Moments earlier...
Kristine woke up from her unconscious state in Eric's bed at the aroma of delicious food that filled the entire room. Her stomach was rumbling from hunger, then she remembered she hardly had anything to eat since her mom's feast before she left home.
Kristine turned to spot the closest food tray on her bedside table and reached out for it. She began to devour it impatiently.
The pothole in her stomach didn't feel like it was getting full, as she continued eating.
However, despite all the food Kristine kept devouring, It was as if she never ate a thing.
Suddenly, her attention was drawn to the other food tray on the center table hoping to target it next.
If only she knew how petty, and what the owner had to result into to get the food there.
Nevertheless, Kristine simply needed to fill up this extreme hunger she was still feeling. So she thought of adding Eric's food tray after she was completely done with hers.
All Kristine could think of at that moment was to fill the bottomless hole in her tummy, and it didn't matter how the food tasted.
Therefore, she left her empty tray on the bedside table after she finished eating everything, and got down from the bed towards Eric's food tray.
But the moment she bent and stretched her hands to take the tray, that was when she heard the sound of the bathroom door clicked, which made her pause in motion, frozen in her posture.
Kristine slowly raised her head looking bothered by the rude interruption, only to see a half-naked man who stood with a towel wrapped around his waist and another in his hand to dry his hair.
Eric stood there in shock looking down at Kristine.
"Where did all the food go!" She heard him whisper.
***
Embarrassed by the situation he found her in, Kristine slowly straightened herself, then flipped her loosened messy black long hair backward gracefully, to hold her dignity, then she began to take guilty steps backward, and back to where she got down from.
She sat elegantly on the bed with her head held up high, like a classy young girl who was so innocent and not a bit guilty or ashamed about her action.
As if she wasn't bothered about how she was nearly caught in the act of nearly stealing food.
Even though Kristine was slightly embarrassed, she attempted to put on a perfect cover to save a little bit of her pride before she gets labeled as a food thief.
"Oh, God! I feel so tired." Kristine yawned and return to bed, as if to go back to the position she was in before she became conscious.
"Ooh..this splitting headache!" She then placed her hand on her head, in her acts to overcome her embarrassment and deceive a legendary actor before her, who stood agape as a witness to what was unfolding before him.
Meanwhile, Eric was left wondering if this was the next episode of her insane performance after the one she pulled the first time.
"Not again! I am not up for another abnormality scene right now..." Eric whispered under his breath.
After recalling Evans's assurance about her abnormality the first time, Eric became concerned and wondered if she still didn't recover from that shock.
Does that mean he was about to go through another stressful hide-and-seek questions concerning that unknown Caleb again?!
In a brief second, Eric wondered if he imagined it, but he was sure he saw a lurking smile of triumph around Kristine's lips, which had his attention back on whether this could be a pretense.
He was an actor after all. And right now, his gut feeling was telling him she was acting.
But Eric didn't want to make the same mistake he made during her first ordeal. So he simply plastered an amused friendly smile on his face as he stared at her.
On the other hand, Kristine lifted her eyes to meet Eric's amused gaze which placed her on alert mode, about whether Eric saw through her pretense, and her thoughts began to run wild.
In a split second, it came as a confirmation when Eric stared closely and noticed the 'cover-blown' expression around Kristine's brow and eyes, which vanished immediately.
Eric was now sure that Kristine was over her abnormality shock. So this was the real acting, and she was currently trying to trick him.
On the other hand, Kristine was fighting for her composure.
"Why is he amused? Did he figure out I was acting and think it was funny?" Kristine wondered.
Judging from the amusement on Eric's face, Kristine realized he must have seen into her acts. Yet, she refused to give in and apologize to him.
Instead, she still went along and continued her clumsy acting.
"Oh, I ache all over... I could even feel the pulse underneath my fingers!." Kristine blabbered while making weird gestures which amused Eric and he chuckled aloud.
Eric moved a few steps to close the distance between them. He was silent the entire time and continued to indulge her clumsy acting.
And when he had enough of all the entertainment, he finally found his tongue to answer her.
"Wow! Don't tell me you are about to develop some kind of superpower! So tell me, are you now going to shoot fire from your fingers, since you could feel a pulse underneath there?" Eric scoffed jokingly.
Kristine's surprised expression turned into frustration, but it continued to amuse Eric instead.
"Anyway, don't worry, I could help you control those powers if that happens..." Eric folded his arms across his chest with a mocking expression on his face.
It seems that was the last straw for Kristine who realized her acting was ineffective. Her cover was now blown to ashes.
Nevertheless, Kristine still refused to make an apology. After all, she didn't even touch the food or ate it yet... She was only about to take it when he interrupted.
Meanwhile, when Kristine was about to finally accept defeat and hold onto pity to escape Eric's accusing scrutiny, she figured her pride wouldn't allow her to accept losing so she decided to change tactics...
"Oh, my God! You are Eric Kurt...aren't you?!... Our worldwide star." Kristine exclaimed in shock as if seeing Eric just now for the first time.
However, Eric felt goosebumps at her speedy change of characters. Shouldn't she surrender instead?
How could she change her reactions and behaviors so easily...was she a chameleon?" Eric wondered continuously.
As Kristine stood face to face with Eric and finally scrutinized his appearance, she became drawn to what she was seeing before her.
Her blue eyes were shimmering with softness and sparks of light as she stared at Eric without blinking for a whole minute.
Kristine stared at Eric's half-naked state. From the towel around his waist to his wet messy hair and his beautifully toned six-packed belly, which she couldn't help but admire.
She didn't even realize she was still staring until Eric whistled and waved his hand across her face to call her attention, which finally brought her out of her fantasy world.
"Well, if you are done checking me out, could you be kind enough to tell me what you were about to do with my meal." Now back to the question at hand.
Eric had to remember that embarrassing action of hers and make her feel awful once again.
Why wouldn't he just let it go? Almost all her acting so far was just to avoid hearing this particular question.
"Your meal? I don't understand!" Kristine pretended to have no idea of what he was talking about.
"Oh don't give me that! I know you understood me perfectly. That clumsy acting of yours and fake pretense wouldn't save you now!" Eric was now damn serious.
"You were reaching out for my meal when I came out of the bathroom. I saw you dammit!." Kristine tried to avoid eye contact.
But on second thought, why should she be ashamed anyway, he should rather be ashamed for being petty over food, and even asking her that question.
Therefore, Kristine decided to finally be herself, and deal with the arrogant guy before her in her own way.
"Yeah! that's true...I was about to eat that too. If only you were two minutes late, you would have found an empty tray by now." Kristine confessed nonchalantly.
"What? So everything you ate on your tray wasn't enough? Do you have a tank in your stomach?" Eric was now shocked!
Kristine ignored his sarcastic comments and stood up to make good on her word.
First, she took her sit on the couch facing the table where Eric's food tray was placed, and started eating it right in front of him.
"What do you think you are doing?" Eric asked in amazement.
Kristine ignored him and continued eating, even though she was extremely amazed by Eric's character in real life, not that she ever doubted it... but being petty? that was never what she expected.
"How could you be so petty with food? Aren't you the star who was well-known for loving his fans and doing everything to please them?" Kristine had to remind Eric of his two-faced character.
But instead, Eric chuckled mockingly at her claims.
"I didn't know you were one of my fans... so tell me, you want some special fan treatment now?." Eric asked, but without waiting for her answer, he continued...
"Well then, I am taking you off my fan list right now! That's my food!" Eric uttered aghast.
OMG! Eric Kurt must have developed some serious psychological issues for being this petty!
"Like I care. And why would I want to be a fan to a petty person like you anyway." Kristine whispered silently...
"You were the one who asked me whether I had a tank in my stomach. So I realized that instead of answering, I might as well prove it to you... After all, 'To see is to believe'! That has always been my philosophy.
Eric couldn't help but notice how Kristine mostly bring out the worse character in him. He was surprised he became so petty with Mandy a while ago for this food, and he is now angry at Kristine for eating it.
This was simply ridiculous.
Evans even told him about how hungry she must be feeling when she fainted after her ordeal. Yet, here he was being petty again.
He can't blame himself. Kristine seems poisonous to his mental state right now! He needed some space away from her. As if electrocuted, Eric distanced himself away and headed towards his closet to finally get some clothes on.
Meanwhile, Kristine simply continued eating heartily. She felt so full after her meal and even rubbed her belly in satisfaction.
"At least I feel alive now!
Seconds later, the realization of her current surroundings began to replay before Kristine, and her situation unexpectedly registered inside her mind.
"Where am I? How did I make it here...do I have some sort of superpowers?" Kristine sat upright on the couch as she began to recall how exactly she ended up in Eric Kurt's mansion.
The first thing she remembered was tailing behind Sam Wilby's car in a taxi, then waiting for him outside the motel.
Then what exactly happened next?!
Kristine's memory became foggy. She only remembered pieces in her memories. Her mind felt like a broken shattered glass with missing pieces of its frame.
And tne last thing she remembered was getting hit by a car... But how did it all happen?
The more she forced herself to recall everything that happened, the more her head ached with immense pain, so she stopped to calm herself.
Suddenly, Kristine's mind went back to retrace her thoughts as an untimely realization began to kick in.
"So that means, the car that hit me was Eric Kurt's car? Does that mean Sam was actually on his way to Eric?" Kristine realized her doubts about Eric's involvement were true after all.
What else would she be doing here in Eric's house when she has been tailing behind Sam all this while. But how did she ended up here?
"Did Sam have anything to do about it? But what was Eric planning to do to her by bringing her here? Was her accident premeditated? Did the both of them plan it to get her here? But how!?
Apart from Taylor Dray, nobody knew of her plans." Kristine was overwhelmed with shock as these thoughts run through her head.
"But why can't I remember anything about my encounter with Sam and after... Was I drugged or something?" Kristine heaved a sigh to calm down her wild thoughts. She seems to awake a severe headache whenever she thought deeply. Maybe an aftereffect of the accident, or was it the drugs?
"Oh no! Everything seems confusing!"
Well, if they had indeed brought her here for their plot, they don't know who they were trying to mess with. She was always known to beat people at their own games. Well, except with Caleb though.
But in any case, Kristine has been thinking of ways to get closer to Eric and find out his involvement in her sister's case, or whether he was Jason's sponsor.
Finally, her well-laid plan to reach Eric through Sam had really succeeded.
Fate was indeed an interesting ally, it seemed to favor her in her quest to seek vengeance for her sister.
Kristine couldn't believe she lost Sam, a mere puppet, and ended up with the puppeteer himself...the mastermind, who was Eric Kurt!
How amusing! Interesting!
Well, She would make sure she wouldn't lose this chance that fate or her enemies had given her. She would make sure to find out everything about what actually happened, and make them pay, one by one for what they did to Rhea.
But why her sister though? What made Rhea their target for their scheme?
As if she needed an answer...It was surely Jason's never-ending obsession
Thinking about family, Kristine finally remembered how worried they might be, for not making it home yesterday.... and about her sudden disappearance.
Even though she wished Taylor did something to calm her family's worries, but he was the worse liar anyone could ever meet, which made her doubtful about him, and it increased her worries about her Mom and Sister.
How could she forget to call them and ease their worries?
Kristine got up quickly and ran in the direction Eric entered and barged into his closet without permission.
She rushed inside the wide closet turning her head in amazement at what she was seeing before her.
"These clothes would surely last me a century wearing them!" She whispered, then turned to spot a startled Eric not far from where she stood. He was about to wear his pants after wearing his underwear then he got startled by Kristine's intrusion and nearly lost his balance trying to hide his nudity.
Kristine realized her mistake and quickly turned her face away from him to give him privacy. She stammered her apologies for her intrusion.
"Don't you know how to knock? or weren't you satisfied with what you already saw of my nudity?" Eric was suddenly pissed.
"Oh please! I already said I was sorry! I just got carried away that's all." This was Kristine's nonchalant answer with a scoffed face.
"Wait for me outside, I will be out in a minute." Eric ordered, still pissed at her.
Kristine carefully closed the door after she left and started to giggle at Eric's startled reactions.
"Oh, that was funny! She can't believe how viral the news will go when she posts about seeing Eric Kurt in his underwear." Kristine controlled herself long enough to sit on the couch and pretended nothing happened.
Eric came out looking embarrassed and trying to avoid any discussion about their awkward encounter in his closet, so he put on a fierce face to confront Kris.
He looked at the food tray on the table and realized she had indeed finished all of it.
How could she eat this much and still have this perfect figure? If he hadn't seen It himself, he wouldn't have believed it.
"So, what do you want now?... More food?" He teased!
"No thanks! I am full." Kristine answered pleasantly.
"As if I will accommodate you again." Eric added, barely a whisper.
"How long have I been here?... I mean what's today's date." Kristine needed to know how long she has been away from her family after her near accident.
Her overwhelming thoughts were that the accident occurred only yesterday, but she needed to be sure since she was unconscious the entire time, therefore, she couldn't calculate the days.
Upon hearing Kristine's question, an idea suddenly struck Eric's mind to pull a prank on her.
This was his opportunity to teach her a lesson for all she made him go through today.
"Well... The accident occurred in January and we are currently in march, that means you were here for....." Eric teasingly raised his hand to calculate.
Kristine screamed in horror at the thought of that.
"Three months?? You mean I have been here for three months? Oh, God! What happened to me!?" She asked nervously.
"Well, you were in a Coma because of the accident. You hit your head hard and we even thought you wouldn't recover." Eric continued to stress his lies.
Kristine collapsed on the couch as reality kicked in.
Her Mom...Rhea!. Do they know about this? Well, they wouldn't have known since she came here without informing anyone, and she was currently very far from home.
Kristine couldn't believe how silly she could have been, to come this far without any of her family knowing.
Instead of helping to soothe her sister's pain, she had brought additional pain and worry for going missing for three months! How are they currently coping with this news now?
The tears that threatened to flow from Kristine's eyes at the thought of her family's current condition, suddenly fell endlessly on her cheeks.
Then the guilt from what he just did to her suddenly hit him hard when Eric saw her tears.
"Oh No! this is going to be a real mess!