Right as I’m reaching for my phone it starts ringing and Chase’s name lights up across the screen.
“Well Hello there,” I answer and I hear Chase laugh.
“Someone’s in a good mood,” he says to me.
“Well I spent a nice day in therapy, retail therapy that is, and I’m getting dressed to go out to dinner with Sam.”
His voice goes serious and he asks me if Luke is coming with us.
“Yes, Chase, Luke and Sam are coming with me,” I answer him and he’s quiet for a minute.
“So… could I get a preview of the show?”
“Absolutely, I can send one over tomorrow,” I tell him.
I’m shocked when he asks if he can come into the office and watch it with me instead. “Um, yeah that’ll be fine. What are you doing in New York tomorrow?”
“Coming to watch the show you made.”
Talk about a curve ball
I tell Chase I’ll see him tomorrow and hang up just as Sam is walking in.
“Ready biatch?” she asks and I reply with a smile, “ready, biatch!”
The paparazzi are ruthless as we enter the restaurant. They are shouting at us asking about the triangle romance Sam, Jax, and I have. I don’t listen and try to ignore them completely. Sam grabs my hand and we’re ushered into the busy restaurant.
It’s a lot more crowded than I would have thought, but it’s nearing the end of summer and it’s so nice out that everyone is out enjoying the New York night. The restaurant is upscale and is decorated for the summer with a beautiful garden theme. It always smells amazing here, but tonight the back garden doors are open and it smells even better.
Our table is ready for us; thanks to the Renault name we never have to wait anywhere. We’re seated at a table looking across from each other, but I move the chair so that we’re next to each other instead. It’s loud in here and I want to be able to talk to Sam, and we want to be able to ‘people watch’ together.
“This is a different look for you, with your hair all up and that bright red lipstick; you look smoking hot,” Sam tells me.
“Well thank you, darling,” I tell her with a wink.
A waiter comes over with a bottle of champagne and peach nectar. We haven’t ordered it but what he says strikes me, “Ladies, this is an unopened bottle of Cristal and an unopened bottle of nectar, would you like me to open it for you compliments of the man at the bar.”
I look over and see the guy who moved over for me and Luke at the café yesterday. I smile thinking of how Luke changed my Bellini order to an entire bottle of champagne that I didn’t end up drinking more than two glasses from.
“No nectar for this bottle; but yes please open and tell the gentleman thank you,” I tell the waiter and turn toward Sam.
“Who’s that?” She asks me and I fill her in on the story before she toasts, “Here’s to our safety!”
It’s not unusual for us to get drinks sent over from people; Sam is well known in the city and it happens regularly. I don’t plan on going to thank him personally since he didn’t come to the table and personally deliver it. That has been our little rule from day one.
We order a few appetizers to split and are enjoying the food, delicious drinks, and outstanding company. Just as I take a bite of cheese the man who sent us the champagne comes over. He grabs a chair from another table and asks if we mind if he sits down. Well, I don’t think he gave us a real choice on that one, but whatever.
“Fancy running into you again, gorgeous,” he tells me, “My name is Julian.”
There’s something about how he’s calling me gorgeous that bothers me. That just isn’t a word people use very often, but its Jax’s pet name for me. The other day I thought it was a nice compliment, but tonight I don’t like it; it sounds forced and not authentic.
I smile politely at him, “Well thank you, Julian, for the champagne; it’s lovely. I’m Lucy and this is my friend Sam.”
“Nice to formally meet you ladies, can I get us another bottle of champagne?”
There’s definitely something about this guy that I don’t like. It may be the way he’s coming on to us or it may be the words he’s using. I don’t like it and I just want to have a nice meal with Sam. She leaves in three days and won’t be back until around Thanksgiving.
“Thank you again, Julian, it was very nice of you, but Sam and I are enjoying a nice night together. It was nice meeting you; hope you have a good dinner,” I say trying to dismiss him and thankfully he gets the hint.
“Ok then, gorgeous, hope I run into you again soon, Lucy.”
I give him a weak smile. He was pushy and I just didn’t get a good vibe from him. Once he leaves Sam says “sleazy!” and I agree he was quite a sleazeball. “He isn’t the first one and he won’t be the last one,” I say and we laugh.
When our waiter brings us the meal we’re sharing Sam tells him to put that bottle of champagne on our bill. The waiter tells us that Luke already took care of that and she replies, “Of course he did.”
The rest of the night is perfect. Sam and I talk about everything except Jax or Chase; it’s nice having girl time. When we’re about to leave I let her know I’m going to the bathroom and she tells me she’s going to say hello to some people she knows.
The hallway that leads to the restrooms is right by the bar so I walk over and tell Luke, “I’m going to the bathroom and then we’re ready to go.”
He nods at me as I start walking away. It’s 11:30pm and I’m ready for bed. I have to work in the morning but I’m glad I had this day with Sam.
***
I wake up and I’m so confused, my vision is blurry, and I have a splitting headache. I hear voices and strain my eyes to see straight. Chase is on one side of me and Sam is on the other. I look from one to the other but moving my eyes like that makes my head hurt and I cringe.
“How are you feeling?” Sam asks.
“My head hurts… bad. What happened?”
“Someone hit you over the head on your way to the bathroom.”
“What?” I say too loudly and again flinch at how bad my head hurts. Chase says he’s going to get me some more pain medicine and I’m grateful.
I tell Sam that I remember someone grabbing me and pulling me into the coat closet, but then everything went black.
“Yeah, Luke feels terrible that he didn’t follow you into the bathroom but he saw you go in and thought you would be ok,” Sam tells me.
Chase comes back in with a nurse and she talks to me about my pain. She says they are going to observe me some more and I can go home tomorrow if everything looks good.
A police officer comes in next and I tell her what I remember, which is not very helpful since it’s practically nothing. She’s very quick at asking me what I remember and leaving, and I’m thankful for that because I’m in some major pain and trying to focus on anyone takes too much effort.
Sam tells me Rebekka was here earlier and will be coming back later on, and that Chase came in this morning and Jax will be here tonight.
A million thoughts go through my head. I think over and over how safe I’ve been being but I let my guard down for one minute and someone attacks me. I don’t know if it’s a different maniac or the same one; maybe they just wanted my purse. The whole thing is just scary.
The pain medicine is kicking in a little more but it still hurts, but not an agonizing pain like it was when I first woke up. Chase tells me that he has the DVD of the interviews and asks if they can watch it. “Of course,” I tell them and he puts it into his computer.
Chase moves the tray toward me on the bed and gets in next to me and turns the video on. It feels so good to have him here with me; something about him just makes me feel more secure.
It’s an hour long program and while we’re watching it Chase doesn’t stop telling me how good I did or how much he loves all the interviews. We’re speechless when we watch the last one, which is the one with us.
“Wow, Lucy, that was absolutely amazin
g. I’m so proud of you,” Chase says and leans over and kisses me on the head. I close my eyes and let it all soak in.
Yes, and this is amazing as well.
He quickly moves off the bed when the show is over. I hear a knock on the door before it opens and Rebekka walks in.
She’s whispering instead of talking in her loud voice which I find funny, but appreciate so much. Then she drops a bombshell on me; I’m being offered an analyst position working with the Detroit Mustangs.
The position they are offering means I’ll travel with the Mustangs and be an on-air analyst covering for NBC for each one of their games. I’ll always work with the Mustangs but I’m an analyst working for NBC not the Mustangs, so I’ll have to be neutral when I interview the other teams and players.
I look over at Chase and see his smirk, “What might you have to do with this, Chase?” I ask him.
Rebekka laughs, “This is a request from every team you interviewed, Lucy. The Mustangs sent Chase here to seal the deal for them.”
“Oh,” I say, “So Rebekka, is this an offer by NBC?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Ok. Can I have a list of all the teams who asked so I can pick which one I want to work with?” I say with a grin.
“No, you can’t, Lucy, you’ll be working with the Mustangs and that is final,” Chase says in a very stern voice.
I can’t help but laugh and so does Rebekka. “Well, you were sent here to seal the deal, so what are you going to do to seal it?” Rebekka asks him.
He seems to think about it for a minute and then looks me in the eyes and tells her, “It’s a done deal Rebekka, she starts this weekend.”
I hold his stare and Rebekka says, “Well ok then, I’ll let everyone know it’s done and we’ll get everything set up for Lucy!”
Chase doesn’t take his eyes off me, “Thanks Rebekka,” he says.
“Yeah… ok guys, well… I’m going to go. See you tomorrow, Lucy.” Rebekka leaves but my eyes haven’t left Chase’s stare.
Sam’s parents walk in ending our staring contest. They are petrified at what’s going on and promise to get me a woman security detail so she can follow me everywhere, including restrooms. I laugh but I’m pretty sure they are serious.
Chase speaks up and tells them it won’t be necessary. I’ll be traveling with the team and my contract with NBC will have special use of the team’s security and they will watch me like a hawk. Mr. Renault looks pleased with that and starts to discuss baseball with Chase.
Mrs. Renault sits on my bed and rubs my head, “Oh my dear, you have been finding yourself in some pickles lately, haven’t you?” She leans down to my ear and whispers, “But my God, you are surrounding yourself with just about the hottest men around, aren’t you?” I smile at her. She’s right on both accounts.
They visit for about a half hour and tell me to take care of myself. They both make Chase promise to take care of me and I’m slightly mortified. He doesn’t need to stick around feeling like he owes me anything and I’m going to make that clear with him.
Just as they’re leaving, Jax and Sam walk in.
“See what I mean, Lucy?” Mrs. Renault says and I laugh hard at our little inside joke, which is not great for my head.
Chapter 35
“Hey gorgeous,” Jax says as he walks in and comes over and gives me a hug and kiss.
I smile at him and say hi back. The Renaults leave and it’s just the four of us. Sam suggests ordering a good lunch to be delivered which sounds great.
Sam says she will go out in the hall to order it and be right back.
Jax tells us that everything is set for the movie and they’re leaving tomorrow and shooting starts on Thursday in Italy. They’re doing a large amount of taping on the southern coast of Italy which I’m super jealous of.
I was originally thinking of visiting them on set a few times, but now that I’m working as an analyst I can’t leave during the season. I want to scream in delight, I’m finally going to be working as an analyst!
“Hey, where’s Sam?” I ask and a sense of dread rolls over me. I know I’ve had some anxiety attacks lately so I try and calm myself down a little.
Jax looks at me and I tell him, “Go out and make sure she’s ok.” It’s been way longer than it should take to order from our normal deli so I don’t know what could be taking her so long.
I hear a loud commotion in the hallway and then I hear it moving down the hall. I try and get up but my head is pounding and Chase stops me, “You have an IV in your arm, Luciana, you can’t get out of bed.”
“Then help me, and roll the medicine stand,” I say sternly as a tear rolls down my cheek.
“Lucy, you need to stay in here, let Jax go find her, I’m sure she just walked down the hall to get better service or something.”
“OK,” I say as I feel an anxiety attack start coming on. I feel myself rocking back and forth and Chase quickly grabs me up in his arms and holds me tightly. Tears roll down freely from my eyes and I have no control over it.
A nurse comes in and Chase tells her something I don’t understand and she quickly walks out and back in and puts something in my IV. I hear Chase humming in my ear and feel him around me and I try like hell to relax. Exhaustion wins and I fall asleep in his arms.
When I wake up I feel buzzed and not like myself at all. It’s as if there’s a cloud inside me and I’m floating. I grab the water off the table and drink some of it. When I move I wake Chase up who is sleeping in a chair with his head on my bed.
“How are you feeling?” he asks with a sleepy hoarse voice.
“I’m going to throw up, help me up.” I tell him. He helps me walk to the bathroom and it’s only the second time I’ve been up so I’m weak on my feet.
As soon as I make it into the bathroom I puke. Chase is there holding my hair back and puts a wet towel on my head, “Easy babe, easy.”
Once I’m done I brush my teeth and use the bathroom. I feel absolutely disgusting so I ask Chase if he’d help me take a shower.
“Sure, but let’s talk first, ok?”
Chase leads me back to bed and tells me to hold on a second. He opens my door and I see a police officer standing outside. He talks to him and then comes back in.
“What did they give me to make me feel so weird?” I ask.
“The doctor will be here in a minute; they gave you some anxiety medicine to help with that attack you started having.”
A police officer walks in and is followed by someone I think I recognize and the doctor.
“Lucy, I’m Charlie Johnson your attorney, I work with the Renaults.” Oh now I remember how I knew him, but what do I need an attorney for?
I nod my head at Charlie and he introduces me to Officer Ronald who is overseeing mine and Sam’s case.
“Sam? What happened to Sam?” I ask Chase.
Officer Ronald speaks up and tells me that he’s investigating who hit me over the head and stole my purse and also the attempted kidnapping of Samantha Renault.
“Attempted kidnapping? Is she ok?!” I ask frantically.
Chase sits down on the bed next to me and puts his arm around me, “She’s ok babe, we need to listen to Officer Ronald.”
Chase has concern in his eyes so I turn toward Ronald for him to continue and sink into Chase’s arms for comfort. I want to get this over with so I can talk to Chase and see Sam.
Ronald takes a couple pictures out of his folder and Charlie steps forward with him. “Is this your purse, Lucy?” he asks me.
“Yes, it looks like the purse I had with me last night.” I tell them.
“Do you recognize this man?” Ronald asks as he shows me a picture of a man.
I look up at him, “Yes, I think he said his name was James…John…or maybe Julian, something like that.”
“Where did you meet him?” Charlie asks.
“I met him a few days ago at lunch with Luke; he was sitting next to us at a café. Then he saw Sam and I having dinner last night an
d he sent over a bottle of champagne and came over to introduce himself.” I tell them.
“How long did you talk to him?” Officer Ronald asks.
“Less than five minutes. He came over and pulled up a chair, he wanted to order more drinks but we asked him to leave.”
“And how did he handle that?” Officer Ronald asks.
“He seemed fine, he left us alone after that.”
“Lucy, we believe he’s the person who hit you over the head and left you in the coat room, would you like to press charges?” Officer Ronald asks.
“Why do you think he’d do that, because we said no thanks to drinks?” I ask them.
No one answers my question but Charlie asks me, “Answer Officer Ronald’s question, do you want to press charges?
“Yes, I want to press charges,” I say sternly, “Of course I do.”
“Ok ma’am thank you for your time, I’ll get the paperwork together and formally charge him with assault and battery.” Ronald tells us. Charlie seems happy with this and walks out of the room with Ronald.
The doctor remains in the room and asks me how I’m feeling.
“I’m really confused right now, but I think you are asking me about my head and that medicine you gave me. My head is still pounding, I’d say the pain is 7 out of 10 and that medicine that you gave me made me throw up and feel really weird; I didn’t like that at all.”
“Ok, thank you Lucy, that was very efficient.” The doctor says with a little laugh. “How long have you had those panic attacks?” He asks.
“Since I was roofied a few months ago…”
He goes on to ask me more questions about how bad the attacks are and how often they are. He wants to give me a prescription to help with the anxiety, but I decline which he doesn’t take so well. We settle on him writing the script and discussing it again before I leave.
Once he finally leaves I turn toward Chase who still has me wrapped up in his arms. “What can I get you?” he asks me.
“You can tell me what the heck is going on and where is Sam?”
Chase tells me when Jax went out into the hall looking for Sam, her phone was on the floor outside the room and he frantically tried to find her. They had the entire hospital security looking for her and activated the same security protocol that they would if a baby was taken out of the nursery; which pretty much means all the doors lock and no one can get out.
Almost Lost, Never Forgotten Page 21