I Ran To The Exit
1149 Words
Chapter 3
Arabella's POV
I didn’t stop running, my heels hit so hard on the marble floor with desperate beats that echo down the long hallway. The sound feels too loud and wild like everyone can hear how badly I am falling apart.
I hear voices of my name but I didn’t turn, I might freeze and they will catch me and I don’t even know what that will mean anymore from my father, Sebastian, the press and the entire world.
All I know is that Luca is ahead of me walking too fast like he is trying to disappear before I reach him.
“Luca!” My voice breaks as I call out. It comes out thinner and more desperate than I expected.
He stops slowly but not suddenly like every muscle in his body is fighting the decision. For a moment, he just stands there with his shoulders tense under the dark suit like it’s a shield, then he turns.
The look on his face hits me harder than the humiliation in the ballroom. It feels shocking and dangerous.
“Miss Kingsley,” he says quietly, formal and careful even now when everything is burning around us. The touch sends a strange shock through me and he goes completely still.
“You were leaving,” I say, trying to catch my breath.
“Yes.” He replied simple like he is determined not to give me anything more.
“You weren’t even going to look back.” I said.
His jaw tightens slightly. “That is not my place.”
Place. The words sting and hurt so much, like my life is something drawn in lines I’m not allowed to cross, he has already decided where he belongs and where I belong and somehow, those places are never the same, maybe because they sound final like a closing door.
He continues, “my place is to prepare the car, your father gave an order.”
Of course he did, my father always gives orders and the entire night has been one long chain of instructions which I was expected to follow; smile, accept the ring, ignore the scandal and leave quietly.
I release Luca’s arm and for a moment, we just stand there facing each other in the empty hallway, through the tall glass doors ahead of us, I can see flashing lights of colors outside.
The press has arrived again and the scandal has moved faster than I possibly thought.
“Arabella.” My father’s voice echoes from somewhere behind us, it’s closer than before.
My stomach twist sharply with fear. I whisper, “If I go back now, they’ll pretend nothing happened.”
Luca studies me carefully. “That might be best.”
For a second, I almost believe him because going back would be easier, safer and cleaner. I could pretend this never happened and smile again for them to fix everything. But the thought makes my chest tighten even more.
The word best to me always means sacrifice. “Best for who?” I ask.
He doesn’t need to answer because we both know the best is for the Kingsley name, the engagement, and for the future I never chose.
Footsteps pound down the hallway, Luca shifts slightly, placing himself between me and the glass doors. He didn't touch me but somehow, he is shielding me anyway.
“You shouldn’t have followed me,” he says quietly.
“Then why did you stop?” I asked back.
There is a heavy silence between us and I can see his eyes blink. For the first time tonight, the perfect control I am used to seeing in him cracks just a little.
“Because you called my name, no one has ever said my name like that before, not like it matters and means something beyond expectation.
It shouldn’t affect me this much, but it does.” he admits.
My heart stumbles, we don’t have time for this feeling and whatever this is.
The glass doors suddenly burst open with cold air rushing inside. Camera flashes blow up like lightning. “There she is!”, “Miss Kingsley, is the engagement over?”, “Were you cheating?”
The questions hit like stones and I move without thinking. Luca grabs my wrist firm and fast.
“This way,” he says. He pulls me toward a narrow side corridor. We run again.
My dress is too tight for this and the fabric pulls at my legs slowing me down, but I don't stop and I don’t care if I fall in front of everyone. All I know is that staying back there would have been worse.
Voices rise behind me confused, curious and excited, as they begin shouting “They’re going around the back!”, “They’re trying to escape!”
They’re enjoying this, me realizing this hits harder than anything else, to them, this is entertainment but to me, it feels like my life is falling apart in public.
For a second, I can’t even see where I’m going. My eyes sting, my head spins, and the noise crashes over me all at once with questions coming from every direction, I feel like I’m drowning in them.
We burst through a service door and into the dark parking area behind the building. The night air got into me like a shock. It smells like rain and freedom.
Everything is completely insane and nothing about this night makes sense anymore. A few minutes ago, I was standing under chandeliers, about to say yes to a future already chosen for me. Now, I’m running through a dark parking space with the one man I was never supposed to be this close to.
Luca unlocks the car with shaking hands, he opens the back door for me automatically as he always does as the driver. I stare at the open seat. If I get in, everything changes and becomes real.
“Miss Kingsley,” he urges.
No, not tonight, “Arabella,” I correct softly.
He freezes like I just broke a rule neither of us was supposed to question.
“Another car’s headlights pull into the parking lot. It's my father, it was too fast and soon, we are out of time.
Instead of getting into the back seat, I walk around the car with my feet crunching over the gravel, I can hear my heartbeat pounding. I open the passenger door and Luca’s eyes widen. “What are you doing?” he asks.
“I’m not sitting behind you tonight,” I say. Then I slide into the front seat.
A car door slams behind us. My father calls out in the darkness. “Arabella, get out of that car!”
Luca hasn’t moved, he hasn’t started the engine because now, If he drives away with me, there is no going back.
- Writer
