by Z. Stefani
“Are you alright, sugar?’ Nina asked with concern, seeing the girl’s condition now that she was closer. She grabbed the phone and handed it to Heaven.
First Heaven called the police and then she immediately called Julian. She wanted him to come and pick her up, she knew she would be safe with him.
***
Julian sat in his office, zoned out. He was drinking cognac from a flask and facing the large window behind him. He looked out at the city below, knowing that Heaven was out there somewhere. He knew she was alive, he could feel her and he would not give up until he found her.
His father knocked on his door and then let himself in, he too was in a gloomy-funk. He sat down in the chair across from his son’s desk.
“So I talked to Sybille, I am going to help look for her.”
“Where? In the field? Some random guy says that he sees a girl that fits her description up by the field and now everyone’s out there looking for her body! She’s not fucking dead!” he roared.
“We’re still going to look.”
“Fine, waste your time.” he said. Ayden understood, Julian was in love for the first time in 31 years and now the woman that he loved had vanished into thin air. As expected, Julian was not taking it well, he was letting his anger over power his judgment, since his anger seemed to sooth his grief.
When his cell phone broke the thick silence in the room, Julian snatched it up.
“What.” he snapped into the phone, his irritation running deep.
“Julian?” he heard the voice, that hauntingly familiar voice. “Julian!” Heaven yelled louder than she had planned.
“Heaven?” he said and Ayden looked at him, his eyes wide.
“Come get me right now! I’m at this bright orange diner, it’s called Nina’s-2-go it’s on-
“I know where it is.” he said.
“Is it her?” Ayden asked as Julian grabbed his jacket and his wallet.
“Yes.” he said and rushed out of his office.
“Oh thank god! Call me the second she’s with you Julian!” his father yelled after him.
Julian had no more than walked out of the door and closed it when the phone suddenly went dead.
“Heaven? Heaven?” he yelled into the phone as he raced to his car.
Heaven looked at the dead receiver than up to Nina.
“It just went dead.”
“That phone has some serious issues, something about the ground wires, I don’t know. They’ll be here to fix it next week, although I know it doesn‘t help much today does it, darling‘.” she said.
“And you don’t have a cell phone?”
“No, and I won’t buy one until they can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they don’t cause brain cancer.”
***
Julian’s tires squealed when he pulled up in front of the dinner.
Heaven was sitting with the officers, officer Twiddle-Duh and his ignorant twin Twiddle-Dumbest. They seemed to take her story with a grain of salt, their minds obviously on some other pressing matter. After she finished telling them the details of her abduction they looked at her with matching poker faces and proceeded to ask her irrelevant questions. They were obviously bored.
“He was not a boyfriend, not a friend, we never dated, we never even held hands, and he worked with me.” Heaven informed them again.
“He worked with you?” the officer asked as he raised his eyebrows.
“Yes I told you that three times.”
“No need to get upset, Miss.” the other officer interjected. She knew this routine, they didn’t buy her story, they assumed she was some uneducated chick wasting their time and now they would bait her.
Just as Heaven opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, she saw Julian’s car from the large diner window and jumped up from the table. She ran out of the diner at top speed, sprinting down the small steps as Julian grabbed her and picked her up. She wrapped her arms around him as he held her tightly, not wanting to let her go.
“Oh god I thought you were fucking gone baby!” he cried holding her face between his large hands. He kissed her lips hard, needing to feel her against him, but she pulled back.
“It’s Gavin, he going to try to kill you!” she cried.
“Gavin Grant? He did this to you?” he roared, his face igniting with rage.
“Yes, he wants you dead.”
“Gavin Grant took you?” he said not the least bit interested in the threats made against his life.
The police officers walked out of the diner and over to them.
“King.” officer Ranch said with a grin, he had worked with him on a few different cases. “You know the victim?”
“I am not a victim!” Heaven snapped.
“Sorry, miss,” he said to Heaven as he continued looking at Julian, “the abducted.”
“I’m surprised you don’t know her, she a member of the King firm.” Julian informed them, obviously irritated with their lack of respect for Heaven.
“A lawyer?” the officer asked in surprise, looking at the beautiful damsel in distress.
“I told you that I was a lawyer, I told you the man who took me worked at my firm. Exactly how much of that information did you process, officer?” she snapped at him, she was ready to let him have it, but Julian laid a restraining hand on her arm.
“I expect this case to be handled very seriously.” Julian said with a look of disapproval on his face.
“I give my word it will. I will see to it myself.” he said and Heaven watched as Twiddle-Dum-ass turned into super-cop before her very eyes. “Now, I’d like to take your statement again, Miss-”
“Deville.” Heaven said and then followed the officers back into the diner, refusing to let go of Julian’s hand.
***
Julian and Heaven were both quiet once they got in the car. Julian was thinking about the story she had told the police, and what Gavin had done to her. Heaven was worried about Gavin’s threat to kill Julian and even more worried that Julian did not seem to be taking it seriously.
***
Heaven’s mother, Sybille, had gone to extreme dramatics when Heaven waked into the house. Somehow Sybille’s infectious sorrow had spread to the rest of the members in the house. Even Coco, who was normally very straight faced, was in tears and unable to even speak without her emotion taking over. Maude had not stopped crying since Heaven had arrived and was telling “remember when” stories to anyone who listened. Even Petal was there, sitting close to Sybille as she had always done at troubled times in the past.
All the girls at the brothel were coming up to Heaven in various states of undress, hugging her and telling her how happy they were she was safe. Julian stood back with a grin, watching it all happen.
“I need to take a shower.” Heaven said and Julian carried her to her old room and then to the adjoining bathroom where he stood her on her feet.
“I’ll be right out in the bedroom, yell for me if you need me.” he said and turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm.
“Will you stay in here with me?” she asked and he nodded.
“Of course I will.”
“Help me get this thing off.” She said as she turned her back to Julian.
“My pleasure.” He said as he unzipped the short white lacy dress and then helped her step out of it.
“Burn it! I hate that dress, he made me wear It.” she said.
“Did he make you undress in front of him?”
“I don’t know, he would put me to sleep and when I woke up, I was wearing a new dress. It was one of my biggest fears.” She put her head down.
“Did he touch you?”
“No.”
“Did he try to kiss you?”
“Yes, once.” she said and she watched his eyes changed to the palest grey she had ever seen. His anger was at a fevered-pitch and he would tear Gavin apart with is bare hands if he could find him.
“I am going to mother fucking kill him!” he roared then left the bathroom.
; Heaven walked over to the medicine cabinet and grabbed her toothbrush. She quickly brushed her teeth then rinsed with a strong clinical strength mouthwash. When she was done, she passed by the mirror but stopped, upon seeing a reflection that didn’t match the reflection she knew.
Heaven stood there, looking at herself in the long, oval bathroom mirror. Her hair was wild and all over the place, she was covered in a layer of grime. The bra she wore was filthy and three sizes to small and the panties she wore were at least three sizes too big, falling low on her hips and looking more like paper bag shorts. She looked at her frame, she had definitely lost weight, her face seemed so much slimmer. Her breasts and hips appeared fuller because of the weight loss.
Julian walked back into the bathroom after taking a minute to cool off in the bedroom. He shut off the bathtub water then turned to her.
“Come on, let’s get this shit off you.” he reached behind her to unhook the bra that was so tight it was almost embedded in her skin. He peeled it off, seeing the light bruising up the side of her breast. He let a stream of profanity fly from his mouth and he turned to leave the room again, but she held his hand.
“Just stay.” she said in a tone he could never deny.
“I am going to fucking kill him, I swear Heaven I am going to tear him apart.” he said tracing the line of the bruise. “Look what he did to you.”
She could clearly see that he was holding his rage back and even though she was livid with what had happened to her, there would be time for their anger later. Right now she just wanted everything to be calm.
“Help me.” she said as she slid her panties down a little, before Julian grabbed them and pulled them down to her ankles before helping her step out of them. Once all of the horrible clothing was no longer on her body, he helped her step into the bathtub than grabbed the big sponge and the bottle of vanilla sugar scrub she asked him to get. Once she finished washing her hair, she grabbed the sponge out of his hand and loaded it up with the thick body scrub then, proceeded to wash herself hard. He watched her over zealously scrub her body, every inch of herself, and then began to focus on her torso.
“Slow down, you’re going to rub yourself raw.” he said grabbing the sponge from her, not wanting her to damage her breasts anymore. She reached over and flipped the switch for the dirty water to drain and once it was gone, she filled the tub back up. He grabbed the regular body wash and another sponge then sat down and washed her back. She wrapped her arms around her bent legs and rested her head on her knees as he gently caressed her with the soft sponge. She finally sat back against the tub, resting her head back against the small red tub pillow she had since she was young. He gently slid the sponge over her torso, lightly gliding it across her breasts before her rinsed her off with the fresh water. He helped her out of the tub while grabbing the thick, fluffy, red towel and slowly dried her off.
He carried her back into her bedroom, and then stood her in front of her dresser. She reached in and grabbed a pair of her panties and a tank top she hadn’t won since college. Julian picked her back up and laid her on the bed before sitting down next to her.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“No.” she answered.
“Is there anything you want? Anything I can get you?”
“I just want you to lay with me for a little while.” she said. He nodded, then pulled of his shoes and lay next to her on the bed. She laid her head on his chest and he slid his hand up the back of her tank top then began caressing her skin.
***
Heaven rested in her room while waiting for the festivities to start. Sybille and Coco had their chef make an elaborate meal, all of Heaven’s favorites were spread out on the buffet table. Coco restricted the dining room area and sent the bevy of happy women to the backyard to celebrate Heaven’s return, while the family celebrated alone. After such a horrific series of events, she wanted to spend some quality time with her niece. Coco, Sybille, Julian, Maude and Heaven sat silently around the table, all of them were slowly exhaling the air they had been holding in their lungs for days. They were happy Heaven was home but worried about the effects it might have on her.
“To my amazing daughter and her safe return home.” Sybille raised her glass of wine.
“I’m so thankful you made it home safely, my dearest niece.” Coco smiled, raising her glass.
“I’m joyous that my superhero-child escaped the man who abducted her. My darling daughter is safe and I want to celebrate.”
“So do I.” her aunt Coco agreed. “Not knowing where you were was one of the worst things we have ever been through.”
“You took the words from my mouth, dearest sister.” Sybille said with misted eyes.
“Thank god you’re home.” Maude’s smile was full of relief.
“Jade called, she wanted to cut her trip short to come back home and make sure you were alright, she is so worried.” Sybille said.
“She better not, her education is more important, besides, I’m fine now.” Heaven answered.
“Are you?” Coco asked and Heaven nodded.
“I think she’s in shock.” Sybille said looking at her daughter.
“I’m not in shock! I’m happy to be alive and happy that I escaped him.” she picked at the food on her plate, shifting it from side to side but not eating.
“I think you should eat something.” Julian urged her.
“I’m not really hungry right now.” she sat her fork down on her plate and leaned back in her chair. “Honestly all I want to do is sit here and enjoy all of you. I want to talk about nonsensical stuff that’s not important. I want to hear my dramatic mother’s elaborate-tales and listen to my bossy aunt give great advice. I want to see Maude do her flapper dance and I want to sit here through it all and just hold your hand.” she turned to Julian who immediately took her hand and kissed it.
“That sounds like a damn good idea.” Julian smiled.
“I absolutely love that idea!” Sybille cried as her eyes filled with tears.
“Me too.” Coco agreed, smiling at the woman her niece was becoming.
“Me three!” Maude said then stood up and did a quick flapper move, receiving a standing ovation from Heaven and Sybille.
“Marvelous darling!” Sybille clapped hard.
“One day you’ll have to teach me that move.” Heaven grinned, thinking about doing that particular dance for Julian.
“Really?” Maude asked with excitement, she had always tried to get Heaven to dance, but Heaven wouldn’t even humor the idea. She had always shut Maude’s suggestions down quickly.
“The sooner the better.” Julian said, thinking about Heaven’s curves.
“She can dance you know,” Sybille smiled proudly, “she leads people to believe she can’t, but she really is an exceptional dancer.”
“Don’t listen to her.” Heaven smiled at Julian, who was already getting ideas.
“You’re going to have to prove that to me.” he whispered and she smiled.
“Maybe I will.” she smiled and Julian’s phone started to ring.
“I should get those pictures out from when you were three,” Sybille continued to talk as Julian answered his phone. “Remember when you-”
“No!” Heaven shook her head. “I draw the line with the pictures.” she giggled.
“But they are such beautiful pictures, aren’t they Coco?” she turned to her sister.
“Absolutely beautiful.” Coco smiled with pride. Heaven heard Julian end the conversation and turned to see a strange expression on his face.
“What’s the matter?” Heaven asked instantly on alert.
“They found the house that Gavin took you too, but it’s been burned down to the ground.”
“Did they find Gavin?”
“Not yet.”
“Let’s stay here tonight.” she turned to Julian.
“Whatever you want.” he nodded.
“I’m calling all three security guards in to patrol the grounds,” Coco walked o
ver to the house phone, “just to be on the safe side.”
“Where’s my bow gun?”
“All of them are right in your closet dear, I still have our maid, Mona, dust them twice a month.” Sybille said, as she smiled. Julian smiled at the thought of Heaven with that bow gun
***
Heaven and Julian went upstairs with another bottle of wine.
“I can’t believe I am barricaded in my mother’s house for the night, while my fellow co-worker-”