The Billionaire And The Waitress (gxg)

61 - an island

HI EVERYONE. There's about ten chapters left until the story of Adrien and Muse is over. Thank you all for being here <3

"WHERE the fuck is Muse?" Adrien asked Grey and Sherry.

      She had made sure every member of her security team were safely aboard and ready to be evacuated. Now, after only half a second of climbing back into the helicopter, both hands still gripped on the railing of its entryway, she noticed that Muse's face wasn't among the seven passengers.

      "Where," Adrien said through gritted teeth, her heartbeat rising in her chest, "is. My. Wife."

      Grey shrugged. The shrug itself infuriated Adrien, made her see red, made the deafening wind outside dull to white noise in her ears. Then he added, as if it had occurred to him to be upset, "I don't know . . . Oh . . . I think she went to go look for you."

     Adrien glanced at Sherry to confirm this. Sherry stared at her, wide-eyed, trying to soothe her baby by restlessly patting its back. 

     "I don't know," she said. "I was using the helicopter's lavatory."

      There was less than a minute left on the evacuation countdown. 

      Adrien glanced at the small black door she hadn't noticed before, situated at the back of the helicopter. A green light blinked above the handle. Empty. 

     Even as Grey's words hit her―she went to go look for you―she still spared a precious half second hoping Muse would walk out of there any moment, her hazel eyes brightening when she saw Adrien―like they always did―and say something like, "I'm going to murder you in cold blood for worrying me like that, and so help me God if you ever fucking pull something like that again . . ."

      An overwhelming rush of panic at last burst in Adrien's chest. Everything blurred. The faces of Grey and Sherry and the other passengers became no more than grey, pixelated silhouettes. A high whine shrieked in her ears.

     Twenty seconds left on the clock.

     And in the same way Adrien followed Muse to the Cayenne's kitchen the first day they met, in the same way she followed her in the museum, in the same way she followed her off the scuba diving cruise ship, Adrien did not hesitate. She turned around and jumped off the helicopter.

      One by one in the distance, the other helicopters had begun taking to the cold, stormy, grey sky. Her thoughts spun fast. If Muse hadn't found her on one of them, Adrien knew she wouldn't have boarded. She was sure of that. 

     The span of the beach was empty, save for the palm trees bending in the wind and the lounge chairs, rolling onto the pavement of the resort's front walkway. The ocean had begun roaring, reaching its crescendo. The tide rose steadily from where it had fallen, the black waters lapping violently against one another with silver-tipped, foamy waves.

     If Muse wasn't outside, she had to be somewhere inside the resort. 

     Adrien took off in a sprint towards the lobby. The icy wind whipped at her hair, her arms, her clothing. She burst into the glass-decked resort. Her reflection on the marble tiles greeted her, chest heaving, eyes wild. 

     In every careful expression and practiced smile in the mirror, Adrien had never seen herself look like that before: completely and utterly out of control. 

     "Muse?" she shouted. "Muse!" 

      She glanced back at the beach. Only three helicopters remained. The rest had become blurred black silhouettes above the horizon.