Conrad
I finally arrived back at my hotel room after a hectic day. I am ready for home. I need to be with Maya, not here while she is alone. She has been on my mind, and I have found it hard to focus. I take my jacket and shoes off, climbing onto the bed to lie down. I take my cell and video call, Maya, eager to see her.
It only takes a second before she answers, and her beautiful face arrives on my screen. The moment it does, I worry. She looked tired and like she had been crying. She is in bed, and one of my hoodies covers her body. I notice she does that when she needs some comfort.
“Hello,” she says softly.
“Hey, beautiful. What is wrong, you have been crying? Did you sleep last night?”
She sighs and runs her fingers through her hair, “It has been a rough day. No, I barely slept last night. How was your day?”
I feel like she is trying to change the subject.
“My day doesn’t matter, sweetheart. Tell me, what happened?”
I sense something happened. I see tears built in her eyes, and she slowly rolls the sleeves of the hoodie up, and I notice bruises on both her arms.
“Callum got me outside of work today,” she whimpers, “He tried to drag me away with him, but I resisted, and when I did, this is the aftermath.”
Anger builds in me, but I try my best to stay calm because I don’t want to scare her, “How did that happen? Where was Joshua? I told him not to leave you alone.”
I hired him for a reason. I paid for the best because I thought she would be protected. Why didn’t he tell me what happened?”
“You can’t blame this on Joshua, Conrad. I finished early and decided to wait outside for him. Thankfully, he arrived in time before Callum could take complete control and drag me away. I told him not to tell you what happened because I wanted to.” She says softly.
I see the tears rolling down her cheeks, but she quickly wipes them away.
“I should never have left. I am on the next flight possible home. I am sorry. I should have been there. Did you call the police?”
“It is not your fault. You can’t put your entire life on pause because of me. I will be okay, so you don’t need to return early. No, not yet. I want to wait until you are here. I took photos, and Joshua can be a witness.”
“Yes, I can because I am supposed to be taking care of you, Maya. I am supposed to be protecting you.” I whimper.
“Conrad, it is okay. Please, stop feeling guilty. You have nothing to be guilty about,” she replies, “Will you come to the police station with me when you come back?”
“Yes, of course, I will, angel. Hopefully, it will now be enough for him to get arrested. I am sorry you have had such a horrible day.” I say sadly.
“I hope so. I will be fine. I am going to call in sick tomorrow. I miss you.”
“Good idea. I will see if I can get a flight home tomorrow after I am done rather than the morning after. I miss you too, beautiful.” I smile.
“If you can’t, it is okay. Now, can we please discuss something else? I don’t want to cry anymore.”
I nod, “Did you eat?”
“Yes, Joshua and I ordered pizza. How was your dinner meeting?”
I am happy she ate something because sometimes she forgets to take care of herself when she is struggling.
“Good. Yes, not bad. The food was incredible. The meeting is just business as always.” I chuckle.
Maya laughs for the first time since we started our call, “There is that beautiful laugh.”
She blushes and hides her face with my hoodie, “Stop.”
I laugh loudly, “Nope, I don’t want to. Don’t hide your pretty face from me.”
She giggles and pulls the hoodie down, her face and neck bright red. I love how easily I can make her all flustered.
“Stop smirking at me. You are mean when you make me blush on purpose.” She pouts.
“I enjoy it. I find it very cute.” I smile.
Maya playfully rolls her eyes at me. I flash my dorkiest grin at her, and she laughs. She lies down with her head on the pillow, and I do the same.
“I wish you were right here.” She says softly and pats the spot next to her.
“I wish I were there too,” I reply.
I fall silent and stare at her; no, admire is a better word. She really is so beautiful. I am falling for her, hard and fast. I don’t think it will take long for me to fall in love with her. I may already be on my way.
“Conrad, why are you staring at me like that?” she stammers.
“Like what?” I ask.
She chews on her lips nervously, “I don’t know how to explain it. It is just different.”
“I just miss you.”
I know it’s kind of a lie. I do miss her, but that is the reason for the look. No, we don’t lie to one another, but I believe if I told her the truth, it would freak her out, and I don’t want that.
She smiles and nods.
We stay on video call for the next hour until Maya struggles to keep her eyes open.
“Angel, I think you should go to sleep now.”
“No, I am fine. I don’t want to say goodnight, not yet.” She whispers.
“Okay, beautiful. Whatever you need.”
I will stay on the call until she falls asleep, which I don’t think will take long.
“I can’t wait to see you.” She says tiredly.
“Me too. I will be home before you know it.”
I should be done with meetings by six tomorrow night. Once she is sound asleep, I will look and see if I can get a flight after it. The flight I already have booked isn’t until noon the following day.
It doesn’t even take ten minutes until Maya is sound asleep. I sigh, wishing I was with her. I should never have left her.
“Sweet dreams, beautiful,” I whisper.
I hang up on the call and check flights. I found one for eight tomorrow night, which works. Yes, I won’t get home until late, but that is okay. It gets me home quicker. I probably won’t get much sleep tonight because I will be thinking about Maya. I can’t believe the bastard hurt her and tried to take her away. If the police don’t do anything about there is a high chance I will lose it and deal with it myself. I will make sure he never comes near her again.
I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself because I can feel the anger burn in me again. I need him to be gone, one way or another. I sigh and pull myself out of bed to shower. If I get through tonight and tomorrow, everything will be okay because I will be back where I belong. I will be back with Maya to protect her for him. That is my main focus until the situation is handled.