Flora (Dark Romance)

31

Chapter 31// Missing

Alex had a staring competition with a small bag of illegal drugs.

Take them or don't take them? That was the million-dollar question to Alex for the past forty-five minutes since Flora fled his apartment.

He's never felt like a bigger jerk than he did tonight. It even topped the night before when he nearly killed Jake.

The look of sadness that flooded her face when she was leaving completely crushed Alex. He never wanted to make her feel that way. He knew she was embarrassed and that she felt like he rejected her, but he couldn't take her virginity like that. He wanted her first time to be special, and that was anything but special. Besides, they weren't even dating anymore, and Alex refused to sleep with her when she wasn't his and he wasn't her's.

Which is precisely why he was having a staring competition with this small bag of illegal drugs.

He knew it would disappoint Flora if she ever found out. He knew it would disappoint his mom. Hell, he knew it would disappoint himself.

But staring at it was like staring into his past, and he was slowly forgetting all the reasons why he quit in the first place. He was forgetting about the pain it caused his father, the damage it did to his mind, his body, his spirit. All he could think about was the feeling of being high. The ecstasy. The feeling of floating above the world. The realization that all of your problems were insignificant in the vastness of the universe. The only other time he experienced a similar high was when he was around Flora, and since that was no longer an option, he grabbed the bag.

With shaky hands, Alex opened it. It was like he opened a portal into his past life. Yet, ironically, he thought about his future. He thought about Flora — because she was his future. Alex knew if she were here right now she would beg him not to do it. She would tell him that he didn't need to rely on unhealthy coping mechanisms anymore.

Flora just saved him and she doesn't even know it.

Alex made his way over to the bathroom, a feeling of triumph washing over him, as he flushed the remaining contents of his past down the toilet.

His triumph was short lived when he was pulled back into the living room by the sound of his phone buzzing on top of the counter. He didn't recognize the number, but he still answered it with some small hope that it was Flora.

"Alex, it's Flora's mom."

Alex furrowed his brows together upon hearing the voice on the other end of the phone, "is everything okay?"

"Thank God I reached you. Is Flora with you?"

Alex felt his heart skip a beat once he heard the worry that was laced in her words.

"No, she's not here. Is everything okay?" Alex asked the question for the second time, only this time with a much shakier voice.

Alex could hear Flora's mom take an anxious breath, "I don't know. Brad said she left a few hours ago, but she hasn't come home since."

Alex glanced at the time, Flora left his place nearly an hour ago, surely she would be home by now.

"Have you tried calling her?" Alex knew the answer was obvious, clearly she would call her daughter before she would call him, but he had to be sure.

"I've been trying and there's no answer. I even called Melanie, she hasn't seen her either. I'm worried, Alex. Brad said she left upset."

Alex tightly clenched the phone at the mere mention of Brad. He sucked in a breath and tried his best to keep his composure.

"I don't trust him."

So much for keeping his composure, but Alex couldn't hold back. He loathed that man and the way he looked at Flora always made Alex feel uneasy.

Flora's mom sighed, "Not now, Alex. I just need to find her."

"I'll find her, I promise you."

He meant it. He would spend all night searching for her if he had to. He would do anything to make sure she was safe — even though Alex knew he was the last person on earth she wanted to see right now.

He felt incredibly guilty. He was silently praying she hadn't run off because of what happened tonight. He had to find her and explain why he couldn't have sex with her — at least not under these circumstances. It wasn't her it was the situation. She didn't want it like that either, and Alex knew it. She wasn't just another girl to him, she was Flora, and she meant too much for Alex to take her virginity like that.

The other fear that crept up his throat and made it difficult to breath was John. Alex had hoped he'd flushed his past along with those drugs, but he knew better than to think it was that easy. He was involved with some bad people at one point, and he did things he wasn't proud of to get out of his father's house after his mother died. He was just a kid and he needed the money. 

Alex kept replaying the words John said to him the other night over in his mind.

You owe us, Alex.

They're pissed...

You left without finishing your business with them.

If you don't sell, they're going to come after you and your family.

John knew just as well as Alex that Flora was his family. Had they gone after her to settle some kind of score? That thought raced through Alex's mind and caused an intense feeling of dread to wash over him.

These were not the average drug dealers. They were traffickers. They paid him well, and when Alex made enough, he left it all behind. But he would hunt them down and slowly kill them one by one if they so much as touched a hair on her head.

"Thank you, Alex." He could hear the relief in her mother's voice, "I'll tell her to call you if I hear from her first."

With that the call ended, but Alex's worries had only just begun.