by JA Low
Daniel and I stayed in for the night while the girls went out. I wanted to be sober just in case Emily needed me, I could be there. We watched some football and caught up on some business.
“Ava couldn’t keep her eyes off you,” I press, taking a sip of my beer. Daniel doesn’t say anything. I take a glance over and he’s refusing to look at me. “You didn’t?”
“Of course not. That’s Emily’s friend.” I eye my brother suspiciously.
“And if she wasn’t?”
“It doesn’t matter, she is and that’s the end of it.” My brother is interested in a girl but isn’t pursuing her because of Emily.
“She is beautiful.”
“That she is,” Daniel agrees.
“She seems smitten with you.”
“That she does.” He gives me another curt answer.
“And you got on well last night.”
“That we did.” Ugh, he is getting on my nerves.
“Yet?”
“Yet, nothing, Louis.” I hold up my hands at my brother’s terse words. He is being very defensive over her. I’m going to ask Emily about it, I bet she knows what’s going on, girls talk about this kind of stuff, don’t they?
“Don’t fuck her around,” is all I say. Daniel lets out a frustrated sigh beside me and we go back to watching some action movie that I have no real interest in.
My phone rings. It rings and rings continuously then stops. It starts again and I pick it up rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
“Louis. It’s Emily.” That gets my attention.
30
Emily
“I can’t believe we are here.” Ava looks around the luxurious nightclub. Louis had organised for us to be set up in a VIP suite.
“I can’t believe this is your life.” Rosie elbows me.
“Um. It’s not my life, it’s Louis’,” I remind them all but they don’t believe me. I understand Louis is famous, like you know, in the art world, but I didn’t realise just how famous he was in celebrity circles. His name opens doors for you, not that I would ever use his name because I’m not like that. He set up this weekend for my girlfriends. Earlier today we went shopping, we took selfies in front of the Eiffel Tower, we walked along the Champs Elysées, Louis organised a private dinner cruise along the Seine for us. I mean, the man is going for boyfriend of the year. I’d marry the hell out of that man. Shit. No. I’m not supposed to think of those kind of things. There is still a tiny little niggle that what we have has an expiration date and it’s in a month, in New York. No. Don’t think like that, Emily. The man is crazy about you. You both love each other. Whatever happens after New York you will sort it out. Paris is only a train ride from London. I push my doubts from my mind and concentrate on the here and now, not some distant future that may or may not happen.
I’m having the best time tonight, dancing with my girlfriends, enjoying the VIP treatment. There’s a group of guys hanging around near our booth in the VIP area. I assume they are okay as they are in the VIP section. They should be okay to mingle a little. The girls don’t seem to mind the boys’ attention and I can’t deny my girlfriends the chance to hook up with some hot French guys, I’m a good friend like that. But as the night wears on I realise I’ve had one too many drinks because my words become a little slurry. Maybe I should go home. Yeah, I should totally go home. I have a hot French man waiting in bed for me. I pull out my phone and try and text Louis.
Mess you
I hit send. I giggle to myself. Umm that doesn’t feel right; my legs are a little wobbly. Stupid French champagne. I sit down. Ugh, why am I so sweaty? Ewww. That’s not cute. I look around at the flashing lights of the VIP area, there are a fair few people up here now, they should really turn the air conditioning up.
“I’m just going to go to the toilet,” I tell Rosie who’s sitting beside me, talking to some hot guy.
“Want me to come?” she asks.
“No. Stay and lock lips with a hottie.” I wiggle my brows at her. She gives me a hug and turns her attention back to the hot guy. I stumble a little bit. I’m not used to these ridiculous heels. Who makes heels this high? I’m thirsty. My tongue is dry. I grab a bottle of water off the bar and start to guzzle it back. Why am I still sweating like a pig? I feel clammy. My head hurts. I grab my phone and check the time. It’s 1:43am, I’m not used to partying this hard. Am I getting old? I notice that Louis has sent me a message.
Louis: Hope you’re having fun tonight. My bed is not the same without you.
My heart swoons. God I love that man. The screen becomes a little fuzzy, but I force myself to concentrate on writing out a message to him.
Emily: I msk u 2 and yore deck.
There that was totally a super flirty sexy text. I put my phone back into my pocket and make my way to the bathroom. Thankfully they are empty up here in the VIP section and clean. Being important is kind of awesome. I trip over my feet and land hard against the toilet door. Ouch. That’s going to hurt. Probably going to bruise too. I eventually get into the cubicle and do my business. It takes me a couple of tries to wipe myself and fix myself up. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, oh wow, I look like shit. My make-up has completely run off from all my dancing, my eyes look bloodshot, my skin is grey. I don’t look cute at all. Maybe it’s time for bed. I’m feeling really tired. I wish Louis was here to carry me, my legs feel heavy. I make my way to the exit. The swirling colours of the lights are blurring; the music is becoming muffled. What’s going on? I’m not feeling well at all.
“Enjoying your girls’ night?” That voice. The one that gives me nightmares.
“What are you doing here, Yves?” He just chuckles, moving closer to me, I stumble against the wall, stupid heels.
“Just having fun with my boys. Who seem to have taken a shining to your girls.” I try to look over his shoulder, hoping to catch someone’s attention but everything behind him is a blur. I don’t feel good at all.
“Please leave me alone.” I take a step but stumble right into his arms.
“See. I knew you would come around. Louis’ women always do.” I try to push him off me but I don’t have the strength, he’s too strong and hard. I stay slumped against him. “Someone has had a little too much fun, I think. Lucky I’m here to look after you. So many dangerous people out there.” His laugh sounds evil.
“No.” I try and scream but my voice comes out in a whisper. I can’t fight him off. I now know what I am feeling. My heart constricts in my chest as a panic attack starts but I’m becoming immobilised. I can’t feel anything except for living a nightmare that I can’t stop from happening. We move through the crowd; Yves’ arms are wrapped around me. I try and get people’s attention. I scream and shout internally but nothing happens. My eyes are becoming heavy. No. Fight it Emily. I can’t fall asleep. I won’t fall asleep, but I know I can’t fight the drugs having this effect on me. The world is becoming darker and darker until the blackness consumes me. Please Louis help me.
31
Louis
“I’m going to fucking kill him.” I’m pulling my hair out. Rosie called me to tell me that Emily didn’t return from the toilets. When they started looking for her, one of the staff said she had left with a man. Thankfully, the girls have location finders on their phones because they were able to find her moving on the GPS location. The girls are currently in a taxi following the blinking dot just as we are. Our driver rushes through the Paris streets, following the directions the girls are giving us. The girls let me know the blinking has stopped and give us the last known coordinates. My stomach sinks. I know that address. Daniel looks at me, his face a little paler than normal.
“He wouldn’t?” His question is faint.
“If he touches a hair on her head I am going to fucking kill him.”
“Louis,” Daniel warns me.
“No brother. He has my woman. Emily hasn’t done anything to him. She doesn’t deserve this. Not after everything she has been through in the past. Did you know
she was raped when she was a teen?” Daniel looks at me horrified. “Exactly. She told me about it after Monaco. The incident giving her nightmares.”
“I have a friend in the Gendarmerie. I will call him and get him to meet us there. We have to do this by the book. He needs to be put away if he’s touched her.”
“I don’t know if I can wait.” Daniel gives me a pleading look. “He has her and God knows what he is doing to her.” Daniel’s phone beeps.
“My friend is five minutes out; he lives around the corner.” My heart is racing. How are we ever going to get back from this? Just when things between us were moving forward. Fuck! The driver pulls up out the front of Yves’ Paris apartment just as Daniel’s friend arrives.
They shake hands and talk about a plan.
“Louis this is Marcus.” We shake hands.
“I’m not waiting,” I warn them both.
“Depending on what we find…” My stomach sinks at Marcus’ words. “I’ll give you your moment with him.” Marcus looks at me seriously. “I promise you that.” I nod. We make our way to the apartment, fingers crossed Yves hasn’t changed his code. I enter it in and the door unlocks. Fuck, someone up there is looking out for me. All three of us rush in across the courtyard then through the doors that lead to the stairs. We make our way up four floors to where his apartment is. We take them two at a time, every minute she is with him is killing me. We make it to his level.
“Let me pick this lock. I need to catch him with my own eyes to prosecute, okay?” Marcus tells me. I ask him to hurry the fuck up. He picks the lock in under a minute, he stands and pulls his gun from his holster and holds it out in front of him. We rush through the hallway and we all stop. There’s an unconscious Emily on the couch and Yves pulling her dress off.
“Stop. Police.” Yves freezes. His face pales when he sees a gun aimed at him. They widen when he sees me charging at him.
“You motherfucking piece of shit.” My fist slams into his face. We roll to the floor. He fights me, I get a punch to the stomach which winds me, but I don’t care, I shake it off and launch myself back at him again, my fist hitting him in the stomach, the ribs, the face. “I’m going to kill you.”
“Fuck you,” he spits, blood pouring from his face.
“Louis,” Daniel calls out. “Louis,” he calls me again. “Get Emily.” This stops me, my chest is heaving as I hold Yves by his ripped shirt.
I rush over to where Emily is, she’s out cold.
“We need an ambulance, a doctor.”
“I’ve organised for one to meet us back at your place,” Daniel tells me. “Pick her up and take her away from here. We’ll clean this mess up.”
“She wanted it, Louis. She wanted me,” Yves yells at me. My blood boils and I turn to go for him again but Daniel punches Yves instead, flooring him.
“Shut the fuck up, you piece of shit. You are about to be fucked.” Yves flips him off.
“The boys in lock up are going to love a pretty boy like you,” Marcus tells him. “I’m going to make sure I put you with the best.” He smiles at him and it looks evil. That makes me feel better knowing they will take care of him. I take off my shirt and place it over Emily, she doesn’t need the world to see her in her underwear; she’s suffered enough. I pick her up and slowly walk back the way I came, out into the darkness. Headlights light up the courtyard and I can hear her friends frantically talking, they notice me coming and gasp seeing a limp Emily in my arms. I push open the door and they crowd around us.
“Fuck. Emmy. We are so sorry.” Rosie is crying. All of them have black streams of tears down their cheeks.
“He didn’t?” Ava asks. I shake my head.
“You made him pay, didn’t you?” Georgia asks.
“Fuck yeah.” The girls all nod, shock setting in.
“There’s a doctor coming to my place to check her over. I think she is going to want to see your faces when she wakes up.” They all give me sad looks, but nod. The driver opens the door for me and I get in, cradling Emily to my chest. I don’t ever want to let her go.
“Do you think she is going to be okay?” I ask her friends once the doctor leaves. It looks like we got there in time, he hadn’t had time to assault her yet.
“I don’t know, Louis,” Ava tells me. “We’ve been here before, it took her a long time to get over what happened last time, if she ever did.”
“I can’t lose her,” I tell her friends. They all give me sad smiles, as if they know that it’s inevitable.
“The guy who did this to her last time…he was her best friend.” My stomach sinks at Rosie's words. “She trusted him. We all did.”
“We didn’t realise how his crush had turned into an obsession,” Georgia adds. “He stalked her. He was right under our noses.”
“I brought this man into her life.” I scrub my hands across my face.
“How would you have known he would do this?” Rosie questions.
“He tried it on at the gala. But I thought…I tried to make her safe.”
“How could you have known?” Ava tries to reassure me.
“That’s the thing. I did know. I thought he was dangerous but I had no idea…” I run my hands through my hair. “Not only has he destroyed my past, he’s now just destroyed my future.”
“Not going to lie. Prepare yourself tomorrow, she’s probably going to want to go,” Georgia warns me. I look up at her friends, my heart aching at this thought, but how could I blame her. I wouldn’t want to stay with me either. “Just give her time, she’ll come back to you.”
“And if she doesn’t?” I look to them.
“Then you fight for her, if she’s what you want,” Ava tells me.
“She is what I want, more than anything,” I confess to them. “She brought light back into my life when all I could see was darkness.”
“Then don’t give up on her, Louis,” Rosie pleads. “She was happy with you. Even when you were an asshole.” This makes me smile. “Just remember what you had together before everything fucked up. Especially when she pushes you away.” Please come back to me Emily.
32
Emily
How much did I drink last night? I haven't stopped throwing up this morning, thank goodness I have a bucket beside my bed. My head hurts so much. My mouth is really dry. I turn and see Louis asleep on the chair in the corner of my room. What’s he doing here? It looks like he slept here. Why does my body hurt so much? I look down and see a multitude of bruises. My brain feels foggy, just like…then it hits me and I jolt up in bed and scream. No. No. No. No. My body begins to shake uncontrollably.
“Emily.” Louis rushes to me, but I move away from his touch. Hurt flames across his face.
“Emmy.” My girlfriends rush into the room, I see them and I break. Tears stream down my face, a panic attack begins and I struggle to breathe.
“Emmy, you’re safe,” Ava tells me.
“Breathe babe, breathe,” Rosie instructs. “You’re having a panic attack.”
“Look at me, Emmy. Focus on me.” Georgia holds my face making our eyes connect. “You are safe. No one is going to hurt you.” Hands begin to rub my back. “We are here now.” I nod, focussing on my friend, slowly getting my breathing under control. “That’s better.” Georgia smiles at me. My friends hold my shaking body.
“I’ll go get you some water.” Louis leaves the bedroom.
“He saved you, Emmy,” Ava tells me. But I don’t want to hear it.
“I want to go home,” I tell them. I watch as they all look at each other.
“What about Louis?” Rosie asks. I shake my head.
“I don’t want to be here anymore. I need to get away from him.” Louis walks in at that moment, hurt is written across his face. He hands the glass to me, but I can’t look at him.
“If you want to go home, Emily, Daniel will organise a private plane to take you back to London.” I lift my head up and look at him and nod. “I’ll message him now.” Then he walks out of the room.
>
“He loves you, Emmy,” Ava tells me.
“I don’t care. It’s his fault that man touched me.”
“Emmy.” Georgia’s tone is angry. “Do you not see the cuts and bruises on his face, on his knuckles. He attacked Yves, he defended you. He saved you.” I shake my head.
“He would never have touched me if it wasn’t for him.”
“No, Emmy,” Georgia argues with me, which surprises me. “I will not let you put blame on him. The person you should be upset with is Yves. He is the fucking cunt that spiked your drink and took you home. He is the one that deserves your anger, not that man in there. Not that man that thought his world was crashing down around him because he lost you. Not that man who would have killed Yves if the police weren't there.” I just keep shaking my head.
“Not now,” Rosie tells Georgia.
“Rosie, he’s a good man. He loves her.” Rosie shakes her head at Georgia as if asking her to stop.
“I just want to go home. Coming to France was the biggest mistake of my life.” My friends pull me in tighter as I breakdown further.
Hours later Louis has organised a private plane for us to get back to London. Daniel joined us. The girls said goodbye to Louis but I couldn’t, I just wanted to get away from this nightmare.
“If you need anything, anything at all let Daniel know.” Not sure who Louis was saying that to, but I know I won’t be needing anything from him ever again. I curl up against the butter soft leather seats and stare out the window.
“You need to eat something.” Ava sits down beside me, handing me a sandwich.