The idea of her family or my family taking her away has me worried for the day when she inevitably leaves. What am I going to do?
Parking outside my front door, I hurry out of the car and up the stairs, bursting into the foyer. Immediately, I call her name, and my voice echoes through the house.
One of the security guards walks past the front door, doing his walk around the perimeter of the house. He pauses, observing me for a moment. "Sir, is everything alright?" he asks, noticing my stressed state.
"Where is she?" I blurt out.
"She's inside somewhere, sir. She only left for an hour or two," he explains.
"She left?" I snap, already fearing the worst. "Where? Why?"
"Sir, you told us she could go out if she needed to… for medicine?"
"That doesn't take an hour or two. That takes fifteen minutes," I growl in a rage, convinced that Nikita was using the opportunity to try and find a way to escape again. What else would she be doing but scouting for a chance? Waiting for the guard to take his eyes off her for a minute so she could duck away.
"I'm sorry, sir. We were under the impression that you were fine with it as long as there was a guard with her. You said… "
"I know what I said!" I snarl, slamming the door in his face and jogging further into the house to look for her. I'll find out exactly why the hell she was going out for so long. If she was trying to escape, I'll know. I'll look into her eyes and read her. I know what betrayal looks like, having seen it far too many times.
"Nikita!" I bellow through the mansion.
"Bardil?" Her voice carries back to me, and my heart stops. Relief to hear her. To have confirmation that she's still here. But the anger doesn't go away.
Storming toward her voice, I burst into the kitchen and she jumps and squeals in fright.
"Oh my goodness!" she exclaims with her hand over her heart. "You sounded so far away. How did you get here so fast?" she giggles.
"Where the hell did you go today? What games are you playing, girl?" I snarl.
She looks at me with her nose scrunched and confusion traced in her eyes.
"I… "
"You what? Huh? You went to get medicine? Or what? How long should that take? Five, ten minutes?"
"Bardil,stop… " she huffs. "I also went to get some clothing, because I can't live in the same jeans and the same t-shirt every day, and I've been with you for ages now, and I never really had a chance to get some new clothes. And then after that, I went to the grocery store because… " She sighs and tilts her head to the side. "It was meant to be a surprise," she shrugs.
I glance around the kitchen and take in the chaos spread over the countertops.
My heart sinks, and I take a deep breath. "What is this?" I ask.
"The lasagna is already in the oven. And then… " She walks over to an open cookbook. "This is supposed to be peppermint tart, but so far I'm not sure I'm getting it right." She bites her lip, peering at the recipe with her brows knitted.
A chuckle of relief rustles from me, and I shake my head. My panic got the best of me. I feared the worst, and I took it out on her.
Stepping behind her, I slip my arms around her waist and look over her shoulder at the recipe. "You're making me peppermint tarts?" I muse.
"Trying to," she grins, leaning into me.
"Let me help. I reckon between the two of us, we can work it out?"
"Really?" Her grin grows wider. "That sounds like fun."
She steps away from the recipe book and tells me to read the instructions and explain the first part about the water and the pot with the pan inside it.
While I'm reading, I hear pots and pans clanging behind me.
"Ok, I've got it," I exclaim.
