290 - Ella Carter

290 - Ella Carter
Ella Carter

The next few minutes passed in a blur. Every step I took toward the gym’s exit felt like the last step of a cycle. The emptiness that settled in after Lessie entered the bathroom and didn’t return was almost unbearable. It made me wonder how it’s possible to feel such an immense void, so deep it causes a pounding in my head and an even sharper pain in my chest.

She was gone.

As if the very air had absorbed her body along with her pain and fear. And once again, I stood there alone, trying to make sense of her need for revenge in the name of her family. I looked at everyone around me and felt the weight of a promise I had made to my friend, a promise that now lived under my skin like a tattoo.

When Bear informed the guards that she was no longer by my side, I saw panic rise in the eyes of the man in charge of watching her. His face turned pale, and a subtle tremor took over his shoulders.

He knew what this meant, just like I do. I watched as they walked toward me. I was stopped from leaving the gym, and Bear stood by my side as the soldier responsible for Lessie approached.

The questions came like a storm I had already foreseen:

" What did she tell you?"

" Did you see her escape?"

" Did she tell you where she was going?" I looked at Bear, who remained silent, and took a deep breath.

I answered all of them with the same cold silence that had taken over my chest. I ignored them, and with my chin held high, I looked at my security guard who had become a friend. I extended my hands to Bear and watched as he removed the bandages still wrapped around my wrists, holding my gloves.

" Help me with the gloves," I said firmly.

He looked at me for a moment, trying to decipher the chaos behind my façade. But he said nothing. He simply obeyed.

Even though I wanted to tell the soldier the truth and let him try to bring that reckless girl back home, I chose silence and ordered Bear to take me home. On the way back, the city looked grayer than usual. The darkened sky foretold the storm I had sensed. But it wasn’t just in the weather. It was inside me, and I know it’s inside Gavin, and very soon, inside all of us.

" I saw what happened!" I heard Bear say, catching his gaze in the rearview mirror. " That wasn’t normal. I still think I hallucinated it because what happened during that conversation wasn’t something normal."

" It was definitely a hallucination because nothing happened." I emphasized the "nothing."

This conversation can’t be repeated. That secret isn’t mine, and I’m sure if I repeat what I saw, Leon will have me committed, thinking I’m having a nervous breakdown. That’s not what’s happening, I know what I saw, and from the looks of it, Bear confirms that it really happened.

" I won’t say a word to anyone. After all, this is madness, isn’t it?" There was something in his voice, as if he still doubted himself.

" That’s probably for the best because that’s not our business..." I took a deeper breath. " At least not yet."

" Mr. Harris is going to panic when he realizes she’s not coming home tonight!"

I rubbed my face and realized I had made a mistake by letting her go.

" Let’s go home. I want to see how things are."

Bear obeyed, and we rode the rest of the way in silence. When we arrived at the building and reached the apartment, I took a deep breath before stepping out of the elevator, bracing myself for whatever I might find inside.

As soon as the apartment door opened, I was hit by a heavy atmosphere. The tension was thick, as if the entire space was holding its breath.

Leon was standing, his eyes fixed on his cousin, who sat on the couch with his face buried in his hands. His body trembled in a mix of fear, anger, and despair. My heart broke.

My husband looked at me over his shoulder, jaw clenched. There was something fierce in his gaze, but also a helplessness that hurt to witness.

" Where is she?" Gavin asked, his voice hoarse and shaky. He didn’t lift his head. " Tell me she’s okay, that it was just a misunderstanding and that she’s coming back."

I walked toward him slowly and carefully sat beside him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

" Gavin… she… she ran away because she needed to protect you." I lied shamelessly.

He slowly turned his face, and I saw his eyes were red, shattered by the despair of realizing he’d been left behind.

" Protect me from what? I'm strong, Ella. I would have fought with her. Besides her. Why didn’t she trust me?"

" Because she loves you too much to drag you into her hell." I searched for words to explain something I didn’t even understand myself. " She was clear when she begged me to tell you…" I raised my fingers to mimic quotation marks. " 'Tell him I love him, and when everything is resolved, I will come back.'"

When I finished speaking, what I feared the most happened. Gavin broke down in front of us.

The sound of his crying wasn’t loud, but it was raw, with such deep despair that the pain he felt seeped into me and into Leon. He had no idea what to do for the cousin he loved so much. Gavin bent over in his agony, his fingers digging into his knees as he tried to hold himself together, even as the pain poured out of him.

Leon stepped forward, kneeling in front of his cousin, placing his firm hands on Gavin’s arms.

" You haven’t lost her, Gavin," he said with the kind of firmness only he could maintain in the middle of chaos. " We’re going to find her. I’ll ask my mother to mobilize everyone to track down your woman."

I joined my hand with Leon’s, who looked at me with tenderness. For the first time in all this mess, I felt that Lessie’s absence was going to hurt everyone, not just Gavin, who already seemed completely lost without the woman he loved.

My wedding to Leon was meant for the mafia and for society, it was fast approaching. Gavin’s would be in two weeks, and I knew the preparations were under Aunt Helena’s responsibility. She would definitely have a meltdown when she found out Lessie was gone.

" She’ll come back, Gavin. I have no idea when, but one thing I’ve learned in this life is that when love is real, it always finds its way back," I told him.

Gavin slowly nodded, his lips trembling.

" But what if she doesn’t come back, Leon? What if whatever made her leave is so cruel it ends up killing her?" I swallowed hard, and my eyes met Bear’s.

" I don’t believe there’s anything out there that can hurt her…" I said, then looked to Leon, who nodded in agreement.

" We’ll turn the world upside down if we have to, until we find her and bring her back," my husband said firmly, and I agreed.

" Because that’s what we do for our family."

Silence.

Leon stood and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I let him hold me, but my eyes stayed fixed on Gavin, on his pain, on his helplessness, on the fact that he didn’t know half of what I did. But given the state he was in, it was better to stay silent, since it was clear Lessie hadn’t shared her secret with the man who loved her.

The storm had finally reached the outside. Lightning flashed across the sky. But in here, what hurt most was the emptiness left behind by such a meaningful absence.

Lessie wasn’t here, but I hope she left behind some kind of trail of love and pain, something we could follow to find her as soon as possible. Right now, the only thing we have is the hope that she’s safe.

Then something came to mind.

I have access to her personal account. I could send money so she can support herself until she returns, until everything she’s chasing is destroyed, and she can come back.

Lessie is family, and something inside me doesn’t care about what I saw. I’m no longer sure Gavin will feel the same.

Not to mention, I still have way more questions than answers.

" Where are you, Lessie?"