//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Her Story Part 3 
// Story: Obsessions 
// by Derpyx0 
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I awoke to the chirping of the birds, the sing-song sound of the wind, and- "How cliche," I grumbled. I then heard a knock on my door. "Never mind." Tuning out the knocks, I brushed my mane and teeth, and soon made myself a cup of coffee. My stomach grumbled, so I prepared myself a leftover scone from yesterday morning. After the steaming tea and delicious scone was lain out properly across the table, I opened the front door with a smile on my face. "Hello, Blaze! And what brings you to my humble home?" I asked, my smile changing into a slight smirk. I was in a... devious mood. Besides, I was angry at him for ruining my cliche morning. The annoyed look on his face was enough to make my half-smirk widen, and Blaze took note of that.

"Miss.... Redheart. I was standing at your door for twenty minutes! I almost thought you weren't home, but I knew you'd hate to miss our little... get together. Oh, is that tea and scones I smell? Now I know what took you so long! Or maybe... you wanted to get all ready for me? Your mane is done up quiet nicely! I am quite the stallion! I can see why you would be into me!" I growled. Oh, he was good. Too good, and I hated it. His cleverness made me want to strangle him even more then I already did, but I restrained myself. 

"Oh, I would never want to miss our wonderful discussions, Blaze. I was just making myself some breakfast, which I am sure you already did. It is ten in the morning! And I was just brushing my mane, so it wouldn't look like your rats nest of a mane," I shot back. Blaze, almost protectively, ran his hoof through his messy mane. It did look like a rats nest, and stallions didn't care about their manes, right? So nothing I said could be hurtful, I thought. Then I thought, Wait, why am I concerned about his feelings? I'm bickering with him for a reason! "So, Blaze, would you like to come inside? I'm sure I have some tea leftover." Blaze smirked at me, knowing that he had won. I held in a disgruntled sigh; I wasn't happy he had won. But I had to be the bigger mare! I then snorted. Blaze was acting like a little filly! To think that a stallion would take part in such a petty fight! Ha!

"Are you going to let me inside your humble home, Miss Redheart?" That was the bad thing about losing. Blaze could now mock me all he wanted. It was an unspoken, unofficial rule. And I hated it. A lot. Though I hated him, it was my duty to tell him the story of my dear, dear friend Lyra Heartstrings. Though I didn't know why the guard wanted this story, I knew they did, and I didn't want to question their expertise. Still... this was my friend we were talking about here. And I was the one telling the story! I deserved to know some answers! And from what limited knowledge I knew of deaths and the guard, their lack of communication towards me was highly unusual. I decided to talk to the guard this afternoon, and to try to get some answers. 

Suddenly, a soft munch drew my attention to the corner of my living room. "Blaze!" I shouted in anger. "Why in the whole wide world of Equestria are you eating my scone?" Slurp. "And drinking my tea? That's mine!" I was fuming. The nerve of this stallion! Eating my food and drinking my drinks without permission! 

"You said you would prepare something for me. I thought, 'Well, I'm hungry, and you promised me food, so I just thought-" Blaze's snout snapped shut when I shoved him across the room. In hindsight, that wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I was angry! 

"You, Blaze, are here on official business, and official business only! That gives you no right to steal my food, ruin my flowers, or any of the things you have been doing! I have a mind to report you to your boss right this instant and I- A- Are you... smiling at me?" Throughout my whole rant, Blaze had a dumb smile on his face.

"You are just too cute when you're angry. You know that? It's a wonder you aren't married!" It was like he had slapped me. I was dumbfounded. Had he... had he..

"A- are you... flirting with me?" I stared at Blaze, my eyes wide. Was he flirting with me? Why would he do that? Surely he didn't like me! I.. I honestly wasn't pretty, well, not like Lyra. But, well, even with his tendency to be annoying, he was one heck of a stallion. Those huge muscles, his soft, blonde mane. Wait... what was I thinking?1 I didn't like him! I don't like him! He's a jerk! I- I can't like him!

"Well," Blaze started, drawing my eyes to him, "I guess I am. You sound angry, though I don't know why! I've seen you looking at me! Seriously, don't deny it!"

"W- what the hell are you talking about? I have never stared at you. If anything, you're the one staring at me!" I don't know why I got so angry. I guess I just didn't want him to like me, since romantic relationships have never worked for me in the past. All of my previous boyfriends have... well, they left me, for one reason or another. And I seem to have horrible taste in men. It seems as if they always have something "wrong" with them; whether it be an addiction or cheating, I can never seem to find the right guy. And I had a feeling Blaze had something he was hiding from me. I don't know what, but he just gave me that feeling. But... he was still pretty cute... No! I couldn't think about that! I looked up (not realizing I was looking at my hardwood flooring), and stared him straight in the eye. He stared back. Then he smiled, just like they all did. Memories flashed in my mind, and they weren't good ones. The memories and his smile broke me. I was too afraid. I couldn't handle stallions! They were to unnerving, their talent at manipulation. They were all like that, and Blaze was probably no exception. "Get out," I declared, "now." 

"I- but- you can't do that! I'm sorry, alright! I- I don't know what came over me! But I- I have a story to get! My boss'll kill me! This story is super important to this case! Please, Miss Redheart, I need this story." Blaze's eyes searched my for pity, for a place where he could break me, so my story would spill out. But I wouldn't let him break me. I was already broken enough.

"I- I said to get out. This is my house. You have no right to intrude upon my household. You- you're... trespassing?" I ended my should-have-been statement with a question mark. I didn't know much about legal affairs, but I was pretty sure he was breaking some law. My judgement must have been right, since Blaze backed away from me and trotted out my door. 

"I'll be back tomorrow. Or will that not work for you? Maybe I can come the next day. Since this is your house. And I mean, who cares about my job? I don't need what little money I make for my crappy apartment and my addic- and my, uh, cat. Yeah, my cat, Addison. So, goodbye. I hope you're happy." Blaze left with a slam!, and the door was closed in my face. I know he was trying to make me feel bad, and he was close to succeeding. But seriously, he couldn't get fired for not getting enough, er, any of the story today! How important was it, anyway? Blaze would probably know. And he probably would hold the information over my head. Speaking of information, that reminded me that I wanted to call the head of this case, Mr. Lance, for some answers to my questions. He told me he had given me his cell phone number, and I knew I had the card somewhere. I needed to get answers from him, not his assistant or something. It was a good thing he had given me his personal cell phone number. I couldn't stand assistants and waiting. 

I finally found the card, and I dialed the number. It looked oddly professional... Ring Ring.... The phone was picked up after two rings. Hello, this is Mr. Lance's office, how may I help you? I groaned. A secretary, he had lied. It wasn't his personal cell phone number.

"Yes, hi, I would like to make an appointment to talk with Mr. Lance..."