Captivated

Chapter Fourteen

Five Months Later

The sun gleamed in over the patio stretching across the bed and sparkling over the fabric. I rolled to the side gazing out at the sunrise and breathing in the morning breeze drifting in through the open patio door. I smiled to myself, these are the moments I enjoy the most; The ones where I'm alone in the peaceful solitude of the bedroom that I call home now. The ones where I can forget my new life and pretend that its all going to be okay. It wasn't as bad as I has imagined it would be, there were things that did make my stay easier; my new life bearable. The food for example, living here is like going to a free gourmet restaurant everyday. The people aren't so bad once you get to know them and the bedroom I'd be given was the same size as my whole apartment at home. I sighed thinking about the people I'd left behind, the ones I no longer get to talk to; and I feel that sinking feeling creep up on me. I miss them. I shake the thoughts from my head and roll onto my back. Time to start the day. I stand up and stretch, slowing moving around the room and gathering my jogging clothes. I slip into the skin tight pants, matching sports bra and a brightly colored tank top. Quickly I pull my hair up into a ponytail and grab my iPod heading out the bedroom into the hallway. Over the last few months I'd fallen into a routine of sorts.

Wake up.
Morning Jog.
Breakfast.
Work.
Dinner.
Bed.
Repeat.

For the most part I manage to keep on track and make myself as busy as possible. Loosing yourself to a routine makes life much easier to deal with. I smile to the women as I pass them busy about their work in the hallways. Some cleaning rooms, others reading in the artfully placed nooks along the way, others simply mulling around. I slip the headphones into my ears as I begin my decent down the sitars and head out onto the compound. I step down the front stairs into the courtyard and veer out towards the walking trails that lead out onto the conservation and begin to run pushing my legs as hard as they will go. The burn radiates through my calves and I turn up the music and let it rule me.

The last five months have been busy around here. Cameron runs an airtight operation and only involves me when he needs to, which is alright by me. I'd love to say we rarely run into each other but I see him at least twice a day, usually breakfast and dinner; sometimes we have to spend many hours in each other's company. Which I could complain about it but it isn't always the worst thing in the world. Just last week we spent all day helping with the warehouse conversion unloading some of the supplies, building shelves, and putting some finishing touches on the finished rooms. Cameron can be so sweet, when no one else is around. I began my accent up the mountain face on the north side of the compound. The manor is built back away from the main road and backs up onto a wildlife conservation. The north side of the property, where the line buts against the conservation; is a good sized mountain. The side closest to the manor property is a hard climb, it's steep and littered with fallen logs, mossy rocks and roots sticking up everywhere.

I sucked in a sharp breath as I rounded another corner my foot catching on a root causing me to fall skidding into a muddy pool. My headphone fall out when I hit the ground hard enough to knock all the wind from my chest. I groan laying in the cold water slowly catching my breath, rolling onto my knees I stand up and replace my headphones before continuing my run up the mountain. The property is beautiful, something I never would have imagined but I have free rein of the surrounding areas. In my agreement I'm aloud to go where permitted by Cameron or a designate and we worked it out that I can go anywhere on the grounds or conservation as long as I don't encroach on any roads or outsiders homes. Not that there is anyone even remotely close in the area. I break through the tree line at the top of the mountain and hunch over holding my knees for support as I gasp in the morning air. The view is astounding. The top of the mountain overlooks a huge bowl like valley in the center of a large circular area surrounded by other mountains, with trees and lakes, and beautiful landscapes as far as the eye can see. Down in the valley, near the lake closest to me is a few deer, some rabbits and other animals that call this place home. I smile to myself and take my headphones out listening to the birds and the wind as I take a seat onto of one of the rock faces just taking a moment for myself. The run up the mountain is a hard one, its rough and it makes my chest ache, my heart feels like its going to pound right on out of my ribs but in this moment, this serine spot that no one else ever comes to; this is all worth it. I take a few more painful breaths with a smile and stand up putting my music back on and slowly begin my decent back down.