Amour éternel

chapter 21

The ride to the airport was nerve-wracking. Anaïs couldn’t seem to stop shaking. It was humid within the cab. She felt as if the air was too thick to breath. Her chest felt tight but she looked out the window and hoped that Ryder wouldn’t notice. It was such a simple thing she was doing; there was no need for her to get so bent out of shape. 

It still bothered her that she hadn’t put up a fight and convinced Ryder to let her stay. She had always thought of running away as a cowards way and she felt more like a coward than she ever had. A woman who had faced the guillotine during the great fright in France was trembling at the prospect of leaving a country where she was being stalked; she thought with disdain. 

Anaïs had yet to even meet her stalker. Perhaps he wasn’t as big a threat as she thought but she knew very well that Ryder would not be sending her away if he believed the man to be harmless. In fact, when she bid farewell to Jacky the woman had asked her to be very cautious and to not take any chances. The haunted look in her eyes had registered immediately but Jacky had refused to divulge any details on what had put her in such a state. Anaïs peered toward Ryder and felt guilty for not telling him immediately about the condition Jacky had been in. After all, the woman was a close and dear friend of his. 

“Ry I’m worried about Jacky,” she whispered as she moved closer to him. 

She found his hand in the dark and held it tightly. She once again appreciated the fact that she could see him clearly despite the shadows when his face contorted into a frown. She had worried him and it made her feel worse that she hadn’t mentioned it sooner. 

“Why do you say that?” he whispered back. 

The cab driver was trustworthy because Ryder himself had requested it but their conversation was still a private one and need not be shared with the man so they whispered. 

Anaïs told him that she had been happy, ecstatic even, about a date earlier that night but had not been so enthusiastic when she saw her last. She described the ashen color of her skin and the look in Jacky’s eyes. They had been dilated and frightened. The woman seemed as if she had seen a ghost. 

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Anaïs had been asking herself the same thing. She truly had no clue, no answer to give, no excuse.

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know? Didn’t you think, even once, that I would like to know that 

Jacky was planning to go out tonight of all nights? Dammit Anaïs, she’s important to me,” Ryder controlled his voice but the tone was all too clear. 

He was angry; rightfully so. Anaïs would have spoken, tried to make some apology but all her words were crushed under a torrent of heartache when he pulled his hand away. The expression on his face spoke volumes; he wasn’t just angry, he was worried too. 

He turned from her as he pulled his phone from his pocket and did not once look her way while he waited for Jacky to answer.

His whole face changed when he got a hold of her and Anaïs saw him light up with hope.