[Dream Starts]
Fatima felt like her eyes were heavy as hell as she was driving their old car. She looked around the car and as she turned to the side and saw her father sitting next to her with his seatbelt on. She looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and he smiled. “Learning how to drive now, I see?” he asked and she nodded but was having a hard time keeping her eyes open because it’s heavy and the surroundings looked awfully bright.
“I need to learn how to drive since I’ll be taking care of my brothers, don’t I?” He smiled and nodded before leaning back on the seat.
“When are you coming home?” she asked and he frowned.
“I don’t know sweetie, maybe never?” he answered and she looked at him with confusion. “What?” She was about to stop the car when the surroundings suddenly changed. The car was flipped over as the rain poured outside the car. Her body felt numb as she got out of the car and saw her father getting dragged away by the medical team. She tried running to her father but an invisible wall was stopping her. “Dad!” she shouted as she tried even harder.
She looked around and saw the person that hit them get out of the car. As she tried to walk, her body became harder and harder to carry. She tried her best to approach him and shouted, “HEY!!” The man stopped walking and she made her way to him.
“My father-“ She grabbed his shoulder and made him turn around. She was stunned to see who it was. “Christopher?” She stumbled back as he stared at her. Her eyes widened as she looked at him from up and down.
“What- wha-“ She fell to the ground and suddenly woke up.
[Dream End]
She suddenly woke up from the impact as she fell out of bed. Philippe rushed to her bedroom and saw his sister on the ground while holding her head. “You okay?” he asked and she looked around and found him by the door. She got up from the ground and looked around the room. She noticed her face was hot from the sunshine hitting her while she slept earlier.
“Can you close the curtains?” He entered the room and closed the windows beside her bed. She breathed heavily before grabbing the water bottle from the side table. “Need anything else?” She shook her head and he nodded.
“Grian is in the living room,” he informed and her eyes widened. She rushed outside her room and went to the living room, finding Grian and Timothy playing.
“Why are you here?” He looked up and saw Fatima wearing pajamas and his eyebrows raised. Her hair is also a mess while her eyes have bags under them. “Good morning, sunshine,” he greeted with a grin and she eyed him.
“I thought you were still in the hospital?”
“Didn’t I message you last night that I was coming over today?” Her eyebrows furrowed as she went back into her room and grabbed the cellphone from the side table. She opened it and saw three messages from Grian yesterday night. She scratched her head and went back to the living room.
“I fell asleep early,” she murmured.
“Oh well. Anyways, I’ll be staying here the entire day,” he said and leaned back. She looked at him and he pointed at the front door using his mouth. She walked to the front door and saw reporters coming again today. It’s been three days since Hannah got interviewed and the media wants more of it.
“Is the situation still bad...?” Grian grabbed the remote and opened the television for her to see. She blinked a couple of times before sitting down and watching the television. An image of Christopher flashed on the screen while the reporters introduced him before the video cut to him live.
“The situation described by my former fiancé is completely false. Fatima is a close friend of mine and we worked with the police to save them. She was kidnapped together with her brother which makes them the victim of the situation and not the other way around. We still haven’t received a solid lead but would appreciate every help we can get.” The news cut to the news reporter describing the life of Fatima and how she turned out to be Christopher’s former girlfriend that got in an accident and suddenly vanished. A couple of years later, she reappeared but seems to be struggling financially.
“Why did they even cover my entire life?” Fatima asked.
As it turned to lunch, she avoided watching the news again as she distracted herself by doing house chores. Grian sighed as she looked at her tiring herself out just to get her mind off of it. “Do you want to go on a date?” he questioned and she looked at him as if he’s crazy.
“I mean, once things cool down, we can hang out,” he explained and she crossed her arms.
“Just the two of us?” He nodded.
“That’s why it’s a date. It’ll just be the two of us,” Grian said with a smile.
“Why though?”
“Why not, though?”
AFTER THEY ATE LUNCH, she decided to take a look at the news on her phone and was shocked to find the media suddenly turned their backs on Hannah and started siding with her. With her backstory, the media felt the need to help her with her situation. They started a GoFundMe for her to help her which shocks her and never thought complete strangers are willing to help.
“That’s great news!” Grian exclaimed while he’s on the phone with Christopher. He turned to Fatima and grinned at the news that both of them found out at the same time.
“This is strange...”
Christopher told them that they can go outside the house to talk to the media and there’s guards to protect them from any force. Fatima didn’t want to so they instead stayed inside the house for the whole day.
THE FOLLOWING MORNING THE GoFundMe reached a good ten thousand dollars which is an insane amount. While everyone else is happy regarding this news, Hannah is in fury while watching the ‘amazing’ news that made her look like the villain to everyone that she did not want to get the title for.
She breathed heavily as she sat in her bathtub till her phone started ringing and it was from an unknown number. She hesitated but answered it anyway. “Who is it?” she asked and the person on the other line paused for a moment.
“Good morning, Hannah. Would you perhaps want to make a deal with us?”
“I’m not into any internet plan, no thanks,” she said and she was about to end the call but the other person said something that caught her attention.
“It’s about Fatima Mendez,” the person said and her eyebrows raised in curiosity. She hates that woman to the core and would love to see her suffer in hell. She stole what was hers and now she’ll get revenge for it.
She got ready to meet the people who called her. The place is a bit far and she didn’t want anyone to come with her so she left her guard and drove to the place on her own. Once she arrived, she got out of the car and walked into the building and she was greeted by men and women sitting down at the table.
“This isn’t a very nice welcome, is it?” she said before sitting down herself.
“I guess you need my help so that’s why you called?”
BACK AT THE HOUSE, Fatima was unbelieved by all the gifts and donations she was receiving. What overwhelms her the most today is the date Grian asked her to. She’s currently getting ready for the date as she changed into her casual clothes. She breathed heavily as she dried her hair before looking at the clock.
After she got ready, she went outside her room and saw Grian waiting for her while he was also wearing casual clothes. “Looking beautiful,” he said and she scoffed in embarrassment.
“Are you sure you want to take me out on a date?” she asked and he nodded profusely with a grin. She shook her head before bidding goodbye to her brothers and the two went outside the house and the guards helped them get to his car without anyone approaching and bothering them.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” he answered and she put her seatbelt on and she suddenly remembered her strange dream. None of it made sense to her so she brushed it off.
They drove for a couple of minutes until they arrived at their destination. She looked around as he parked his car. “I’m confused, why are we in the mountains?” she asked and he ignored her as he left the car and went to the back. She took off her seatbelt and followed him to the back. He opened the trunk and she saw baskets filled with food.
“I wanted to get away from the media so I thought a picnic in nature is a good idea,” he said and she was impressed. She grabbed the food and placed them down before opening the back seat and bringing out a foldable table and setting it up outside as she watched. After the table was set up, she grabbed the baskets and placed them down on the table before he grabbed each item and took them out.
“Ready to grill some food?” he asked and she nodded profusely.