Chapter 6 Ella Walker

Ella Walker After the incident with the stranger who disappeared, I noticed my cousin was a bit more tense, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. I just wanted to relax and forget, even if just for a few hours, how much I missed that idiot. Olivia’s hands on my waist kept me facing the small stage where the DJ was playing loud, captivating music. Even though I still felt like I was being watched, I forced my mind to shut off and enjoy the moment. "I think I’m going downstairs to grab another drink!" I turned to say to Olivia. "Let Lucas go downstairs to get it…" "No need." I slipped out of her hands and walked along the dark path toward the stairs to the dance floor. For some reason, the dark hallway was empty, it felt like it had been cleared just so I could pass through without trouble. The hallway wasn’t long, but I started to feel oddly suffocated in that space, as if I were being followed or watched. I looked back and didn’t see anyone behind me, but my skin was burning. I lifted my head a little higher, trying to see over the crowd packed onto the dance floor, and sighed when I realized it would be a bit difficult to get to the bartender. "Damn, I should’ve let Lucas come…" I placed my foot on the last step and left the suffocating hallway. The beat of the music seemed even louder down here. I walked carefully, trying not to bump into or step on anyone’s foot, I wasn’t looking for any trouble with the people here enjoying their night. I felt a touch on my hand and pulled it back to avoid being touched. I glanced at the person and saw it was a stranger. My eyes dropped to his wrist, and I looked at my watch, remembering it was Leon’s birthday. Actually, I had been trying hard to forget that my bunny’s father was turning another year older today, his twentieth birthday. I sighed as it hit me that I had failed to forget. Exactly 365 days ago, I had been sending him millions of messages while crying because I felt abandoned. With some effort, I made it to the bar. "What can I get you, sweetheart?" The bartender, a tanned man with green eyes, wiped the counter in front of me and winked. "A strawberry drink, please. With just a little vodka!" I asked, glancing at the list of options on the board behind him. As I waited for my drink, I saw him lower his head and step away, but something in his expression caught my attention. It felt strange, and my eyebrows furrowed at his reaction. I turned around, and was hit with the worst surprise I could’ve had tonight. "Well, well, well…" My body froze as I saw Gavin approaching with his hands raised like he was greeting an old friend, as if everything that had happened between me and his best friend had never even happened. "Gavin?" I said, looking around. "How’s mommy bunny doing?" I rolled my eyes at his sense of humor. He came closer and gave me a bear hug that nearly crushed me, and I noticed he held on longer than necessary. "What are you doing here?" he asked me. "I guess the same thing you are!" I replied with a smile. I turned to face the counter, watching the bartender perform a few tricks while preparing my drink. "My dad sent me here as punishment. I’m managing the place now…" I turned my gaze toward him. "Hmm, what did you do? Partied too hard with your buddy?" I saw him smile, and at that moment, it felt like my chest was being torn apart. I inhaled and looked back at the bottles still flying through the air. "Leon? He doesn’t know how to have fun. But that’s not what happened, we came here to start taking care of the business, like an internship…" He laughed and grabbed a beer someone handed him. I stayed quiet, processing what he had just said. Then it hit me, he said 'we came,' not 'I came.' I swallowed hard and turned to face him, trying to figure out why he had come over to me. "He’s here, isn’t he?" I asked bluntly. "What do you expect to hear from me, Ella?" There was concern in his eyes. "Something that doesn’t hurt more than it already does." Gavin sighed and turned toward the crowd enjoying themselves. "Everything has an explanation, Ella. I know that sooner or later you two will have to sit down, and you’re going to scream and probably want to kill him, but at least give him a chance to explain his reasons!" he said, dodging my question. "Is he here?" I asked again. "Yes, he’s in the office handling a few things." "Cancel the order!" I told the bartender. I turned my back and ignored the fact that my cousins were upstairs, then started walking toward the exit. There was no way I could talk to Leon right now. "Ella, wait up…" I ignored Gavin, who was practically yelling after me. I pushed through the crowd, not caring if I bumped into anyone. At that moment, all I wanted was to get out of there so I wouldn’t have to see Leon. I wasn’t ready, and worse, I knew that the moment he looked at me with those huge blue eyes, I would break down and forget all the sadness I felt from the silence he had created between us. "Where do you think you’re going? Leon is that way!" Gavin said, grabbing my wrist. I looked up and saw confusion all over his face. "I’m going home. I don’t want to see him," I said, pulling my wrist from his hand. "Please let me go." My eyes were full of tears, and a knot in my throat was starting to choke me. "Let her go, Gavin…" I turned and sighed when I saw Lucas standing at the entrance of the club. "They need to talk." Gavin said it again. But unlike before, it felt like he finally understood what Leon’s decision had done to me. I was heartbroken, battling depression because I felt abandoned by the man I loved. These past sixteen months alone, without my best friend and without the man I’m in love with, I’ve had to deal with pain, loneliness, and obsessive thoughts that maybe I wasn’t enough for him. So many things went through my mind, that’s why my parents decided to take me to therapy. What I felt for Leon was so intense that it became suffocating and unbearably painful when I realized he didn’t feel the same about me. And if he did feel something, it was nowhere near the way I loved him. "Maybe so, but it won’t be here, and definitely not on his terms!" my cousin said, placing a hand on my waist. "Let’s go home." I buried my face in his chest, trying to hide the desperation of crying once again. "It’s not what you think, Ella. Call him and let him explain…" I heard Gavin’s voice, full of concern, fading into the background, and in no time I was lying in Olivia’s lap on my bed. While she listened to my sobs, my cousin brought me a cup of tea, hoping it would calm me down before our grandparents woke up and saw me like that. "You need to relax and get some rest, Ella," Lucas said as he sat in the armchair across from my bed. I watched as he took his phone out of his pocket and let out a long sigh. "I’ll be fine…" I said, looking at both of them. "I’ll feel better tomorrow." I looked at them and saw that I hadn’t convinced either of them. "What are you going to tell Grandma when she wakes up tomorrow and sees your eyes all swollen from crying?" Olivia asked. "Obviously, I’ll say it’s because Lucas didn’t take me out tonight…" I smiled, wiping away the last of my tears after making them laugh. "I’m going to take a shower and do a cold compress. You’ll see, it won’t even look like I cried." With a bit of persuasion, I managed to convince them to go rest. As soon as my cousins left my room, I went into the bathroom and stayed there longer than necessary. I got back to bed close to dawn, holding a small towel dampened with cold water to place over my eyes. I had taken one of my medications, and in no time, I was asleep, but trapped in a restless, chaotic dream where I was screaming for help…