Paid To Love

Episode 22

Paid To Love EPISODE 22

Victoria’s POV

Looking back on everything, insisting on sleeping on Henry’s couch had seemed like a good idea last night, seeing as how I was a guest and all, but early in the morning, I’d decided it was probably a very bad idea. I had barely slept all night. First I couldn’t sleep because of all the thoughts about my house and what I would do next and the stolen dress but later on I finally got tired of my self pity state and decided to just relax and think about it after a good nights rest and I later down for the night just to find that the so called expensive cushions weren’t comfortable enough to sleep on and my body was too long so I had to curl up to keep my feet from dangling off the edge of the arm supports. I was curled up all night waking up every twenty minutes. I finally couldn’t sleep anymore and I briefly considered sleeping on the floor just so i didn’t have to force myself to get comfortable again.

Just as I was moving down, a light from the hallway above me turned on. I turned my head up to the balcony way and saw Henry stumbling toward the stairs, he stopped and took a look in the mirror on the corner of the stairs . He was dressed in a black suit and his hair was slightly damp, as if he’d just gotten out of the shower. As he came up to the couch, he seemed to have noticed me and I froze with my eyes half-closed, hoping he wouldn’t notice I was awake. After a minute he started moving again, this time more slowly as if he was trying not to wake me up.

It was ruined, however, when his phone started ringing. He quickly searched his pockets and pulled out his phone, trying to cover it with his hand. “It’s 6:00AM,” he answered the caller in frantic whisper.

I stretched out and yawned loudly, letting him know I was awake. I wanted to know if he was leaving. Why else would he be up and dressed already? Was I supposed to leave as well? I pushed myself into a sitting position, keeping the blanket wrapped around me.

“I’ll be there shortly, I’ve got to go,” Henry said sleepily into the phone and then pulled it away from his ear. After a second he finally turned to face me, rubbing a hand across his eyes. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“I was kind of up anyway,” I told him. It seemed like he was more sorry to be awake than I was. I could tell he wasn’t a morning person.

There was a moment of silence and he shifted his weight. “Did you sleep okay?” he asked.

Did he think I was done sleeping? It was six in the morning and I’d called out of work. If I didn’t have to leave the house, I was going back to bed. “Are you leaving?” I asked instead.

He frowned a little. “There is a problem with one of our projected resorts, so I have to go in.”

“Are you going to drop me off at my place?”

“No. You can stay,” he told me, noticing his tie was crooked and adjusting it. “I don’t mind. I hope to be back sooner rather than later.”

I chewed on my bottom lip a little. Was it really okay for me to stay at his place alone? It was weird enough with him here, how would it feel without him around? “Are you sure?”

“You won’t steal anything, will you?”

“No!”

“Then I trust you to stay here,” he stated, yawning again. “You can take another bath, if you’d like.”

I had to admit, that Jacuzzi was a deal maker. Plus, even if I went back to my apartment, my bed wasn’t in good shape. “Okay.”

His phone went off, signalling a text message and he scowled a bit. “Ugh,” he muttered and went into the kitchen.

I followed him with my gaze. Maybe when he was gone I could use his bed instead of the couch... I shook my head, throwing myself back down into a lying position. That would be way weird. I could deal with the couch. At least until I found another place to stay.

“Feel free to use anything while I’m gone,”. Almost like he knew what i was thinking, Henry said as he passed by me again, this time with a water bottle in hand. “I’ll lock it, so don’t let anyone in.”

I nodded, feeling shy.

He stared at me for a moment and then cleared his throat. “Well. Bye, then.”

“Bye,” I mumbled and he nodded and headed back toward the stairs. I settled back down and closed my eyes. Henry was so different than how he was when I’d met him. I really did wonder if it was because of the night I snapped at him. I shoved a pillow over my head and groaned. No matter how I thought about it, it was mortifying. How could I get drunk in front of strangers like that? Especially on wine?

Eventually, I fell back asleep and when I woke up it was around 10:00 AM. The house was silent and the sun was shining through the glass wall, lighting up the room. Beyond the wall I could see the lake, sparkling under the morning sun. It was beautiful and I understood why Henry had designed it like that.

After forcing myself off of the couch, I went to the kitchen to grab some coffee and then I chose to head straight for the Jacuzzi tub. I wasn’t sure when Henry would be back and I didn’t want him walking in on me again. Thinking about it made me blush a bit and this time I made sure to lock the door. Fortunately, the bubbles had pretty much covered my body, but who knew what he’d seen? It wasn’t like I was ashamed of my body. It was more like I didn’t like being caught off guard while naked.

I slipped into the bath and laid back to relax, letting the bubbles massage my sore back. Thinking about sleeping on that couch again made me cringe. My torn up bed back at my apartment probably would’ve been more comfortable. I had to start looking for a place right away. A decent one bedroom apartment on a good street would be perfect but it would cost way more than my last apartment had, but I did have to think about my brother's case. It was still a few months away, but I wanted everything to be ready for him.

My phone suddenly started ringing and I considered ignoring it. It might be the police though, I thought to myself. Sighing, I sat up and slid to the edge of the tub, drying my hands off with a towel before reaching for my phone on the counter. When I caught sight of the caller I.D I slipped, just barely managing to keep my hand with the phone out of the water.

“What da!!” I screamed.

I stand there petrified while the phone kept ringing. I look on the phone's screen just to make sure I’m not seeing things and the phone stops ringing finally. I look at it again and it reads exactly what i thought it read “Gerard”.

How is that possible, Gerard is dead. What in the names of hell is going on here. I come out of the Jacuzzi grab a towel and take a seat at the edge of the tub.

My thumb at the dial button trembling, nor knowing if i should dial it or not. And then it rang again, the caller I.D still reading Gerard.

I gather a bit of courage with my hand still shaking and i pick up.

“H-hello,” I greeted, leaning back against the edge of the tub for balance.

“Is this Victoria!” the unrecognisable voice finally speaks in a very soft whisper.

“Who is this?” I cried, my eyes starting to tear up. “What sort of prank is this and how did you get my brother’s phone? What’s going on here?” I said with the tears finally rolling down my cheeks.

The voice stops for a while.

“Listen whatever they told you about him was a lie, there’s much more that you don’t know about”

I stand up frozen a bit and confused “what are you talking about?.”

“I’m talking about your brother’s death Victoria.”

I almost dropped the phone again.

“What, you know something about that?”

“ The police are trying to cover up a major secret about it but I know what really happened to him. Look Victoria I’ve been looking for you for a while now and I found your house downtown but it seems like you were attacked. I thought you found out what happened and they tried to get rid of you too,”

He said, shockingly. His voice became even lower than when he started talking. I wondered who could this strange man be? and how did he know my brother?. What could he really tell me about my brother? He did say he knows what happened but what did he mean by they would get rid of me. Suddenly my heart started beating even faster and my entire body started shaking. O could barely hold up the phone anymore.

“Hello?”

“Hello are you still there?”

“Wait, yes I’m still here I just can’t believe It, wait who are you? ” I finally remembered to ask.

“Let’s just say I’m a friend of your brother”

“Wow I never met any of his friends from this city. So what exactly do you know and how can you help me. This means so much to me if you can do something to help me uncover what really happened to my brother.” Tears still rolling from my cheeks.

“We have to meet so I can give you some evidence from my investigation. I just need you to bring your lawyer or someone who can help us get it to a court and prosecute them for what they did.”

“ Who, who did what”

“ Look ill explain a lot more when we meet. The sooner I can come meet you the better. They’re looking for me so I have to be careful about being seen outside. I’m currently at a safe house and I need you to meet me there. Victoria I know for sure what really happened that night wasn’t an accident your brother was murdered.”

“What, Gerard was...” I burst into tears finally.

“Look you need to be strong in order to find who did this to him! ” he said knowing my emotional state over the phone.

“You’re right...... I should be strong.”

I let out one final tear and wiped my eyes. I took a deep breath and replied.

“Ok. When and where should i come.”

“I'll text you the address but I hope you’re ready for the truth?”

I wasn't sure what he meant. “Mm, yes, I'm sure.”

“Ok we’ll talk soon, bye”

“Wait, what's your name” I also forgot to ask.

“Just call me Mr Nobody for now.”

“Ohk i guess”.

“Goodbye Victoria” he hung up the phone.