Found you

Part 9

As she made her way up the winding driveway she realized that everything looked the same.  Time hadn’t stopped in her absence. It made her happy and sad at the same time.

She opened the door and looked around.  The house was her parents’ and her mom had decorated it but the house was missing the little things that declared that people actually lived in it.  She figured it would make packing easier though so there was that.

She made her way up to her old bedroom and that is where Gianni and Shelby found her. 

She was sitting in the middle of the floor with half a dozen photo albums spread out before her.  The two plopped down with her and looked through the pictures with her.  Gianni and Adrianna took turns telling hilarious stories that went along with many of the pictures.

The last laugh accidently came out as a sob though and regardless of Adrianna’s hand it slipped out and she lost it.  She didn’t have a horrible life so why in the world was she feeling this way?  Gianni wrapped her into a hug and Shelby was right there rubbing soothing circles on her back.

“I’m sorry guys, I guess I’ve been holding everything in and it just came out. I miss them so much and so much has happened since.  I don’t know if I will ever see Josh again and I don’t feel like I can move on without him. Stupid huh.”

“It’s not stupid Adrianna.  We all deal with trauma differently.  Just know we are here for you.” Shelby murmured.

“That’s right. And speaking of Josh, I have a feeling that you will be hearing from him sooner than later.  He isn’t the type to just leave and not keep tabs.  I bet he knows where you are and has even though he’s been absent.” Gianni stated.

“I hope your right.  I felt so safe and hopeful with him.  Maybe I’m an idiot to pin that kind of emotion on a person but it just happened.”

Gianni and Shelby looked at each other and laughed.  They had met and fell in love almost immediately so they didn’t agree with her one bit.

“Let go downstairs, grab some ice cream and watch a movie and just relax.  We have plenty of time to handle this stuff later.” Shelby suggested.

Gianni laughed at his wife, reached out and placed his hand on her still flat stomach and said,

“Shelby thinks that everything can be cured with ice cream lately.”  Shelby in turn swatted at him and the three headed downstairs.

The girls out voted Gianni and made him watch The Notebook which didn’t turn out to be the greatest idea because both girls were crying through the last half of it.  They assured Gianni that was normal and they did it every time they watched that movie.

After the credits rolled Gianni and Shelby took their leave with hugs and kisses and made her promise to call them when she was ready to start packing.  The realtor would be meeting her the next afternoon to get the ball rolling.  Apparently she was more than happy to list the house and also stated that she had a few prospective buyers in mind.

Adrianna shut the door after them and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water.  She picked up her cellphone on the way and looked to see if any missed calls had come through.  Of course she was only interested in one person calling her but she couldn’t help it.

On a flash of bravery she dialed his number.  She realized that the whole time she was waiting on him to contact her she had not once tried to call him.  Had he been waiting on her then?

Phone up to her ear, subconsciously counting the rings, she shut the fridge when she felt someone behind her.  She didn’t have time to react or turn around when an arm came around her neck and squeezed, choking the air out of her.