The Hooded Beauty

18 Days.

Well, who the fuck is Janice?
Thoughts rush through my head as we walk to a quiet secluded area of the bank.
A very well presented, pristine, gorgeous woman begins to elegantly stroll over to us with a smile beaming from ear to ear. She has amazing teeth (I can't be the only person who appreciates a good set of gnashes).

Her eyes are set on my father.
"Lovely to see you again Theodore, it's been years!" she expresses with such glee, as she shakes my fathers hand. She kisses either side of his cheeks. They start to walk away, so Jace and I are left alone, he hasn't let me go yet, I snuggle into his chest, it's safe and comfortable. We are constantly checking our surroundings, afraid and nervous that they will find us again. We are extremely on edge and guarded.

I look up at Jace.
"You could have died because of me" I sigh out with a slight whisper, finally expressing some of my burdening thoughts. He cups my face in his hands and wipes a tear that has unknowingly fallen down my cheek.
"I would do it a million times more just to have you safe in my arms. We can talk later, for now we just need to get home. Don't scare me like that again, you'll give me a damn heart attack babe" ...babe? He's never called me babe before?

It dumbfounds me how much I missed him, missed his warmth, his face, his laugh, his smile, his sarcasm. I missed the way he made me feel on the good days, but we don't have many of them. I know I sound like a broken record but I've never felt this way before, he's all I think about, ever.

I have been watching the clock occasionally, just watching the minutes pass by. It's been around an hour since my father went off into a room with Janice, and just like clock work, he walks out of the room with Janice, he hugs her, she kisses his cheeks again and then she looks over to us and waves a goodbye, she disappears back into the room.
As my father walks closer to us, and I notice a brown envelope that looks extremely filled. I put two and two together : Bank + brown envelope = money (I know, I'm smart right?).

So, that's one problem solved. Now, onto the mounding stack of problems we now incur. The main one being that we are ACROSS THE FUCKING COUNTRY!

"Okay guys, I know you want to be attached at the hip for eternity and it's lovely sometimes. But we have shit to do. We are going to the Apple Store to get a new phone, as we need to have contacts" he explains quietly while looking around.

We obviously agree and then we catch a taxi and we're at the Apple Store in no time. I don't know if they will even serve us due to the state we are in. An employee approached us as we walk in, he looks hesitant and unsure, my dad puts on a smile and asks for 'the latest released IPhone' (I mean, it does get confusing keeping up to date with the new releases).

My father opens the envelope and quickly skips through the money to count and pulls out the cash to pay for the phone. He tries to tip the employee, but apparently Apple employees aren't allowed to accept tips. We express our gratitude to the employee, which just shows how desperate we were (We thanked him probably 10 times before leaving).

I should be embarrassed about how I look or smell because not only for my dwindling dignity and self worth but also because every fucker is staring at us, but I have been through too much within the last... within the last...I don't know. I stop in my tracks and turn to a stranger.
"Excuse me, could you tell me the date please?" She checks her phone.
"It's May 15th" She says casually. My jaw is once again on the floor.

When I was originally taken it was April 27th,
"That's 18 fucking days" I blurt out to Jace as I stare at him in disbelief, he just gives me a blank stare and pulls me out of the store, I turn around and shout a 'thank you' to the lady who gave me the date.

"Where are we going?" Jace asks my father.
"Don't worry, I know a place."