Yours Truly....

"Is she your…?", Kristina let out, the colour fading off her face leaving her pale.

 "Yeah. That's Anna. She's with me at college. She's… you know my… ", Kevin said grinning widely. 

"Oh right", said Kristina looking away and fidgeting with her glass of blue lagoon. Jennifer gave Kevin a why-didn't-I-know-about-this-look and motioned him towards the elevator with a nod of the head. It was rather subtle but not enough to miss Kristina's sharp gaze. A few minutes after Kevin had followed Jennifer away, she used the old, worn-out I-need-a-mirror-to-fix-my-hair excuse and slipped away leaving Andrew and Adam at the table with their game of cards. Kristina had seen Jennifer and Kevin enter the elevator on the extreme left. Tip-toeing towards it, she propped her ear up against the lift door and listened silently, not even letting out one breath.

A heated argument seemed to be raging on inside.

 "I can't do this", wailed Kevin.

"That's evident. Considering the fact that you gave up and got together with that Anna of yours," replied Jennifer.

"I did not. It was a lie. I was just seeing if………"

"Seeing what? If she falls to the ground and sobs on hearing that you have a girlfriend? I never expected this of you. If you really mean it, go tell her. For god's sake."

Getting more and more confused by the minute, Kristina failed to realise when someone behind her had pushed the lift button.

The lift chimed and opened but Kristina did a fairly good job of acting surprised to see her two friends inside.

 "Oh hey", she called coolly but the two seemed so engaged with their war of words that they barely noticed that the lift had opened up.

"Just tell Kristina!", were the last words Jennifer uttered before realizing that the lift was no more closed.

"Tell me what Jenny," Kristina asked confusedly.

"Ask him," she said glaring at Kevin with utmost disgust in a pissed off voice.

Determined in her mind to never speak to, Kevin ever again after she had found out about Anna, she gave him a look of swift disinterest and said, "It's ok, I don't want to know". Kristina had been fond of Kevin ever since they had met. They were great friends for years before Kristina realized how much deep she had fallen into her dreams and that Kevin was no more just a friend but so much more; at least in her head he was.

She turned away ready to stomp off when suddenly she was pulled back. Kevin had caught her hand before she could even fully turn and pulled her to face him.

His light brown eyes innocently bore down into Kristina's jet black opals with a pleading look to be heard just once before declaring their master guilty, but she looked away.

"What?" she sighed in an exasperated tone, crossing her arms, tired of the drama.

"If I speak will you listen?", Kevin asked in the gentlest possible tone.

 Jennifer decided that it was best to leave the two on their own. She shut the lift after pressing the button for the highest floor of the building and stepped out.

Kristina nodded gently, making all the efforts of life to not look at Kevin.

"Look at me", Kevin said softly.

"No"

"Please?" he said sitting on one knee and guiding her gaze up as he stood up again

Kristina looked up and to her great horror, the very thing she had been fearing happened. Her heart melted…….once again. She was making more efforts than her existence would allow to not go all scarlet.

"What?" she repeated following him out of the elevator onto the terrace.

"You know something's been bothering me", Kevin started.

"And why should I care, may I ask?", she replied scathingly doing her best to show no signs of emotion.

"Because well, you have something to do with my botheration"

"Oh! So now your personal problems are mine too that I should know them?"

"No. You are the problem. I haven't slept a sound night's sleep since the day I first saw you. Not a moment gone by that I haven't wished it were true. Not a soul so patient and satisfied outside but longing in incompleteness within has been in anyone's chest but mine….and for all this I have no one except for you to blame. "

Kristina listened quietly to this entire speech without a word or a blink. One could even bet that she had frozen to death.

Kevin gently lifted his hand to Kristina's cheek and touched it with such gentleness that it sent a shiver down her spine bringing her back to her senses.

Her eyes shifted towards his hand on her cheek and he nervously almost pulled it back when Kristina suddenly pressed palm on it holding it back up against her cheek and gazed into his eyes .

She dropped her head onto Kevin's chest as if relieved of every worry in life and he could feel her breathing deeply. In spite of all her efforts to restrain herself, she could not hold her tears back and sobbed into his shoulder. Wrapping his arms around her comfortingly, he hugged her tight and tried to calm her down.

"Why didn't you tell me? All these years………." she whispered tearfully, pulling herself back.

"We've been friends for ages. I was afraid that if I told you and you didn't like me back, we would never be able to talk again. I'd rather bear the pain of not telling you and living just on dreams than lose you forever."

They looked at each other with bright smiles on their faces and Kevin kissed Kristina's forehead. They stood their hugging each other for what seemed like ages before they broke apart when Jenny called from behind, "Move it guys, they've got to shut down the restaurant!"