”Nathan, please, don’t leave me on my own again!” I begged. His suitcase was packed and ready for the week ahead, but the only thing stopping him was me. I was on my knees in front of him, holding his hands and crying in his face. Never did I think I wouldn’t feel safe in my own flat.
“Babe, this holiday’s been booked for months! You should’ve asked one of the girls to come and stay whilst I’m gone…” he sighed. As he helped me up, Nath tucked my brown hair behind my right ear and held my head in his heads, wiping my tears with his thumb.
“You’ll be fine. Nothing’s going to happen, I’ll only be gone for 7 days.” assured Nathan. His green eyes penetrated mine, as if he he was trying to see through to my thoughts.
“If you really get scared, there’s some money behind the kettle that I keep in case of emergencies. Take that and go to my mum’s.” he added with a smile. I nodded.
“That’s my girl. I love you, Aisling.” he added, smiling his cheeky smile, then kissing me goodbye. I waved him off as he grinned from the back window of the taxi. ‘He’s right…I’ll be fine.’ I thought as the door slammed shut. As I ran to our room, I locked every window I went past and closed the curtains…even though it was still light. I’m really awkward with shit like this; I always think I’ll look out the window and see someone staring back, that isn’t my reflection. The duvet was dragged off the bed and through to the living room as I snuggled up to watch 27 Dresses. About halfway through, someone knocked on the front door. My hands shook so much as I undid the locks and opened the door.
“SURPRISE!” screamed Megan, Soph and Laura. The three of them were slightly drunk, and the pizzas in their hands were still steaming hot.
“A little birdie told us you were all on your little lonesome…” began Megan.
“So we brought beer, and pizza!” laughed Sophie, finishing off her twin’s sentence. As they walked in, I chuckled to myself. Laura looked bewildered as she saw me putting the locks back on.
“What’s with all the locks?” she mumbled. Megan heard her.
“Well…miss fussy-knickers hates being left on her own, so she gets all these crazy-ass locks put on the front AND back doors of every place she moves into.” she rushed, only stopping for breath at the end of her sentence.
“But…why?” asked Laura, still confused. Just as Megan opened her mouth, Sophie jumped in.
“Now’s not the right time. I’ll tell you when we leave.”
“But Soph-“
“No but’s! We’re here to make Aisling’s night fun fun fun!” The rest of 27 Dresses passed in a huge blur. By the end, Megan was passed out on the floor because she was too skinny to handle her boozing. Laura eventually drifted off, which left me and Soph.
“So you’ve not heard anything?” she whispered.
“No. Last I heard he’d been moved to an open prison, but they’ve not said anything else.”
“He must be up for release soon…” I nodded slowly.
“Anyway, he’s not worth thinking about. Night sexy.” she winked.
“Yeah…night.” My head soon filled with the flashbacks of that house: it was beautiful, not the kind you’d expect to be owned by a kidnapper. I was the 8 year old me again, playing with the dolls he’d given me the day before for my birthday. A tear rolled down my cheek as he whispered in his gruff tones that I was his ‘litte doll’ and nobody else was worthy of me. The sound of someone sobbing got louder and louder as I woke up.
