Chapter 28:
Hours Earlier
Three years. It had been three years since she'd been taken. Three years, four months, and seven or maybe eight days if her calculations were correct.
She'd celebrated Christmas with him. She went on trips with him, albeit short trips where he could drive her around. She'd even gone with him when he had to film movies. Not to set or anything. But she stayed in whatever house the studio rented for him to use.
His mother died about two years after he'd taken her. She had to comfort him, some days she was even left to take care of him. It was pretty hard to take care of him when she couldn't leave the house. Thankfully he'd given her a cell phone. It was so janky. It called two numbers -- his and Nico's. She couldn't even get it to call 911. It was useless. But Nico was at least able to bring him food when he was too depressed to go shopping himself.
She celebrated three years of birthdays. Heck, in a few more weeks it would be a fourth birthday with Jackson Danvers. She'd be turning 28. And she was certain that the only guests in attendance would be Nico and Marie. Though, these days Marie was called Donna. She was still getting used to it. Nico had just gone public in his relationship with "Donna." They were even engaged as far as the media was concerned.
And despite doing practically nothing to hide her appearance, no one recognized Marie. Then again, she looked quite different once her hair was grown out and she had a stable weight. Years without yo-yo dieting made Marie look like a whole new person. And she still had no desires to go back to her old life.
And now, it was her turn to reenter the world. For the last six months she'd merely been the mystery girl on Jackson Danvers's arm. They eat dinner at very private restaurants or they'd walk around together. All the while he was careful never to let anyone get too close.
She had a very good wig and some brown contact lenses. Those, plus not wearing heavy make up changed her look a lot. Jackson even took her into the sun to bring out her freckles as much as he could. She had definitely been a daily make up kinda girl before all this. And now, she only wore light eye make up and some lip gloss.
But tonight . . . Tonight was a big night. It was the night that she'd be reintroduced to society. She'd get to go to this big fancy gala with Jackson as his plus one. He finally trusted that she wouldn't go running off telling anyone what happened.
Who would believe her anyway? Mikayla Walsh was dead. Now there was only Mina Stewart.
Call it Stockholm Syndrome or operant conditioning or learned helplessness or even love. It didn't matter. All of it boiled down to the same thing. She was unwilling to fight back. That and she was happy.
She remembered the moment it all changed. He's saved her life. He didn't punish her or yell at her or lock her up. He just asked her why. After that she saw him in a different light. She knew it was messed up. But at least she wasn't dead.
Mina had several hours till she had to leave. But she decided to start getting ready early. She carefully glued down her wig, checking from every angle to ensure that none of her red hair was showing.
It was a process. But when the wig was fully in place it changed everything. The shape of her face seemed totally different with a curly bob. Her hair was naturally wavy, but the length made it seem straight. The short wig made her chin look pointier and her cheeks looked thinner. Then again, that could have simply been the diet she was eating. Mina had always been healthy. She exercised regularly and ate well. But now there were few nights out drinking or eating a bigger meal with friends and she'd lost about fifteen pounds. And on someone as small as her it showed a lot.
She remembered how a friend was once complaining that his cat had gained two pounds and was overweight and she was like, well it's only two pounds. But that was a huge percentage of the cats body weight. When a cat only weighs thirteen lbs, gaining two is a lot.
It was the same for her. When she only weighed 115 lbs, losing fifteen was a huge percentage of her body weight. She didn't quite look underweight, but she definitely looked gaunt by comparison to her norm.
She was certain that her wig covered everything so she grabbed the curling iron from under the sink. Jackson had gotten her a rechargeable curling iron. The charging cable he gave her was only a few inches long so she couldn't use it to strangle him. With time he managed to come up with new solutions for everything.
She tried to use the curling iron as a weapon. He punished her and had learned to keep oven mitts all around the mansion.
Mina just wanted to touch up the curls in the wig to make sure they looked nice. It was already styled before, but a few shots with the curling wand and she looked amazing.
She spent over an hour trying to do her make up perfectly. All for a little bit of eye make up, some added fake freckles, some light blush and nose contour, and lip gloss. She popped in her brown contacts and the look was complete.
When she looked at her reflection she still knew it was her, but few others would. She might even be able to fool her own mother. She gave a weak smile and thought, at least she was getting to experience the world again.
Finally, Jackson told Mina to put on her dress. It was a beautiful sparkly blue halter dress. A halter was the only thing that covered up his name that was permanently etched into her chest. Once it was on she added a bit of pore filler to the J and the N in her giant scar. This way if the dress shifted she would still be covered.
She put on her shoes and was ready to go. Jackson took care of the finishing touches on his suit. A limo pulled outside to pick them up and Mina felt immeasurably nervous.
If she messed this up he'd never let her outside again and she couldn't live her life indoor. She need sunlight. And this was her chance at a future.
It was only her second time inside a limo and she was so skittish. The driver definitely didn't notice anything off about her.
The two of them sat in comfortable silence for the entire ride. The limo came to a stop and Jackson said softly, "Are you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be."
"You remember what we talked about? Right?"
"Yes."
He swung the door open and stepped out. He held out his hand for her. She took a deep breath and walked down the red carpet. Lights flashing.
Being surrounded by cameras had been her lifelong dream. And now . . . now . . . she was overwhelmed. For so long she'd been kept inside and isolated and now she was out in the world again.
Mina straightened her back and tried to channel the girl she used to be. Slowly, her trepidation melted away and she smiled at the camera.
This was who she was meant to be.
A reporter pulled Jackson over and asked him questions.
"And who are you here with?" asked the woman.
"This is my girlfriend, Mina Stewart."
A microphone was pushed into her face. "And how did you two meet?"
Her eyes flashed to Jackson, looking for approval. He gave a small nod, that would have been imperceptible if you weren't looking for it.
"We met at a party," she said, trying hard to remain relaxed.
"And are you the mystery girl that everyone's been talking about for the last six months?"
"All you need to know is that we're together."
Jackson pulled her in closed and kissed her. Then he guided her away toward the front door. They posed for a few more photos. Then they went through the bouncer.
They made their way to the table. "You did really, really well, Mina."
She nodded. They ran into Nico and "Donna." It was so hard to get used to Marie's new name. Every few minutes people were coming up to Jackson and she just stood by his side, quietly, trying so hard no to draw attention to herself.
Oh, how times had changed. This was exactly the kind of event that she would have attended with Rachel. They'd have spent every second trying to get noticed by people far more famous than themselves and make it in their career. She hoped Rachel was doing well.
Jackson started moving them towards their table. It took a while because every single person who saw them wanted to talk. But finally they made it to their seats. There was a girl in a fancy dress scrolling through her phone.
She sat down and Jackson gave her a quick kiss. "I have to go to schmooze, are you going to be okay, Mina?"
"Yeah," she mumbled.
"Promise?" he whispered in her ear.
"Promise." It was their stupid little code. But it worked for them. He walked away and she looked around.
Parties like this had always been her forte and yet, here she was unsure what to do. Should she talk to the girl next to her on the phone? No. That girl didn't want to be bothered.
A waitress came around and started taking drink orders.
"Vodka cranberry, and a glass of water," said phone girl. That was the same thing she drank.
"Of course. And what would you like, Miss?" asked the waitress.
"Vodka cranberry, please," said Mina.
Suddenly, phone girl put down her phone and her head snapped towards her. Her eyes widened and her breathing got heavy. It was Rachel. No way. What was Rachel doing at a gala like this? This was for the best of the best. Maybe Rachel had finally made it? Or maybe she was dating someone in the film industry who brought her as a date.
"Mikayla?" Rachel whispered.