I hear the refrigerator door open. “Then where is your food? Or drinks? Hell, there aren’t even any condiments. It looks like it’s never been used.”
It hasn’t.
“Just stop snooping and wait for me by the door. I’ll be done in a couple of minutes.” I crawl under the bed and grab my backpack. It’s the only thing that’s survived the last few moves. Then I open the closet. I only had one change of clothes normally, which is why the backpack was all I needed. This time, I’d fooled myself into believing I might stay here long enough to have a mini wardrobe.
This is what I get for wishful thinking, huh?
I have a week’s worth of clothing in the closet from that recent shopping trip I did. But is it going to fit?
“What is this?”
I jump at Dane’s voice and turn to find him standing behind mewith his hands in his pockets. He’s staring at the closet with his brows furrowed.
“What does it look like? They’re clothes,” I snap, because that’s my defense mechanism for feeling vulnerable like this. It’s like my entire life is being exposed in this little apartment. I’m as empty and meaningless as the barrenness of this apartment. Nothing to keep me here, no sign of my existence.
They have two, no, three places where they can live. Each bedroom I’ve seen so far has been filled with clothes, shoes, books or magazines, video games and movies…things. Items that tell a story of who lives there and a little about that person. Proof that they were there.
I grab the first top off the hangar and shove it into my backpack.
“That’s it?” he asks, incredulous.
“Like I said. I don’t need help. Just wait by the door,” I grit out. I have two pairs of pants and one more pair of shoes on the floor, so I roll the pants up and tuck them in, then organize the dress shoes on top. I work the zipper up a little at a time to make it all fit without breaking it.
“Don’t you have a bigger bag? Where are you going to put the rest of your stuff if that backpack is all you have?” Kellan asks from the doorway to the bedroom.
I never should have let them in.
They could have waited in the hall if they were going to poke and prod at me like this. “This is it.”
His face screws up. Then he looks around the room to see the same story as the living room and kitchen. Nothing but furniture.And a missing headboard. He stalks into the room and starts opening drawers left and right, progressively slamming them louder and louder each time he finds them empty.
I choose not to watch this and head into the bathroom to pack up my make-up and hair things I’d also gotten while here. I sling my backpack over my shoulder and cradle everything else in my arms.
“Give me that,” Dane grumbles, stealing the hair and make-up supplies from my arms. “What else?”
“Nothing. We can go,” I mumble the words to him, but Kellan hears them anyway.
He’s glaring around at the apartment like it’s what kept me from buying or keeping things. “Why is that all you have?”
I can see why he’d be confused. It took them an hour to pack up their clothes and precious possessions and get them loaded in the car.
I shrug it off, ignoring the sting of bitterness that burns my throat and swallow it down. “I’ve never stuck around somewhere long enough to have more than this.” I can feel the weight of both of their gazes on me, and when it becomes too heavy, I clear my throat. “Doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”
I’m adjusting my backpack over my shoulder one second, and the next, it’s pulled from my arm. Kellan just gives me a look when I open my mouth to argue, so I snap it shut and just hurry the fuck out of this apartment. I can’t stand to see them looking at it, at me, any longer.
“Just wait out here for one minute,” I tell them, punching in Portia’s code.
“We’re on the buddy system now, beautiful. No one goes anywhere alone.” There are two security guards walking this hall that I look at before looking pointedly back to Kellan. He smirks at me. “I don’t give a fuck about them. They aren’t me, and I’m the one who’s going to make sure you’re safe.”
The door clicks open. “Just stand in the doorway, then. I don’t want you in here without her permission.” I keep walking in and see that her apartment is exactly the same as I’d found it when she’d been taken. Which means she didn’t come back here after Elias got her away from GE. Even her packed bag is still on the couch.
I know exactly what I’m looking for, so I go straight to her bathroom and pull out the drawer where she kept her hair accessories. There’s a tray full of butterfly clips and colored tassels that she’d wear in her hair. I take the purple butterfly clip I’ve seen her wear the most and curl my hand around it.
I may only wind up being a blip in her life, especially now that her memories are back, but she’ll always be more than that in mine. I want something of hers to keep me going and remind me of what I’m fighting for. I slip it into my pocket for safekeeping.
Portia would probably lose her mind inawwsand hugs if she could hear me right now.
I smile at that and then meet back with Kellan and Dane at the door.
