Chapter 69: Chapter 69

“Who was that?” Melissa asked as soon as Carol hung up.

“It was my dad.”

“Oh. I hope that there is no problem though. You look troubled.”

“It’s just that my mom and dad haven’t been able to reach my sister recently and they’re getting worried.”

“Oh. That’s tough. I hope they find or hear from her.”

“I hope so too. I’ll try her number and see if it goes through.” Carol said, dialing Victoria’s number and not surprised when the thing went straight to voicemail.

“Hey, it’s me your favorite girl, Victoria. Don’t be shy to leave a message for me, and I will get back to you when I can.” Victoria’s breezy recorded voice came from over the phone.

“Did it go through?” Melissa asked, watching Carol intently in a way that Carol found unnerving.

“No, it didn’t, or did you hear me talk to anyone?” Carol wanted to snap at her, but then, it wasn’t Melissa’s fault that Victoria’s unruly behavior had gotten her into whatever mess she was in at the moment, so there was no need to get upset at her.

“It didn’t. Went straight to voicemail. I want to believe that she’ll surface sooner or later, but then, nobody knows where she is. Ever since she ran away because of the wedding to Sebastian, she has refused to reveal her location to anyone of us. She only calls occasionally to let us know that she’s okay.”

“Why on earth would she run away because you are getting married to Sebastian?” Melissa asked, her tone full of curiosity. Carol glanced at her, remembering that the girl was practically a stranger and one did not go divulging family affairs to total strangers. Melissa must have seen the reluctance on her face because she raised an eyebrow and said,

“We’re friends now, Carol. Every girl needs a girlfriend to discuss shit with now and then and looking at you, I think you’re the type who does not have enough friends.”

“You’re right, actually. It will be good to get a different perspective on everything. So, here’s the thing. Originally, Sebastian was supposed to marry my sister. My mom was the one who arranged the whole thing, but since…” Carol was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing again, so she paused and took the phone. It was Sebastian who was calling. Carol chose to ignore the sweet feeling that flooded her whole being and how sweaty her palm became when she realized that he was the one calling. What the fuck was wrong with her for crying out loud? Even school girls did not behave this way over their crushes.

“Hello, Sebastian,” Carol said into the phone, hating how breathless her voice sounded.

“Carol, how’s it going?”

“Just fine, thank you. How are you?”

“Well, I’m good… Just missing you. When are you going to come back? You’ve been gone for over four hours, you know.”

“Um… well…” Carol said, not knowing what to say as happiness threatened to overwhelm her. Sebastian admitted that he missed her? Wonders will never cease. She firmly pushed the thoughts of what she had heard the previous night to the back of her mind. This was here and now. She would deal with that later when the time came, but she was damned if she would not enjoy herself for the time being.

“Carol? Are you there?”

“Yes, yes I am. I miss you too. I’ll be coming back immediately, alright?”

“Okay. That’s fine.” He said. After a little more chitchat, during which Carol had to stand up and walk a short distance away because of the penetrating and unwelcome gaze of her companion, they said their goodbyes and ended the call. Carol came back to sit down but immediately started gathering up her stuff.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Melissa asked, as though she had every right to know everything that Carol did.

“Back to my hotel,” Carol replied, raising her eyebrows in surprise. This girl was weird, to say the least.

“Why? I don’t want you to go yet.”

“Sebastian asked me to come back, and I don’t blame him, after all, I have stayed out for a long time. I did not even know that the time had flown by so much. It was nice hanging out with you, anyway. Are you done yet, or do you still want to stay? ” Carol said.

“I’m not done, but I don’t want to stay out here on my own,” Melissa replied, pouting and looking very ridiculous as she did so. “You have to make it up to me though. We’re going to the party together. I’ll confirm if it would hold tomorrow or next tomorrow.”

“Sure…sure,” Carol said, wishing that Melissa would just get up so they could get going. All she wanted at that moment was to be in Sebastian’s arms and as far as she was concerned, Melissa was wasting her time. Besides, she needed to go and think about what she would do about her sister who was missing.

“Okay,” Melissa said shortly, slowly unbundling herself from the chair as though she were the world’s oldest woman. She took her precious time gathering her parcels…of which there were many, together while Carol went to hail a cab, and finally they were on their way back to the resort.

“Alright. Maybe we’ll see each other later in the evening.” Melissa informed Carol as they said their goodbyes in the lobby of the hotel.

“I highly doubt it.” Carol thought to herself as she walked to the suite that she shared with Sebastian, her mind occupied with thoughts of what could be wrong with Victoria and where on earth she was.

***

Charlotte entered the room and banged the door shut, clearly in a rage, as she often was. The two men who were guiding, or rather keeping Jessica captive looked up at her entrance, and then looked away, their gazes impassive. Jessica kept her eyes downcast, knowing that she was the one who would bear the brunt of Charlotte’s anger if she were sufficiently provoked.

“Get yourself prepared. You’re going to meet with Sebastian tomorrow or next. I’m releasing you, at least for some moments, but you remember what we talked about yesterday. You will follow all my instructions to the letter. The minute I find that you’re not, I’ll have one of my men blow your brains off, and that of Sebastian as a bonus. We do not want that, do we?”

“No, no, we don’t. I promise that I will do everything that you say, Charlotte. I swear with my life.”

”You had better mean it too, otherwise, you really will lose your life. You’re just lucky that I hate that fucking bitch he calls his wife…feeling too good to be friends with me, as though I really want to be friends with her. I’m only playing nice because I want some information from her, but since she is as tightlipped as a clam, I guess she is not worth anything to me. Oh, and by the way, the idiot is so dick-stricken that it is pathetic. You should have seen the way that she flew off like a puppet at a flick of Sebastian’s finger. Has that guy got honey on his dick or what makes women everywhere throw themselves over him like that?” Charlotte asked nobody in particular, laughing to herself.

“I know you still want to get back together with him,” Charlotte said to Jessica, shaking her head in mock pity. “I feel sorry for you though because I think I was wrong with what I said before. I saw the two of them together today and they were so cozy that it made me want to throw up just watching them. I don’t think your dear Sebastian will want anything to do with you, after all. He seems to be just as pussy stricken as his dear wife is dick-struck. Anyway, enough of that. Let’s go over the plan one more time. We’re going to act the movie tomorrow and oh, I just can’t wait. This promises to be so exciting!”