Always and Forever

Chapter 17

*Ella’s POV*

-         Ella, are you sure about this?

Jake was really nervous. Last time he saw Mrs. Donfort and Hannah everything was chaotic. It's the first time when he’s meeting them as Nathan Donfort’s son. Whole day he was anxious. I tried my best to calm him down but it wasn’t working.

-         I am sure. you guys need to meet each other and talk. Nothing bad will happen, I promise.

I could sense that he still wasn’t sure about this but he knew this needed to be done. He sighed and helped me prepare food for our guests.

Few minutes later we heard a knock on my door. Jake froze and wasn’t moving at all. I held his hand and led him towards the front door. He stopped in front of the door and I opened it. As soon as Mrs. Donfort saw Jake her eyes got teary. She went towards him and hugged him. Jake just stood there confused. I mouthed him “hug her” and he did just that. Mrs. Donfort started crying.

-         I am so sorry Jake. I shouldn’t have said those words to you. It wasn’t your fault.

-         Please don’t apologize, Mrs. Donfort.

I was watching them with a smile on my face and then I felt two arms wrap around me and hug me tight.

-         Forgive me, Ella. You saved my life and I was so unfair to you.

It took a few minutes for Hannah and Mrs. Donfort to calm down. They were apologizing constantly. Me, Jake and Lilly somehow managed to finally calm them down and all of us sat down at the table. We started eating and talking. It was such a nice evening. Jake wasn’t nervous anymore, he was constantly smiling and laughing. I was happy seeing him like this.

After dinner we all sat on the couch in the living room. We were happy and no one remembered what happened yesterday. It was like everything bad disappeared from our lives. It was amazing.

We didn’t even realize how much time passed. Unfortunately it was time for them to leave. We said our goodbyes and they left. I was feeling sad to be honest. I looked over at Jake who was already looking at me.

-         Thank you, Ella. This was everything I needed.

……

  Jake and I continued looking for my kidnapper. We’ve been looking for days now but no trace of him. I started to lose hope we’ll ever find him. I closed my notebook and was about to tell Jake that we should change our strategy, when

-         I got him!

-         What?!

-         Ella, come here.

I literally ran to him and looked at the computer. It was a man dressed in all black, but this time his mask was off and he was looking straight at the camera. His face was barely visible. I looked closely and I was sure I'd never seen that guy.

-         It’s not him, Jake.

-         Listen, this is the man who kidnapped you but it’s possible that the man you talked to is different. But finding him is the first step.

-         You’re right. This is progress.

-         But we have one problem.

-         What is it?

-         This picture is too dark. You and I can see his picture, but the computer can’t recognize his face, which means I won’t be able to find information about him.