The Psychopath's Prisoner

Chapter 23

There was a knock on the bedroom door. She checked herself in the mirror. The pink tank top and white shorts looked good on her. Maybe Michael would think so too. She shook the thought off and ran a brush through her hair. Then she pulled it into a ponytail.

"Come in."

Michael opened the door. "Hey there. If you're hungry, I've got some sandwiches made." He looked her up and down and cleared his throat. "Whenever you're ready, come on down." He never took his eyes off her.

"Okay." Cheyenne tightened her pony tail.

He slowly backed away, but kept staring at her. When Cheyenne heard the door click, she checked to make sure he was gone and then began to jump up and down. She couldn't believe the way he looked at her. In all honesty, she really liked the attention. "I better go eat lunch. Don't want to miss my first lunch 'date' with him."

Cheyenne leaned against the door, closed her eyes, and placed one hand on her stomach trying to steady her nerves. Why did she feel like this? Shouldn't she be sad? She did, after all, just get a divorce. Did that mean that, perhaps, she was never truly in love with Tyler? Maybe she never really loved him, after all.

She breathed out and decided not to think about it for the moment. Her stomach then growled. "Okay. Okay. I know I need to get some food in you." Excitement bubbled up. "I get to have lunch with Mr. O'Neill, er, Michael."

She walked down the stairs and began to wonder how his ex- wife could cheat on him and give all this up. Her mind raced at how gorgeous this place was and how could his ex give Michael up? He was sincere, generous, kind, and easy to talk to. Not to mention, good looking.

"Hey Cheyenne."

"Michael."

"I'm going to get something out of my car. I'll be right back. In the meantime, you can go to the kitchen. Don't be afraid to start eating."

"No problem."

He smiled sincerely and walked away. Cheyenne watched him as he walked. He has a nice butt.

With a deep breath and arms at her side, she licked her lips and started toward the kitchen, her heart beating wildly. There were two plates on the table with two glasses of lemonade. The 'table' was a stainless steel island in the center of the kitchen. Everything seemed to be stainless steel, the refrigerator, kitchen counters, and even the cabinets. She felt it was a bit odd, but if that was his taste... The floors were white tiles with blue squares in the center of them, the only homey thing in the entire kitchen.

She noticed the chicken salad sandwiches, carrot sticks, and sliced apples on the plate. She took her place on one of the stools and bit into one of the carrot sticks. Her thoughts drifted to what had been happening to her. When would it be over? Who had she ever offended this much? Yes, Daniel was strange and creepy. Yes, she had her suspicions, but there was no proof to back them up. As far as Tyler went, well, he didn't really want the divorce, despite the circumstances when she confronted him. Now he was showing up after all these horrible incidents. All of this was exhausting and stressful. It was ridiculous and she was sick of this mess. This had to end. She didn't want to stay with other people for the rest of her life. Her independence was at stake and she couldn't let that be taken from her. Hopefully Detective Lawrence would figure all of this out... and soon. Tears welled in her eyes.

Michael strolled into the kitchen. "Sorry about that, but I had to get my wallet and briefcase."

"That's okay."

"What's wrong?" Michael asked with a furrowed brow.

"Nothing." Cheyenne sobbed. "Everything."

"Would you like to talk about it?" He moved to sit on the stool across from her.