Unexpected Emotions

Chapter Three: Meeting Eve


The two sat in silence for a while. Karen was sweeping the shop as three came around. Orlando was sitting behind the register still, petting Sora. The small kitten was loving all of the attention he was getting that day. The actor laughed as the white ball of fluff licked his fingers. She looked back at him, the sound of his laughter resonating in her ears. She smiled at them, happy for this moment.

The bell sounds as the door opened and in walked a blonde haired, green-eyed girl. She was gasping for air, as if she had been running for a while. Her cheeks and nose were red from the cold and her jacket was almost completely covered in snow. Her straight, shoulder length hair was tied back.

“Sorry… I’m late.” She got out between breaths.

“Eve!” Karen ran over and began to help Eve with her jacket. “Wow. What took you so long?”

“I got busy with the comic today. Totally lost track of time.” She gasped suddenly, “Oh my god! Where’s Mike!? Did he come today!?”

Karen laughed at Eve’s sudden concern, “He came today.” She said, smiling.

Eve blinked, “And…?”

“And… he left.”

She paused, “Alright, you’re hiding something… spill! You have to tell your savior now or I’ll beat you!”

Karen laughed again, “A friend of mine chased him away.”

Eve blinked again, her mouth a bit agape, “You got a new savior!?”

“It’s not like that. You weren’t here.” She smiled at Eve.

“Well, who is this mystery person? Do I know them?” She smiled back.

“It’s me.” Orlando, who had been watching before, stepped forward, “Uh, I saved your friend.”

Eve’s eyes went wide at the sight of a famous actor in the shop, “H-him!? You had Orlando Bloom, the hottest, sexiest, most wanted teenage heart-throb save you from a stalker!?” She turned to him, “I didn’t miss anything, did I?”

“I don’t think so.” He blushed, still grinning.

“Yes, he did save me from Stalker Mike.” Karen put her hands on her hips, letting the sleeves of her sweatshirt fall over her hands.

“How?” She paused and saw Karen’s face go bright red, “You didn’t!!!” Eve shouted.

“Didn’t what!?” Karen seemed startled. Her hand quickly went up to her neck and the mark there.

Even went closer to her best friend, “Did you sleep with this guy!?” She paused again, “And Mike watched!?”

“No! No! No! Orlando just….. played the part, I guess.”

“You kissed him, you lucky dog you!” She pouted, “No fair! All the guys I’ve ever kissed have all been losers!” Karen laughed at her friend, “So….. is that all he did?”

“Heh, heh… Well, kind of…” Orlando began.

“I do NOT like the sound of that! What’d he do?!” Eve demanded.

“I uh… I left a mark.” He grinned sheepishly.

Eve’s eyes went wide again. She walked over to Orlando, her fists clenched, “You WHAT!?” She asked through gritted teeth.

“Don’t worry, Eve! It’s only on my neck, I swear!” She was soon next to her friend, trying to persuade her.

“That better be the only place!” She yelled, jabbing Orlando quickly in the arm.

“Ow!” He shouted and started rubbing it. Eve stalked over to the guitars, “Overprotective AND aggressive… cute…” He whispered to Karen.

“Heh… that’s Eve for you.” She laughed nervously, still rubbing the mark on her neck.

“I really am sorry about that.” He looked down, a little ashamed of himself.

“It’s alright. At least I didn’t seem to mind.” She smiled at Orlando and then scooped Sora up into her arms. “Eve, you wanna come on my Sax Run tonight?” The actor heard her say, but the rest of the conversation was gone from his ears.

His thoughts wandered from Karen and Eve’s friendship to his own relationships with the other people in his life. He began to think of Kate and how she was holding up. Orlando asked himself what Kate would do in this situation. What should he be doing now? What could he possibly do to help Karen’s situation? What could he do to repay her? All these questions flooded his mind at once, so that he thought he might overflow with them.

“Orlando?”

He was startled from his train of thought as two deep blue eyes appeared in front of his face. He jumped, nervous at her closeness to him. Orlando blinked to focus his eyes on her.

“Yes? What is it?” He asked, still a little nervous.

“Do you wanna come see me perform?”

“Yeah! You can keep more stalkers away.” Eve grinned at Karen, her perverted mind in full gear today.

Karen elbowed her, “You…..” She muttered the rest of the words, apparently pissed at her friend. She turned back to the actor, “Well, will you?”

The bell rang as someone else walked into the shop. All three of them turned simultaneously to see who it was. The girl’s mouths dropped open. Orlando smiled warmly at the new guest.

“Kate! You came!” He walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek.

“Yep! I couldn’t leave you here, now could I?” She smiled.

“So….. I guess you’re not mad at me anymore?”

Kate’s smile became a frown, “We’ll talk about that later.

He raised a brow but didn’t say anything to object, “Ok….. Well, I’d like you to meet my new friends, Karen Gabrinski.” He pointed at the musician. She smiled and shook Kate’s hand, “And Eve…..” He never caught her last name.

“Thompson.” Karen said quickly. Eve stepped forward, shook Kate’s hand, and gave Orlando a sick look.

“Nice to meet you both.” Kate said politely. She then turned to Orlando, “Orli, sweetheart, we have to go now. Sorry.” She smiled.

“Ok. Let me just grab my things from upstairs.” He turned and bounded up the stairs.

“I’ll help!” Karen followed, leaving Kate and Eve alone.

She made it up the stairs and saw Orlando slowly gathering his things. She watched and then helped. Karen noticed the worried look on his face and wondered what was wrong. It probably had to do with the fight he and Kate had. Suddenly, De ja vu hit her hard as she realized Orli was standing in the same spot her father was when he died. She blinked, trying to ignore the thoughts now going through her head. She needed to worry about Orlando, not about her past and what had happened between her and her father.

“Is everything alright?” She asked, worried about her new friend.

“Yes. But Kate is still steamed about yesterday morning.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m sure she’ll get over it soon. Trust me.” She grinned at him, handing his shoes over.

He smiled, taking his shoes, “I’ll be back someday. I owe you dinner.” He kissed her on the cheek and went back downstairs where Kate waited for him. They left together.

Eve came upstairs to find Karen beat red and touching her cheek, “He kissed you again, didn’t he?” She pouted. Karen simply nodded, her mind in another place. “So… Lemme see the mark!”

Karen laughed and pulled the sweater down a little bit, “See it?”

Eve nodded, “It’s not so big….. hope he comes back though. He was so cute!” And they laughed a little before leaving the apartment for Karen’s Sax Run, snow falling again.


[End of Chap. Three]