Cinder has to stifle a gasp as she sees Iko lazily leaning against her table, casually inspecting her nails as if she hadn't been lying in wait for who knows how long.

"You know, there're plenty other coffee places..." she comments, finally looking up.

"The coffee tastes better there though." Cinder argues.

Iko raises an eyebrow. "Your coffee probably gets cold before you actually get back here."

"I like the exercise."

"Cinder..."

"Iko..."

"You cannot lie to me. There must be some other reason you keep going there for coffee. What, do you have a thing for the barista?" Iko jokes.

When Cinder stays silent, she gasps and her jaw falls slack. "No way..."

Cinder shrugs, trying not to think too much about Kai and give it away.

"Oh my stars. Is it Kai?" Iko asks, sounding very much like an overexcited mother who's just realised something about her favourite child.

"No!"

Iko cackles gleefully and rubs her hands together. "Denial!"

Of course, Cinder can't argue with her at that. She knows she's in denial and she knows Iko is absolutely right; of course she has a thing for the barista, how can she not with his perfect-

"Do you have a date?!"

"I think you're mistaking me for the calendar," Cinder snaps, but it's not because she's mad. It's more because Iko had interrupted her train of thought, and any train involving Kai is one she's happy to board - and never leave.

"Oh, you do, don't you?" Iko grins like a hyper detective.

Cinder shakes her head but she can't prevent the small that plays on her lips and the blush that spreads across her cheeks like a pastel, love-induced wildfire.

"Busted!" Iko exclaims triumphantly, "You've so got a date with Kai, haven't you?"

"Maybe..." Cinder concedes.

"Please tell me he isn't taking you to a restaurant."

"Not unless you know of one that allows kite flying," Cinder laughs.

Iko seems to pause. Quite literally. She opens her mouth to say something but then changes her mind and her eyes widen as she considers the statement. It takes her a solid minute to figure out how to function, at which point she flails her arms and smiles slyly.

"He's taking you to fly a kite?"

"He will be if you let me finish up, Iko!" Cinder rolls her eyes as she flicks through the inventory, trying to remember if she'd missed anything last time.

"You know, what, I approve of this guy," Iko decides, "I approve of him very much."

"Okay, thanks..." Cinder replies absently, already rooting through the drawer to try and find the keys for the latest car that'd been driven in earlier.

"Take care, Cinder," Iko says gently, and Cinder stops to gratefully nod at her.

A shared smile later, Iko waves and saunters out of the workshop to visit the café across the street – probably to see the same waitress as usual, but who was Cinder to judge? After all, she does the same thing for the barista in a different café...

"Cinder, you're here?" Zac asks in shock.

Cinder looks up, catching sight of a very bewildered Zac. "Uh... where else would I be?"

"Didn't you go with Garan?"

"Go? Go where?" Cinder inquires, extremely confused.

Zac almost trips over his shoelace, then steadies himself, before saying, "To the airport. He's leaving. I thought you'd have wanted to go..."

"He what?" Cinder asks numbly, still not getting it.

Zac shifts nervously. "I'm sorry, I thought he'd have told you..."

Cinder blinks; Garan had left without telling her? Of course, he'd told her he would have to go soon but she'd never thought that he'd actually leave without a 'goodbye' or a 'good luck' at least.

"Are you sure he's already left?"

"Unless he has a twin..." Zac laughs, but he still looks incredibly awkward.

"No, he doesn't. Thanks for telling me," Cinder mutters before realising that Adri would be expecting her back home if Garan was already gone, "Oh no. Later!"

She runs.

Her feet physically hurt by the time she gets home, having sprinted the whole way and ignored the burning in her lungs. She's sweating and breathless as Adri opens the door with a patronising frown on her face.

"You're late."

"I... I didn't... know.... he'd gone," Cinder explains between pants.

"It's your job to know."

"I'm sorry?" Cinder can't help the question in her voice because there's no way she could have known. If it hadn't been for Zac, she wouldn't have found out until it was time to close up.

"Don't paint yourself the victim. You know the rules."

Cinder knows what's coming next and while she usually couldn't care less, she actually has something to do this weekend: she has a date.

"Please, I-"

"No. There's a list of chores in the kitchen. I expect them all complete. And... go shower, but don't use the hot water; Pearl needs that for her meditative bath later."

Cinder lets her jaw fall open as Adri turns around, and imagines herself punching a wall to try and calm down. She considers making a complaint against the person who'd suggesting punching stuff to calm down, then realises that she'd told herself that and makes a note to ask Iko in the future.

"Oh and you're banned from that rubbish computer of yours," Adri adds as if doing chores all weekend wasn't bad enough.

She doesn't care... until she does. She couldn't care less about being online until she realises that the computer is her only way of communicating with Kai. It's her only way to tell him she's sorry and it's her only way to even chat with him.

"What, why?" Cinder asks softly, her fists clenched and her heart dropping.

Adri just smirks. "It might distract you from your work."

"I hate you..." Cinder mutters under her breath, then pushes her hair back and sighs.

There's not much she can do to protest. Not unless she wants to be on makeshift house arrest long enough for Kai to think she'd moved country or something. If only Garan had given her some warning before leaving...

As a small act of rebellion, she showers with warm water.

Still, that doesn't help her work out how to tell Kai she's not standing him up. She's not one to want things but she does want Kai to have faith in her, even if that is rather selfish.

It's strange; she's only been messaging him goodnight for a few days and yet it seems like she doesn't know how to function without that simple interaction. It's as if the small conversations had brought her a closure she didn't know she needed and now she was craving them.

Cinder sighs as her head hits the pillow and her feet flop onto the mattress. She hopes, she hopes more than anything that Kai will forgive her once she's explained if she can figure out how to tell him why she was stuck at home. Well, stuck inside. She's not sure about whether or not this place, filled with lists of chores and a lack of compassion, can be called home.

She's not sure if she deserves to have a home.

Hey to anyone still reading! Hope you enjoyed! Catch you next time <3