Ms Williams
30th September, 2011
Le Eiffel Tower, Paris
The view of the Eiffel Tower from my suite twinkled like a diamond. It was an unusual feeling inside me and I was relieved when I finished the show with success. I wanted to call my father and tell him that his daughter had won the bet he had forwarded. After a long time, I felt light and calm, wanting to make the most of the day before it ended. So, I decided to go for a walk near the tower because I didn't want to waste my time within the four walls of my room. Grabbing my coat and wallet, I left right away.
It was bitterly cold outside, and my lips were trembling because of the climate. For a brief moment, I regretted coming out at night especially in my PJs without any warmers on, but it was still a pleasant feeling. I went to a nearby cafe and ordered a large cup of mocha hot chocolate. I was holding my wallet in my mouth because my hands were already occupied by my mocha and phone. If I continued to walk at this rate, either my hot chocolate would become cold or I would freeze. So, I sat on a bench near the bridge and enjoyed my drink while admiring the view of the Eiffel Tower along with the weather. I felt like a small girl sitting there, sipping her hot drink with a red nose who had successfully finished her homework.
Looking around, I noticed a cute couple, both of whom appeared to be high schoolers, divulging a deep kiss near a streetlamp. While kissing, the guy tried to cover them up with his jacket but the jacket was too small to hold in their passion. I kept looking at them unknowingly, which I know shouldn't have been done, but I couldn't help myself. I melted when he tucked her hair behind her ear while pecking her and tightened his grip on her waist. They exchanged nervous glances and laughed. He kissed her on the cheek slowly and proved nothing but to be a very cute couple indeed. I blushed slightly and turned the other way because I didn't want to appear oddly staring at a couple. I slowly drank my drink and noticed the trees, which were almost covered in frost, but there was still time for it to be covered in snow.
It had been a long time since I had sat back and enjoyed the open atmosphere, all by myself. My thoughts were erratic, shifting from one topic to another. I had been humming the same song for the past half an hour. It was getting cold and I needed to head back to the hotel before it started snowing. Well, the place was indeed packed with couples enjoying their romantic days, and I saw another lovely couple holding hands and admiring the tower. They appeared to be in their 60s or 70s, with the man holding a walking cane in one hand to support his weak legs and his love in the other.
They were laughing out loud and having a great time.
"Isn't love the word that makes our world beautiful?" The thought made me smile at the elderly couple who walked all the way to the end of the bridge with the same laugh and emotion in their eyes. I wanted that, it made me want to fall in love, but then I realised,
"Wasn't this the same word that separates us?" which scared me and made me reconsider my desire. My life has never been easy, and love has never been my cup of tea.
"Love and to be loved" was all I could think about while wanting to experience that, but I could feel my mood lowering down and was gradually zoning out. I quickly shifted my attention to taking photos of the tower and filling my gallery with them.
That's when my phone buzzed and of course, Luna who texted me.
Luna: Bitch!!! Aren't you staying at the hotel?
"Nah, just out for a walk, want to join?"
Luna: Ooooh!!! Isn't it with Ryan? I don't want to bother the lovebirds, babe. Have fun, but don't forget about protection. Do you want me to get them for you?
RYAN?! I got goosebumps all over my body when she mentioned his name. I could still feel his hands on my waist because of his warm touch. It was a new feeling that I couldn't express, but I felt good thinking about him. When I felt his breath on my neck, I thought I was ruining my life and my heart was about to explode as he was so close to me.
Anyway, I snapped a photo of myself sitting there alone and sent it to her, to which she responded with a disappointed gif.
Luna: Is Ryan aware that you were the one who joined him on the ramp?
Was he aware that it was me? He would never have guessed it and once again I was thrust into his world. Even though he was nervous when I suddenly told him about going on stage alone, at that moment, he handled it like a professional which I admired. Even though the suit was a little extra sized for him, I liked the way he carried himself. Zero mistakes, perfect coordination and even though he had no idea who the girl was, he synced perfectly, and it still makes my heart race when I think about it. Despite Luna's best efforts to encourage me, I remember how nervous I was before going on stage. Regardless of the fact that it was a new experience for me, I never imagined myself being the centre of attention on stage. But holding his hands completely changed my mind. It took only a fraction of a second for his trust to become mine.
His firm muscles and grip intimated that I was going to give it my all. When he was beside me in front of the crowd, I didn't feel any pressure or nervousness. I couldn't believe I was walking with a man in front of the entire world. I felt proud and happy that I had returned as the woman I desired to be. To be honest, the other thing that acted as a boost was his hotness in that suit he was wearing and I must say, my heart did flutter while he was holding me.
When our gazes almost met, I tilted my head forward so he couldn't see me, but I looked into his twinkling eyes. With that intensity, I lost myself in him and as he smiled at me, I felt he knew who I was. Despite knowing that he couldn't see me, his squishy lips moved to the edges, giving me a flirtatious cheeky grin. What the hell was I thinking about Ryan?
After feeling the cold breeze on my cheeks, I returned to reality and gathered my belongings so that I could return to the hotel. Just then, it began to snow, and as I was hurrying to the hotel, my phone rang, and Smith was on the other end of the line.
"Hello, where are you?" she asked, a little annoyed.
I retorted sarcastically yet in a cute way to calm her down "Ms Smith, please accept my sincere apologies. I just came from a walk and am on my way back to the hotel too. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"
She chuckled and said, "Your father had called asking about the event and wanted to talk about it with you. He also wanted the event reports, which I told him I would send by shortly."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of the reports and send them to him personally. Nonetheless, thank you. Are the others in the hotel all well?" I inquired.
"Yes, everyone is in the basement club and I left because I couldn't handle all the alcohol. Ryan and his team had gone out and they were still on their way I suppose, " she responded, which reminded me of Ryan. I hung up the phone, saying that I'd be right back and as I walked back to the hotel, I tried very hard not to think about Ryan but couldn't help myself.
I kept replaying that moment in my head like a teenager. Was it because I noticed one near the bridge? Ryan.
"What do you think about him honestly?" I questioned myself.
I replied, "Hmm, someone I can trust at work, and..." and my brain asked me again. "What does Ryan mean to you as a man other than a colleague?"
"I feel he is trustworthy and suddenly have the impression that I can be myself around him. I can show him who I am and I feel safe in his presence. His bright face gives me confidence, and his words motivate me: What's wrong with me? Is it possible that I am in love?
I was completely absorbed in his thoughts and didn't realise my phone had been ringing until I bumped my leg on a street lamp.
What the fuck? I had five missed calls, each from different numbers? I was about to pace up my walk when again I received another call from an unknown number. I asked myself, "People really don't like me to live peacefully, is it?"
When I answered the phone, there was no response from the other end.
"Hello?" I asked thrice, but received no answer.
Suddenly, a man slammed into me and all my things fell to the ground. The guy vanished into thin air before I could turn around to see who it was. As I knelt to gather my belongings, I heard a voice on the phone.
"Your most precious, possessed models are taking a stroll right in front of me. Would you like to take a look?" and it was clearly reflected that it was a cloned voice, more like a voice phishing to me initially.
"Who is this?" I inquired, and noticed a brown envelope near my wallet.
"Pick that up," said the voice on the other end of the phone. I knew someone was watching my moves from somewhere, but when I moved my eyes around in search, there wasn't a single suspicious person around.
I first assumed it to be a prank, which is usual when you get to a position in a huge company, but the envelope made me curious. When I opened it and saw the photos inside, my heart skipped a beat. It was Ryan and Mark walking through a dark and creepy street while two people dressed in black, with their guns aimed at them from a top angle. My breathing pattern slowly started to increase seeing the first picture but when I saw the second one, I felt a bit steady, still somehow didn't allow it to come on my face. By comparing the first and second images, it was clear that the people in the second photo were not Mark and Ryan but still I was not sure about the first one. Even though it was freezing cold outside and snowflakes were around me, I was sweating. The call got disconnected before I could even realise.
Okay, someone is trying to fool me, was my first instinct and I carefully examined the photos, wondering, "What if this was morphed?"
Luna was the first person who came to mind, so I dashed back to my hotel to see if it was all true or just an obnoxious joke. On the way, I called Luna a million times, but she never answered. I was so enraged that I wanted to scream and throw away my phone. The party was still on its peak when I arrived at the hotel and went to the basement club. Everyone was at the club except for the faces I was searching for. I wondered about the purpose of security when the company literally booked the entire hotel for safety and felt annoyed, for them going out on their own.
Something didn't feel right about the situation, and the last time I checked, Luna had asked why I wasn't in the room. So, I rushed to my suite to see if she was in there, but nothing, except my belongings. I kept trying to contact Ryan and Mark constantly, but all I could hear was the beep sound which agitated me. When I tried to recall my memory to see if I had missed any hints, I couldn't find any either.
The anger inside me was pushing me down and the frustration of not being able to do anything to solve the problem, was making me even more worried. I pushed the flower vase down and suddenly received a phone call from an unknown number again. I answered the phone,
"Hey Dar-Lin," said the same cloned voice over the phone.
It was him; it definitely was. Despite the fact that it was a cloned voice, I was certain he was the one person's voice I didn't want to listen to in my entire life. A sudden jerk flowed through my body, causing my breathing to become heavy and my mind to become unable to speak coherently. My eyes were quivering and my body felt numb. Everything, literally everything I wanted to forget flashed through my mind. Things I desperately tried to end appeared in fragments in front of me. Those were the darkest days of my life, which I was attempting to neglect forever. I felt as if someone had imprisoned me inside a small box. I told myself not to cry because I knew he was watching me from somewhere.
With his disgusting dialect, he said, "I said hello, darlin!"
"What the hell do you want from me? Do you think I'd fall into your trap again if you jeopardised my employees?" I tried not to cry in front of him, but my body showed the condition I felt.
"Is he your employee or boyfriend?" he questioned and I was holding on to my tears at the corners of my eyes. After a brief pause, he busted out laughing, asking, "If they were just your employees, why are you crying like a child Dar-Lin? Oh no wait!" He paused and chuckled sarcastically as he said, "Don't tell me you are in love with one of those d*ckheads."
He is indeed watching me, as I suspected strongly.
"It's none of your goddamn business," I snarled.
"It is my motherf**king concern. Who gave you the permission to walk in front of everyone in that slitted dress that you wore? You thought I wouldn't notice if you hid your face behind that hat?" He yelled at me and went on, "You have the audacity to walk with another man and brandish your skin in front of the world? Too much guts I tell you. " I still remained silent until he screamed at the top of his lungs, "HOW DARE YOU?" and pushed something to the ground, yelling at me which made me cower in fear.
"Is this what I taught all along? YOU! YOU BELONG TO ME, AND YOU LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY, GET THAT STRAIGHT. You're my possession, and I guess I should make you go over all the lessons, again," he said, breaking things around him.
He's back, striving to rule me once more. He is ruling me all over again, it's getting all to square one.
I couldn't hold back my tears this time, and despised the phrase "you belong to me." again and again. I couldn't control my rage and threw the glass near my bed, making it smash into pieces all over the place. My wrath demanded that he died. "Oh, no! Please don't do this to me. It's excruciatingly painful. Are you trying to harm a person who cares about you this much?" He solicited. I had no idea from which side of the world he was watching all my moves because all I could see was the Eiffel Tower from there, and it's no surprise he could see me from afar.
"What are you looking for, Dar-Lin? A camera? That's silly, why do I need one when I have my own eyes," he said, with a sarcastic grin on his face, I sensed it.
I calmed down and took a deep breath to reacquaint myself with my surroundings. He said, "Find me," as I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.
I immediately turned to my left without thinking at all, and when I opened my eyes, there was a massive glass structure near my hotel. I could hear his laugh and he said, "Exactly, come to me, Dar-Lin." Taking a turn, I walked straight to my other master bedroom, which had a floor-to-ceiling window with a clear view of that building and it all felt like my body was responding to him calling me, with I having no control. When I moved the curtains, I noticed a man standing on the same floor as me. I couldn't see his monstrous face because the lights were not enough, but the way he was standing told me it was him. Only his floor had the minimum lights on and there were about six other people surrounding the hall with him.
"You found me. That's my girl," he said.
I clenched my teeth because I couldn't stand his dominance in my life any longer and my rage grew stronger every second. In my fury, I was on the verge of losing my cool and wrapped my fingers tightly around the curtain. He laughed sternly and said, "Vanish from here, don't ever think of returning back. I shall book the tickets for you."
"Who are you to do that? Don't take me as that previous innocent girl who did whatever you told me to do while remaining silent and following your rules. You're a jerk who didn't have the balls to take it on me, so used my employees instead. Please correct me if I'm wrong," I said, wiping away my tears.
He asked, "Really?" as he took his seat. "Should I show you that I'm actually a cruel jerk who can end everything for you in a jiffy?" He crossed his legs and looked at his watch, saying, "So then, I'm giving you the next twenty minutes to save your dogs and make sure they're alive. Even if a second passes between those twenty-minute, don't blame me for killing them; it will all be on you."
"Go find them, and there's a deal," he added. "If I catch you crossing the line, don't make me kill all your favourites at once. I gave you those valuable twenty minutes because you were such a good girl previously," he said with the noise of a kiss.
"Do whatever you can with the balls you have because I shall make you show the place you deserve," I advised.
"You're welcome to kiss my ass later. The clock is moving, tik tok tik tok tik tok, hurry, " he said, and immediately disconnected the call. I dashed to the main room to get the car keys Luna had given me, but then a thought struck me.
What if that son of a b*tch tried to dupe me like before? What if he was trying to play those old games with me? And, yes, he was the kind of guy who would do anything to get on my nerves.
I remained calm, trying to recall any information about them that would be useful to find them. I kept walking, trying to remember any instances of them telling me about their work patterns in Paris and when I looked at my watch, five minutes had already passed. I became restless, not able to come up with any ideas. My gaze was drawn to the laptop all of a sudden.
Fuck, the photo shoot project, fuck yes, the photo shoot project, and yes, I had all of his information, so immediately I grabbed my laptop to see if I still had those information files. As I browsed through it, I came across his old photos and a full report.
The Clubs! The boy's favourite nightclub. What if they had gone there?
I dashed down to my car and dialled Luna's number again, but she didn't answer. Benji was the one who struck me right after Luna. So, as soon as I started driving, I called him. He couldn't understand what I was saying because I spoke really quick and all he knew was that I was in trouble. I said, "I need your help, I have to find them anyhow," as he understood and said, "Okay, share the location and I'll send the cops."
"I'm not sure if they're at that location but, find them, " I said. He asked for their phone numbers and I immediately sent them too.
He said he'd take care of the rest and when he hung up the phone, I had no control over myself. I was driving rashly and all I could think about was what the worst he could do, how much down he could go. That's when I thought about Smith and realised that I completely forgot about her. I reconsidered telling her about my entire situation, but I didn't want her to drag my father into it and she was exactly the type who was very loyal to her head. When Benji found them, he confirmed my suspicions, stating that they were indeed at "THE CLUB."
All I had was five minutes, and my quest to meet them was growing stronger by the seconds. As I approached the nightclub, I was on the verge of passing out because I had no idea how I was supposed to find them in this vast ocean of drunk people. They were nowhere to be found as I glanced around but soon noticed that there were private bars with their own isolated room. I was wondering how I was going to find the manager of this club for the entry in those rooms when I was only given a few minutes and that's when he appeared in front of me like magic. I immediately asked him if there was a private bar booked in the name of Ryan but he said there wasn't any, disappointing me. I almost lost my hope but a name caught my eyes as I noticed that the bar was booked in the name of Eric on the sheet. But again, troubles had its way of finding me as he wasn't ready to let me in but when I told him who I was, he backed off really quick.
When I walked into their private bar with all the curiosity, nervousness I had been feeling for the past hours, those four sons of bitches were sipping their drinks while I stood there shivering, clueless in front of them.