She walked up the pathway to the house where she grabber the house phone and dialed Elliot, who picked up after the fifth ring.
‘’Desiree is everything okay? I told you not to call me while I’m working because of my new boss.’’ He told her as soon as he picked up. ‘’Wait, are you crying?’’ Elliot asked when he heard her sobbing.
‘’Elliot, there w-was this g-guy Reed and t-then two guys f-followed me and and-‘’ She sobbed as she cover her face with her hands.
‘’Shit! Desiree I’m coming home right now, don’t get out of the house and make sure that the gate and all the doors are locked.’’ Elliot told her as he hung up.
Desiree went upstairs to fill the bathtub with hot water and stay in it so maybe the lavender scented bubble bomb would calm her down and stop her from shaking violently.
She discarded her clothes on the floor and welcomed the burn of the hot water on her skin. She lied down in the bathtub and closed her eyes while she exhaled and inhaled.
☯
’’Fuck! Desiree, wake up wake up right now! Damn it!’’ Elliot yelled as he lifted Desiree’s cold body from the bathtub.
When he had arrived home, two hours after her phone call, he was surprised to see that Desiree wasn’t there to greet him with a kiss as soon as he walked in. He had the shock of his life when he found his girlfriend lying in the bathtub with her eyes closed and her body ice cold, after he had searched in every room for her.
‘’Desiree, please wake up right now!’’ He kept yelling as he covered her body with a towel and placed her on the bathroom floor as he tried to find her pulse. After a few frantic seconds her found it and let out a breath of relief.
Elliott tried everything to wake up, from sprinkling cold water on her face to shouting and turning on loud music, but she remained in the same position.
‘’If something happens to you because of that bastard I swear that I will never forgive myself.’’ He sobbed as he kissed her forehead and rested his head on top of hers.
‘’Elliot, why are you crying?’’ She asked him as she fluttered her eyes open and yawned.
‘’Thank God you’re awake! Fuck don’t you ever scare me again like that, baby girl!’’ Elliot told her as he hugged her tight to his body.
‘’I’m sorry, honey.’’ She told him as she kissed him on the lips.
‘’There’s nothing to be sorry for, what matters is that you are safe now. Now c’mon go and get dressed in something warm while I prepare some dinner and then you can tell me all about what happened this after noon.’’
‘’You’re the best boyfriend ever, love you. Oh and don't forget my tea!’’ Desiree said before kissing him again and walking out of the room with the towel wrapped around her petit body.
‘’I swear this girl is going to give me a heart attack one day.’’ He mumbled under his breath as he cleaned up the bathtub and then went to prepare some quick dinner. Elliot perfectly sure which Reed she had encountered and who his two dogs were, but he just had to make sure that he wasn’t wrong, although he knew in his gut that he wasn’t since he should have saw it coming.
38☕
❝Bad things always happen to good people❞
A few days later Elliot and Desiree decided to go to a club, since they were still teenagers who got stuck in an adults’ world and needed to feel young again.
At nine o’clock Elliot parked a little far away from the club and got out of the black car, hand in hand. The only party that had contained alcohol that Desiree had went to was the Halloween party, so she was a little nervous about going to this club.
When they got in they were greeted by loud music, drunken laughter and dancing bodies everywhere.
‘’Would you like a drink?’’ Elliot asked her.
‘’Yes please, I would like a vodka peach.’’ She told him, she could do with some drinks to not feel so nervous and self conscious.
‘’I’ll be back soon.’’ Elliot told her with a wink as he went to the bar to buy their drinks.
Desiree stood stiff looking around, trying to spot a familiar face, but of course that was impossible since she didn’t know anyone in London. Her eyes landed on a tan guy, wearing all black like Elliot, with his arms crossed as he looked at her from the opposite side of the room. She turned around searching for Elliot and was relieved to see him coming back with two drinks in his hands.
‘’Here you go.’’ He told her as he handed her her drink.
‘’Cheers!’’ She told him as they downed them down in a second. ‘’Let’s get more!’’ She laughed as she took hold of his hand and rushed him to the bar.
After countless shots and drinks Desiree and Elliot were pretty drunk and were dancing together on the dancefloor among other people who were grinding and making out with one another.
‘’This is so much fun!’’ She screamed as she leaned in to kiss him for the hundredth time that night. Alcohol made her a little bit aroused and she didn’t care that they were surrounded with people.
‘’Being with you is always fun, gorgeous.’’ He told her as he kissed her neck, making sure to leave a mark there.
After some more minutes dancing, Elliot excused himself since he needed to go to the bathroom and Desiree stayed alone on the dancefloor dancing and enjoying herself. Suddenly she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and leaned into them as she danced against him.
When she turned around she wasn’t met by Elliot’s green eyes, instead dark blue eyes were looking at her. It was the guy that she had saw looking at her earlier. She took a step back away from him, but he grabbed her arm and started moving towards the exit.
‘’Stop it mister, where are you taking me?’’ She asked him as she tried to loosen his grip from her arm.
‘’You will soon see, ma Cherie.’’ He told her with a smirk in a French accent.
‘’Are you Frenchie? I never met one before, I like your accent mister.’’ She told him as she giggled.
‘’Yes I am, now get in the car.’’ He told her as he held the car door open for her to get in. In her state she didn’t notice that they were outside.
‘’Why should I get in?’’ She asked him.
‘’Just get in before I get fucking mad!’’ He yelled as he lifted her in the car and strapped her in the seat belt, then got in the passenger seat and sped off.
A while later he parked infront of a block of apartment and lifted her out of her seat and into the ground floor apartment. As soon as he locked the door behind them, his lips smashed against her and lifted her up against the wall as he started to unbutton her jeans.
‘’Stop mister, right now!’’ She told him as she attempted to get him off of her, but instead her pushed her onto the bed and undressed her completely. ‘’Stop, let me go!’’ She shrieked as she scratched at his arms and anywhere that she could before he held her hands down by one of his.
‘’That’s the last thing I will do, just remember that this is all because of your pretty boyfriend.’’ He told her as she started to lick and leave wet kisses from her throat down to her navel.
‘’What do you want from me? What did Liot do to you?’’ She asked with wide eyes.
‘’All I want is revenge.’’ He told her with a growl just as he thrusted violently in her as she let out a loud scream.
39☕
❝We don’t realize what a privilege it is to grow old with somebody❞
When Elliot returned from the bathroom and went to the spot on the dancefloor where he left Desiree but saw that she was longer there, he knew that something must have happened to her.
He looked around the club in attempt to spot her, but he didn’t find her, so he went out into the cold night air. He ran his hands through his hair for the hundredth time, trying to think where he should start looking for her. Calling the police was out of the question since they could discover some things about him that could get him in big trouble, so he decided to drive around the blocks in an attempt to spot her.
&nbs
p; After an hour and a half driving around in circles he started to give up. It was nearing five o’clock in the morning and he had no idea what to do with himself. He call her hundred of times but she didn’t respond, by then he was sure that something bad had happened to her.
‘’This is all my fucking fault, I should never have brought her to a club, I knew this was a dumb idea. I am such a dumb asshole!’’ Elliot yelled out in frustration as he started to sob in his car. He felt so useless. He had no idea where his girlfriend was, and he didn’t even want to begin to imagine what could have happened to her.
After a while he heard his phone ringing and he fumbled to get it out of his pocket. Without looking at the caller id he picked it up.
‘’Desiree is that you?’’ He asked frantically.
‘’How nice it is to hear your voice, dear Elliot.’’ A male voice answered him instead of the person he want to talk to.
‘’Who are you and why are you calling me?’’
‘’There is no need to be rude. How come you haven’t recognized me, I am Reed, remember me?’’
When Elliot heard who was on the line with him he sat up immediately.
‘’What have you done to her?’’ He asked him angrily.
‘’I don’t understand who you are talking about, Liot.’’
‘’Desiree, my girlfriend. Where is she?’’
‘’Oh you are talking about that bitch. Right now she’s in bed with a mate of mine, I heard she is having a wonderful time.’’ Reed chuckled.
‘’Listen to me Reed, if you don’t bring her back home I will-‘’
‘’You will what? Call the cops? Oh dear Elliot you know what you can’t do that. I have a proposal for you so listen carefully. If you want to see your precious girlfriend again all you have to do is meet me three days from now same place you are, same time.’’ Reed told him. ‘’Oh I almost forgot, bring back with you one million in cash. If you don’t you will never see her again. Got it?’’
‘’Don’t you dare touch her and how do you know where I am?’’ He asked as he looked around him, but there was nobody in sight.
‘’ I promise you that I will not touch her, but I can’t say that regarding my mate. I have my means in knowing where you are and what you are doing every minute of the day, Liot. Three days, one million, see you then.’’ With that the line went dead.
Elliot threw his phone back on the passenger seat and cried his heart out. He hadn’t cried like this since when he was a boy and his father beat him and his mother up. It was all his fault that the people that he loved most in the world got hurt. He didn’t deserve them, he didn’t deserve their love. What had Desiree ever done to be treated this way? She was an angel, the opposite of him.
He drove back home and got into bed after taking an ice cold shower. He had nothing to do except to painfully wait for these three days to pass. Before he drifted off to sleep he did something that he hadn’t done in a very long time, he prayed to God that everything would be fine in the end, because if not, he couldn’t continue to live.
40☕
❝It would be so nice to see you tangled in the sheets beside me once again. I miss you❞
Three days soon passed. All that Elliot did in the past three days was cry, punch everything that came into view and cursed himself. He missed Desiree so much, and the worst thing was that it was all his fault that she wasn’t with him.
On the awaited day he couldn’t sleep and he waited and waited for the early hours in the morning when he would finally get in his car and drive to Desiree.
After what felt like eternity in hell the time came so he got in his car and sped off, he made sure to be there earlier that the time Reed gave him so he would be prepared for anything that they could plan.
He arrived at the spot, parked his car and got in the alley that they were supposed to meet at. After a few minutes of nervous pacing he saw the headlights of a car approach the alley which stopped in the entrance, blocking any way of escape.
From the car three men, one of which was Reed got out of the car, followed by Desiree being held by the French man that had captured her from the club.
When Desiree spotted Elliot she tried to escape and scream, but couldn’t since her mouth was taped shut and rope binded her hands together. Seeing Elliot there scared her, they had already hurt her, but she couldn’t take it if they hurt Elliot too.
‘’I’m here and I have the money you asked for. Now let her go.’’ Elliot menacingly said as he showed them the briefcase that held the money.
‘’How are we supposed to trust you, you have betrayed us once already.’’ Reed spoke. To Elliot’s horror the man who was holding Desiree got out a gun from his pocket and placed it to her temple. Desiree started sobbing as she felt the cold metal of the gun against her head, she didn’t want to die. Not like that.
‘’Remove that gun from her! I have all the money here!’’ Elliot told them panicked as he walked up to them and handed Reed the briefcase.
‘’Red check if all the money is there.’’ Reed commanded to one of his guys beside him.
Elliot handed him the briefcase as he patiently waited for the blonde to count all the money. He took this time to look closely at Desiree. She had tears still streaming down her pale face which had some purple bruises and cuts and he noticed that she was wearing only a dirty white blouse with blood stains and her black underwear. Looking at her appearance he realized what she had went through, he had seen it happen to girls before her. Raped, abused, starved.
In that moment he hated no one more than himself and his dumb choices that he made. He was scared that he was going to lose her once and for all and was scared of what he would do once that happened.
‘’It’s all here, sir.’’ He told him after a few minutes as he closed the case and walked over to Reed, who had a pleased look on his face.
‘’Good, you can let her go Emile.’’ Reed commanded. As soon as he let go of Desiree she ran to Elliot and ran to him as fast as she could to wrap her arms around him as she sobbed in his neck. She hadn’t thought that she would be in his arms one more time, but now she was more than happy to feel his warmth again and his arms around her.
‘’Forgive me, baby girl. This is all my fault.’’ He cried as he placed a kiss on her head.
‘’Oh Elliot, you got the happily ever after of your fairytale.’’ Reed started with a mocking tone of voice.’’ But not so fast, boys you know what to do.’’ Reed said with a smirk on his face.
At his words his men jumped on Elliot and Desiree as they beat them up until every visible patch of skin was cut or turning purple.
‘’That’s what you get for betraying me, bastard. I hope you liked my little gift for you and well wishes. Let’s go now boys, you made me proud tonight.’’ He told them with a smile as they got in the car and drove away as if nothing had happened.
Elliot tried his best to raise his head from the floor to see where Desiree was. When he saw her lying motionless on the ground, with the dark red blouse on her he let out a yell. He crawled on the ground as best as he could to get to her.
‘’Desiree, Desiree can you hear me baby?’’ He asked as he tried to find a pulse. There was blood everywhere, and was cold as ice. ‘’Desiree, please you can’t leave me, I love you so fucking much!’’ He lied his head in the crook of her neck after he hadn’t managed to find a pulse. He was sure that she was gone and it was all his fault.
‘’Oh my God! Mark call the ambulance right now! Oh my god! Hello, sir can you hear me?’’ A woman’s voice screamed as she ran to the couple motionless on the ground.
Elliot tried to open his eyes or move his hand, but couldn’t everything hurt and felt heavy.
‘’The ambulance is on the way. Shit, they are so young! Check for a pulse, Elle we have to do everything we can till they come here!’’
Those were the last words that Elliot heard before he fell unconscious. All that he wanted was to go wherever Desiree was. That w
as his only wish.
41☕
❝Don’t let me, don’t let me, don’t let me go ‘cause I’m tired of being alone.❞
Tea and Tattoos Page 16