Chapter 24: I’m Taking You Away

“Okay. I’ll be waiting for you at the airport. Try not to stress too much, okay? I know it’s hard, and you’re probably heartbroken, but just think of all the good things in life. Or a simpler solution, drink all your sorrows away and sleep through the entire plane ride.” He added lightly at the end, hoping to light up her mood. It brought a little smile to her face. “See you,” She softly said as she hung up. Her heart still felt heavy, but she felt relieved after chatting with Toby. She looked at her reflection on the phone and saw her eyes were red and puffy. She dug around in her small bucket bag and pulled out her sunglasses, which was a wise move because once she stepped out of the car and began pulling her luggage, she spotted a certain celebrity magazine’s photographer. He was probably here for someone else, but she was sure there were more somewhere, and with their hawk eyes, they’d spotted her. She ignored those photographers who thought she was what they were waiting for, moving faster and pulling her luggage. She managed to go smoothly and directly bought a ticket for the next flight out. She supposedly scheduled a 9 p.m. flight, but she didn’t wait for it anymore. She wanted to leave this place and escape from this bad memory today.  As promised, four hours later, she found Toby waiting for her, his arms wide open ready for a hug. She thought her emotions were stable until she saw him. Evonne dropped all her luggage, rushed into his embrace, and buried her face in his shoulder. His hold tightened as he rubbed soothing circles on her back, not saying a word. “Let’s go back to my place?” He said, and she nodded in his chest.  He pushed her gently, stared at her for some time, then pulled away and grabbed her bags and suitcase.  A few minutes into the drive, he suddenly broke the silence, “I’ll be going back to Paris soon...” His voice drifted off as the music continued to fill the silence. Her heart lurched at the prospect of being alone again. She feels sad as her best friend will going to leave this country.  “You want to come with me?” He threw a glance at her, then focused his eyes back on the road.  She looked at him, shocked. She’d never really thought about leaving, but now, as she sat there in silence, she couldn’t figure out why. Deep down, she knew somehow she’d be abandoning her parents, but she could get a job abroad, she could be wiring them some cash if worse came to worst on their side. But her father was a sly person. She was sure he’d find a way to squeeze some money out of Seth sooner than later. Anyway, she needed to start living her life alone after his betrayal. All this drama wasn’t worth it.  “You can work for me? Heck, if you’re up to it, we could fool my parents into thinking you are my girlfriend so that they hand over the reins faster. They have that condition to me, and they asked me to get married after they found out I’m gay.” She noticed the trace of humor in his voice, but his jaw also ticked, which meant he was actually serious about it.  “Can I think about it? I really appreciate having you in my life right now.” She reached out and squeezed his knee a bit to assure him. He nodded and returned his focus back to the road. “Where are we going?” She broke the silence a bit later, noticing they had taken an unfamiliar route. “I’m taking you away. You’d bring in a healthy sum for ransom.” He flashed a smile and did an evil laugh afterward. She rolled her eyes and hit his arm. “I’m serious.” “Hey!! Do not distract the driver! Do you want to die?! Anyway, my house is on the edge of town.” Toby said that came as a surprise to her. She didn’t know he had a house in this country because he knew he was often living in Europe, but when she took a moment to think about it, it would be illogical for him not to have a house in their home country. “Bitch, I can feel you’re surprised all the way from here. You thought I would be living in hotel rooms? Come on!” He slightly glanced at her, smiling. “Yes! I’m sorry!” She laughed a bit at the whole thing, “I just never actually thought about it. But it makes sense.” “I ought to kick you out of my car this instant. But I’m a nice guy, and mama raised me right. First thing tomorrow, you’re living.” He sounded like she was a burden to him. “Please, you’re stuck with me, and you know it.” He chuckled a bit, and a naughty smile broke into his handsome face, then let them fall back into silence.  She must have fallen asleep in the middle of the ride, when she woke up, she was in a comfy bed with the night light on. She slowly got up and found herself in the same clothes she’d worn when she left Bangkok. She remembered she didn’t even get the chance to shower before she traveled. She was filthy, rummaging through her clothes for a while to look for a book, at the very least. She just wanted to shower and then have a nice good soak as she thought about her next move after she caught her husband. She managed to find a thriller book that she hadn’t ever even thought of reading. Oh well, she gives it a shot while thinking of soaking herself later on in the bathtub. She turned on the lights after a couple of solid minutes of looking around for the switch, only to find it in the most obvious place. She facepalmed and switched them on, looked around, and did a little dance when she saw a door on the far left of the room. She crossed her fingers, hoping that was the bathroom and not an adjoining door to another room. She pressed her ear against it first to listen in for any noises. That was actually a good move on her part. She heard someone mumbling something slowly in the other room, man, this door was thick. She could barely hear anything. After a couple more minutes of futile eavesdropping, she walked away and returned to survey her room. Is she actually that blind, or is there no bathroom in this room? She even opted to go around the room, feeling the walls to check whether she had missed a door or something. Nothing.