The door to my room banged shut, and in the next minute, I was down on the floor, squatting against the door with my feet on the cold tiled floor and my hands hugging tightly around my knees.
All of those things had just ended a few minutes ago, and I just needed time to think right now.
All I felt was weak. And tired. And disappointed.
I was so disappointed in how things were turning out.
This was not the plan at all when I left Isak's house and bought this apartment.
I had planned to stay here and remain hidden for as long as it'd take until he finally agreed to sign the divorce papers.
How did he find me so easily?
Why was Isak constantly such a thorn in my life, even in the process of trying to finally be free from him?
Just to confirm everything I already knew, I slid out my phone and opened up the pictures once again, and it all came back into view on the screen, as clear as the moment it had occurred. His retreating figure. His clothes. His car and plate number. Everything.
It was Isak, no denying that.
How the hell did he find me so early?
My eyes went shut so tight as I buried my face into my thighs and dragged my hands into my hair.
He always had his ways.
He was just so unpredictable, and hell, it was the most depressing thing right now.
Just then, the sound of the front door closing reverberated through the house, causing me to slowly raise my face again and finally stand.
It was Ian.
He had gone out for a while to get us some pizza because he wanted to stay for a little longer to be sure no one returned since I refused to go over to his place.
Within a few minutes, I had washed my face under the cold running water from the tap just to feel a bit rejuvenated before finally leaving my room and appearing back in the living room where Ian was waiting.
An hour later, we were both seated on the couch with our second pizza order.
Somehow, the details of whatever had happened in the morning faded off the more we talked and the more I got to know about him. Not anything basic. Just the things he liked and the things I liked.
It felt so long since I had that kind of talk with anyone. It used to be Arthur. But after him, being with Isak had almost made me completely forget what it was like to simply sit like this and laugh and get to know a person you think you may like.
I knew I was not supposed to like or be attracted to Ian because I was still literally married to Isak since he wouldn't sign the divorce papers, but... Gosh, it was already all so tiring. Everything is with Isak. I never liked him. I never bonded with him in any way. And Ian is so different.
He's nice. He's everything opposite of Isak. And I like him.
Staring at the TV, I put another slice of pizza in my mouth and sighed silently as I chewed.
The living room was silent again except for the sound from the TV, and Ian was just as focused as I was, watching the screen as he ate gently from the food.
I watched him for a while and then took my eyes away.
It had been so comfortable talking to him all the while that we talked. It had been easy to talk to him since the day I met him, and I almost felt the willingness to open up to him about my life, but even if I wanted to, wouldn't it screw everything up?
Apart from the fact that my intentions for not telling the cops and him were to keep my identity to myself and protect my family, I also couldn't tell him because he probably would disappear after he leaves and never return. I would end up scaring this new-found friend of mine with my divorce tales.
I didn't want that.
It would be better to remain this way since I hardly knew anything about his personal life either. So it was all equal.
No sad stories have to be told.
"You're cold?" He suddenly asked at the same time that the woolen blanket that had been over the couch draped over my shoulders.
I shut my mouth from starting to say that I was fine and then muttered a quiet thank you instead.
The warmth from the blanket had spread immediately through me, and I hadn't even realized I was cold until then, while being drowned in all of my thoughts.
Then Ian spoke again and nudged my hands, holding what was to be my next slice of pizza.
"You were shivering. Your hands."
‘Right,’ I muttered inside once I looked over at my hands and then dumped them in my lap as I slumped back into the couch.
I hadn't even noticed.
"You okay?" He asked again, and I nodded.
"Yeah."
When I looked at him, his eyes were still on me, as though contemplating asking some more, but he ended up changing his mind as he returned his eyes to the screen while my gaze went to the open window and the sun outside, reminding me that it was evening and that meant Ian would soon be gone.
I hadn't thought about it specifically until now, but... what if Isak returned in the middle of the night?
From what I had known about him in the past two years, he was capable of going to any length to get whatever he wanted.
What if he made it in and sneaked into my apartment?
A lot of things could happen and go wrong on my side.
I probably do not have my phone.
He could rape me and then bundle me back to his house.
The thought of it all already made me shiver again and draw my blankets closer, and I knew that this time, Ian must have noticed again.
True to it, his gaze was back at me.
"Iris?"
"It's getting late," I interrupted, swallowing before looking back to the window.
"Iris, do you want me to stay?"
"Huh?" I immediately turned back to him.
His face was genuinely asking.
There was no mocking or laughing expression at all, and at this point, I wondered how I was ever lucky to bump into Ian. But then, I shouldn't do that to him; he already did enough for me today.
"No." I quickly shook my head. "Why would I want that?"
"You look scared."
"I'm not!" My voice almost went a pitch higher. Maybe from the vulnerable feeling of being caught.
Ian kept silent. And the more I kept staring back at him as he stood, the more my thoughts kept straying to Isak.
I'd have to be really alert tonight.
I'd make plans.
I have my phone close by in bed. Maybe in my pockets. And then maybe set a trap by the door. Something or anything to alert me whenever Isak arrives or anyone tries to sneak in by nightfall.
Aware that I was doing so horribly badly at hiding my anxiety, I shifted my gaze from Ian and back to my pizza box.
"I'll be fine," I muttered to him.
"Do you want me to stay, Iris? Say the word, and I will."
I lowered my gaze at him in confusion, and then silence hung.
It was a minute or two before I tried to speak again. My voice cracked, and my question was almost in a whisper.
"Why?"
Contrary to what I thought, Ian didn't answer immediately. He stared back at me for a while. He squinted his eyes. He exhaled slowly with one of his hands in his pajama pocket. And then he did something again with his eyes before the couch sank in as he settled back beside me.
"I don't know," was his answer. "But if you want the truth, I actually don't want to have the first friend I've ever made get hurt by some psycho intruder." He gave a little sad smile. "I don't think I can leave freely, knowing there might be potential danger when there's no one around, so if in any way you wish for me to stay..." He paused, squinting his soft green eyes into mine again. "I'm not bothered by it. Iris. You can ask."
Remaining silent, I tried to hold the feeling in my chest as I stared back at him.
Ian reminded me of almost everything about Arthur, but in a more unique way.
I already felt so vulnerable with him at that moment, and with a slow nod, I gave him my answer.
"I'm scared," I whispered.
That night, Ian had to go back first to his place to freshen up, which was a lot easier since, luckily, he had come in the morning with his car.Before leaving back to his place, he had helped me set up a new alarm system in my apartment and put other possible things that could come in handy together if there was any emergency while he was gone.It didn't take long, however, before his car arrived back in my driveway. I knew he had done it all as soon as possible to be back because he had only been gone for barely an hour when the drive from his place to mine took about thirty minutes to and fro, like he had mentioned before.Not thinking of how much speed he must have added to be back before anything happened over here, I tied up my bathrobe and moved quickly to answer the doorbell.I only just made it out of the shower, thinking I'd have the time to maybe prepare some snacks for us before he got back, but here he was, already back when I had barely made it out of the shower."Ian?"
"Are you okay? Be calm. We're safe."It was Ian speaking. His hands were rubbing firmly over mine in my panic attack as he hurriedly started the car with his other hand while I watched through my ragged breathing as the men from the fire service continued to arrive in their trucks, trying to put out the fire from the house.It felt like a dream.Like a goddamn hallucination.All that reflected in my eyes from my new apartment was now a tall fire. Razing down every single thing all up to the roof.Soon, I found myself whimpering, and then, as soon as Ian's car swerved and finally started to move out of the driveway, I burst into tears.Ian tried his hardest to keep me calm, rubbing consistently over my hands until his car was finally out on the road, leaving it all behind with each distance covered.My apartment.The entire last of my savings was used to purchase that house for my escape.Everything gone.Razed down to the ground.I really couldn't control my cries at this point, and I
I was busy.I had been bent over the same mahogany table for the last hour, looking over the email responses from my lawyer for the millionth time. At the same time, I had my copy of the divorce papers spread over the shiny wood surface in front of me, and at the same time, my left thumb kept busy with declining each of my parents’ calls that kept coming in over and over again.There was no reason to talk to them right now.They had done this to me.Even if they were calling because they had probably heard about the fire, I still didn't wish to speak or say anything to them.There was even a higher possibility that their call wasn't anything about the fire outbreak at my house because I bet Isak wouldn't just go and let them know that their daughter's apartment got razed down when she was in it.It was better now that Isak had no idea where I had gone.He wouldn't go tell my parents about the fire because then he wouldn't be able to say where exactly I was at the moment if my parents
"You look great, Miss.""Uh, Thankyou." I chuckled, sending a thankful smile to the older lady, who was simply one of the many other dozens of staff in the house.I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that I hadn't even seen them all. This house was literally so big, it would need a lot of housekeeping in all of the corners."I think they fit great," I said too, adjusting my suit jacket as I turned side to side while beaming at the mirror.Ian had burst into my room earlier this morning while I was still in bed to tell me that he had something that may interest me for today if I wanted to join.He had work today, and his offer was that I could join him at one of his companies that he was headed to.Somehow, that had brightened up my entire morning in anticipation for the rest of the day.If someone had told me any day that I would be this happy just to go see some company and return, I would have rolled lazy, bored-looking eyes at the person and gone back to whatever imaginary thin
Ian has changed into a colorful beach shirt with a white singlet underneath and biker shorts, looking way different again from what he had looked like just a few minutes ago at his company.We were both in a jet, and I was psyched!All of these had been really quick; it almost felt like I was on set in an episode of Fifty Shades of Grey. I used to watch them with Arthur, and now I feel like Anna.Only I wasn't Anna. I was Iris, a girl on the run from her maniac husband, Isak. And Ian, a crazy billionaire white knight that I had run into one late night at a resort."You own this jet?" I screamed at Ian, just to be heard over the noise of the wind.The doors were open as Ian wanted us to see all of the sights, but hell no, I wasn't doing that!He grinned at me behind his sunglasses as the strong wind blew over his hair."Enjoy your first ride with me, Iris!""This is crazy!" I laughed loudly and threw my head back.God!If anyone told me I would ever be doing this—flying on a jet—on a v
"Did you ever go to the beach as a kid?" Ian suddenly asked me.Wondering why he asked, I paused but answered anyway. "Yes.""Is that why you stopped back there? When did we come?"So he hadn't thought it was about the apartment.Slowly, I answered him again. "Yeah."He smiled. "I saw the look in your eyes. Like you were recalling the waters from a past time."I let out a silent chuckle, and our gazes remained connected till I could feel that heat building in me again, starting from my neck and then down in the pit of my tummy. It equally started up in my core between my crossed legs stretched out on the beach chair while I blinked constantly and put more and more focus into not letting my breath pattern change in the slightest.Watching Ian, I knew that he could feel everything that I felt right now too.One of his hands was relaxed over his chest, rising and falling calmly with it, and with his other hanging hand, he slowly made contact with my left hand, which was equally hanging d
"Lily? Be sure she gets everything when she's awake.""Yes, sir." The maid bowed.From the top of the staircase, I watched them as I slowly started to get down, and the sound of moving footsteps drew Ian's eyes up.The guards around him were getting his work documents ready and moving them to the car.Holding his gaze with a dry expression, I finally got down to the bottom of the stairs.My nightgown was still on me, stopping short of my knees, with the long silk jacket over it.My hair, I was sure, looked tousled in the morning, and my face was hardly clear of sleepiness.
The calming yet roguish scent of the room instantly welcomed me as soon as I entered, filling my senses and embracing my inner being.Unable to resist the feeling it brought, I leaned myself back against the door and reveled in the feel of it with closed eyes.God.This felt extremely safe here.Like times ten of Ian's presence.The extremely safe, comforting feeling was very thick in the atmosphere, especially with the look of the room and the fact that I knew that I was in his own personal room.My phone rang after I finally started to take a few more steps.My father.