You Belong To Me

48

• R I P P E R •

I had a little less than a week until Annabella's 18th birthday rolled by. I had already decided what gifts I wanted to get her and I found myself excited at the thought of her turning 18. I knew right at the back of my mind that pursuing a 17 year old was wrong. But I want what I want. At least soon no one could throw her age in my face.

The plan was for Annabella to go to dinner with her two little friends, and then after we'd have a surprise party for her at my house. I wanted this to be a special day for her so I even invited her mom and weasel boyfriend.

I'm a busy guy so I don't really have time to be running around stressed trying to plan the party myself. I needed help and there were only two people I trusted to get the job done right. Unfortunately that meant contacting Anna's annoying friends.

Planning an 18th birthday party was completely out of character for me. Sometimes I had to look myself hard in the mirror to make sure I was still the man I used to be. I had reasons for planning a party for my kitten. The first is I wanted her birthday to be special. I wanted to show her there was more to me than my past transgressions. I wanted her to know that I did genuinely care about here. But most of all I wanted to put a smile on her face. She'd been distant this past week and I knew deep in the pit of my stomach she was hiding something from me.

I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. She wouldn't lie to me. Not after all the progress we've made recently. I've had men tailing her all week and she hasn't done anything, or gone anywhere out of character.

I sat down on my bed almost turning myself crazy worrying about what was occupying Annabella's mind. 

Patience was another thing Annabella had taught me. Before, patience was non-existent to me. But now, I was sat on my bed waiting for Annabella whilst she had a long long shower.

This did however give me the perfect opportunity to get the information I needed from her. I spotted her phone on her pillow, assessing in my head whether I had enough time to get what I needed. I smiled down at the phone as her screen lit up. There was a photo of me asleep with bright red lipstick on, blushed cheeks and a pair of eyelashes. Remembering the day this was taken I couldn't help chuckle slightly. The little minx had decided to give me a makeover whilst I slept off one of our many late nights. I needed to talk to her about removing this as her lock screen. Photo's like this were for her precious eyes only.

Conscious of the fact her shower could end at any second I quickly unlocked her phone. Going straight to her contacts I found the numbers for dumb and dumber, aka Sophia and Hailey. I already dreaded having to go to these two for help with Anna's party. They hated me, I hated them, but when it came to Anna we had common ground.

I saved the numbers in my phone before putting it back where it was placed. My ears perked at the sound of the shower stopping and I smiled excited to see Annabella, even if it had only been 20 minutes.

She finally came out the bathroom clothed in some sweats and a t-shirt. She smiled when she saw me patiently sitting, waiting for her.

"Why do you look like you're up to no good?" She asked coyly. I watched her as she picked up a brush, starting to comb out her hair.

"Why would I be up to no good kitten? I've just been waiting to see your beautiful face again." She blushed at my words and stood herself in-between my legs, still combing her hair. In my whole 25 years on this earth I've never seen anyone with hair like hers. That colour red doesn't come naturally to everybody. Except her mom of course.

I took the comb out her hands and placed her on my lap. "Here let me kitten, you know I love to mess with your hair." She obliged, sitting still allowing me to run the comb through her locks. We sat in a comfortable silence but I could feel that something was off.