I wake up early later that morning and go jogging in a bid to clear my head. Unsurprisingly, the remainder of my night had been horrible, and now, there were dark circles beneath my eyes, but the crisp morning air helped to revive me a bit. Soon, I was in a better mood than I had been in the previous night.
However, my good mood soon disappeared when I heard the sound of running footsteps behind me. I whirl around, already in a defensive mood, not that I would have been able to do anything if a predator was coming up to me. My ordeal in the hands of Charlotte had left me skinny to the point of emaciation, and I hadn’t gained much in terms of weight since then. In summary, I am as light as a feather, so to speak. My mood plunges more when I realize that it is Charles who is running behind me.“What the hell is your problem? Has your family not tortured me enough? First, it was your father, then your sister, and now, you? What did I ever do to all of you?” I snap at him without so much as a ‘good morning.’“Good morning, Jessica. I didn’t know that you like jogging.” He says conversationally, ignoring my outburst. I note that he is as surprised to see me as I am to see him, but still, I’m upset.“So you weren’t following me? Is that what you’re trying to say?”“I don’t know why you think I’ll be following you. I know you don’t think much of me and my family, but I have no intention to torture you or anything like that, I promise. I’ll be on my way now. You have a good morning.” He says and jogs away from me, leaving me standing there and staring at his retreating and well-built back.Once he is out of sight, I complete my jogging and head back to Sebastian’s house. I have to leave today. The last thing I need is to keep bumping into Charles at every turn. I book my flight as I trek back to the house. By the time I get ready and prepare to leave, I’m told by Sebastian that Charles has already left and gone back to his base. He flew down for the ceremony as I had done. There’s a stranger, a man who doesn’t look much older than Sebastian, in the living room with him, Carol, and their baby. Feeling relieved that I won’t bump into Charles again, I say goodbye to Sebastian, and Carol, who urges me to come visit anytime I feel lonely.“I could do with some help with the baby and I need someone to have a girls’ night out with now and then,” Carol says, patting my hand in reassurance. I know that she is trying to get me out of my shell, so I smile and mumble something about coming to visit after a few weeks, something I know is a blatant lie. I blow their baby boy a kiss, and for a moment, it crosses my mind that I could have been the one with the man I love and a baby.I immediately put the thought away from my mind. I don’t think I would ever fall in love again. I had been in love, really in love only once before, and that had been with Sebastian. Look how that had turned out. While I was busy holding on to thoughts of him to get me through those dark days, he was busy getting married to another woman. Granted, it had been a contract marriage which his uncle had insisted upon in exchange for using his resources to find me. But then, Sebastian had fallen in love with Carol, and my heart had been shattered. No, I wasn’t giving love a chance anytime soon.“You should ride with Maxwell. He’s on his way to the airport.” Sebastian is saying, referring to the stranger, who was his business associate.“Yes. I can drop you off. It’s not a problem at all.” Maxwell says eagerly. I peer at him, not liking what I see in the least. He looks like he’s interested in me, which is the last thing I need right now, or for some time to come, for that matter.“Or one of the drivers can take you if you’d rather not,” Sebastian says again, probably sensing my reluctance.“No, it’s fine. Thanks for the offer.” I decide since I don’t want to come off as rude.“I’m so sorry for what happened to you,” Maxwell tells me on our way to the airport.“Thanks.”“I’m glad you’re getting better. I want to invite you on a boat cruise organized by one of Sebastian’s companies. It’s going to be fun-filled. Sebastian can’t make it because he’s going on his honeymoon, so I’m going to be in charge of everything. You should come, Jessica.”“Sure,” I reply rigidly, just to stop him from talking. I don’t like the fact that so many people, even people I don’t know, know my business. Maxwell and I exchange numbers and he promises to send me the details of the whole thing, which he does that very day. I do not reply, because I don’t intend to go on a cruise, and certainly not one with Maxwell and his very interested eyes.After a few days locked up in the mansion that Sebastian had bought for me in exchange for the one which we had jointly owned, I start to feel stifled and bored. At the last minute, I decide to go on the cruise, after all. Maybe mingling with other people, apart from my housekeeper wouldn’t be so bad, after all, I reason.The first day is uneventful, and I spend it holed up in my cabin, after declining Maxwell’s invitation for me to come to spend some time with other people. By the evening of the second day, however, I decide to go on deck so I can see the sunset at least, and maybe spend some time, however little, in the company of others, apart from myself.As I approach the deck, I realize that there is a broad-shouldered and tall man leaning against it. I pause, planning to beat a hasty retreat, and already going back on my earlier decision to make chit-chat with strangers. There is something vaguely familiar about this man, which makes it all the more imperative for him not to notice me. I begin to tiptoe back the way that I had come, trying not to make a sound, and I didn’t make any sound, but the man must have sensed someone’s presence because he turned and caught me tiptoeing away.“Oh, for fuck’s sake! You gotta be kidding me!” I exclaim when I realize exactly who it is. I’m stuck on a goddamn cruise ship with the very same man I’ve been avoiding.JESSICASix months later, it still feels like a dream that it's finally over. But life is finally getting back to normal, or at least it’s finally getting back to what I think normal should be, and it’s blissful. I can go out any time I want, go wherever I want, and do whatever I feel like doing without having to watch my back.I have my loving family, both my immediate and extended ones. By extended, I mean Sebastian and his family, along with Mrs. James, of course. They’re the only family that I’d ever want or need. My brother, who had been estranged from me for a very long time, despite all my efforts to reach out to him over the years, finally reached out to me three days after the whole Charlotte saga.He’s a stranger to me now though, and I don’t consider him family, although once, I worshipped the ground on which he walked. He had literally raised me up until my teenage years when he disappeared without a single word. Now that I know the reason why he disappeared, I'm glad he d
“I don’t want either of us to get hurt, Charlotte. If I try to grab the gun, one of us will surely get hurt, or wind up dead. You still have enough time to run if you don’t want the police to catch you.” Charles tells his sister after about two minutes or so of them going back and forth.The pain in my knee is beginning to be unbearable, but I struggle with all that is in me to swing my legs as silently as possible from the bed. My legs feel rubbery, as though they belong to someone else, but I know that it is now or never. If I fail, Ava might not grow up with her father, mother, or both of them.Although every muscle in my body is in protest, I struggle to move silently, and I’m almost all the way to where Charlotte is when all hell breaks loose. She’s backing me, while Charles is facing me, so he obviously sees me trying to move to where they are, but he pretends not to and continues to engage Charlotte.However, she must have noticed movement out of the corner of her eye, or maybe
"You’re joking, right? I mean, how is that even possible.” Charles asks in bewilderment. From his expression, and the tone of his voice, it is clear that he thinks that his sister is batshit crazy, which she obviously is. As for me, I remain silent, not even daring to breathe too loudly, so that Charlotte would not be reminded of my existence.What she is saying is pretty wild to me too. I mean, I haven’t seen or spoken or heard from my brother in well over a decade, and neither do I have any desire to speak to or hear from him, so I don’t know why someone would want to harm me just because of him.“I wish I was joking, because if I were, then my daughter and her father would still be alive, and maybe, just maybe I would have someone to love me too because it’s clear that you don’t give two hoots about me.”“Well, you make it hard to care about you, considering the fact that you go about killing innocent people for no reason other than the fun of it. Wait! What’s this bit about a daug
“What the fuck?! You’re not supposed to be here. How did you get here so fast?” Charlotte asks him, her composure cracking for once. She immediately dives for the gun which she had discarded earlier, and points it at Charles. There’s no need for her to be worried about me, because I’m in no condition to do anything other than lay on the mattress on which she placed me. Charles is not armed, and neither had I thought that he would be, because where on earth would he get a gun in a foreign country? But then, I had expected him to at least come with help, and not just charge in alone, although come to think of it, I should be thankful that he showed up when he did, else, Charlotte might have amputated my leg by now. “I drove like a maniac and no doubt, broke all the laws there are about driving too fast in this country, but I had to get here, considering the fact that you’re hell-bent on obliterating my family.” “How did you find this place?” “By sheer luck, and technology too, plus I
"Get on the bed? Wh … why?”“Don’t ask me questions. Just do as I say.”“What are you going to use all those tools for?” I ask her, backing away as she inches closer. I’m not prepared for the loud bang of a gunshot from the gun in her hand. I don’t hear the sound of the bullet whizzing past me, but I feel it, and my heart jumps into my throat. It takes everything in me not to turn and run out of that building, but I manage to stand my ground.“Next time, you won’t be so lucky. Now, get on the table. If you think you’re stalling long enough for help to arrive, you have another thing coming. You’re never going to be found, and there’s no reception here, so just do as I say and this is going to be a fast, painless experience.” Charlotte orders.Looking at her, one would be forgiven to think that she’s a socialite or a very respectable banker, with her well-pressed clothes and perfect hair, not the mentally deranged criminal that she really is. Still, there’s no way I’m getting into that
"Okay, I don’t want any problems. Please give me my daughter, and we can forget that this ever happened, while you go back into hiding or something. Look, I forgive you for all that you did to me.” I tell Charlotte, my voice wavering so badly, but there is nothing that I can do about it, or about anything.“Ava, isn’t it? She’s a very beautiful baby. She takes after my mother’s side in the looks aspect. My mother was a very beautiful woman, although I can’t say the same about my birth father.”“Yes. She looks just like you and Charles when you were babies. I saw your family pictures.”“You did?” Charlotte asks, sounding genuinely surprised.“Yes. Charles showed me.”“Cool, cool.” She says, still rocking Ava as slowly as though she has all the time in the world. To say I’m confused is an understatement, but I’m starting to relax a teeny tiny fraction.“Please give me Ava, and we’ll both be on our way,” I tell her, wondering what the meaning of all this is. She doesn't seem to be in a h