Lovers in California: Held For Ransom

• 23 •

The Next Week

It was a slightly cooler and crisp day today. Even though we live in California, which is generally quite a warm place all year round, October can still be a hit or miss month. To be fair though, anything is warmer than Canada and England this time of year.

It was Wednesday morning. I had gotten up pretty early around 7am, had a shower and eaten breakfast. I only poured myself some cereal with milk because that's all we had as I still hadn't got round to doing a big grocery shop yet and only managed to get a few things from our small local.

I was in the kitchen just finishing making a cup of coffee when all of a sudden...

*DING DONG*

I put the milk in the fridge and then made my way to the front door to answer it.

"Good morning" greeted Andre with a friendly smile.

"Hey Andre," I greeted back with a returning smile, "thank you so much for coming over."

"No problem at all! I'm glad I could help."

"Come on in" I said and gestured for him to come in. I went back into the kitchen and grabbed the coffee, "just give me one second" I told Andre and went through into the lounge.

Isabelle was sat on the couch with her legs up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them while staring blankly at the TV. The TV was on, but I knew she wasn't taking any notice as to what was actually on. She was wearing a matching beige jogger and hoodie set with her hair up in a messy bun and no makeup on. This was her go-to look now since we came back home, but I on the other hand needed to make an effort today as I had some errands to do, so I was in black jeans, a white t-shirt (no, not the one which now had rips in it), white trainers and a dark checkered shacket.

Isabelle and I got released from hospital on Monday. Luckily neither of us were too physically injured. I had just fractured my bottom left rib from where I had been kicked and also had cuts from being whipped, but the doctors said they would eventually heal with some medicated cream, though I could possibly have some scarring. However, even though Isabelle hadn't been physically hurt (thank god), she mentally was not doing okay. Honestly, she hadn't even really said a word to me, and at first this worried me a lot, but I soon got informed by professionals that this was normal and it was going to take time.

The past few days had been exhausting. Obviously being in hospital wasn't great, but we also had the police for statements and then all of these other things that we had to sort out - which was just so tiring. I tried to take the load of it because I knew Isabelle was not in the right state of mind to have to deal with it right now. She's never been the type to like talking to officials anyway, so I knew definitely now was not the time.

We managed to get our phones and keys back, so I was able to contact everyone. I contacted my family in Canada, my friends and my work (which luckily were really understanding because I think I was on the brink of getting fired).

Isabelle on the other hand, there wasn't many people for her to contact, only her friends and then work. However, she didn't have the strength to talk to them herself. So again, that's where I stepped in.

I made my way over to where she was sat and placed her coffee on the side table next to her. "Belle?" I softly spoke while I sat down on the coffee table in front of her. She diverted her eyes onto me, but I could tell she was still spaced out and her mind was elsewhere. "Andre's here now" I informed her.

"Hey Belle" Andre kindly greeted but remained in the kitchen looking into the lounge.

Isabelle looked over, "hi" she managed to reply and tried to let out a smile, then looked back at me.

"So I'm going to head off now but I promise I won't be too long" I continued saying and Isabelle nodded her head to show she was listening. "I've told Andre to help himself to tea or coffee, so you don't have to offer him one like you always do," I said with a grin to which she actually kind of chuckled to, "he's just here to make sure everything is okay and so you aren't alone." Again, I received another nod from her. "Okay Belle, just ring or message me if you need anything or want me to come back home" I finished saying and stood up from the coffee table. I gently placed my hand on her cheek and bent down to kiss her on the forehead, "I love you."

"I love you too" she replied, which warmed my heart.

I made my way back to the hallway after slyly gesturing with my head to Andre for him to come to the front door with me.

"Please don't expect anything from her," I quietly prewarned him once I had stepped outside so Isabelle wouldn't hear, "I've barely gotten a word out of her since the hospital. In fact, that just then was probably the most she had said to me since being back home."

"Really?" Andre asked in shock, "it's fine, don't worry about it, she's been through a lot, well both of you have" he then said in an understanding tone. "I'll probably just stay in the dining room and I've got things to do on my laptop, so that will keep me busy."

"Okay cool, again thank you so much for this, you're a massive help."

"No worries at all, I hope you get everything sorted."

"Thank you," I said again and started backing up towards my car, "I'll keep in touch but just ring me if there's any problems."

"Will do, bro."

"Alright, see ya" I said and hopped into my car as Andre went back inside.

Like I've said before, Andre is like a brother to me and he's also very close with Isabelle as well. Therefore, I knew leaving her with him was the best option and it also helped me to be at peace knowing that she would be safe.

Anyway, I needed to leave the house because there were a couple of things that had to be done.

First stop, Isabelle's salon.