She wanted to leave and yet the conversation wasn’t done. Katia listened to every word Rebecca said, watching as she shrugged off the gratitude the brunette expressed. The lack of any real reaction on Rebecca’s part reminded Katia of why she didn’t say such things that often. Really – who appreciated a thank you these days? Only those looking to be thanked it seemed. The selfish ones. It made her purse her lips momentarily.
“Don’t worry about it,” Rebecca shrugged with a small smile. The move was almost haughty. As Katia stepped closer, she noticed how the woman stepped back. She’s scared of me, she realized and that fact only served to make her feel pained.
“Really, it’s okay to need a bit of help once in a while. And you’re welcome,” Rebecca smiled. She took the bottle of valium where Katia had left it, looking back at the cupboards for its place. To have it locked away again was disheartening. A discomfort rose in her, and Katia felt like a panic was spreading over her shoulders, her hands tingling as she watched her remedy be locked again. Can I go without it? I just said I would but…
“I have to tell Amy something. You know that, right?” Rebecca announced suddenly. That comment was enough to make her visibly pale. “I—“ Katia started, finding herself without anything to say. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes more in her own frustration than in an effort to force the woman to keep it a secret. “She’ll notice the broken glass jars, the pills on the counter, the bottles rearranged in the cabinets and so forth. That wouldn’t really result in anything good for anyone,” Rebecca added. That much was evident. She had made a mess in her haste that was hard to deny. The soppy smile Rebecca tried to send her way only made Katia turned rigid. “So as much as I want to respect your wish of secrecy, it’s simply not entirely possible. Well, either that, or you say something yourself. That way only what you want her to know, will be revealed,” Rebecca concluded.
Katia felt her eyes water and she wasn’t entirely sure why. She settled her left hand on her hip and her right behind her back to support her lower lumbar column. Clenching her teeth, she looked at the floor and nodded, her body language little different than a child being told to suck up a punishment. “I will say something. I have to. I intend to,” she conceded, not that she had intended to hide it in the first place. “Please let me be the first person to say something or else I will be in a very bad situation. Worse really than this but still.”
“I’m going to try and stop this,” Katia reassured Rebecca. “You won’t find me in here like this again.”
“I hope so. Although mostly for your own sake. This whole deal doesn’t exactly look comfortable,” Rebecca replied, checking her watch before looking up and giving Katia a once over. She followed the blonde’s eyes, trying to stand up straighter. “You okay to walk properly now?” Rebecca asked. Katia rolled her eyes, jutting her hip out as if to give the woman sass only to wince. “I’m getting there. If you have somewhere to be you should go. I need to go anyways. Takes me freaking forever to navigate this school,” Katia sighed, twirling her hand in the air beside her before she ran her fingers through her hair and slowly made her way back into the hallway.
“Have fun with the kids,” she tossed over her shoulder, looking back at the woman and stopping to establish eye contact with her once more before turning forwards and moving in the direction she thought was best, leading back towards the front entrance of the school where she hoped she could navigate herself back to the office – and Leo’s by extension.
By the time she go to the main area of student services it was close to breakfast time she estimated. More students were certainly moving through the halls. The Valium had her legs relatively numb but she forced herself to walk as normally as she could, attempting to be fluid and natural but still coming off as relatively stiff.
As she stepped into the main office she was face to face once again with the bitter secretary. “Hello,” Katia smiled with a slight smirk. The woman frowned, staring at her sourly. In her movement to glare her glasses even slid down her nose. “Well that’s a pleasant greeting,” Katia scoffed, moving past the desk. “Where are you going?” the woman shot at her. Katia looked over her shoulder. “Do you need to know everything? It’s not like you ever leave your desk anyways,” she replied sharply. Her remark proved offensive. The secretary gasped and looked wounded. Katia only shook her head, moving towards Leo’s office. She stood outside it, seeing that there was no light on inside. She knocked politely before she opened the door, surprised to find no one inside. “Well,” she sighed to herself. “At least his couch looks comfortable.”
The brunette closed the office door behind her and settled herself in a chair opposite of his desk only to stand up the moment she was forced to slouch – too tall for it. Hissing in pain she moved over to a couch on the far wall, laying down on it with her head facing the door in waiting.