You Saw Me

28

The police patrole came around after a little while. They took some photos of my door and I unlocked so they could do a round of the house to check if everything was as it should be. Apart from a couple of very dry houseplants, which I probably couldn't blame anyone else for, everything was as I left it. 

"You might want to look into getting a security system", one of the police officers said. "There's quite a lot of good providers on the market these days. It would be good for you, I think. Just to be safe". 

I nodded in agreement. I'd have to look into that as soon as possible. 

"We'll call someone first thing in the morning", Gayle added. "Thank you so much for coming, officers", she said politely and saw them out the door. She returned to the living room, phone in hand on a call with Xander. "Yeah, I'll stay the night here. Don't worry honey, I'll call you in the morning".

I tried to signal her that it was unnecessary for her to stay, but there was no way I was getting her to leave, unless calling the two officers back to remove her was an option. 

She was the most fantastic and true friend anyone could ever have.

"So where am I sleeping?" she said after she hung up the phone.

***

I had always found the first night back in my own bed after a holiday so comforting. There was nothing like sleeping in your own bed. This bed I had chosen for and by myself not long ago. I loved the feel of it; it wasn't too soft and not too hard either. It was a good fit for me and that was all that mattered. 

But right now this bed was cold and lonely. I had slept next to Henry all the time in Anguilla and somehow I had already gotten used to him being there. His movements, the sounds he made when he slept, his breathing and occasional snores. I imagined him lying in his bed at the beach house, sleeping and dreaming. Maybe he was having a late night writing session or jamming in the studio with Matt and Cam. Part of me wanted to send him a text to see what he was doing, but it was late and I should probably just do my best to sleep. 

My phone dinged. 

I smiled at the screen. I digged in my bag next to my bed and found my airpods. I didn't want to wake Gayle, who was fast asleep on my sofa. I opened FaceTime and called Henry.
He picked up immediately, his eyes shining and his smile bright.

"Hey", he said in that slow, deep voice he got when he was tired.

"Hi!", I whispered back. I laid my head on the pillow and set my phone up next to me, so I could still see him.

"Why are we whispering", Henry whispered back with a cheeky smile.

I scrunched my nose at him. "Because Gayle is sleeping on my couch and I don't want to wake her."

Henry raised an eyebrow and smiled quizzically. "You guys can't be without each other for long, eh?"

I knew I had to tell him about the door and the letters. I had thought about calling Jeff to ask for advice, but it would feel wrong telling him before Henry. So I sent him the photo of my door and explained about the letters.

Henry was quiet for a while. "You have to get an alarm system, love. I can't believe someone did this to you. Are you alright?" He was clearly worried and I really didn't want him to be. So I smiled and promised him that I would get someone to come over first thing.

"It's okay, H. I'll be fine. I threw out the letters, I didn't read them. I know it'll be hard in the beginning, but at some point you'd think they'd get bored with me", I said softly so the crease between his eyes would lessen.

"Should we sleep together?" He wiggled his eyebrows and laughed. 

"Let's", I yawned and switched off my night lamp. Henry hummed my song and with thousands of butterflies in my stomach,  I fell asleep. 

***

I woke to the sound of my door bell ringing. I jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs. Outside my door was a man in coveralls and a cap with a logo that said SimpliSafe. "Ellie Parsons?" he asked while reading on a clipboard. "I have an order for a home security system, here. It's the big package, so we'll be at it for a while. Would you prefer to reschedule, I see that you're... not up". 

I must have been a sight to see, standing there gawking at him with my mouth open, wearing my pjs and very obviously confused. "But I didn't order anything?" I said slowly, trying to remember if I did or not. 

"It says here that the order was made by a J.Azoff. Is that someone you know?"

So Jeff had set it up. That made sense. Henry would have gone to him immediately to try and find a solution for my safety. I stepped aside and let the man in so he could begin setting up the system. 

Gayle had made me breakfast and left me a note in the kitchen. Apparently Jeff had texted her that it was taken care of, so she had gone home to her family. I sent her a text to thank her for her help and for staying the night. Then I went upstairs to have a shower before sitting down with my laptop to work a bit. I needed to get a few things ready for the meeting with Bob and Gayle later that week. I opened my email and started going through all the mails I had received while we were in Anguilla. The very last one I had received was from Adam. 

Ellie, 

I was made aware of an article about you on TMZ. Maybe you would like to take a look for yourself? 

/Adam

He had attached the link to the site. I sat for a while, mouse lingering over the link before I took a deep breath and clicked.