by Lola Gabriel
Those good memories were suddenly overshadowed by the hurt and pain which had followed when she’d met Darius. Her blood ran cold in her veins at the thought of him, and her mind was clouded with the memories once again. The strikes, the harsh words, and the sweet man who had turned into a monster in the blink of an eye. Adley thought of him as a shapeshifter; it was the only logical explanation of how someone as seemingly nice as Darius could turn into a wicked and cruel beast so fast. Getting away from him was the best thing she could have done for herself, but a small part of her was still terrified that he would manage to find her one day.
For now, though, all she could do was carry on with her life.
Adley stared out at the skyline for a while, until she eventually went back to bed. She fell into a deep slumber faster than expected, which she was grateful for. Sleep had been very elusive to her for the past few months, and she savored a good night’s rest when she had one.
As expected, when Adley arrived at work the following morning, her two colleagues, Michelle and Trish, were looking awfully pale, were very quiet, and stayed close to the water cooler at all times. Adley smiled at them encouragingly but knew she had made the right choice not to go out with them last night. She didn’t have a very high tolerance to alcohol to start with, and she would have probably had to have been admitted to a hospital if she’d gone out with them.
“How was your night?” Adley asked as she joined them beside the water cooler.
“An absolute success, but I feel like shit,” Trish muttered.
“Same. You should join us next time,” Michelle croaked.
“To look and feel like the two of you do right now? No thanks,” Adley answered and shook her head.
“Murdoch,” her boss’s voice sounded in the hallway, and Adley jumped slightly.
Mr. Scott was a man in his forties, always dressed in a suit and a brightly colored tie. His hair was swept to the side, and his eyebrows were wild. He had a loud voice, bombastic yet kind, and he was the best boss Adley could have ever asked for. He was very understanding, but of course, he had his limits, which Adley definitely didn’t test. At all.
“Mr. Scott?” Adley asked, trying to sound as confident as she was supposed to feel.
“I have put you on the team who is going to be working at GreenVeil Data Storers for the next few weeks,” Mr. Scott announced.
“Really? Why?” Adley stuttered.
“You work well in a team setting, despite your entrance-level position. You seem to bring out the best in the other marketers,” he replied.
Adley pursed her lips to prevent her from saying what she was thinking. The only reason Mr. Scott thought that of her was because Adley had, on numerous occasions, suggested or even thought of an idea that could improve marketing strategies of companies, but they were always dismissed. When the other marketers had to make suggestions, her ideas would normally be used, and she wouldn’t receive any credit for that. She didn’t make a fuss or a scene about it, though. She wasn’t afraid to voice herself or stand up for herself, but she didn’t want to cause unnecessary friction at the office and between her colleagues. Flying under the radar was fine for now, so she dealt with it.
“Thank you, Mr. Scott,” she said gratefully.
“The senior marketers will be meeting with the CEO of GreenVeil tomorrow morning, so if you could come here first to get all their supplies, that would be great. Curtis will be here to help you.” Mr. Scott turned and made his way back down the hallway he came from.
Adley exhaled slowly.
“You’re so lucky to have been picked for the team,” Trish sighed before sipping on her water.
“Yeah, like a penny,” Adley said, but her words were met by blank stares from the two women in front of her. Clearly, her American terms were lost on them. “Like a lucky penny?” she tried to explain, but Trish and Michelle didn’t respond. “You know, never mind. Why exactly am I lucky?”
“You get to spend a couple of weeks at the GreenVeil offices. They have the most amazing facilities there.”
“I hear there’s a gym and an indoor pool,” Michelle pointed out. Adley’s shoulders tensed, but she shook it off. “Plus, the views are amazing.”
“The view, right?” Trish winked suggestively.
“I don’t get it,” Adley frowned.
“The CEO is a total hottie,” Trish clarified.
“And single,” Michelle reminded Trish. “Young, successful, rich, and hot. The most eligible man in the country.”
“If not the whole world,” Trish stared at Adley with wide, dreamy eyes. “Don’t you want to switch places with me? I can’t take another minute of Burt’s cologne. It gives me a headache.”
“I can’t do that. Apparently, I am a morale booster for the team,” Adley said quietly, with a hint of sarcasm.
“You’re no fun,” Trish mumbled, gulping down the rest of her water. “Have fun with the high rollers.”
Adley scoffed and watched Trish and Michelle leave her side, standing perfectly still for a few seconds. She went back to her desk, which was in a cubicle with two other assistants’ desks, and sat in her chair.
Between doing tasks and filing for her superior in preparation for the move tomorrow, she read up about GreenVeil and what exactly they were all about. Just as she was about to click on the CEO’s name, which sounded more like an exotic destination—Orynhar Veskovic—she was called in by her superior to help him with backing up his data. A menial task, sure, but Adley welcomed any kind of work that kept her busy. Keeping busy was what had gotten her through the past few months, and she welcomed it entirely.
Upon arrival back at her apartment, she ordered takeout and binge-watched a new sci-fi series. A typical Tuesday. She didn’t mind a monotonous life without excitement, as she’d had her fair share of drama and excitement.
Her phone rang halfway through an episode, and she paused it before answering. It was her mother.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, Adley. How are you?”
“I’m okay,” she answered in a peppy voice. She didn’t want her mother to worry about her, being so far away from her only daughter.
The truth was, Adley wasn’t okay. She missed her home, her mother, her mother’s cooking. She missed her older brother’s electric guitar playing too loudly in his room. She missed when silence comforted her and didn’t make her feel anxious and scared. She missed the smell of her mother’s pancakes on Saturday mornings, but most of all, she missed how safe she felt there.
“How is work going?”
“Oh, it’s going well. I actually got some good news. Mr. Scott put me on a team that will be doing marketing for a pretty big company here in Auckland, and I am actually really excited about it,” Adley told her mother.
“That is great, Adley. I’m so glad things are going well for you over there.”
“Me too, Mom.”
“Have you been sleeping okay? Is the city too loud for you?”
Adley smiled as she peered out the window to her left and rested her head against the backrest of her couch. “The city is great and surprisingly peaceful. And I can still see the stars. It makes me miss you and Jeremy so much.”
“We miss you, too. Jeremy wants to visit you soon.”
“I would love that, Mom. You should come, too,” Adley said, her vision blurring slightly.
“Oh, I would love to, but I can’t leave the store, and Gerry wouldn’t know what to do if I wasn’t there.”
“I know,” she sighed and ran her fingers through her dark brown hair. “Are you okay by yourself?”
“I should ask you that same question, Adley.” There was a hint of concern in her mother’s voice, and Adley bit down on her bottom lip to stop the tears rapidly forming in her eyes. Her mother had always been worried about her, but especially with the whole situation with Darius.
“I’m okay, I promise. Every day, it gets better, so I am happy about that. I just wish…” Her voice trailed, and she didn’t
want to complete her sentence at the risk of making her mother worry even more.
“You just wish what, Adley?”
“It’s nothing,” she shrugged.
“You can tell me.”
“I don’t want to make you worry,” Adley admitted.
“I’m your mom. It’s my right to worry. Besides, I’ll worry about you regardless.”
Adley felt a warmth in the pit of her stomach knowing that her mom loved her so much and decided to open up just a little bit. “I get scared sometimes. When I’m alone. I guess I feel like the door is going to fly open at any second, and he’ll be standing there, with that look in his eyes. The calm before the chaos, you know?”
“I know what you mean. It’s like with your father. Even though it’s been five years, at times it feels like he’s going to step through the door and tell me to boil the kettle. I can hear his voice sometimes in the kitchen while I’m cooking, muffled by the sounds of the burners and the boiling food.”
A tear ran down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away. “I’m sorry that I am not there with you, Mom.”
“You did what you had to do, Adley. You’re in a safe place right now, and he can’t hurt you there.”
“I know, but it still hurts sometimes.”
“It will, but it does go away.”
“I love you,” Adley whispered into the phone.
“I love you, too,” her mother reciprocated. “Speaking of love, have you given up on the idea completely?”
“I don’t know. My heart is healing, but I don’t know, Mom. It’s going to take a pretty special and extraordinary guy to make me think otherwise.”
“Well, I hope you find him, and even if you don’t, I just want you to be happy.”
“I want to be happy too, Mom. And I want you to be happy, too.”
“I’d better go.”
“Thank you for calling. Will you send my love to Jeremy?”
“Of course. I didn’t know I was going to call, and I know he’ll be pretty upset if he finds out, but I just had to talk to you. I miss my baby girl so much.”
“And I miss my mom,” Adley stated. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Adley. Sleep well. We’ll talk soon.”
“Bye, Mom.”
Saying goodbye to her mother was difficult, and it had been especially difficult when she’d had to say goodbye to her and Jeremy at the airport, but Adley knew it had been the right thing to do. The restraining order against Darius was still in effect, and he didn’t know where she had gone, so she was safe for now. She shouldn’t be worried about him, right?
Although she told herself that she was safe, there was still a part of her which was terrified that he might just find her and have zero regard for the restraining order, like he had for most things.
Adley shifted those thoughts out of her mind and went back to watching her television show, forgetting about the real world. She wasn’t sure when she fell asleep, but she woke up with a start and went to bed.
Somehow, she woke up earlier than expected the next morning and decided to go for a run. It helped her to clear her mind. She had a lot going on today, so the more relaxed she was, the better. She had to go to her offices first, get all the files in order for delivery to GreenVeil. That would probably take her a few hours. She had no idea why Calvin and the rest of the marketers needed all those files in the first place, but she wasn’t the kind of person who would question their decisions. She was an entry-level assistant, bottom of the food-chain. They wouldn’t listen to her, no matter what she suggested. But for the purpose of staying invisible and out of the limelight, it was good enough.
Adley got dressed in a pair of jogging pants, a t-shirt, and her running shoes, tied her hair up in a ponytail, and headed out of her apartment. As soon as her feet hit the road, she felt instantly at peace, and her favorite songs blasted through her earphones. She picked a route she was familiar with, and she passed the Maritime Museum as she ran along the harbor route. She didn’t make eye contact with anyone and concentrated on her breathing. She wasn’t sure whether people thought she was rude, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t out on a run to meet people or make friends. She just wanted to run.
The sky started to fill with color as the sun peeked out from under the horizon, and Adley stopped for a few minutes to take in the beauty of the sunrise. The sky was set alight in oranges and reds, and the water looked like lava.
She spotted movement on the horizon, though she couldn’t make out what it was. Was it a plane? A bird? She narrowed her eyes in order to focus, but it was too far away. She waited for a few seconds, hoping it would come closer, but it simply vanished into the line of the horizon.
“What the hell was that?” she muttered to herself. The brightness of the sun was soon too overwhelming, and she looked away. She shrugged her shoulders and carried on running, still wondering what she had seen. She knew she shouldn’t read too much into it or overthink it, because she had no idea what it was. It could have been anything. It could even have been nothing, a reflection of some sort.
All she knew was that, for that moment she had stared at the horizon at that mysterious object that may or may not have been real, she’d felt at peace. Safe.
The moment was fleeting, like it normally was, but there was something different about it. As if a new hope had sprung up inside her and then gone. Just like the darkness fading into a clear blue sky. Maybe it had something to do with the sudden feeling of being watched, or maybe she was just being paranoid. It could possibly be both.
Adley ran back home, knowing she needed to hurry to get ready for work. Heaven forbid she was late to the office.
She wondered what it would be like to work in such a large company as GreenVeil and whether the people would be nice and welcoming. She also wondered whether she would finally have the guts to stand up against the marketing seniors who literally stole her ideas.
Adley’s jaw clenched as she realized that she was growing increasingly sick of it. She had to do something about it, without causing a rift between her and her colleagues. She had never been the kind of person who sought out confrontation, but that was what had kept her Darius’s prisoner for so long.
It was time for her to stand up straight, peak up, and not allow anyone to belittle her or make her feel anything but worthy of her ideas and her expertise that she brought to the table. Her ideas were creative and out of the box, as her boss had described them. Then again, he never knew she had been the one who had thought of those ideas. Would he have been so complimentary if he had known? Adley would have liked to think so, but she also knew it was a good ol’ boys’ club, and she was one of only four women in the office.
A car horn blared behind her, and her body jolted, causing her to stop running. She glanced over her shoulder at the car, but it didn’t seem to even know she was there. The driver probably wanted to get another driver’s attention or greet someone else in the street.
Adley ran back to her apartment, took a quick shower, and climbed in her car. She checked her watch and didn’t feel so stressed. For once, she was actually on time.
3
Oryn stared pensively at the newspaper in front of him, reading an article about a rescue dog who saved its owner from a burning building on the South Island. His office was quiet, just the way he liked it. He mentally prepared himself for the marketing team set to arrive at any given moment and for the meeting he had with them. Since he had not gotten a peaceful night’s sleep last night, he was in a bit of a mood, so he had kept to himself the entire morning while chaos was clearly visible through the glass doors of his office. Personnel scurried around in preparation for the meeting and to accommodate the new arrivals with portable offices and cubicles in the large conference hall.
Oryn didn’t pay the chaos any notice, as he had his own chaos inside his mind to deal with. He had received a call last night from Lync, one of his trusted contacts living on the South Island, and apparently, there had been a wolf
sighting in the woods, which was completely impossible. There were no wolves native to the area. The only other explanation was that a pack of wolf shifters had figured out what he had done and now sought their revenge.
Oryn’s scratched the scar running from the outer edge of his right eyebrow down to his cheekbone, a scar he would never be able to forget, constantly reminded of the danger lurking behind every corner.
The vibrating sound from his phone made him look up, and he noticed his mother’s name flashing on the screen. With a burdened sigh, he reached for his phone and plastered a fake smile on his face.
“Good morning, Mother,” he greeted, trying his utmost to sound cheerful.
“You weren’t still asleep, were you?” She sounded apologetic.
“No, not at all. I’m at the office.”
“Oh, good. I can never keep track of the time zones, especially with being in a different time zone, again,” she sighed.
“How is London?”
“London is perfect, but it’s Nyx I am worried about, Oryn.”
“Why? What’s he done now?” Oryn sat back in his chair.
“Something terrible. Last night after dinner, he pranced into the room and announced that he was quitting his job.”
“I’m pretty sure Nyx doesn’t even know how to prance, and I know he won’t quit his job. He was probably just feeling fed-up with himself, as he usually does, Mother.”
“Oryn, this was different. He told me he wanted to be a rock star. A rock star! Can you believe that? What kind of a person quits their job to become a rock star? An irresponsible person, that’s who. I expected this of Dax, not of Nyx. If he thinks—”
“Mom, hold on a minute.” Oryn heard his mother’s raspy breath over the phone and said calmly, “Just breathe. I am sure Nyx didn’t quit his job. You know how he gets sometimes. He hates staying in one place for too long, so he finds something that is eccentric and over-the-top that he will never really do.”