30 Days In Rome

Chapter 13

"Mr Henderson.... ?"

Before I could make up a flimsy excuse, he punched Derrick hard in the face.
He dragged him up by his collar and hit him repeatedly against the wall.

I was in a state of utter shock. I never knew John, a man I knew even if for a few days, to be gentle and nice could react this way. Anabelle walked slowly into the room.

"No means no" John screamed in his ears "You hear me?"

Derrick fearfully nodded his head.

"When a girl tells you she isn't interested, leave her the hell alone"

He angrily flung Derrick to the other side of the room making him land on the floor with a heavy thud.

"Get out!"

Derrick hurriedly ran out of the room without any form of hesitation

John's eyes were red with rage. His hair was wild and scattered due to the fight. His breathing was rugged and heavy

"Mr. Henderson... " I started

I stopped mid sentence when he looked at me with blood shot red eyes.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

There's no use arguing or making up an excuse.

"I'm sorry" I muttered

"You lied to the principal and sneaked out of school. What if we didn't come? You could have been raped!"

I silently shed tears as the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I can't even imagine what would have happened if they hadn't found me. The experience would have been traumatizing.

"Your parents sent you to the school because of these wayward ways of yours and you're still not willing to change" he continued "Have you no conscience? Are you that heartless?"

"I didn't know... "

That was when he really snapped. I should have just kept my mouth shut

"You didn't know what Ruby?!!!" He shouted "You're the president's daughter for Christ sake. You're an easy target plus you went out on your own without an escort, all because of some dumb party. Don't you know how risky that is. You could have been kidnapped or killed"

"I know. I'm sorry"

He raised his hand indicating that I should be silent.

"Save it. Meet me in the car in ten minutes. Both of you"

He stormed out of  the room. I badly wanted to curl up in a ball and cry.
Anabelle hugged me tightly. She was crying too

"I'm so glad you're okay" she sniffed 'I was so worried about you"

I hugged her back tightly

"Thank you"

She handed me a bag full of clothes.

"I brought this so you could change into your uniform"

"Thanks"

We conversed as I stripped to get dressed.

"How did you guys find me?" I asked

"You were gone for over three hours. Mary was about to raise alarm. I knew I should beat her to it. I rushed to Mr. Henderson to report the case to him. He told me that the principal told him about your outing today but since you've been gone for too long we should probably try to find you. We sneaked into the admin office, checked your file and got your number. He called numerous times but you didn't pick so he tracked your location down instead"