Chapter 25

I cracked an egg and let it open on the pan. Wiping off the moisture on my forehead with the back of my hand, I prepared breakfast for both of us. I already had a banana smoothie ready for Ethan along with his bowl of fruits. Now I should just get this done perfectly.

A pair of hands slid past my hips when I added the omelets to the tray.

“What are you doing?” Ethan breathed out, fanning the air across my neck.

“Breakfast,” I replied, pulling out a glass to pour the smoothie into.

“You never cooked for me before.” He said as I filled up the glass and placed it on the trap.

Picking it up, I turned around. “I know. I just felt it like doing it now.”

He smiled, but it vanished just as soon. “Hey, are you fine? I mean, after last night.”

“Uh. I.”

“I was. rough. I don’t know if you.”

“I feel sore, but just a bit."

“A hot bath can fix it.” He continued. “Do you want me to fill in the tub for you?”

I looked down at his neatly dressed body and back at his face. He was ready for work and will be running late if he doesn’t leave in the next fifteen minutes. I can fix the bath for myself.

“No, I’ll do that myself,” I said.

“You sure? Because I can-”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Have breakfast.” I suggested.

He sat down on one of the chairs and I placed the tray before him. He gave me a soft smile before I went to fetch myself some Greek yogurt.

“When are you coming back?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I have to attend a couple of meetings on the way so I can’t promise how long it’ll be. I’ll come home as soon as I’m done with them.”

I nodded and pierced my spoon into the yogurt.

“What are you going to do?” He asked.

“I’m going to turn off my social media and isolate myself from the world.”

He frowned at me. “Why?”

“Because it’s the first day. I always do that when my movie comes out.”

“Hey,” he said as if he remembered something. “About the movie last night, I loved it. I didn’t tell you, but I thought you were amaz-”

His phone ringtone cut his talk and dragged his attention away from me. He answered it in a hurry.

“What’s the matter?” He asked.

He dropped his soon onto the table and got up. “Where?”

He grabbed the coat resting on the couch and wore it. I went to him and fixed his tie. “I’m on my way.”

He cut the call and gave me a hug. “I need to go. One of my clients moved the meeting time to 10. It was supposed to be at 1. I should hurry.”

“I’ll see you later,” I said, as he hurried out of the house.

I sighed and stretched my neck in tiredness. I don’t know why but I don’t exactly feel well. I can feel my body warming up. I should just take a tablet before I get a fever or something.

I took a long shower and rested for a while. I didn’t have much to do so I just completed my work by sending a few emails and decided to watch Netflix for a while. When my body couldn’t handle the boredom, I fell asleep on the couch, waiting for Ethan to return.

***

It was almost midnight when I heard the sound of glass pieces rustling. I was shaken awake by the sound. My breath was abnormal, and my heart was beating too fast.

“Ethan, is that you?” I called out into the air.

Silence greeted me.

I wiped the then formed sweat from my face and got up. Slowly taking steps, I grabbed my phone from the table and started moving upstairs. I tried to turn on the lights, but it was of no use. They wouldn’t glow!

I heard footsteps trailing after me, so I fastened my pace. When I got to my room, I shut the door and quickly went inside to sit by the bed. I turned on my mobile and typed Ethan’s number.

The hair on my body stood up, and my scalp suddenly felt like it was being pulled by the hair. Fear crept into me, as the footsteps came toa stop, after approaching an end. Another shrill came from my right, possibly from our bathroom.

I lunged for anything that came to my hand at that moment and went to the gallery. Once inside it, I closed the door of the gallery and locked myself out.

The chilly night air blew past my hair and dried my sweat. The adrenaline rush was too much for me to handle. The noises inside the house grew louder. Next thing I knew, there was thumping on the gallery doors. I knelt down and hid behind a chair placed beside the wall and tried to com [pose myself.

My phone binged alive with notification, reminding me that I was not helpless at all. I quickly turned it on and typed Ethan’s number.

When I pressed it to my ear, he cut the call and the call was directed to voicemail.

I groaned in frustration and tried for his secretary, whose number I had just in case I can’t reach Ethan. But the secretary didn’t take the call either.

I tried calling Ethan again and again, until finally, he picked it.

“I’m in a meeting, Skylar, can you-”

“Ethan!” I said, my voice barely recognizable with fear and anxiety. “Ethan you need-”

“Are you crying?” He asked, breathless himself. “What-”

“Ethan, you need to come home right now!” I yelled into the phone. “Ethan, I don’t know. Someone broke into our house and he’s punching the door, he wants me-”

“Skylar, calm down, I’m on my way. Please tell me you are fine.” He said.

“Ethan, please hurry. I can’t- they are still here.”

“Listen to me, where are you right now?”

“I-I am in the gallery. They are in our room, I didn’t know-”

“Right. Skylar stay there. Don’t move an inch okay? I’m sending my men up right now, so don’t worry.”

“Okay, but please hurry-”

“I’m on my way. Just stay calm.” He said and cut the call.

I stayed still in my place, just like Ethan asked me. The punching on the door stopped and I heard footsteps going away from me.

Minutes later, the punching returned. But this time, I found myself feeling relieved. “Skylar, it’s me. Open the door.”

I quickly got up and ran towards the door. I swung it open in an instant and found a group of men standing before me.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” One of them asked. They were all dressed in suits and few even had bow ties clinging on their necks. They were probably at a party.

“Yes. Where’s Ethan?” I asked, wiping the sweat off my forehead.

“He’s on his way, Miss. He asked us to check-”

“But she just asked me to come out.”

“That was me, Mrs. Parker. Mr. Parker asked us to say that-”

“Do you think this is a joke? Those intruders can be anywhere, and you bluffed me into believing that Ethan was here.”

The men exchanged confused looks. “Uh. Ma’am, there is no one here. Even the front door was locked and everything else is fine. Could you please step out and we can-”?

“No!” I said instantly. “They could be hiding anywhere! And what do you mean everything else is fine? I heard noises; things can’t be in the same order.”

“Ma’am, please step out of the gallery. We can talk inside.”

“I’m not going anywhere until Ethan comes,” I affirmed.

He looked at me with hesitance in his face. “Ma’am, sir won’t like it if he finds you like this-”

“You should have worried about that when you mimicked his voice,” I stated, sternly.

“Skylar!” Ethan’s voice rang in a distance and I looked over the several men to find him.

He walked through a bunch of people and came to me. “Are you alright?”

“Yea, I’m fine.”

He planted a kiss on my lips in a hurry and looked at the people behind him. He had a stern look on his face, contrasting to the looks on other people.

“I asked you to get her inside.”

“Mrs. Parker didn’t want to come inside until you-”

“Get out and wait for me,” he ordered.

When the men were out of sight, he slowly took me in and made me sit on the bed. Kneeling down before me, he cupped my face.

“Tell me what happened.” He said.

“I. I was waiting for you and fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up, it was all dark, like, I couldn’t see anything. I remember putting the lights on, Ethan, but it was just dark when. Then I heard a sound of glass breaking, it was probably from the kitchen. I was scared, and I ran upstairs. I tried to turn the lights on, but they wouldn’t work!”

Ethan looked to his right and reached for the switchboard. He tried turning the light on and off, and to my surprise, it worked perfectly.

“I. I. dont know, it didn’t work-”

“It’s okay, baby.” He said, drawing soothing lines on my hand. “Please, continue.”

I nodded. “When the switches didn’t work, I heard footsteps behind me, so I ran up the stairs. I reached our bedroom and locked myself. When I was about to call you, I heard some noises from the bathroom. It seemed creepy and I almost passed out in fear. I ran to the gallery and locked it too. Then I called you.”

“I’m so sorry it happened to you.” he said, concern etched in his eyes. “Do you remember anything they said?”

“No, they didn’t speak. And I’m sure there were more than two people, and they kept banging the door. I think they left when they heard me talk to you.”

“It’s okay, don’t cry. You don’t have to be scared now, I’m here. We’re all here.” He said. “Skylar, are you sure you aren’t mistaken?”

I looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“Skylar, when I was on my way, one of the staff here called and reported that they haven’t seen anyone suspicious coming in and going out of this building. And they checked every corner of this house, and everything is in order. Not even a speck of dust is misplaced.”

“How can that be possible?” I asked.

“That’s what I’m asking you.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you suggesting that I was lying the whole time?”

“Oh, no, Skylar. Why would I think that?”

“But that’s what you’re saying. I heard noises that only comes from damaging things and you say you’ve got no proof to prove my words? Maybe they covered everything by the time your men came.”

“That’s not possible.” He explained, “My men were here within two minutes. They can’t put everything in place and leave the apartment locked.”

“Then what do you think happened?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” He sighed. “I’m going to go talk to them and-”

“Ethan, I can’t stay here tonight,” I said. “Please, understand. I can’t stay here after what happened. Please, let’s go somewhere else.”

“But-”

“Please.”

He sighed again. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do. Stay here and wait until I come back.”

He kissed me on the lips and gave me a hug. I clung onto him, with no intention of letting the warmth go.

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