``the same road [[patrick]]

[kayleigh allison leander]

for the past few days, she had been a bit busy. she wasn't a big star or a singer. she wasn't even that known around l.a. anyway, but she still goes to college as her 'back-up plan'. her parents had always insisted on it and she just agreed. she didn't had a choice and maybe it was for the best too. right now, she just wanted to relax and forget about all the stress in work and school. high school was already worse with all the drama but... when it comes to studies, sometimes college can melt your brain. and then of all the things, kay just hoped her friend felt better. at least a bit more better. her friend had came from a bad break up. everyone just come and go to kayleigh for advice. she hadn't had that many relationships but she knew the right things to say just to help her friends. kay knew that her friends knew what to do, they were just too afraid to face reality. perhaps its why kay wanted to be a singer, to be a role model to people. to express her feelings to them and perhaps even help them in their problems at the same time. kayleigh walked out of her apartment, she lives alone now and just visits her family at times. she was tired of not being able to bring herself up just because her family keeps bringing her down everyday. kayleigh sighed and locked her apartment, she needs some fresh air. she needs to be outside. she doesn't need to be locked up in her house and to do nothing. perhaps a coffee would help her. kayleigh got in her car, she had learned how to drive for her benefit, and started the car. starbucks were just a few minute drive and she just really got there in minutes. she parked and looked up at the store. everyone loved starbucks. it was just so piece in quiet. well, depends on how big the branch was but kay love it nonethless. kay got out and locked her car. she adjusted her shirt before entering the store, it was a habit she had picked up. kay had went directly to the counter, ordering a frappucino. starbucks had an effect that could let you relax... even just a little bit. she waited for her drink and looked around the store. it never really changed but people never got tired of the place. perhaps it was the aura inside the store that made people love it or maybe it was just simply the coffee. some people take their time at the cafe and sometimes bring their work in here too. there were people with laptop, headphones, books... and there was a familiar blonde man with papers all over his desk. kayleigh knew who he was but she couldn't really see much in the angle. his back was facing her. "miss kayleigh?" a starbucks employee called. kayleigh tore her gaze away from the blonde man and smiled then took her drink. "thanks." she muttered and debated if she should go over the the man or not. kayleigh took a deep breath and passed the man to see his face. she was right. she did know the man. patrick kensington. the two had met before. they could consider each other as friends in a way. patrick was a nice and handsome man who was about three years older than her. kayleigh walked to his table, "uhm... hey patrick. do you mind if i take this seat?" she asked, smiling down at him.


notes - this is horrible >.> so i apologize! looks like tonight, my muse didn't work out as i hoped it would.

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[patrick ray kensington]

It had been the longest, most headache-inducing night that the young man had ever had in his small, cluttered office. If it hadn't been for the constant cups of coffee, he'd have fallen asleep long ago but chose to neglect the urge to close his eyes and focus on the case at hand. Technically it wasn't his case but he'd been asked personally to look into it by the family of a concerned party, though had to keep his distance since the trail had taken him to dangerous territory and a place he always hated; dealing with the police was already a pain in the ass with his checkered past in which no one but himself and a few other cops knew the truth but the FBI had recently come to town in search of a new serial killer: Zenith. He'd always been good at connecting the dots and the break-ins at the university had a link with Zenith in some way and while no young college girl had turned up dead yet was beyond him. Patrick figured that he was the type of killer that enjoyed playing mental games with his potential prey but it seemed strange that he'd pick the locks of more than a couple doors on campus. While the killer was, undoubtedly good, even the greatest serial killers couldn't handle that many killings; people would start getting scared and leave LA to go home with their parents which would put up a concrete wall in Zenith's plan unless he was diverting attention from his real target.

Regardless, the former homicide detective had been working for twenty-nine hours straight and had neglected sleep which had, no doubt, angered Arnisha but he figured that she understood his work was important and that he would come to bed when he couldn't function any longer. Either that, or he'd end up passed out behind the desk in his office or cause a car accident. Just to be sure the latter didn't occur, he walked from his office to the local starbucks and ordered espresso to give him the extra jolt he'd needed. People stared at him and whispered, likely from the obvious lack of sleep he had in his hair being unkempt and tires giving the look of fatigue; however, Patrick had gotten used to people judging him as of late and paid them no mind before taking his drink and sitting in a booth with his paperwork: witness statements that were no good at all, details of the killings, photographs and a list of possible suspects. Anderson had been his closest friend in the department and had snuck him what information they had knowing, like Patrick did, that a Private Eye would attract less attention than a squad of police or a group of FBI agents in the look for Zenith.

Staring at his paperwork, he almost didn't hear the voice of the young woman and shook his head breaking his work-induced trance to look up into the voice of Kayleigh Leander. They'd met almost a week ago and considered one another friends of sorts. She was just a few years younger than he and undeniably gorgeous in her dark hair, fair complexion, deep eyes and perfectly sculpted legs. He found himself staring for a moment and had to shake the thought of the young woman's legs from his mind and focus on his work though nodded, offering her a soft smile, "No, I don't mind. Go ahead. It's good to see you again, Kayleigh."

[kayleigh allison leander]

lately, kayleigh didn't really had an easy schedule. monday to friday, she had college at different times and after each class she had to come home to her own apartment and do her college work. if she doesn't have college works then she normally work on her songs or perhaps she'll seek some acting auditions that she can play a part in. during saturdays and sundays, she goes at the studio with her manager and spends the whole day there. she rarely took a break. but she knew there were other people out there who had a harder time. some people rarely got any sleep. and there were some people who were jetlagged from their constant touring. if kayleigh ever be one of those people, she would have a harder time for sure but she knows it'll all be worth it once she reach her goal so she could finally justify herself to her family and prove them wrong.

a slightly bigger smile was placed upon kayleigh's face as she was greeted back by patrick. she felt little tingles by her body but she didn't really think of anything by it. she was just probably nervous. she wasn't exactly the shy type of girl. she was quite outgoing, but not really the loud clingy type of girl. kayleigh had only ever met patrick once or twice besides from this random meeting. she was glad that he even remembered her. a part of her thought she would even ask who she is but she wouldn't blame him, he was a busy man. and that was already obvious. from the look of his state, he was even busier than kayleigh is. a lot busier. his blonde hair was messed up and he had some eye bugs under his eyes, even by the look of his blue eyes you could see that he hadn't had his sleep. he also had paperwork. tons of them scattered across the table. kayleigh took a seat across the man and kept her drink away from the table, she took a hold of it between her hands. it wasn't a hot drink. it was far from that. her coffee-free frappuccino was honestly a cold drink. she doesn't want to leave water stain to the papers spread on the table for they were probably important. "thanks, patrick." she said then looked at him."its good to see you again too. its been a while hasn't it?" she mused with a smile on her face. days or weeks had probably passed since they last saw each other. kayleigh never really took record of it. not that she would. time just passed away from her hands easily. last time they spoke to each other, they didn't had a long time talking to each other but kayleigh had enjoyed the older man's company. he was undeniably handsome, that was for sure. but kayleigh didn't really thought of anything by it. they had only met twice and she had seen him around with a blonde girl before. perhaps she was his girlfriend. kayleigh's eyes drifted down the papers. they were mostly articles and pictures then looked at patrick again, "i hope i'm not bothering your work...but you know... last time i saw you, you had a pile of paper in your hands." she chuckled lightly.

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[patrick ray kensington]

Given the opportunity to pull his tired eyes away from the papers scattered before him, he reached over and took a mouthful of the espresso that had long grown cold sitting on the top of the table for what had to be hours now. The young man ran a hand through his unkempt hair in an effort to be somewhat presentable to his company that had just joined him though it was as pointless as throwing water on a grease fire and his hair stubbornly remained a wreck. He didn't do his job to look good nor to be the most popular guy in the city and so it seemed to suit him that his appearance was literally a mess just like his law enforcement career had turned out to be. It was when he found himself working late pouring over details looking for anything to go off of that he wished his old partner was still with him and that they could come up with an idea together but those days were long gone. Anderson couldn't afford to be associating with his former partner and the former marine couldn't blame the guy; he was a family man and had his wife and kids to look out for after all. Patrick leaned back in the booth taking a deep breath after Kayleigh had taken her seat and nodded in response to her question, "Yeah, it's been around a week or a little over, I think. It's hard to keep up with time lately."

"No," he replied to her concern on bothering his work, "it's okay. I needed to take a break anyway." He looked down at the papers with a soft sigh and reached up to clasp the bridge of his nose between his eyes with his forefinger and thumb, trying to prevent the headache that he knew was bound to return as a result of his lack of sleep. Smiling, he lowered his hand, his eyes still closed before opening them to allow his blue eyes to rest on Kayleigh, finding it funny how she still remembered how busy he was the first time they met. Looking back on it then, he would give anything for a simple case like that one had been, but the man he was after now was dangerous and highly intelligent; there was not a single doubt in the private eye's mind that he more than had his work cut out for him on this one. "I guess the piles of paper come with the territory. Speaking of papers, you're in college if I do recall? How's that going?"

[kayleigh allison leander]

time works in a funny way. of course, scientifically, people would say its just the same and it never changes. but that wasn't the point. whenever you're doing something or perhaps there's a limited time onto what you had to do, time seems to run faster. you seem to have a little race with time to see who can do things faster as if challenging you on how smart and fast can you be. sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. or sometimes you don't even notice the time at all. though, whenever you just want to wait for a specific time or a specific day to come, everything just seemed to be slower. you sit and wait, but when you look at the time... it doesn't seem changed at all. maybe a minute or so. but it is never when you have a race with time. kayleigh took a deep breath and nodded, "time just comes around unexpectedly, i guess." she smiled then looked down at the drink she's holding in her lap. she used her index finger to trace little shapes to the plastic cup. the little amount of water seemed to be like raindrops. some fall and some stay. just like how it is with life. its hard to stay strong and to keep holding on but you just seem so fragile, you just seem so easy to wipe away. kayleigh's brown eyes looked back up at patrick and she let out a smile again, "i see..." she said and looked at him up and down. kayleigh found it natural for him. he seemed to be the type of guy who takes his work seriously. it fits him, to all honesty. though, every person would need a break every now and then and take a rest. "i wouldn't be surprised if you've literally worked all night." she smiled softly and moved the straw of her drink around inside the plastic cup, letting the whipped cream to be mixed with the frappucino. she let her eyes wander around for a second. starbucks had that signature dim light and everyone else was quiet. there were only a few people talking. besides from patrick, she had known no one around the cafe. her gaze was at her side then she looked back at patrick. her eyes would drift from somewhere else but they seemed to always look back on the blue eyed man without her permission, "well... college is fine... i guess." she shrugged and brought the straw up to her lips and took a sip then got it back down on her lap. "its been busier and harder. then i guess its natural cause its my last year. what about you? how is life?

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