Kidnapped

Morgan- September 2021 Have you ever felt like you never truly belonged in the family and place you were born into? I feel like that daily! I come from a long line of anthropologists of all sorts. My parents are archaeologists. I know you’re thinking Indiana Jones/Raiders of the lost Ark, that’s so cool! Which, okay I guess it might be if you think of it like that, but that’s Hollywood glamour, my friends. It is not real life. They spend so much time chasing artifact after artifact that our dining room table has collected dust. There is no one ever home to eat at it. I had to rely on housekeepers, a nanny, and so many tutors just to get through my life. I know you’re probably thinking “So, you got to basically do whatever you wanted for as long as you wanted? Why are you complaining?” The truth is, I always wanted to sit down at the dining room table and talk about our day, have a family game or movie night, play at the park on weekends. You know stuff families do together. The only time we did anything as a family was when we hosted parties for colleagues of my parents. When I told them that I had no plans to follow in the generational footsteps of my family, they got so mad they nearly refused to pay my tuition. Which wasn’t a problem. I saw this coming, so I planned ahead and applied for scholarships before that moment. I wanted to stay in state for school, so it was cheaper. When they heard that, they knew they had no choice, but to get onboard. Don’t get me wrong my parents are loving and supportive. I never felt lonely or left behind, because I was so busy in school that it didn’t matter what they were doing. I had good grades, had a ton of friends, and was popular. Not that I cared. Most of the time, I wasn’t really sure if it was because my family had money, or if it was me they liked. I was actually crowned prom queen at my high school senior year and was dating the captain of the hockey team (I hated the football captain, so that wasn’t’t going to happen). Not to say he didn’t try, though. None of that mattered, though when college started. I stayed close to home and everyone else went on to bigger places. My friends and I lost touch and the day before graduation, my boyfriend told me he thought it was time to see other people . He was going to UCLA and I was staying home to go to UMSL-University Missouri St. Louis. That was my dream. The life he chose was not what I wanted or needed. Now, I’m in my final year of College and things are going well. I have a 3.7 GPA and my parents are delighted. My 23rd birthday is coming up and to celebrate my academic success and my life, apparently, my parents have decided to throw me a ‘surprise’ birthday party. My mom talks loud when she gets excited, so I of course heard all the plans. I hate surprises and this will be no different. But at least I will get to see my family during this party, so I can’t really complain, can I? ********************************************** September 29, 2021 I was dreaming. There was no other explanation for the fact that I was standing in a room surrounded by hundreds of people with a spotlight on me and a tall, dark, and handsome man that I could not see the face of! I was dressed in a floor-length silver dress with spaghetti straps that left nothing to the imagination. I’m curvy, in all the right places. I have long, dark brown, wavy hair, that is half up and held in place with a sparkly silver clip. And heels that I would never wear casually. That had to have been my mom’s doing. The man’s face was cast in shadow, but from what I could see, he had short black hair, olive colored skin, and was in a suit that looked like it was made for him. I could only imagine the rock hard body that I knew he was hiding under those clothes. He was so tall. Maybe 6’ to my 5’2” stance. Okay, so maybe he was average height, but he was tall to me. We stood maybe six feet apart, but I still could not see his face. I have no idea who this man can be. Everyone stood in a circle surrounding us, waiting expectantly, for us to take the lead. The lead in what? I have no idea, but then he spoke. “It is time, Morgan.” What? Time for what? What is he talking about? “What do you mean?” He came closer not taking his eyes off of me. I could feel my heart leave my chest and enter my throat. I knew that once he touched me, I would be gone for this guy. I had to break eye contact and looked down at the floor. I thought about running, but knew he would most likely have me in his grasp before I knew what was going on. After what felt like an eternity, he reached out and touched my waist. I froze. “Look at me, Morgan.” His voice was so commanding. He sounded like he was from another world. Another country. Maybe New Zealand? All I knew was I could NOT look him in the eyes. “What will you do if I don’t?” “Are you willing to find out?” He waited for my response. I had nothing to say, so I stood nervously and silently waiting for him to make his move. I felt his fingers touch my chin. I was going to see his face. I heard ringing in the distance, which was confusing. I needed to make that ring in stop. It was ruining this moment. Whatever this moment was. ******************************************* All too soon, my eyes opened and I was in my bed, in my apartment, back at home. What the hell was that? I realized my phone was ringing and that must have been the ringing I heard in my dream. I rolled over and glanced at the clock it was 6 am on a Wednesday! I didn’t have classes today, so who would be calling me this early? “Hello?” “Morgan! Baby! It’s mom! Good morning dear! How are you?” Is she serious? Drunk? High? Why is she so loud and chipper? “Mom, hi. Do you have any idea what time it is?” “Of course I do dear! That’s why I didn’t call you two hours ago when I woke up!” “Mom! What do you need?” “I want you to come spend some time with me. We have a dinner party planned this weekend and I would like it if you attended. It would make your father and I so happy to spend time with our girl on her birthday, too!” “This is more of a mandatory thing than an actual request, right? I don’t really have a choice do I?” “Well, no. I think you will enjoy yourself as well if you really want the truth. But I do want to spend time with you, so we are going shopping and getting mani/pedis the works!” “If it’s a dinner party for your colleagues, then why do I need to get all fancy?” Look at me playing dumb. Dinner party, my ass! “Like I said, we need to spend time together and this would be fun for us! Come on, get up I’ll pick you up at 8.” “Fine, Mom. I’ll see you soon. Love you.” “Oh lovely! See you soon! Love you, too!” We hung up and I stayed laying in bed. I could not figure out my dream to save my life, or who that man was. It felt too familiar even though I have never seen that dress or him before. It was just a dream though, so I needed to let it go. I had bigger things to deal with. Like shopping with my mother. I hate shopping. I love clothes and all that, but I hate looking for them. It’s tedious and a waste of time. But my mom loves it. She lives for these rare moments that I willingly go with her. My mom and dad got into town last night, which you would think would make her want to relax and not drive me crazy, but she called me this morning bright and early. She was in a frenzy planning for this ‘surprise’ birthday party. I could tell. That’s the reason for her excitement while we made our plans for the day. I needed coffee. That made everything better. I went to the kitchen and prepared the coffee and decided to hop in the shower while it brewed. ********************************************** I sat at the table an hour later drinking my coffee and eating a bagel. I was not one to waste a bunch of time worrying about my hair or a ton of makeup. I am confident enough in my own skin that I don’t feel the need to spend hours on it. So here I sat in a pair of jeans that my mom will most definitely complain about and a sweatshirt with my favorite hockey team, the ST. Louis Blues, on it. It’s my day off, I am not dressing up to go shopping! Half an hour later, my phone buzzed with an incoming text message. My mom letting me know she’s waiting downstairs for me. Punctual as usual. I grabbed my purse, my keys, slipped on my shoes and headed out the door.