Thorns with fragrance

04

"Somethings may seem too good to be true...maybe it is not true after all"

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“What’s she doing here?” Kenneth said as dread settled down their stomach. 

“How do you know her..?” Jane questioned, trying to keep her voice void from any emotions.  

“She’s a close friend...I am not sure why she is here though...” Ken explained, his eyes fixated on the door through which Brie had just disappeared into. 

Jane tried not to think much of it as placed a hand on his shoulder, “Hey...it’s probably nothing, don’t worry” Jane said a little awkwardly, not sure on how to comfort him. 

Kenneth’s attention snapped back on Jane as he gave her a small reassuring smile as he continued frowning. 

“I hope you’re right” He said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, more so to comfort himself this time. 

They stayed like this for quite some time, both of them just shifting slightly every once in a while, careful not to shift the comfortable air. 

Jane had just started to calmly think about what had happened with Kelly Smith when they heard the door open and Kenneth was disappointed to see that it wasn’t Brie but one of the cops who walked out through the hallway.  

Jane’s heart started racing when she saw him and she started tapping her feet nervously.  

Kenneth looked at her confused but didn’t question it as he gently rubbed her side. 

Jane’s attention turned towards Ken and her heart fluttered, he hadn’t questioned her and just...comforted her. 

She had been around a lot of people, but she knew for sure that no one was as...affectionate as him, he made her feel heart feel like it would melt. 

Kenneth stood up with a jolt, almost pushing Jane away when the door opened and Brie walked out of the door. 

Jane gasped softly at the sudden movement and her eyes welled up, but she shook her head blinked back the tears, she can’t be like this ‘This isn’t a good time to let emotions take over’ she told herself as she stood up, brushing her shoulder with Kenneth’s. 

They watched as Brie walked out of the office, her head hung low as she looked down, with the cop accompanying her. 

Kenneth ignored the cop and rushed to Brie’s side and started speaking quickly, asking her what she was doing here and what had happened. 

Brie was breathing heavy and her brown hair had blocked pretty much blocked most of her view, she painfully slowly reached up to her face and moved her hair away as she looked up at Kenneth through her sharp gaze and Jane’s eyes trailed down her perfectly tanned, brown complexion, long hazel eyes, pretty much perfect nose and plump lips.  

She was tall and dressed in a black and white striped jumpsuit that hugged her curvy figure. She was strikingly beautiful and Jane was drawn in at her appearance, she stared at her admiringly, momentarily forgetting the bitterness she had felt towards her, but it soon returned when she snapped out of her trance when Brie spoke in a low husky voice, Jane couldn't hear her clearly but she assumed she said something along the lines of “I’ll explain later” because the next moment she started walking away from the office and down the hallway, she slowed down when she walked past Jane and turned to glance at her before continuing quietly, walking away with the cop at her side. 

Jane stood there feeling uneasy and insecure as she looked down at herself and felt her comparing herself to Brie until the voice of the lady at the reception made her snap back to reality, again. 

“Ms. Willis? You can go in now” Jane heard her say 

Jane quickly walked towards the door and passed by Ken, unsure if she should acknowledge him as he stood and stared down the hallway, she just gulped and as she reached for the door, Kenneth held her from behind, wrapping his arms around her torso and said “Don’t worry Jane, you didn’t do anything, you can get through it” Jane heard him whisper close to her ear. 

Jane leaned back into his arms for a second, her heart fluttering as she started to feel more confident, she held his palm and pulled away from Kenneth as she turned and nodded at him and turned towards the Principal’s door and pushed it open as she walked away from the stares of everyone behind her. 

“Come in, take a seat Ms. Willis” The principal said as she leaned off the wall and walked to her chair and sat down, pulling herself closer to the desk and looking intently at Jane.  

“Good evening Mrs. Marie” Jane said as she clenched her fists to stop them from shaking. 

“Since we still need to wait to find out the exact cause of Ms. Smith’s...sad demise, the police are suspecting the cause to be poisoning” The principal said and paused to take a deep breath as she expected Jane to react, which she did. 

Jane’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open. 

The principal took this as a cue to continue and said “Because of this speculation, they wanted to have all the people who can possibly be behind the incident from our university, if it happens to be so, give in their statements of what they were doing this morning and the past two days. Now I would not expect you to know all of your activities through the day to a T but please do provide all the information you can”  

There was a moment of silence in the room as Jane’s thoughts started racing as she went through her day’s events in her head while the Principal patiently sat and waited whilst staring down at Jane. 

“I was...” And so Jane trailed off about her day to Mrs. Marie as she took notes. 

After about 10 minutes of Jane narrating her day out to Mrs. Marie, she started “So Ms. Jane, that’s all for today, you can leave and we will look further into this when we get the results from the autopsy.” The principal said , the words seeming weirder to both of them by the second. 

‘Poor lady’ Jane found herself thinking sympathetically for the Principal after today’s bizarre events. 

Just as Jane was calmer and starting to think straight as she got up after thanking the Principal, she remembered something she had intended to ask. 

“Oh Mrs. Marie, would it be okay for me to ask, why did you think I was related to this.... incident?” Jane asked, tilting her head in confusion. 

“We had to ask Ms. Smith's friends of who they could possibly be involved..” The principal trailed off hesitantly. 

“Oh...Have a nice day then ma’am” Jane wished the principal as she stepped out from the office, into the midst of all the staring eyes, again. 

Jane stood awkwardly clearing her throat to get Kenneth’s attention as he sat crouched over in his chair. 

His head snapped up as he got up and rushed towards her. 

“Hey, how did it go?” He asked holding onto her forearms  

Jane gave him a small smile and nodded silently as her eyes flickered behind him to Ben’s concerned gaze. 

Kenneth’s stare deepened as he followed her eyes to turn and glare at Ben. 

He scoffed and intertwined his fingers with Jane’s, while still looking into Ben’s eyes and started walking past him with long strides as he pulled Jane away with him.