Legacy

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Kris sat in the restaurant by herself, an untouched glass of water sitting in front of her. Maria was late, as usual, but for once in her life, she didn’t really mind. She wasn’t ready to talk to Maria, anyway.

The only thing she could think about was: What am I going to tell my parents?

“Maybe I won’t,” she muttered to herself. One of the waitresses paused as she walked by, wondering if Kris was talking to her. Kris just averted her eyes until the waitress walked away, looking confused.

What would she tell her parents? Should she even bother?

After all, what was the point? Maybe she’d finish up her school here, and instead of flying back to the states like they expected, she’d just…

Just what? Stay in Europe for the rest of her life?

She laughed to herself, then looked around the restaurant to make sure no one else was watching her. But it wasn’t so crazy. Other people had done much crazier things. Not her, though.

What had she done?

Kris had barely been in Europe for two months. She had finished up college in the states and thought that would be the end of her school career. But that hadn’t been good enough for her parents. They had insisted that she should come study abroad, take a dual major, and finish up a master’s degree.

She had admitted that the idea of traveling had always intrigued her. And, like her parents had said, it would be a waste for her to stop learning now. A waste of her potential. She thought she’d reached as high as she could go, but they had kept pushing and pushing.

Maybe that’s why she had done what she had. Maybe she had needed to blow off steam. Maybe she had needed to rebel against them and be her own woman.

“Or maybe it was just a bad decision made under the influence of too much alcohol,” she said under her breath.

The restaurant was a small joint a couple of blocks down from the motel she was staying at. She’d eaten here a few times before. While it wasn’t the best food in the city, it was cheap. But right now, it was better than her dreaded motel room: small, dirty, and cheap. The bed was uncomfortable. The faucet dripped. Half of the light bulbs were burnt out. There was a stain on the carpet in the corner; she had no idea what it was, and she decided she wasn’t interested in finding out.

Her parents had paid for a fancy room in the college they’d pushed her into attending. But after what had happened to her, she couldn’t bring herself to return to it. She’d missed the past four days of school. She’d tried going, but what was the point? She couldn’t focus on learning, not now.

“Why?” she asked herself. There was no good answer.

Why? Why had she decided to go out that night?

There were many reasons, she realized. She’d never gone out and partied, not even in college when she had turned 21. She hardly knew what alcohol tasted like. She preferred to spend her nights curled up in bed with a good book.

So, why had she let one of her classmates drag her out to the bars in Bucharest? She had been in way over her head. She had to admit, though: it had been a good time.

“So, what’s up? Where have you been these past few days?”

Kris jumped at the sound of Maria’s voice. Maria dropped in the seat opposite her, immediately ordering a beer.

“Want one? My treat,” she said. Kris just shook her head. She looked down at Maria’s beer when it was brought to the table and had to suppress a gag. Even looking at alcohol made her uneasy. “Still not recovered from the other night, huh? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it soon. The way you were putting them back, I almost thought you were a pro.”

“Not even close,” Kris said, pretending to look at the menu, using it as a way to keep her mind off of discussing their wild night of partying, the man she had met, and what had happened afterward.

They ordered after a few minutes. Maria looked like she wanted to ask Kris what was going on, but she had the good sense to wait until Kris was ready to explain herself. While waiting on their food, Maria ordered another beer. Kris got a whiff of it and immediately felt her stomach churning.

“I’m going to be sick,” she muttered, putting her hands over her eyes and trying to fight off the queasiness.

Their food was dropped off and Maria dug into it. She took a few hungry bites before looking up at Kris, who hadn’t touched her food. She swallowed and put her fork down on the plate. “Okay, Kris. Spit it out.”

“I don’t remember much of what happened that night.”

Maria laughed. “That’s what happens when you drink too much, too fast. You drank way more than you could handle.”

“You should have stopped me!”

“You’re a big girl, Kris. Why, did you do something you shouldn’t have?”

Kris felt her face turning red.

“Was it with that handsome man we met at Club Borealis?” Maria asked. Kris just put her head down, avoiding Maria’s gaze. “So that’s why you didn’t come home with me that night! What’d you do? You need to give me all of the details, Kris! Spill the beans!”

Kris felt ashamed at what had happened, but to Maria, it was just another night. Kris wasn’t one to head out to bars and try to pick up guys. She never did anything like that. She was embarrassed. Maria, on the other hand, was used to it.

“Did you, you know?” Maria asked, leaning forward with a devilish grin on her face.

“What?” Kris asked. She knew exactly what Maria meant: sleep with him? But she was too embarrassed to answer the question. She wasn’t raised to talk about things like that. Her parents had raised her better than that.

“Sleep with him!” Maria exclaimed, much too loudly for Kris’s tastes. She looked around the restaurant, embarrassed even more, hoping that no one else had heard Maria’s outburst.

“Yes,” Kris said, finally admitting it.

“Tell me!” Maria crooned, sliding her plate to the side and leaning close. “Give me all of the details!”

“I don’t remember much,” Kris admitted.

“Well, what do you remember?”

Kris hesitated. She had never talked about anything like this to anyone in her life. “I don’t know. I remember sitting there, talking to him, and then I remember us leaving the bar.”

“Oooh, then where’d you go?”

Kris shrugged. “Some van or something.”

Maria laughed. “You went and made love to him in a van? You’re way wilder than you let on! Tell me more!”

Kris’s face lit up even brighter. She wasn’t wild. She wasn’t crazy. She was a good girl. She couldn’t believe what had happened.

“Okay, well what was his name?” Another shrug. Maria’s devilish grin grew even more. “You dirty girl! You didn’t even get his name! What was it like?”

“Good,” Kris admitted. She didn’t want to say more. It wasn’t like her to talk about her personal life, and even saying that much was unlike her. “It was really good.”

“How was it in the morning?”

“I’ve never felt worse in my life,” Kris said. She managed a small laugh. “I woke up in my room without any idea of how I’d gotten there.”

“And Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome?”

“Gone. I have no idea where he went. I don’t even know if he came back to my dorm with me.”

Maria leaned back and took a long drink of her beer. Kris eyed it wearily.

“Did you get his number?”

“No.”

“So, that’s what you’re worried about, huh? You’ve let him slip through your fingers. But don’t worry, Kris. There are plenty more fish in the sea. He’s just one man.”

Kris sighed. He was just one man, but that wasn’t it.

“Let me get you a beer. It’ll cheer you right up,” Maria told her, starting to get up. Kris reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back into the chair. Confusion crossed her face, but she sat back down.

“No thanks, Maria.”

“What? You were putting them down the other night. What’s wrong, are you pregnant or something?” Maria joked.

Kris had been looking down at the table. She slowly looked up, meeting Maria’s eyes. Recognition flashed across Maria’s face.

“You’re…” Maria said. She didn’t need to finish the question.

Kris slowly rubbed her temples.