Kidnapped: Welcome 'home'

Chapter 22: Square One

It turns out that David's meeting went smoothly and the business he was working with bought his latest fashion line for a wonderful price. The meeting went so smoothly and the payment was very generous that it called for celebration: a party.

Unlike the last party, this one was hosted in the apartment itself and had fewer guests - though there were still many people either way. I had made the bedroom with all my things off-limits, even if whoever it was wanted to just use the bathroom. No one was allowed in.

That was helpful in many ways. Firstly, it gave me some privacy, somewhere I could retire to when I had enough of all the chaos. Secondly, it meant that the room could stay neat and tidy and wouldn't become a mess in next to no time - not that it should matter. Thirdly, (and best of all) my packed bags wouldn't be discovered.

Today is the day, or should I say, tonight is the night. I was going home.

The plan was to stay for most of the party and return to the room as the end of the party neared, pretending that I was going to sleep. Really and truly, I was going to lock the room, pretending I was inside and was going to sneak out while everyone else was still occupied with the party. Like that, no one would see me leave and no one would be suspicious or get the gist of me being missing until it was too late.

It was insane.

But I couldn't care less.

And I couldn't be happier.

I spent the day locked up in my room as usual while everyone else was busy preparing for the party. Using the 'Guest' browser on Google Chrome, I searched for the tickets to London flying out from New York City as soon as possible. I then packed my bag with as little things as possible and bought the ticket. I might have to print out the ticket, just in case, but right now, it was too risky... or so I thought.

A sharp knock had startled me but was replaced by David saying something about going to pick up his suit. I waited for a few minutes before sneaking out to David's study to print the ticket and stuffing it into my bag. I prepared the outfit I was going to wear - the very same one I was wearing the day I was kidnapped - and put them to the side, ready to be worn.

Getting ready for the party, I couldn't help but smile to myself. Surprisingly, I was not nervous at all. I was actually very excited.

Once I was ready, I took a deep breath, putting on a glum face and stepped out of the bedroom, making sure to close the door behind me. Sure enough it was as chaotic as it can be.

I made my way to the island in the kitchen looking for a drink. After getting a glass of juice, I spotted Sophia and headed over to her; I had decided to leave for good, but not without clearing up any hard feelings first.

"Hey." I greeted.

She turned around, shocked to see me, "Um... Hi."

"How are you?" I asked her.

"Good, and you?" she replied, confused.

"Good." I responded, taking a slow sip from my drink, "Look, I wanted to apologise to you for the way I treated you. It wasn't fair. You didn't mean to do it."

Her eyes were wide and it took a while for her to process what I just said. I didn't look at her as I waited for her response.

"It's ok. I forgive you." she said with a smile.

Really? I didn't even actually apologise.

"Thanks." I returned the smile.

"I hope you can forgive me too. What I did was wrong." she said.