The Girl

Chapter Seventeen

Angela had left Abelia and went to her room to get ready to go. She went into the en suite bathroom and turned on the light and the fan. She avoided the mirror and started the shower to let it warm up. She took off her pajamas, folded them, and placed them on top of the toilet. Once the shower was hot enough, she got in and let the hot water cascade across her body. She didn't have a lot of time to spare, so she wasn't going to stand in the water and think. She washed and conditioned her hair as well as washing her body. Afterwards, she turned off the water and wrapped a towel first around her and then one around her hair before stepping out of the shower. She picked up her pajamas and walked into her room and placed them on her bed.

She walked over to her closet and opened it, trying to figure out what to wear for today. She knew that she wanted casual clothing and the weather outside was probably in the high sixties (Fahrenheit, fifteen-eighteen Celsius). Abelia had taken upon herself to get Angela a closet full of clothes, and she had really good fashion sense. Angela loved all the clothes that Abelia had gotten for her. Angela had decided on a pastel pink t-shirt with black high-waisted skinny jeans and paired it with a grey jean jacket and black sneakers.

After Angela got dressed, she stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom mindlessly brushing her hair. She got to thinking about the day, specifically meeting her father. It was still hard to understand that she was Russian and was related to the mafia through her father and that he wasn't really a lawyer. That the childhood she had forgotten had been a result of the car accident and trauma. This was the kind of stuff that happened in TV shows or movies, the kind of twist and revealing who she really was. She couldn't believe that it was actually happening to her. Angela's hands froze and then she put the hairbrush down and gripped the counter.

Why did her father want back in her life now? What was so important when she was a kid that he had to fake his death and kill her mother? He was still very much in the mafia currently. Knowing that he was still alive made her hate him a little bit because of the accident she was sent to the foster system, and then got adopted by a family that didn't care about her. How much did her father actually care? He didn't actually contact her at any point after he left her. He contacted Luca via hacking Emiliano's system and that was most likely something he had asked someone to do for him. While her life before Luca wasn't happy at all, she was completely fine before her father decided to barge back into her life. She didn't want him back, it made her life, everything she was, everything she believed seem like a lie. She had never doubted herself and now, she couldn't trust her memories. It felt like she could only rely on Luca and everyone else.

Angela was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a knock on her bedroom door and she walked out of the bathroom and to the door. She opened it to see Abelia on the other side.

"Hey. How you feeling? I know you must be conflicted and doubting everything now, but know that me and the others are with you." Abelia put her hand on Angela's shoulder and smiled.

Angela opened the door more to let Abelia in. Before Angela knew it, she was in Abelia's arms. At first she thought that Abelia hugged her, but then she realized that it was her that hugged Abelia.

"Sweet girl, we'll get through this together. I'll be the older sister you never had, so please rely on me." Abelia hugged her tight.

"Okay, that means so much Abelia." Angela smiled sweetly as they parted. "Regarding everything, I don't know what to think. It feels like my whole life has been a lie."

Abelia guided Angela over to the bed and sat down to listen.

"Why is he back now? Why did he leave? It sounds like he had been watching me, so then why didn't he stop me from being kidnapped. From the torture I had to endure for six months. That small cage....that I was trapped in....in the dark, cold basement...." Angela's body started trembling and tears fell down her cheeks. Abelia wrapped her arms around Angela and held her tightly.

"I don't know. I can't pretend to know the words that you want to hear right now. All I can do is be here as you work through everything. Let it out, don't hold it in. Let yourself cry and express your feelings, you'll feel a little bit better afterwards." Abelia said softly.

Angela put her arms around Abelia as she cried into her chest, and let everything out. Everything that had been tormenting her, everything that she hid away, everything that she pretended that didn't bother her. As Angela cried, Abelia whispered sweet calming nothings to her and just let her be. It had gone on for quite a while, eventually the sobs quietly calmed down and Angela pulled away to look at her.

"You feel better? You must be exhausted." Abelia saw Angela nod at that and then continued, "Luckily, there is still plenty of time before you have to go. So I suggest you rest for a little bit and then I'll come back and help you fix you up when you need to leave. Sound good?"

"Thank you Abelia." Angela showed her a small smile as she scooted back and laid down and dozed off right then and there.

Abelia went to the bathroom and wet a washcloth with cold water and then wrung it out. She walked back to the bed and folded the washcloth in half and gently placed it over Angela's eyes hoping not to wake her in the process. Abelia had placed it there to ease the red and puffiness of Angela's from all they crying that happened earlier.

Abelia chuckled slightly as she got up and left the bedroom, closing the door behind her. As she walked down the hall, she looked down at her dress and sighed. She had to change into dry clothes, but that wasn't the big thing. Abelia didn't like that Angela cried for a while, she estimated about fifteen minutes and while her dress was wet, it was trivial. Angela mattered more than a dress. The poor girl exhausted herself crying because she had kept hidden away.

Nearly an hour later, Abelia had changed her clothes and was on her way back to Angela's room to wake her up if she wasn't already awake. When she arrived at Angela's door, she knocked to see if she would respond. With no answer, Abelia opened the door and saw Angela laying on the bed exactly the same way Abelia left her. She walked over to Angela and gently shook her shoulder to rouse her.

"Hmm....?" Angela sat up and felt something fall onto her lap. She held up the washcloth and looked at it with a confused look on her face.

"I put it there to ease the puffiness of your eyes due to the crying earlier." Abelia giggled and stretched out her hand for the damp washcloth.

"Oh. Thank you." Angela chuckled nervously as she let out a yawn and handed the washcloth to Abelia. She went and put the washcloth in the hamper in the bathroom and came back and this time held out her hand for Angela to grab.

"Time to go."

The two girls made their way downstairs to the foyer where they saw the boys with the exclusion of Emiliano there waiting for them. After all, Emiliano always stayed in his lab unless it was absolutely necessary. Angela let go of Abelia's hand and walked over to Luca and smiled at him.

"Are you ready?" Luca asked looking at Angela.

"No, I'm not. I'll have you there with me though." Angela said confidently.

"That you will. Let's go." Luca opened the front door and Angela followed after him.