It was already around half past eleven in the morning when Key went out of the shower while wearing a navy blue oversized shirt, which she wore over her high-waist black denim shorts.
Her hair is not that wet anymore but it's still a bit damp because Key didn't fully dry it with the hairdryer, she reached for her laptop and contacted TL to send the hard copy of the agreement to their base.
After receiving TL's confirmation that it has been mailed and will arrive by evening or the next day, she closed her laptop and sat on the carpet while leaning on the bed.
Key was just pondering on what to do with the Dominant Rooks now that they've obviously broken the non-disclosure agreement, she doesn't care about the money and although she did have some realization and character improvement from their girls' talk, it doesn't mean she's done dealing.
No, her reprisal is not short-termed because she doesn't think that someone will learn from short lessons, it has to run deep and be drilled into their minds.
Sadly, she didn't think that for herself.
Her attention shifted to her phone when it vibrated, she received a text message from someone, and her brows raise when she read Kitten's message, telling her that she sent something and Key should come to pick it up at the front door.
Key stood up and went out of her room, she went downstairs and she heard someone knocking on the door.
"And since when were you her errand boy?" Key asked in disbelief when she saw who's at the front door
"Kit asked me to send this to you because her boyfriend advised her that handmade letters are good ways to express sincerity," Veganca said and Key looked at him in amusement
"Boyfriend, huh?"
From what Key could guess, Kitten must've referred to Kami as 'love', because it's her endearment for their baby cub, and Veganca misunderstood that into thinking that Kitten is taken
"Just take it, I'm late for training. See you around," Veganca said, as if in a hurry
He shoved the box into her hand and she had no choice but to accept it.
"What the heck?" she asked while blinking, still processing what's happening because Veganca immediately left after she got a hold of the box
She shook her head and went inside, she headed up to her room after closing the door, and then she took her phone to contact Kitten.
She typed; 'I received the box you asked Vincent to deliver, by the way, since when was he your errand boy?' and sent it to Kitten but she didn't receive any reply.
She opened the box and she saw a ream of bond paper and colored paper, glue, tape, colored ink pens, and a pair of scissors, and only after seeing the materials did Key understand what Veganca said earlier.
"Handmade letters, huh?"
Key couldn't help but smile when she remembered that she used to receive a lot of those letters, she and Kitten would receive one on various occasions. Kami would send them letters during the holidays, their 'birthdays', and other occasions that they celebrate without fail.
She took a piece of bond paper and folded it in half crosswise before she sat on the carpeted floor and opened the container of colored ink pens.
She opened the bond paper she folded and used a black colored ink pen to write the calligraphy of the phrase "I'm sorry" and below that phrase, she wrote her letter of apology to everyone in JLNC.
It said;
"I have realized where I did wrong, I apologize for hurting you all and for making you feel like I don't trust you, I trust you all, I really do. I know it was wrong that I acted alone even when we're a team, and I won't try to justify that just because I was used to not asking for help, I still shouldn't have done that. I know that I have more to learn, and I apologize for being close-minded and for not putting myself in your shoes when you tried talking to me. I have more to learn, and I realize now that I don't fully understand the concept of a team just yet but I hope that I can stay and still be your teammate."
Key stopped writing when she reached the end of the paper while writing. She reread the letter over and over again, trying to assess if she used the correct word, arrangement, and sentence structure.
When she's satisfied, she closed the card and started writing their team name using the black and yellow ink pens in calligraphy.
"Sincerity… sincerity…"
She repeatedly chanted in her mind while assessing the card in her hands, she's not sure about what she's doing because it's the first time she actually wrote a letter, a letter of apology no less, which makes her very anxious.
She was already opting to call Kami because Kami knows a lot when it comes to making handwritten letters, but she doesn't want to interrupt her time with her Mama.
"Is this enough?" she can't help but voice out
She wasn't really sure, so she wrote a letter to everyone on the team, thanking them for the memories she have with them and apologizing for what she did.
She didn't notice the time flowing, not that she ever paid attention to the passing of time, as she found herself absorbed in writing the letters.
While she was checking the letters she wrote for everyone on the team, she realized that she made eight letters, including the first apology letter she wrote for everyone on the team, and she didn't write for one member of the team.
Captain Nicolas Blaine.
When realization dawned on her, she blinked several times.
It's not that she doesn't have any good or notable memories with the captain, it's just that he has the same face as the man from Key's past.
Trying to recall their encounters and memories can be quite messy for Keychantel because she won't just be recalling her memories with Rasheed but with the other men in her life who had an uncanny resemblance to him as well.
Key pursed her lips and wrote Rasheed's name in calligraphy, unlike with the other members' letters where she wrote the content before their names, she had to start with his name first.
After writing his name in calligraphy, Key opened the letter and pondered on what she's going to write.
She closed her eyes and recalled the things that Kami had told her about writing letters, she once told them that in writing letters to someone for personal reasons, you should try picturing out that person in your mind and then let your heart tell you what to write.
And that's what Key tried when she wrote her letters for everyone else on the team, but it doesn't work while she's writing a letter for their captain because she only gets one phrase;
"Sorry, I stayed."
That phrase is probably for her first love and his reincarnations whom Key had developed feeling for, so she can't possibly write that to Rasheed.
He's not that guy, no matter how similar they look, and that's what Key's been convincing herself with since the first day she started staying in the JLNC base.
"What should I say…" she talked to herself, as if talking aloud and hearing the question through her ears and not just asking it in her mind would help in her situation
But it didn't and Key is getting frustrated. She didn't know what to write, so she opened and closed the letter repeatedly.
When she stopped, she groaned and sighed while looking at their captain's name. She didn't want to but even his name sounded similar to that man from her past, and it's making it harder for her.
"Think, Key, think," she chanted in her head
"What would I say to the captain? How should I apologize?" she asked herself in her mind and she closed her eyes before sighing,
"Nicholas Blaine…" Key bit her lip after muttering their captain's name
She stood up, took her earphones, and plugged them into her ears before playing music, then she pondered on what to write after crossing her legs on the floor.
After pondering on it for a bit, she heaved a deep breath before holding a pen and writing the apology letter for their captain.
Although, it wasn't as nice as her letter to the other members of the JLNC team because she didn't know that while she was telling herself to be as honest as possible while differentiating their captain from those men in her past, she may have leaked a bit of her real attitude from how she wrote.
It goes like this;
"I'm sorry. I don't know what to say, honestly, but I think I owe you an apology. I'm sorry for not listening and taking your words seriously, back in the car, after we lost. I'm sorry for lying, I really didn't think of the team. It's not an excuse that I was used to having disposable in-game teammates – I mean, teammates who I probably won't play again with – and I got used to acting alone, in everything, as a sign of independence. And I hate you, by the way. I don't know how to phrase that but I didn't like what you said, when we talked, I wasn't pretending and I wasn't throwing a tantrum, you were throwing words below the belt so I hate you. But you're still a great captain, well, you didn't give any misogynistic remarks or anything when I joined a field dominated by males. I don't know if it was a big deal or anything but thanks for the advice, and the help. I guess that's all, I'm sorry, and thank you."