~ COLTON ~Colton was frantic. He knew Sierra must be inside that room. He tried calling and doing everything he could, but there wasn’t even any ringing. Desperately, he even used the ‘find my phone’ feature. It could only tell him that she was inside the hotel, but that was it. Colton realized he needed to find a way into that room without using the front door. Slipping through the sea of people, he headed for a window adjacent to that room. Swiftly and skillfully, he climbed out of the window and started scaling the walls like a real life Spiderman. Yes, he could fall and die at any moment. Did he care? Not so much.Colton only had one goal in mind and that was to make sure Sierra was okay. He kept replaying the image in his head of when she was harassed by those stupid frat guys at the party. They got her drunk, roofied her, and they were about to rape her. He remembered seeing their disgusting hands on her body and it made his blood boil. Sierra was a good girl with a pure hea
~ SIERRA ~- - - - - TWO WEEKS LATER - - - - -“Spring Break, here we come!”Rosie was clapping her hands in excitement as she sat comfortably in her first class seat. Sierra was sitting next to her and their bodyguards were in the cabin behind them. Sierra fastened her seatbelt and sat back. In just seven and a half hours, they would arrive in Paris, where Colton and Ethan were already waiting at the hotel.“Hello and welcome to Air France, can I get you something to drink, miss?” the stewardess said to Rosie and Sierra.“I’ll have a glass of champagne, thanks,” Rosie chimed and Sierra shot her a glare.Champagne at four in the afternoon?“What? It’s a special occasion,” Rosie glared back at Sierra.“What special occasion?”“We’re celebrating your freedom, duh!” Rosie laughed and waved her hand carelessly in the air. “Come on, Si. Live a little,”Sierra couldn’t help but smile. Finally, after all those years of living inside the rules, this was the first time she was doing something
~ SIERRA ~Love was in the air for Sierra, Colton, Rosie, and Ethan. For an entire week long, the two couples enjoyed unparalleled romantic bliss. So much so that Ethan and Rosie started talking about eloping. It first started with just an idea. It was their last day in Paris and the four of them were enjoying a nice picnic at Luxembourg Gardens, sitting on the green grass drinking wine and eating macaroons-– when all of a sudden, Rosie said something crazy. “I think I’m in love with you, Ethan. Like, really in love,”Ethan kept his gaze on Rosie as Sierra and Colton watched them.“Me too, I love you too, Rosalyn Ann Waldorf,” he said.The lovebirds were definitely drunk on wine, but also on Paris. There was something in the air in that city. T. S. Eliot wasn’t kidding when he said, “the chief danger about Paris is that it's such a strong stimulant.”Ethan and Rosie were staring into each other’s eyes for a moment until suddenly, Rosie said, “Let’s just get married right now,”“Righ
~ SIERRA ~“Maybe we should do it together?” Colton asked for the millionth time that day. Colton and Sierra were standing on the balcony of his hotel room. It was the morning when they were supposed to leave Paris. All her bags were packed and the French actresses were relieved of their duty. Meanwhile, Ethan and Rosie were still busy enjoying their ‘honeymoon’. They stayed in their room all night and they didn’t come out at all, not even for breakfast.“No,” Sierra shook her head firmly. “I appreciate you wanting to do this with me, but this is something I have to do on my own,”“But what if he locks you up again?” he argued.“Then I’ll sneak out, it’s no problem,” she shrugged. “It’s not like we haven’t been doing that anyway,”Colton wanted to be with Sierra when she told her dad the news, but Sierra thought it wouldn’t be a good idea. She didn’t know how her dad would react and having Colton in the room might complicate things further. After failing to convince her several times
~ COLTON ~- - - - - THREE DAYS LATER - - - - -“The number you are calling is currently unavailable. Please try again later—”Colton ended the call and threw his phone on the bed angrily. He had been hearing the same message again and again, it was getting ridiculous. After they parted ways in Paris, Sierra promised that she’d call after she talked to her dad, but she never did.Colton was patient at first. He waited another day, thinking maybe she was too exhausted from the plane ride that she hadn’t talked to her dad yet. But after two days passed and there was no news from her, he started to get worried. He sent several texts and made several calls, but all of them were unanswered. Sierra was using the phone Colton got her, so her dad shouldn’t know about it. He could also track her location through the phone and it said that she was in her house all three days.Did she get punished again? Is she being held against her will?All these thoughts were keeping Colton awake at night. H
~ SIERRA ~“Colton?” Sierra gasped in shock. “How did you get up here?”Some part of her wasn’t sure that this was real. A moment ago, she was seeing her dead mother and brother in her dream. Was this a dream too?“Well, I have a magic carpet, remember?” Colton chuckled, that signature smirk of his was playing on his face. In one swift move, he jumped over the ledge and flew inside the window. Sierra took a step back and let him land right in front of her.“Colton…?” Sierra was still in disbelief. He was standing tall in front of her with those gorgeous eyes and signature messy hair. “Alright, Rosie and Ethan helped sneak me in,” he said finally. Putting his hands on her arms, he held her close and asked, “Sierra, what’s going on? Why haven’t you been answering my calls?”Sierra went speechless. She looked at his hands on her arms and they felt real. This was reality. He was really here.But, wait.What would this mean, then? She’d have to tell him everything her dad told her. Would
~ SIERRA ~- - - - - THREE WEEKS LATER - - - - -Several weeks had passed since Spring break and Sierra was finishing up her second semester in Columbia. In the meantime, Henri was still executing his plan. He sent out invitations for Sierra and Raphael’s wedding, and the news made the front page of newspapers all over the city. Raphael’s family also secured the most coveted location for a New York City wedding— the grand ballroom at the St. Regis hotel. In Henri’s mind, everything was going according to plan. The decoration, the menu, the band, and even the wedding gown, everything was already prepared and Sierra didn’t even have to lift a finger. Sierra also never talked to him about backing out of the wedding anymore, so he assumed that she was ready. What Henri didn’t know, however, was that Sierra was making plans of her own. While she was spending hours on campus to study for her finals, she was also meeting up with Colton and his cousins, plotting their grand escape. Even as
~ SIERRA ~“I can’t believe we’re going back to Paris,” Sierra sighed as she leaned her head to Colton’s shoulder. The plane had taken off high in the air, soaring through the blue sky. Winnie was sleeping in her cage while Levi and Jackson were sitting on the front side. Jackson was playing on his phone while Levi was on his laptop. Meanwhile, Sierra and Colton were sitting all the way in the back. He had an arm around her and she was resting her head on him.“It’s pretty poetic, no?” he replied with a smile. “Back to where it all began,”Sierra’s lips curved up a smile. Glancing out the airplane’s window, all she could see was the bright blue sky. The sky was open and full of new possibilities, just like how she was feeling right now. “Hey, Colton,” she said.“Hm?”“What do you think our life’s gonna look like from now on?”Colton paused for a moment to think. “I don’t know,” he shrugged finally. “I suppose it can be whatever we want it to be,”Colton’s voice held a note of optim