“Apricot panna cotta with a side of chocolate bark,” he said, winking with a smile. Seeming like he had calmed down his panicked state.
I sculled the glass of water and then dipped my spoon into the edge of the panna cotta, covering it in some chocolate before tasting the sweet dessert.
“Oh my God, Dylan this is amazing!” I said still with a mouthful of the sweet goodness that had now become an absolute flavor explosion in my mouth.
“I know right,” he smiled. “It’s the ultimate midnight snack.”
Dylan filled my water glass up for me again. “You know, I probably should tell you the real reason as to why I am here or at least, how I got here. But I think that you might have more of a story to tell than I do. Dylan, you did it, you’re here, living your dream chef life. I need to know everything that I have missed, how you got here….” But the more that I spoke I watched his lips drop and his eyes flicker dark again.
“This is not my dream chef job,” he said. “And as good as it is to see you, Molly, you really shouldn’t be here. You need to leave as soon as you can trust me, I mean it, okay. You need to find a way to get the hell out of here!”
“Dylan, what the hell are you talking about? You don’t even know why I’m here. Hell, you don’t even know who the hell I am anymore and you’re telling me to leave?”
Dylan’s wide brown eyes were glaring at me with such fierceness as he leaned across the table. His hand stretched out, almost touching mine.
“Molly, how did you meet him?”
“Henry?”
“Of course, Henry.”
“Through friends.”
“And do those friends know that you’re here? Does Elyse know that you’re here?”
“Yes, they do, but could you please explain why the hell I am getting this grilling from you in the middle of the night when this is the first time in a decade since I’ve seen you? How do you know Henry?” I felt my voice raise as Dylan reached across the table to place a finger in front of my mouth, as if to silence me. A shiver ran down my spine as the memories of our relationship, the ones that I had seemed to shut down since the moment that I left, flooded my mind.
Elyse loved Dylan because he was a male version of her. He should have really become a detective instead of a chef. Although, overall, I would say that he treated me well. He hatedany time that I spoke out of line, any time that I questioned the norm, or disagreed with him. He hated it when I was loud. I loved Dylan, but the more time that I spent with him, the more of a silenced shell of myself that I became. I’d planned my exit long before I had actually done it. And it wasn’t until now that I realized I had fantasized everything that we had. Mostly because I hadn’t found anything better to relate to it too. That was until now. Henry never silenced me. If anything, with Henry I had never felt so validated. He didn’t feel awkward when I cried, and when I was excited, he celebrated it. He saw all aspects of me, and he let me be me, in my highest form. I hoped that I did the same for him.
“I don’t think that you want to know the story of how I ended up here, and right now what is most important, is that you’re kept safe. You need to leave here, Molly, trust me, you need to get out of here ASAP.” Dylan pushed himself back from the table, staring back at me in pain as he ran his fingers through his hair.
“I do want to know, Dylan, that’s why I asked. I want to know what the hell you’re doing here and why you want me to leave so bad. Did things between us really end that badly that the first time I see you again you want me to get the hell away from you?”
I did not want to cry. I had cried enough today. And breaking down in front of Henry was one thing but breaking down in front of Dylan wouldn’t help. I sucked in a deep breath ofair before spooning another mouthful of panna cotta, hoping that this would calm me down.
“It’s not that I want you to leave. It’s that I actually care about you, and I want to keep you safe, Molly. I want to keep everyone safe who steps inside this building. But I’ve failed at that and now I’m begging you, get the hell out of here!” Dylan gritted his teeth. I was waiting for him to explode with anger. This was far from the silent, poised Dylan that I knew so long ago. He would never step a foot out of line or speak to anyone like this. What the hell had happened to him?
“What do you mean you wanted to save the others? Who are the others and what are you talking about? If this place is so goddamn dangerous, then why the hell are you here?”
Dylan’s eyes slowly darted around the kitchen. As he leaned in closer to me, he pressed his body against the bench, bringing his lips so close to mine I was unsure if he had instantly changed his tune and he was about to kiss me. His voice became barely a whisper as he said, “I’m talking about all the other girls that he bought here.”
It was just a few words. Ones that I didn’t know were true or not. Were they? The Dylan I knew would never lie, but Henry had blatantly told me that he had never bought anyone here before. Did he work with a lot of girls? But it wasn’t just Henry that told me that he never had girls here, it was Lotte too.
“What others?” I said.
“What are you doing here, Molly? Please you need to tell me honestly. I swear to God I’m only trying to help you right now.”
“I was having a nice little getaway for a couple of days at my boyfriend’s island. Well, it was nice until you showed up and started spitting nonsense at me,” I said. Matching his energy and spitting back at him.
“He’s your boyfriend. He actually told you that he was your boyfriend?” Dylan asked and I nodded. I don’t know why that was so hard to believe.
“Yes, he’s my boyfriend, so now that I have told you my truth, I think that you better cough up yours and tell me why you are speaking to me like this.” I began to yell again as Dylan’s eyes had begun to well.
Dylan cleared his throat. “I can’t believe that you’re here. God, this could get me into so much trouble for even knowing you. If I even cross your path in the hallway, while you’re with him, you need to look the other way,” he said.
“Why would you get in trouble for knowing me? We’re all adults here. Everyone has a past, and Henry sure knows that I have not been some innocent virgin angel in my life,” I spat. Oh shit, why did I say that? Dylan’s cheeks turned pink, and I wasn’t too sure if it was because he could remember all the many times that we were intimate, or I had just told him a little too much about how my number had grown significantly since I had been with him?
“People go missing here, Molly. I shouldn’t be telling you this, you have no idea who could be listening in.” Dylan shook his head again walking around the kitchen bench. He stood close to me, reaching around the back of me. His hand leaned under the top of the stool and he spun my seat towards him. I was now facing him, our knees touching.
