Prisoner of Love

Chapter Three.

He knocked on the bathroom door; he was getting worried. She had been in the bathroom for what felt like way too long.

"Lili-Rose? Are you alright?"

Was she alright? No. She wanted to scream it at him. She wasn't alright, she was scared. Couldn't he see that? She didn't want to be here. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be anywhere but here. She thought she was finally free, but he had pulled her right back to square one.

"Lili-Rose, if you don't open this door. I will." He sounded forceful.

She looked at the closed bathroom door, she took a deep breath before opening the bathroom door.

He looked at her "You shouldn't be in the bathroom for too long, it'll scare me."

Good. She thought. I want you to fear me. I don't want to be in fear of you.

"Come on, let's get breakfast." He walked down to the kitchen, she reluctantly followed.

A small circular dining table sat close to the kitchen window; the curtains were closed. The kitchen seemed quite small with the fridge and freezer sitting next to each other against the wall.

No dishes in the sink or sitting in the drying rack. The kitchen cupboard doors were a shade of blue; each cupboard door was closed. The small built-in pantry cupboard blended in with the rest of the cupboards.

Not even a towel hung over the oven door nor a cloth in the sink.

The kitchen had no dishwasher.

She watched as he placed down two plates covered in baked beans, egg, a hashbrown on each with two slices of toast balancing on the plate on the table.

"Sit."

She wasn't a dog; she didn't like how he spoke to her.

"Lili-Rose, I won't tell you again." He pulled out a chair for her, she followed his instructions; fearing what he may do. He helped her tuck in the chair.

She stared down at her full plate as he grabbed two glasses from the top cupboard, he placed them on the table before reaching into the fridge and pulling out a bottle of juice.

He poured two glasses of juice than placed the bottle in the centre of the table, leaving the lid off.

He looked her over.

"Doesn't this look delicious?"

Lili-Rose remained silent. She kept her focus on the plate of food. She wasn't even sure if she was hungry, she knew she was scared. Scared to do anything. Scared to eat, scared to drink, scared to even look up at him.

"That's what I forgot." He rose up from his seat, stepped over to the draws and pulled out two sets of forks and two sets of knives "The toast is already buttered." He placed a knife and fork by her plate before sitting back down.

Lili-Rose carefully exhaled.

He began to shuffle food onto his fork "Lili-Rose, please." It sounded like he was begging as hints of love filled his voice.

She looked up at him as he lifted his fork.

"Just one bite." He spoke before enjoying the forkful of food.

Her hand started to shake as she reached for her fork

He kept an eye on her as he shuffled more food onto his fork.

Lili-Rose's fingertips barely touched the fork, she quickly yanked her hand away.

He sighed as he shook his head slightly "I don't want to hurt you, please just eat. You've been dozing quite a lot lately. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I saw you touch any food over the past few weeks."

She snapped her attention to him.

"it's breakfast, Lili-Rose." He picks up his toast with his fingers "You wouldn't want people to think your starving yourself." He bit into his toast.

Lili-Rose looked back at her food. How long had she been trapped in this house? How long had she been trapped by his side? She couldn't remember anything. She couldn't remember how she got here; she couldn't remember what had happened over the past few weeks.

He watched as she struggled to hide her panic and fear "Lili-Rose, it's okay. Your safe. Your with me."

That's what scared her.