The next day I felt like I had been run over by a truck. A Mac truck at that. I had missed calls from Sarah and a voicemail. "Grace, call me. Where are you? You just disappeared. That guy was such a creep at the club. Just call me." Oh if you only knew. I sort of felt bad for her because Jake had told me he sent distractions for her and she always falls for anything with a six pack and facial hair.
I decided it was time to call her back and let her know what happened. After the second ring she answered in a panic. "Grace? Are you ok? Where are you?" I took a deep breath and told her everything that happened. "Oh my freaking gosh. Are you serious? Wow, I just I can't believe it! I had no idea he was such a creep. I'm so glad you're okay and I'm so sorry I wasn't there. Forgive me?"
Ten minutes later I finally got off the phone with Sarah and headed for the kitchen. Where Adam was nowhere to be found. Panic started to well in my chest as I searched for him in the bathroom. Nothing. I shakily started to dial when I heard the door open. I dropped my phone thinking it was Jake here to kidnap me again. Adam walked in with coffee and a bag from my favorite coffee house. He scanned my face and sat down the food immediately.
"Hey, hey. What's wrong? You okay?" He sat me down on the couch and handed me my coffee. "Y-yeah, sorry. I just didn't see you here and I panicked a little. Pathetic, I know." I laughed a little and tried to drink my coffee. "It is not pathetic. I didn't want to wake you so l snuck out. I'm sorry, I should've known better. But hey, I'm not going anywhere." He embraced me in his strong arms and I didn't want to be anywhere else. "I think I'm going to contact the detective. I need to know what my next steps are. I know Jake won't be behind bars forever and I need to know what that means for me. Will I need to relocate? I would just feel better if I had answers." He shook his head and hugged me again. "I understand your need for answers. Just be ready for whatever they are. Even if it scares you."
I grabbed the dirty napkin off my nightstand that the detective had wrote her number on. "Hi, detective Garcia? This is Grace Peterson. Look, I need to talk about some things. I have questions and I know you do too. Call me back as soon as you can. Thanks." I threw the phone on the couch and paced around the living room. Adam watched me carefully as I did. I was a completely different person already. Skittish, paranoid, you name it. Something I've never been. Then again, I've never been targeted by a serial psycho. "Alright, that's it. We're not going to sit in this apartment and drive ourselves crazy waiting for the detective to call back. Let's take a drive. Countryside sound good to you?" He wiggled his eyebrows and a small smile peaked at the corners of my mouth. "That sounds amazing but we shouldn't go too far. In case she needs me to come in asap for questioning." He raised his hand and puffed out his chest. "Scouts honor."
Ten minutes later we reached the countryside and I felt my soul getting better already. The sun kissed my skin while the wind whipped through my hair. It was such a beautiful day and I almost forgot I had been kidnapped 24 hours ago. Just then my phone rang. It was detective Garcia. Back to reality. "Grace, hi I received your message. You down to come to the station today? I'll be here for another couple hours." I agreed and we started to head back to the city. I could feel the butterflies moving around in my stomach and my anxiety heightened. I assumed Adam could tell because he grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight. "It's ok babe, just tell them what you remember and nothing else. Don't push yourself. And whatever they have to say about Jake's release, we will deal with it head on. Together."
When we arrived at the station I took a deep breath before heading inside. "Detective Garcia, please." The older lady nodded her head towards the back where glass enclosed three offices. I saw her pacing around her small corner office waving her hands in the air. I noticed the other detective from the scene she was apparently yelling at. We slowly walked back to her office and she waved us in. I sat adjacent from her and the other detective left awkwardly. "Thanks for coming in. I have some news about Jake and I just want you to brace yourself okay? You've been through a lot in the past 24 hours but I want you to know we will keep you safe no matter what." My stomach dropped. I knew exactly what she was going to say and I felt dizzy.
"Jake was released this morning. Someone posted his very expensive bail and he walked. We've kept eyes on him and are waiting for his next move to take him down again. The good news is, we don't think he will try and contact you again or come around. The way he spoke during questioning, he was done with you. Ready to move on to his next victim. Which now that we know that, we can make it harder for him to do so." I could hear everything she was saying but I felt like I was in a tunnel. The darkness was slowly closing in on me. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. Adam grabbed my hand and asked if I was okay. "So what does that mean for me now? Am I just supposed to go back to my normal life? Keep going to the studio we both worked at and hope he doesn't show up? I can't just accept what you say and move on. I know it would be best for me if I did but I can't. I can't even show up to one of my favorite places now, my escape from reality because he was tied to it. I don't want to be weak and run away but I'm starting to think a change of scenery might be best for me."
I could feel Adam's eyes on me and I knew I was speaking ahead before we even talked about this. I was just thinking out loud. "Whatever you decide to do, know we are here for you. I won't let Jake around you again. I'm sure your super buff beau over here feels the same way." She smiled and tried to lighten the mood but his eyes were still on me. "Thank you detective for everything. I'll keep in touch." Adam and I walked outside and he stopped me. "What was all of that back there? Are you seriously thinking about moving cities?" I didn't know, truly. Part of me wanted to stay there because of him and Sarah. Of course I loved the studio and my apartment but this part of me would change me forever and I couldn't spend my life there constantly wondering if Jake was going to come back for me.
"I'm not sure. On one hand, I would miss everything about this place and couldn't stand to leave you. But on the other hand. That studio in some way ties me to Jake and I couldn't go there everyday thinking he could pop up at any time. I don't want to live my life in fear and I know I would always be looking over my shoulder. If I moved cities it wouldn't be far. If you wouldn't come with me, we could definitely make long distance work. I know we could." He pulled away from me and rubbed his face. "Would you want me to come with you? Like seriously move cities together and have a place of our own?" I thought for a moment but of course I've wanted nothing more for the past several months. "Of course I do. My life with you is the most important. I would never want to throw that away or not include you into moving with me." He kissed me passionately and my knees almost buckled.
For a moment, we were the only two people in the world. He pulled away and rubbed his thumb across my bottom lip. "I'd follow you anywhere Grace Peterson." Another kiss then we moved to the car. I was on cloud nine. I never thought I'd want to move away from my hometown but I had already moved to the big city. I know I can do this, start over. What's the alternative? Stay here and be a paranoid shut in? I would not let Jake have the satisfaction of getting under my skin. Back at my apartment I pulled my fathers number on my phone and debated on hitting the call button. What would I even say? We haven't spoke in almost a year and I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to hear from me. I decided to call and of course got his voicemail. "Uh, hi dad. It's me, Grace. Look I just wanted you to know I'm going to be moving soon and thought maybe I could come by and get the rest of my stuff. I know it's not much but I'd rather not leave without it. I love you, bye."
I knew I loved my dad, I really did. I just felt like his thought process was so small, so guarded. He never even tried to understand why I wanted to do what I did. He never supported anything outside of his bubble. I began to sob and Adam held me in his arms. Even when the rest of my world was screwed up, he was my one constant. "Sorry, I just don't know how to process my emotions right now. I haven't spoke to my dad in so long I don't even know if he wants to hear from me. Or that I even want to talk to him. He made it pretty clear the last time I left that he was done with me and my choices." Adam wiped my tears and sat me down. "I'm so sorry Grace, we haven't really talked about your dad so I'm not sure how to comfort you here. But of course I'm here to listen, if you want to talk about it."
"Well there's not much to say. My mom was my rock. She encouraged me to sing whatever made my heart happy and we were so close. She would even hide country music CD's in her dresser and we would blare them on the way to the grocery store. But when she died, my whole world changed. My dad is a die hard Baptist preacher. I'm talking you are not allowed to wear jeans to church if you are a woman. No music will be listened to but hymns. Not even contemporary Christian music. It's all blasphemy. I wasn't allowed to wear makeup, dye my hair or date. So when my mom passed away, it was like something died in him also. He became unattached and stricter that ever. I wasn't even allowed to go to Sarahs anymore. He wasn't crazy about her before my mom passed but he let me go over there because my mom would butter him up. I was miserable living there, so that's when I finally decided to take control of my life. I knew singing was my dream and ultimately the only thing I wanted to do. So when I left, he disowned me basically. And then I went to visit him again about 8 months ago and he told me to never come back."
Adam listened intently. He didn't speak once, he just listened. I started crying again which was nothing new these days. He wrapped me in his arms and we laid in silence for a few minutes. "I'm so sorry Grace. I had no idea it was that severe. Look, nothing your dad has said to you makes you who you are. I mean you did the bravest thing anyone could do in that situation. You left. You followed your dreams and it led you to a record deal. And I don't want to toot my own horn but." He slicked his hair back and flexed his muscles. I couldn't help it, I bursted out laughing and hit him with a pillow. "I couldn't resist." My heart became overwhelmed with love for him. I didn't want to tell him because he would probably freak out and run away. Even though we are moving cities together.
"Thank you, for everything. You've helped me start to heal from something so traumatizing. You've been by my side for the past six months without question and.. Well I-I love you. And it's ok if you're not ready to say it back. I get it but I feel like I've been waiting to say it for so long now. I just didn't want to freak you out." Before I knew it I was on my back with my legs wrapped around his waist. Of course, pressure building between my legs. He locked eyes with me and kissed me hard. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to tell you I love you either. I didn't want to freak you out too. I wanted to be the first person to say it but I couldn't be more happy you feel the same way." We started kissing and before I knew it we were both naked and he was carrying me to the bed. Something deeper fell into the air as we made love this time. I think it was the fact of knowing we loved each other.