“Ma’am! Alice! It’s Angela.” I hear my bodyguard choke out.
She only sets me down when we’re standing right next the Range Rover. “Angela.” I hug her tightly. A few tears escape my eyes. “I’ve never been happier to see you.”
“Are you all right? Have you been harmed in any way?”
“No, I’m fine,” I sputter. “I’m so sorry.” My chest heaves up and down. I’m still trying to catch my breath.
“Thank goodness. Let’s get you in the car. The sooner we’re out of here, the better. Bruce has been laying eggs; he’s been so worried about you.”
“Bruce?”
“Yes. I needed a person with experience to help me out. I knew I could trust him.”
She opens the back door, but my feet are glued in place. That’s when I suddenly remember. “Ange, they stole my mobile! There are some sensitive numbers in there. What if?—”
“Shh, don’t worry. We’ll activate the kill switch and get you a new device. Your safety comes first.” Her voice remains calm and reassuring.
“Princess!” Bruce exclaims from inside the car. “Please don’t ever scare me like that again. When Angela called me and told me you’d gone AWOL, I just about had a heart attack.”
It’s that last comment from the man I’ve come to see as almost a second father that breaks down my emotional walls and sends down an endless stream of tears.
The next fewhours are a painful blur. I lie on my bed with the lights turned off in self-imposed exile. I’ve always erred on the side that nothing bad could happen to me. I’m just Alice. But the harsh reality is that I am a target. Today’s experience was minor compared to what could’ve happened.
I can still hear Bruce’s words echoing around in my head.“The threats out there are very real, Princess. I won’t sugarcoat it. Every day,there’s at least one to two letters or calls the office receives threatening to do you or someone in your family harm. I can’t stress how important it is that you take your security seriously.”
I grab my pillow and clutch it tighter to my chest. I’ve acted foolishly, and once again disappointed the people in my life who are the most important to me. I haven’t behaved like an adult. I’ve acted like a spoiled child. Today was an eye-opening experience for me. I’ve never been angrier with myself.
Twenty-Seven
On Monday, I receive a visit from Amanda.
“Hey, how are ya holding up?” she asks as I let her in and close the door behind her.
“Fine,” I answer, not really in the mood to speak to anyone.
“Ali, it’s waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too dark in here. You’re not a bat living in a cave.” She marches directly over to the windows and draws the curtains. Light floods the room and I have to blink a few times so my eyes can properly adjust. “That’s better.” Amanda spins around and gives me a look over, hands planted on her hips. “You look awful.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, knowing full well I haven’t bothered getting dressed or doing anything to take care of my appearance for the past couple of days.
“Hurry up, go shower and get dressed. After that, we can get the day started.” She gently steers me toward the bathroom. “We have things to do and places to be.”
I stand rooted in place. “Amanda, I can’t go out. I’ve grounded myself.”
“Eddie’s filled me in on the four-one-one. If you ask me, Ali, you’ve learned your lesson. You won’t ditch your security again. I get that it was a traumatic experience, but you shouldn’t punish yourself for everymistake you make. We’re only human.” She sighs. “Did you know I pulled a similar stunt right after Eddie and I became engaged?”
I shake my head.
“We’d planned to have a special date night together and I wanted to have something extra special to wear to it. One of the best places to find vintage clothing is the Notting Hill antique market. I asked the security office about it and my request was shot down. I was told there would be way too many people and the market was too out in the open. Can you see where this is going?”
I nod. Amanda is stubborn, like Eddie. If she wants something bad enough, she’ll find a way to get it. “You decided to go anyway on your own?” I guess.
“Yup.” She smacks her lips together. “I ditched the protection team, spent the morning at the market, and shopped ’til I dropped. I was lucky that I wasn’t recognized, and nothing happened. But Eddie, David, your dad, and the security office made sure I understood afterwardexactlyhow badly things could’ve gone. Like it or not, as Eddie’s fiancée, my life as I knew it as a private citizen was over.”
I soak in her words, processing how difficult it must have been to transition from being able to go anywhere and do anything to a life in the public eye.
“I knew I’d messed up. Yes, I was mad at myself for making a bad decision. But you know what? Lesson learned, and I moved on. Life is too short to be miserable.” From the outer pocket of her handbag, she passes me a slim tablet and a piece of paper. “Now here’s what you’re going to do. Send an email or text to your man. When you’re done, we’ll head out for some retail therapy. We have a wedding to plan.”
I accept the paper and clutch it to my chest. I’m being given a lifeline. In the craziness of the situation, I never had a chance to leave my napkin message with Art. “You’ve set a date, then?”
