Chapter  25: Mildrew Cafe

I was currently sitting on my bed. Ella was standing beside me, glaring at me. She had come a few minutes before and had bombarded me with many questions but, I just smiled at her awkwardly . She eventually gave up .

" Can you lock the door?", I asked.

She didn't move and kept glaring at me.

" Please", I added giving her a sweet smile. She quickly went and locked it and sat beside me.

" Ella I don't know how to tell you this. I don't know if you would think I am mad. But if telling you makes me feel better then I have to". I took a deep breath. . "Alex is not who we think he is".

I saw her facial expression change from anger to puzzlement.

" What do you mean?".

I slowly told her about the shooting, The kidnapping, About everything.

As I told her everything, her confused face had slowly morphed into a horrified look.

I didn't realize that my eyes were welled up.. After a few minutes, Ella came to her senses and looked at me sympathetically. She placed her hand on my shoulder.

" Bella, you poor thing. Why didn't you tell your parents? Why were you holding this all in?".

I wish I could tell them everything. I wish I could trust them but I didn't know who to trust except for her. Now I feel a bit relaxed. I felt like I was carrying a huge burden.

" I tried to but, I couldn't", I whispered

She had a grim look on her face. She didn't say anything. She just stared dow with a thoughtful expression. After a moment of grave silence, she looked at me.

" I am here for you. How about you come and stay with me for a few days. It will help you calm down".

She was right. Maybe staying away from this place will help me. After all, she is my best friend. I trust her.

" I think it is would be great to stay from her".

She nodded and quickly left after that.

-

Not eating has made me weak. I ate a lot of food today. I felt like a person who hadn't eaten for ages. I am glad that Alex was not here. Thankfully he had left yesterday morning claiming he had a work emergency.

Work emergency! Who is he trying to fool. I couldn't still get over the words he said to me.

Why can't I be strong? Whenever I think about him, I feel scared and weak. I don't want that.

I spent the rest of the day watching TV, finding something to cheer me up. It turns out that I was away for nearly three weeks. My parents thought I was living with my brother. My friends thought I went with my parents and had lost my phone.

In reality, I was in a whole other world.

But now, I felt a bit calm as Ella knew everything. If something happens, she would look for me. She kinda handled the news pretty well I must say. She was not scared. She looked so thoughtful and on top of that she left very quickly. Something was definitely weird.

I tried to divert my mind of the topic and catch up on things that I had missed. I missed many things... I missed many episodes of my favorite series. I miss my happiness. I missed not knowing about Alex's  secret

-

A few days passed. He didn't come back and I felt relieved. I started eating well. I felt great. I also took a job at the Mildrew cafe. it was owned by my mom's friend. I hated meeting new people but my Mom left me no choice. I knew deep down that this will help me to divert my mind.

Today is my fifth day at work. The other people working there were mostly of my age. They were friendly and it was such a big relief. I changed into my uniform and took my notepad and went to my section.

" Morning Bella", my co-worker Ariel greeted me as he entered.

" Morning Ariel".

I made my way towards my first table.
I still felt nervous to do this but this was much better than my first day. I messed up so bad but thankfully they were cool about that.

" Good Morning", I greeted a old couple sitting there as I handed them the menu card.

Many days had passed since that. It was hard to get over it. I was always afraid of him showing up with a gun. It was hard to sleep at night. Now I could talk about it to someone. ellla helped me so much. I did feel weird that she took it so well. She didn't ask any questions either. I did not bother asking her why. All that matters is that she is there for me. Tess had no clue about this and Ella and I agreed that it is for the best. She still thinks I was at my grandparents and I lost my phone . Tess is always busy with her college. She left a few days before as her classes had started. On the other hand,  I and Ella had nothing to do.

I wanted to report him to the police but I was afraid of what would happen. If I didn't do that then it would be like I am indirectly helping them grow. But I don't have any proof. Maybe I can give an anonymous tip about my brother. I should talk about it with Ella.

Thankfully I got my phone back. Mom had given me the phone the next day saying that Alex had found it. It wouldn't have gone missing in the first place if he was not the person I knew. My phone was filled with messages, and calls.

Working at his cafe has helped me to be distracted. Taking the order, Getting them the food, interacting with friendly customers and workers.

" Sir what can I get you", I asked as I handed a man the menu. I liked his dark messy brown hair . He looked at me for a moment and just stared at the menu. As I waited for their order I couldn't help but wonder whether I had seen his grey eyes before. A man was sitting opposite to him but he didn't bother to look at me as he kept starting  at is phone .

" I want a caramel latte with a blueberry muffin and he will also have the same.", he said.

I nodded and smiled at him. He just stared at me coldly.

I quickly went towards the kitchen. He seems weird and somehow I feel scared. I wasn't feeling good at all. Maybe I can have someone else to bring him his food and leave a few minutes early.

Or maybe I am being stupid. Why should I be scared? He is just a customer who may have had a bad day. I had to fight my fears. Today I will be going to Ella's house anyway. She will be here to pick me up soon so just ignore it.

I placed his order and quickly left to wait at other tables after their order was done,

His eyes were not leaving my mind. I feel like I saw them somewhere . I feel like I am getting paranoid. How can I compare everyone's eyes to the ones I saw there?

I tried to not to think about it as i placed their food on the table and left to get the bulk for another customer.

Why am I overthinking? It's nothing.

But sometimes I cannot stop myself from wondering what had happened that day. How did I get back? Who did I crash into? What happened then?

I am allowing my mind to think about these stupid things instead I should focus on important things I had to get ready before Ella comes. After few minutes I saw that they m were ready to pay the bill. So I went towards their table and gave the bill. He still looked at me coldly The other guy had already left.

" Hey"

I turned to my side to see Ella. She was already here. She saved me from this scary silence.

" Hey, I am sorry. I didn't see the time. I will come quickly", I said smiling at her.

" Well, I will be waiting in the car. It's the black one parked opposite to the flower shop", she whispered so that the guy wouldn't hear.

I grinned. It would be great to spend some time with her.

I turned to look at him. To my surprise, they had left paying the bill.

That was fast.

Weird!

I quickly got ready and left the cafe. I saw her car parked and quickly made my way toward it. Her parents have a cool car.

I opened the back door as I wanted to stretch my legs and doing that is distracting for her if I sit in the front. I quickly got in and closed the door.

" Hey Ella", I said as I looked through my bag for my phone.

Suddenly I was attacked by a strong smell that was coming from a cotton pressed onto my nose. It took me by surprise that I held my breath The car was moving. I tried to remove the cotton but I couldn't move. The person had their arm pressed on my neck and it was hard to turn.

Is it Alex or his mem? What did I do now?

"Bella", I heard Ella's worried voice.

Where is she? Is she okay? I tried to turn my head but the person's hold was strong. I struggled to get out of their hold

" It's okay just breathe", I heard a woman's voice.

Somehow hearing a woman's voice made me relax a bit.

I felt her press the cotton harder making it hard for me to not breathe. I couldn't hold my breath for long and I inhaled the strong smell and it slowly did its work

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