Chapter 27
1049 Words
Chapter 27
Jake’s POV
I've been looking around but the outcome of all my efforts never changed, there is no one on this road. Just me, man in search of the meaning.
I've been here for so long and I have no idea why or how am I going to get out of here. I'm still about fifteen miles away from the destination, I can't walk that long, I'm tired from the lack of sleep and all the choice I've been making.
“Oh f**k! How did I forget?” I face-palmed myself. how can I forget my bag. It was in the trunk. I always carry a USB cable in that bag. I took that cable, get back in the car and plugged it in to the charging socket. And it works. My phone will be charged in a few minutes. At least enough to help me contact at least a mechanic.
I look at the time and it’s eight. I was supposed to meet Stella by now, she will be furious, she hates waiting and she hates people who are clumsy. I wonder how she don’t hate me. I turned on my phone and called the tow company to take my car to the mechanic and called an Uber to take me to the address. Stranded me in the middle of nowhere got me almost to have a panic attack. But the counting has been a good help.
I drove to the address and surprisingly it’s a vineyard I'm called to. I'm not sure what I'm doing here at all. How this place is supposed to be a wedding dress shop? Because it looks like a completely different business.
It’s still this address so I decided to give it a try. Stella says the designer is really busy and only gave her the appointment because they are friends and she would soon like to hold a get together at her restaurant. So, I thought this could be a warehouse for her dresses, or maybe a workshop. That’s the only viable explanation I have. And I don’t care if I'm wrong as long as I'm not panicking. I just got in through the gates after paying the cab and get inside the huge plot of garden. I feel the grass under my feet. I see a post box a few inches away.
The property is nothing but dark. All just dark. I shouldn’t have let that Uber go before really making sure if I'm at the right place.
I got further in and when I started to smell something, something I've missed a lot. Something that smells like marshmallows and bonfire and chocolate burning with it.
“Surprise!” I jolted a few inched up in the air when I heard loud screams and people with pom-pom hats circling me from the front. I see Stella, and Jerry and Emily walking in holding a cake. We’ve already done it last night. Why now? why the lie? Why the planning and secrecy?
I wanted to ask but before I could I hear a car pull in from behind. Black Mercedes with tainted glass. I can't tell who’ll be them.
I look at the two people getting out of that and they feel just too familiar to look away for a second and that in an intimate way. they can't be my co-workers. I'm not intimate with any of them.
“Mom!” she got out from the passenger’s, “dad?” he got out of the driver’s seat.
“The flight was a little late” mom says fixing her crimson dress. “Hope you didn’t blow the candles yet.” I can see her smile, she approached me and I'm too frozen and emotional to even move. My chest feels too heavy to be able to talk or walk or respond with how glad I am to see her. And eyes are filling up with water I don’t know where it came from.
“How are you—”
“We hope you got our gift.” Mom said in the hug. “Your dad’s been wanting you to have it.” It’s a hug that tell me more than a hug should. It tells me that she missed me, it tells her that I missed her. Everything is better now that I have my mom and my family here. And dad? I can't even look him in the eye, I have no idea why he is here. he never called me in all those years even when we were in the same town. He never called tried to see me on any of those past birthdays and now he travelled all the way to the south to see me? I don’t know who held a gun over his head, because one thing is I'm sure of, he doesn’t love me enough to really bother.
I still go on to hug him. a hug that says exactly what a hug needed to say, ‘hi’ and we move away. He’s still as stoic towards me as I remembered.
I was right about the marshmallow and chocolate. There was a feast prepared. And I'm glad I was able to introduce Emily to mom, I feel like we are going to stick together for a long time and for the first time I'm not appalled to let someone in my life.
There is something about Emily that says she’s mysterious. What is the reason that she always wears full sleeves and never even folds it over? What is the reason she knows so many things only a few people can? She could be dangerous, but she feels safe to me. I look at her and she’s been looking at her phone with a tensed look. Suddenly she looks at me in the same expression and catch me staring it her. I suddenly change my expressions as if I'm watching her only because she seemed worried.
She signalled me to come to a corner. So, I did.
“Captain just texted me.” she says. “He sent a team to arrest Robby after the release of the warrant, he tried to fled. He got in an accident.”
“What? How?”
“I think we need to leave.”
- Writer
