“I don’t know her.” I say, feeling that to tell this man that I saw her near New York would be one of the worst things I could do.
“Okay then, what about this man do you know him?” He shows me a picture of Adrian; I cannot lie about this, he knows I know Adrian. “Yes I know of him.”
“Miss, this man has done an unthinkable crime; he must be punished in the way the victim was, do you understand?”
“I don’t because I don’t know what he did?”
“He hasn’t told you then?”
“No,”
“That’s odd, tell me Miss does he love you?” This man is staring to give me the creeps; there is no way I am letting him know how Adrian feels about me. “No he doesn’t love me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes I am positive, he doesn’t love me. He only sees me as someone to pass his time with.”
“Miss, you would not be lying to me now would you?”
“Sir, I know you have been following me for a while now. Tell me this; have you ever seen Adrian here in New York with me?”
“No I haven’t,”
“Doesn’t that tell you, that he doesn’t care about me?”
“You don’t have to be around someone every day to love them.”
“That’s true.”
“Miss, I don’t think you understand the seriousness of this. There are people out there that want to kill you.”
“Then why are you telling me this?”
“Because young girls like you, are not really the type I feel like killing. Do you know how long I have been to trying to get them to let me have this talk with you?”
“Why is so important for you to talk to me, if you want to kill me?”
“I have a daughter about your age; I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to her. I wanted this time with you, to try to make you see sense that Adrian Black is bad for you.”
“I don’t care about Adrian, really I don’t” I feel so guilty even thinking it let alone saying it.
“Miss, don’t say you weren’t warned.”
“I am leaving now.”
I get up and walk over to the door; I look back and say to the man that is sitting behind the desk. The same face that I am so terrified to look at the wrong way.
“Sir what would you do, if it was your daughter that knew Adrian, would you let them kill her?”
“No, I would die first.”
With that, I close the door. I begin to walk so quickly up the hallway, that I trip and everything in my bag is all over the floor. I rush to the floor and franticly try to put everything back in. As I do I hear Michael, “Alanna where have you been?”
“Michael, please get me out of here.”
He rushes me down the stairs and out the door onto the streets. “What was all that about Alanna, where were you?”
“The guy from the Lamborghini came, and I went with him to an office at the other side of the hallway.”
“Why would you do that, are you crazy?”
“He said I basically had no choice, what could I do?”
“Not go, you should have come and got me.”
“I was scared. I didn’t know what to do.”
“You are making this so hard for me Alanna, what do you think Adrian will say when he finds out?”
“Are you going to tell him?”
“Of course, he will go crazy Alanna, you are so stupid.”
“Hey please don’t shout at me.” My words choking out as I begin to cry.
“Don’t do that Alanna.” I start to sob and to my surprise, Michael takes me in his arms and holds me tight but gentle at the same time. His arms are strong and wise; I catch the scent of his cologne, as the wind passes by. I feel safe in his arms, safer than I’ve ever felt before.
Seventeen
Adrian called me later on that night, to ask me about what had happened today. When I finally told him, he got so angry and began to shout.
“Alanna, have you been listening to anything I have been saying? Why are you being so stupid? Why would you put your life at risk like that?”
I said a few harsh words back to him, and I think we have had our first fight. Adrian has not texted or emailed in over four hours, and I cannot sleep wondering what one earth he is thinking, by staying mad at me for so long. I think back over the day’s events, and I my mind, is flashing back to the picture of the woman that I saw at the beach. I cannot seem to fit her in all this, who could she be? Why did she look so familiar to me in the first place? I feel so stressed about everything; I do not feel like myself. I have never been so distant with my family and friends. Everyone is beginning to see the strain that is on me. I am missing important events for my dad, and I have not seen Penelope since before I left for London. I know it’s terrible and I do wish I could spend more time with my family, but since I have to have Michael go everywhere with me, I don’t see how I can act normal around my family, without them suspecting something is wrong. It was hard enough for me to come clean to Sophie about Adrian; I cannot imagine telling her all this as well. The only person I can confide in is Adrian and right now, he is mad at me for what I did. I do not like the feeling of having him not talking to me. He is my world right now, I cannot ever think of not having him around me, even if it means that my life is in danger. I think that I am in love with him, something has changed and I feel that I do not only just care about him. The words in which he told me about his mother are stuck in my head forever. I will not be able to go one day, without thinking of the pain he has suffered. I know what ever his secret is, that it will not be enough for me to leave him. I know I have only laid eyes on him twice. I know that it all seems crazy, that I can fall in love with someone over texts and emails, but it is true I have, I love him, I love Adrian Black.