like happiness he exuded when talking about it. He waited with baited breaths as she tried her first forkful of his cooking. She moaned in pleasure as the tastes of melted cheese, spicy tomato sauce and fragrant minced beef exploded in her mouth. He beamed at the string of compliments she released after every bite. 

Although it felt wrong of him to enjoy noises of satisfaction she made, he was just glad she genuinely enjoyed his cooking. He shifted uncomfortably, scowling at Dodger for watching him closely as if the dog knew what he was thinking.

She widened her eyes in disbelief, oblivious to Chris and Dodger's staring match, "I could get used to this, you know."

Shyly smiling, Chris quickly played the movie as a light pink blush coated his cheeks and slowly spread across his face. Kiara simply smiled, pretending not to notice as they cleaned off their plates. To be candid, she spent more time watching his facial expressions and playing with Dodger than she did the actual movie– smiling when Chris laughed so hard that he clutched his chest, frowning when unshed tears shimmered in his eyes and flinching away in shock as he yelled at the characters on screen. 

By the end of the movie when he waited expectantly for her opinion, she quite obviously bullshitted her way through their conversation but he was gracious enough to nod along as if her comments made sense. She found herself revealing parts of her life that she barely ever shared with others, telling him about Lychee and the rescue centre she volunteered at before offering to bring him with her another day.

Somehow they ultimately resorted to discussing pizza crusts as he rested his head on his palm, "Can we all respect the fact that cheese inside the crust, who saw that coming?"

She threw her hands up in amazement, "You think you did it all!"

Tossing his head back, he laughed, "Oh shit, cheese inside the crust! That's thinking outside the box."

She added, "The ingenuity to change it up. I mean, cauliflower crust?"

"Sure we made it to space, sure we split atoms but cheese inside the crust though!"

Unable to control her laughter, she keeled over and grabbed onto his shoulder to stabilise herself as he sarcastically continued, "That's our real mark on the universe."

Sobering up, he jokingly scratched his chin as if deep in thought, "Okay but here's a real challenge, cats or dogs?"

He burst out laughing as she quipped, "Dogs all the way. Cats are assholes."

"Alright I guess that wasn't a challenge then."

She raised a finger, "What about sweet or savoury, though?"

Thinking about his answer, he teased, "You know what? I relate with your indecisiveness on a spiritual level but let's not overthink it. Savoury."

She grimaced, "Uh uh, major sweet tooth here."

As the night unfolded, they touched on more serious topics as Chris opened up about his struggles with anxiety. Kiara made it a point to listen without any judgement or interruptions and he couldn't be more grateful that she looked at him not with pity but instead, with understanding. They settled into a comfortable silence, having unintentionally moved closer and bored Dodger enough to leave the room. She absentmindedly played with his fingers as he gently rubbed circles on her shoulder. 

Leaning forwards, Chris removed the space between them and pressed his mouth against hers as Kiara gasped in surprise. He pulled away and she could almost see the voices in his head cast doubt and insecurity. Without a second thought, she pulled him to her as their lips crashed together and he kissed her harder. She wanted more even if she didn't fully understand what it was that she needed, she just wanted more. But then he pushed her against the floor, moving his lips against hers, and there it was– more. 

One hand caressing her face while the other clasped her waist, he pressed his body against hers as she tangled her fingers into his hair. She could feel his galloping heart as he ran his hand down the length of her body, gripping her thigh. Her breaths quickened as she tugged his collar, drawing him impossibly close. 

They kissed for what felt like an eternity before common sense dawned on Kiara and she realised where she was. Firmly resting her palm on Chris' chest to maintain some space, she stopped herself before letting things get out of hand.

He shook his head, shame and desire coursing through his veins, "I'm sorry–"

Reassuring him, she softly smiled, "Don't be. I'm certainly not."

Tentatively smiling, Chris rested his forehead against Kiara's for a moment before pulling her up with him. She blushed, realising they had somehow managed to end up flat on the ground seconds away from ripping each other's clothes off. While there was no doubt he was a handsome man, she had never felt this attracted to someone before. It was his endearing shyness and humble outlook that drew her to him more than anything. 

Fixing her hair and clothes as best she could without a mirror, she collected their plates for wash as he cleaned up after them. Walking her to the front door, he tried to look anywhere else but at her long legs as she zipped her boots back. Lingering at the door, she kissed his cheek in goodbye and bent down to kiss Dodger's muzzle before reluctantly walking away.

Dodger let out a depressed whine as Chris agreed, "I know, buddy, I like her too."

Chris remained at the door even after Kiara's car drove away, the cold air nipping his flushed skin as he relived the fiery kiss with a dopey smile plastered across his face.

Having spent the entire car ride home touching her lips as if to ensure tonight's events had really occurred, Kiara barely got three hours of sleep. She trudged out of bed, hearing the impatient banging at her door, and unlocked it before returning to flop back into her bed.

Vijay spilled into her house and plopped beside her as he frowned at her lack of energy, "Okay what's up, sweetheart?"

Never being the most lucid while she was in the process of waking up, she accidentally mumbled, "Got home late."

He sat up in alarm, "Why?"

"Date."

Suddenly jumping awake, she tried to recover the situation as he angrily paced across her room, "It was Ranbir, wasn't it. Oh that bitch is deeeaaaad."

She paused, "Um, no."

"I'm going to kill him."

"He's your friend, Jay."

"Yeah, and when I kill him, I'll have one less birthday to remember."

"You don't remember anyone's birthday."

"No harm, no foul then."

"Is it too late to get a new best friend?"

He pinched her cheek and swiped her chin, "You're stuck with me, bestie."

It took over an hour of justifying and pleading before Vijay eventually understood why Kiara was keeping things quiet for the time being. They eventually managed come to an agreement whereby she would reveal who her date was if they made it to five dates. He felt much better knowing she wasn't hiding some life-altering secret from him before remembering why he really stopped by.

Tapping her nose affectionately, he offhandedly mentioned, "I came to thank you. Nargis and I are on again."

She clapped, jumping up and down excitedly, "Oh that's amazing."

He forced a smile, "I know. You know what would be more amazing?," she shook her head; "Getting to work on time."

Noticing the time, Kiara frantically strew together random pieces of clothing into an outfit and decided to skip breakfast in the interest of saving time. It had taken a total of twenty minutes to get ready and rush to set only to come in contact with a grumpy Hadley, tapping her watch to remind them they were late. Sighing as she already predicted the tiring day ahead, they slumped into their respective makeup chairs as the team made quick work of preparing them for camera. She tore a page from a notebook sitting on the table and made quick work of sketching another comical floatie before surprising him with it as he let out a loud laugh at the drawing.

Sliding his phone between them, he placed Nargis on speaker, "Do you know what he did last night?"

Kiara frowned, looking at him for guidance, "Um, no?"

"He held the door open for another girl."

Trying to contain her laughter, she gasped in mock-disgust as he threw his arms up in frustration, "She was in a wheelchair!"

Quickly turning speaker off as Nargis yelled, he muted himself and faced Kiara, "Now you see why I prefer to be single?"

She shrugged, "Hey, you asked me to help you."

"And as my best friend, you should tell me when I'm making bad decisions!"

"Would it have changed the outcome?"

"Probably not."

"There you go."

They finally joined the rest of the cast on set, greeting everyone before separating to run lines with the characters in their respective scenes. Unaware that Kiara and Vijay were here, Milo walked in and flopped onto the couch without looking up as he read through his script.

Smacking on some gum, he snorted, "Where's Kiara and Vijay? Did they finally bite the bullet and just sleep together?"

Vijay clapped Milo's on the back with much greater force than necessary and smiled threateningly, "I know you're just trying to live vicariously through me but tone it down, your desperation's showing."

Jeffrey laughed nervously and separated them, "As much as I love envisioning you two getting it on, we have a scene to get through so knock it off, boys."

They relaxed as Vijay hit Milo's shoulder lightly in warning before returning to Poorna and Jeffrey to run lines.

Emilia glanced at Kiara and smirked, "So why were you late?"

In fear of giving herself away, Kiara refused to make eye-contact and muttered, "Overslept."

"You never oversleep."

She shrugged, "First time for everything."

Watching her face for a few seconds, Emilia prodded, "What's that look on your face for then?"

"What look? I don't have a look. You're bugging out, dude."

Looking both amused and shocked, she spluttered, "Dude? You're really going to tell me nothing happened after that outburst?"

"Fine I went on a date!"

She squealed as Kiara frantically shushed her, "It's no big deal. I don't know if it's serious yet."

"Well clearly it's something, you gave him a chance!"

"I give a lot of people chances."

"Want to try that with a little more conviction?"

Deciding she had enough of this conversation, she huffed and started reciting her lines, "Therapy was the easy part. Living is harder."

Rolling her eyes, Emilia caught the subliminal message and continued rehearsing, "Then we'll just have to reintroduce you to the things that make life so enjoyable. One trusty best friend coming right up."

Thirteenth chapter is finitooooo. How am I doing, folks?