Searching for love

6

Dressed in a black suit that looked like it cost more than all of my clothing put together was a tall man with blonde hair that was slightly graying at the corners and blue eyes that mirrored mine. He was lounging comfortably on my sofa, his tall legs stretched out luxuriously in front. His eyes were sharp and looked cold and right now those cold eyes were observing my every movement. He looked at me closely scanning my face before getting up and making his way towards me. I backed away to the wall, my legs shaking in fear. I wanted to scream for help but I couldn't bring myself to. I was silenced at this man's refined, elegant but dangerous persona. I closed my eyes in fear of what was to come. Was he the person behind all those death threats? Suddenly I felt a cold hand on my shoulder. The coolness of his hand seemed to seep through the thick sweatshirt I wore. I gasped and sucked in a scream. "Layla", the man whispered reverently. My front door opened with a bang shaking me out of my stupor.

"POLICE! Get your hands off of the girl or I will shoot", rang out the loud voice of the detective. The man in the suit looked up at the detective and I felt a chill down my spine. His eyes were colder and darker than before and his hand dropped from my shoulder. "I suggest you lower that weapon of yours Detective Kay".

The detective did not lower his weapon and approached me. Obviously he did not seem to think the man in the suit was a threat but I did. There was something dark about him. He was very intimidating and I had to hand it to the detective for not losing his cool. The man in the suit sighed heavily as the detective came closer to me and reached for the inside of his suit pocket. Immediately signaling danger to me. He had to be pulling out a gun, right? The detective thought so too because he held the gun to the man in the suit and said, "Stop! Do not pull out your weapon! Or I will shoot!"

The man ignored the detective and pulled out what seemed like a passport holder and snapped it open and showed it to the detective. The Detective immediately paled at what the man in the suit showed him and lowered his gun and stepped back. "I am extremely sorry about my behavior. I had mistaken you for the threat that Miss Johnson had been facing". My eyes widened in shock at the detective's behavior, just what was going on? "Excuse me, but what is going on here?", the man in the suit turned to face me and said, "Nothing to worry about...Layla. If you'll come with me we can patch this problem up real quick". He stuffed his hands in his pockets and whistling moved towards the door. I stood in shock at the man's words and exchanged a quick glance with the detective who simply avoided meeting my eye.

"You have got to be kidding me! Who do you think you are ordering me around? Why would I leave my home and life to blindly follow you around? Ugh", I screamed the last bit, my breathing heavy as I slumped onto my knees. My head was throbbing and my mind was filled with confusion. To my utter embarrassment, I felt tears well up in my eyes and slowly the tears fell free. "True, I don't have much of a life! I have no friends or family and all I have is work but that doesn't make my life any less significant! So, just let me live this life in peace". I continued sobbing, my shirt drenched in my tears. I was curled up in a ball, holding myself because there was no one to hold me.

I felt a presence looming over me. Somehow it seemed warm and welcoming. I looked up, my vision blurred by the tears in my eyes, and spotted the man in the suit. His once harsh and cold gaze seemed warmer and more welcoming than before. His hand was outstretched reaching out and calling me and for some unknown reason I felt safe and without any hesitation put my hands in his. Who was this man?

My head was pressed against the glass of the window. The luxurious leather seats of this car and the quiet hum of the engine were making me feel sleepy and relaxed but I fought to keep my eyes open. Even though I did not know who this man was, the detective obviously knew who he was and let me leave off of him. He also called him commander so, he was probably some bigshot cop or something? He seemed super-rich and radiated power. This car was pretty sweet and the clothes and shoes he wore were all designer and custom. He even knew my name. I just realized that I did not know who this man was and here I was going god knows where with him. I turned to face him, seeming to sense my gaze, he turned towards me, his cold blue eyes meeting mine. "Who are you?", I asked

He turned back to face the road and his hands tightened on the steering wheel. "I am HQ commander of the National Security Agency". My jaw dropped at his words. The NSA! What exactly was I involved in. "Why is the NSA involved with what's going on? I am not even important. I'm just a secretary at a law firm and not some VIP, so what is going on?", I asked, my voice low and scared. The man in the suit looked tense at my words. Sweat seemed to roll off of him and he had visibly paled. His eyes had gotten stormy as well. "Um...you see my name is Aiden Knight". Huh? Was that supposed to mean something? I continued looking at him in confusion and he sighed deeply. "Did Kiera not tell you anything?", he asked me, his skin visibly paler. "Mom? No, she...wait how is this related to my mom? Was the detective right? Are those people targeting me because they think I'm mom and that she was part of the mafia or something crazy like that?", my voice was high pitched now and I was losing control of the situation real fast. This was all a dream or more accurately a nightmare.

"You see there might be some truth to that...but the real reason I am here is because I...I am your father Layla".