Bad Romance(Book1)

Chapter 14-Free?

"You don't have to thank me. I'm happy that I can help."

"I don't know how I will repay you or how long it will take me to repay you, but I will give you every penny back."

"You don't have to. Please let's stop talking about this. At least for now. Look, Ella's here. Just go to my bedroom and pick whatever you like from there. There's a fluffy, clean towel in the bathroom if you want to have a shower or a bath, just to relax yourself."

"Thanks you're such a nice person. What did I do to deserve such a treatment?", I asked myself, again, nearly at the point of crying.

"No more crying. Not now. I have to sort this out and in the meantime just have your shower or bath or whatever.", he said kissing my forehead.

He was a stranger to me, yet he treated me as if we've known each other for years. I shifted my weight from one foot to another, still a bit unsure of what will happen next. Ella returned shortly afterwards, holding her phone in her hand.

"The lawyer is waiting for you to Skype him as we speak."

"Okay. I'll call him now...", replied Jared, turning back to the laptop.

"Come on I'll show you around.", said Ella opening the door to a huge bedroom.

Everything was scattered around the large, modern room. But it was a well organized mess. Toiletries were on top of the dresser, a bag was open and the content of it was just scattered in different places. It was clear Jared didn't spend too much time in this bedroom. He just came in, collected what he had to collect and left. The bed was untouched, or I was unaware how good Jared was at making a bed.

I picked out a pair of pants and a t-shirt that didn't look too expensive and made my way to the bathroom.

"Make yourself at home. And sorry about the mess. Jared isn't the tidiest person in the world. And don't worry, you're safe now. Whatever happened should stay in the past now. You don't need to worry about anything.", Ella said, trying to reassure me once again that I was safe.

"I don't know how to thank you and Jared enough."

"Jared has a soft spot for beautiful women that need help. He is a great person. A good man. Anyway, I'll let you to it.", she concluded, closing the door behind me.

I stood there in the middle of the room, not knowing what to do and what to start with. I wasn't dealing too well with my new found freedom. And I felt a bit jumpy and edgy. But I also knew that was normal because I haven't taken any drugs in less than twenty four hours.

I went to the bathroom and looked into the medical cabinet. Apparently Jared wasn't into taking any hard sedatives or stuff like that. Some cough syrup will have to do the trick for now. At least until I got to my bag that was in the living room.

I cleaned up my face from the smudged makeup and then took a long shower. When I returned to the living room Jared was all alone.

"Hey, all good? Did you manage around?", he asked in a warm tone.

"Yes...what did you do exactly and how come I am free?", I asked, clearly wanting to know more.

"I talked to my lawyer and I told him your story. Or at least what I know. Do you want to involve the police?"

"Who would believe me? No one...no one ever beat me up...or forced me to do this...", I explained.

"But they were asking you for money. And that counts as something illegal. I'm not judging you for what you did for a living, but clearly someone asking you for money is not something right."

"Yes...", I nodded.

"That is illegal.", he said once more, thinking that I was still in shock.

"And no one can prove it...", I replied.

"I can. Technically I've bought you from them. And I would do it again and again and again if necessary. We can go to the police and tell them..."

"I will pay you every cent Jared. And I don't want to involve the police. Doing that will mean that my family will find out what I've been doing.", I said looking straight at the floor.

I felt so ashamed of him knowing that. If in a parallel universe, things would've gone differently, I would've preferred to tell him everything in my own terms.

"Why did you decided to do this?", he asked.

"Because I wanted to give them a better life. They deserved at least that. My family that is...Because I wanted a better life. Until I realised that this isn't what I've wanted. And I've ruined everything for me now..."

"No you haven't..."

"Jared. I have believe me."

"Hey, Hey. I'm here for you. I won't let you fall again.", he said gently squeezing my hand.

I didn't know now if he wanted to do this because he felt it, or because he bought me. One way or the other I belonged to him, whether I wanted that or not.

"So what now?", I asked looking into his hypnotic blue eyes.

"I'm going to go and have a shower. And call in for some tea. Do you think you can guard the fort until I come back?"

"I think I can manage that. Where did Ella go?"

"To her room. She is just two doors down from here. Do you wanna go to her?"

"I feel really awkward because of this whole situation Jared. I like you, I really do...and it's not because you're famous or stuff like that, I like you for you, and if by any chance we would've met, I wanted you to like me back because of me...even though I don't belong in your world...I know this discussion doesn't have its place here but I had to let it out..."

"Look, Anka. I like you. I liked you from the second I saw you at that cafe. Otherwise I wouldn't have asked you out. But I also don't want to hurt you. And I don't want you to think that you owe me something and that this weird situation we're in. Thank God I found out about it before everything else..."

"I wanted to tell you over dinner about what I do for a living...I wanted to be honest with you...because I didn't want to get you into trouble...who knows how you could've found out..."

"Anka let's take things slow. Let's not think about it. Please. I'm just going to go and have a shower ok? I will be back.", he said reassuringly.

He kissed me again on my forehead and went to his bedroom. I watched him close the door behind him and then I went straight for my bag. I looked for the small vile in my wallet and inhaled a pinch of it. I suddenly felt better.

"You know you have a problem and you have to tell Jared about it...be honest...it can't be worse than him knowing you're a prostitute. Or him paying for your freedom. Tell him..."

We all lie for different reasons. I somehow knew that lying would be a mistake. But I had to sort this out on my own. He already did far too much for me and I didn't want to push my luck.

He came back in a short while and we both spent a good part of the night talking. About me, my family, him and his family, we slowly started getting to know each other. By the end of our talk it felt like we have known each other our whole lives.

"You know, we should really get some sleep...it's three in the morning. I have to finish up with the lawyer tomorrow and be on set. Ella is going to be around. You two can spend the day together. Go shopping or I don't know. Bond over things. She is great. I'm really sorry for being a buzzkill".

"Ok...I will have a think about it. I just really want to be with myself for a while. Just you know...get used to everything."

"Ok...só wanna join me in bed? I promise, nothing funny.", he said taking me by the hand towards his bedroom.

I laid next to him and he held me into his arms until I fell asleep. Everything was very innocent from the beginning until the end.