When they got off the plane the first thing that Dalia saw were the men with cameras and the flashes that hit her face immediately. Christopher followed suit right behind her, and he felt sorry for the brown haired girl. He could see that she hated being on the spotlight, but still acted like it was required of her.
When they reached their car and the black-tinted windows hid her from the people trying to get a picture of her, she felt like she could finally breathe. She reminded herself that she only had to get through the next 52 hours to finally get the life she had always wanted.
She had been thorough with her planning. The days before her departure to Paris she had spent calculating every second of her escape. Dalia had gathered everything she needed to make the plan successful, she had gotten a real passport from England under a fake name, had gathered every jewel she knew she could sell without tipping off anyone when she sold it. She went as far as to buy items and have someone else return them for the cash, as to have enough money to get where she needed to be. Every calculation was made, she had considered every single scenario that could play out, and so she was not nervous at all, she was just eager to get it over with.
Christopher, on the other hand, was freaking out of his mind. The moment he left the café where she had told him about her plan, he had gone on a drinking binge. He was careful, though, not to tell anyone about what was going on. He didn't yet know why he was helping Dalia, he barely knew her, yet he felt compelled to aid her on her attempt in freedom. Even if he hadn't been scrutinized like she was, he could get where she was coming from, but he guessed it also had something to do with the fact that he felt attracted to her.
"We should be arriving at the hotel soon" the driver of the car said and through the rear-view mirror of the car they both could see the two cars following theirs. The detail Isabella had agreed upon consisted of three men, one was young, around 28, the weak link Dalia was counting on. The other two where her life long bodyguards, whom she had learned to appreciate, but that also meant she knew everything there was to know about them, even how to avoid them.
"Thank you" they both answered at the same time and a smile escaped from Dalia's lips. Christopher, on the other hand, was way too nervous to respond to it, he could barely speak as it was. He had said a total of 15 words throughout the flight, and 6 of them were thank you, when he boarded and exited the plane and when the flight attendant gave him some water.
"Just chill. Everything is going to be just peachy" she said with a reassuring smile and squeezed his shoulder.
When they reached the hotel, Le Maurice, the hotel's general manager, Franka, whom Dalia had met many times before, came out to greet them and leading them to the Belle Etoile suite, which she knew was the princess's favourite. It had been since she was little; it had something to do with the view it offered, which never ceased to amaze the young woman. The manager bowed goodbye and Dalia rolled her eyes in response and gave her a kiss on each of her cheeks before heading straight to the terrace.
"We should be safe from eavesdropping now" Stated the brunette once Christopher and her were left alone. "Now, you need to stop acting so weird or someone is going to catch up with what is going on" she commanded, although she spoke with a certain tenderness, acknowledging the fact that she knew that what she was asking from him was way too much.
"I know, I am just nervous. If someone finds out I am helping you, it'd be the end of not only me, but also my whole family" he said, his voice sounding hoarse from not speaking a lot in the last few hours.
"That is exactly why I've got you covered." She said, putting her hand on the rail, leaning a little bit forward to appreciate the view she had engraved in her mind "There is no paper trail to my arrangements, the meeting on the café was captured by the media as just us, out on a date, me grabbing your hand" he understood now why she had held it "and when they come after you for questioning, you don't really know much now, do you?" She asked raising one of her brows.
"Thank you" was what he said in response initially. He did want to know what her plan was, but he knew that if she told him, that would be a flaw to it, so he hadn't asked much. But there was still a question that was nagging him. "Why now? Why not before?" the question caught Dalia off guard, but she composed herself as not to show her discomfort.
"It was the perfect opportunity, really" she turned towards him, an apologetic smile on her puffy lips "As you could have guessed, apart from letting me study abroad, I don't get much freedom. But I knew that when my mom introduced us, she would allow me some privacy to get to know you, she owes me that much" the last part was barely audible; it was more of a comment to herself. "You can't even start to imagine how much time I've spent planning this".
"Oh, trust me, your binder is a good indicator" he said, laughing for the first time in the 6 days since their meeting at the café. She smiled in return, her cheeks turning slightly pink at the comment.
"You should see the others, then" she said, and the look of disbelief on his face made her explode in laughter.
"There is something else" He said, the seriousness returning to his face "you said something about Anna being forced out of my life. You really think that's the case?" he involuntarily glanced towards Dalia's wrist, where the blue bracelet he had given her rested.
"I am not a hundred percent sure, but I did some digging on the matter, I know where she is now" the sadness in his face made her stop, but he nodded to her to keep talking, so she did "My best guess is they have her relocate, she goes by Christina now, her middle name".
"Where is she?" he asked, the desperation in his voice betraying him.
"Right in this city".
YOU ARE READING
72 Hours
Romance"That was so corny" That was Dalia's response. He took the bracelet and locked it in her wrist "And we've been engaged since I was 5" "Yes, I know. My parents felt the need to wait until I was in love and off age to tell me" he retorted. "See. I hav...
