Noelle slowly sat down on a chair in the dinning room, her eyes drooping sleepily. She hadn't been getting any sleep lately, ever since she was stalked. She would always get nightmares each time she fell asleep. She couldn't keep going on like this, but she couldn't help it. She was on edge.
Rubbing her eyes with her left hand, she brought the cup of coffee to her lips and sipped the hot liquid. Just then, the door opened and Valentino stumbled in. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked very tired. His eyes held dark bags and his hair was a horrible mess. She guessed that she wasn't the only one bothered. He hadn't been doing well either. Most nights, he would have night terrors and nightmares. With everything he had gone through, Noelle really didn't know how he was coping. He wouldn't say anything. He always had a blank expression on his face.
"Morning" she greeted.
"Morning" he replied, his voice husky. "You look like shit" she said, trying to start a conversation with him. He gave her a tight smile.
"Well, I'm not the only one here who looks like shit" he replied and she smiled.
He sighed heavily and turned to leave the sitting room.
"What do you want to have for breakfast?" She asked.
He halted, his hand resting on the door knob.
"I'm not hungry, Noelle" he said and left the sitting room. Dejectedly, she flopped down on the couch. She really didn't like the look of things presently. They'd gone from being friends to being complete strangers. That was awful.
Noelle waited for him to take his bath before going into the bathroom. She got dressed in a yellow jacket, leather pants, heeled boots and white T-shirt with her red hair in a bold French plait. She grabbed her bag and slipped in her dagger, just in case.
"Val?!" She called out.
"Yeah?" A gruff voice replied.
"I'm leaving for work" she said.
"Okay" he replied.
Noelle got out of the house, her senses on full alert. She got into her car and zoomed off. Noelle had two jobs. She worked as a therapist in a psychology center. After that, she had an evening shift in a restaurant that was owned by her mom's bestfriend.
"Morning, Sweetpea" Sam, her co-worker greeted as soon as she walked in. She gave him a smile.
"Morning, Sammy"
"You look nice" he said, winking at her and she rolled her eyes.
He was a typical ladies' man and hitting on her seemed to have become his newest habit. He had always been a flirt.
"Noelle, how are you?" Marissa, her friend said, embracing her.
"I'm okay. You look nice, Marissa" Noelle said.
She grinned.
"You have four clients today, Addie"
She groaned, taking off her jacket.
"I'm really tired. Give me the details" she sighed.
"Dean Adams, 28 years old. Has been abused as a child, has PTSD. Brian Raymond, 18 years old, he thinks he's schizophrenic. Dennis Williams, 28 years old. Attempted suicide five times..."
Noelle shuddered. She knew she was going to have quite a session with Dennis. "And.... Violet Lewis, 24 years old. She has anger fits. and has chronic depression"
"Today is going to be a long day" Noelle breathed.
The therapy session started with Dean. It wasn't really difficult. Next was Brian, it turned out he was actually not schizophrenic. He went through an emotional trauma and he was very depressed after seeing his mother's corpse. Noelle had to deal with his hysterical sobbing. Watching him break down made her feel sympathy towards him. He was so young. No one deserves to go through such a trauma. Next was Dennis Williams. Noelle was very interested in meeting him.
The door opened and a tall guy walked in. In Noelle's own opinion, he didn't look like someone who had attempted suicide five times. He had a nice fit body, tanned skin, blue eyes and long black hair. He was really handsome, there was no air of sadness or depression around him.
"Are you Dennis Williams?" Noelle asked. He shrugged, a dimple popping out on his left cheek.
"Technically, yes"
"What do you mean?" She asked
"I came here to talk to you" he said and she raised a brow.
"What do you want to talk to me about?" She asked.
"There's someone I've been searching for"She said. She really didn't like where this was going.
"His name is Valentino Montero"
Noelle swallowed hard.
'He isn't Baron, right?' she thought
"I don't know what you're talking about" she lied, unable to meet his steady gaze. He smiled.
"Stop lying to me, Noelle"
She gaped at him.
'How on earth does he know my name?' she thought.
"Have you been stalking me?"
He shook his head in response.
"No, you have to help me"
"What if I don't want to?"
"Look, I'm not a kidnapper or an assassin. At least, I'm not trying to kill him. His brother is my best friend. Xandre needs him to come home. He doesn't hold any grudges against him. I can't force you to help me, but I know that he's with you. I want you to convince him to come back home" he said, rising to his feet.
"Here's my contact if you decide to change your mind" he said, handing her his complementary card. "And your name?" She asked
"Sorry, lady but I'm not telling you" He gave her a smile and left her office. She sat there, staring at the card. "Wait... what the hell just happened?" She breathed,wide eyed.
...
Anne had been held captive in Dre's home. She was tied to a chair, unable to escape even till the next morning.
"Anne, how could you? I thought I could trust you. I didn't know you had in mind to kill Alexandre" Ellise said.
Anne dropped her gaze, guilt flooding her heart.
I'm sorry, El. I'm so sorry.... she wanted to say. She wanted to apologise, but it was too late now. Ellise was close to exploding with fury.
"Why?" She breathed, angry tears welling up her eyes.
Anne shivered, not able to meet Xandre's menacing glare.
She could hear the sirens just outside the house.
Was this how it would end?
Tears filled her eyes as she was handcuffed and taken away.
Ellise embraced Dre.
"You would have died last night" she croaked.
Dre kissed the top of her head.
"I'm here" he said.
"How did you know?"
Dre sighed.
"The day she came here, she was acting strange. Dmitri told me he saw the poison vial she'd been hiding. It was only because of how uneasy she was, that I knew that she was up at something. I didn't know she was going to come today but I had this feeling of unease. I went into the bathroom only to hear footsteps in the room" he said.
"I'm so glad you're okay" she said, burying her face against his chest. "I just don't want you to get hurt again" she sighed and a smile ghosted over his lips.
"Don't be afraid"