Daniel was glad that he was able to see how much that Sebastian guy loves Aemilia. She desirves it, he knew that when they slept together all those years ago, that it did not mean anything to her. To him it meant a lot, she was, and is still, hot as hell. But not only that but she is also nice, which is rare for girls who have a lot of money. Still he knew right away that their time did not mean anything to her, right after the act. How she snuck out of his room, never said anything about it afterwards. As if she did not know with who she shared a bed, well she was drunk that night so that could play a role in that. This only did not explain why she never interacted with him as she had done before, maybe it was because of Gloria. Who never let her out of her sight after the party, which was a good thing in his books. Gloria was not poses over Aemilia, she simply looked out for her. He sighed and looked at the sketches of his designs, all were made with some kind of love. The desire he had felt from that night, the hope that one day she would be his. But that day will not come, he had seen how her face light up when the husband walked in. The same goes for the husband, when he saw her. Those two were clearly head over heals, maybe they even slept with each other.
"Hello Daniel, of course they have. They are freaking married." He said to no one in particular, because there was no one inside his studio except for himself. Talking to himself was a habit which was really hard to break, not that he needed to do so when it was only him. His gaze went from his work towards the clock, it was getting late, maybe a drink in the local bar will set him more at ease. He and maybe he finds some lady or gentleman who can distract him from his broken heart, something that was not easily done. He took his leather jacket and went down to the bar. It was not busy, which was not surprising it was a normal day, not even close to the weekend. But there were some patrons, he took his place at the bar. The bartender did not even ask his order and already placed a glass of cold beer in front of his nose.
"You are late." The bartender said. "I was starting to wonder if you would show up tonight."
"I did not know that we had a date." Daniel said playful, but the bartender, he did not know his name, was right about him being later than usual. "Sorry, had a lot on my mind. I just found out the girl I am crushing on, is already married. The worst part is, I like the guy." The bartender hissed.
"That is rough, man, but I thought that you were playing for the other team." The bartender replied. Daniel placed a grin on his face.
"Who said I can't play for both." He said, the bartender nodded and then shook his head. "But she was my first, after her it went all down hill." The bartender hissed again.
"But she is already married, so what are you going to do now. Hook up with every one who is willing?" The bartender asked. Daniel shook his head. That was originally the plan, but now that he heard the plan out loud from someone else's lips. It did not sound that appealing to him.
"No, but I am not going to wait until I find the one. It would be not right for me to do so." Daniel said and sighed, placing the glass at his lips and took a large gulp. The beer was not that bad, it was not a Belgium beer, but it was not bad. "Still, I need to keep my mind off the fact that I lost my change."
"You know, I will be free in half an hour. I can spend a few hours with you." The bartender said. Daniel looked at the man, he was not bad looking. Brown short hair, blue eyes and a three-week stubble beard. All with all, a nice catch, if he said so himself. And he was the one that offered, so why refuse this nice offer.
"Why not." He said. The bartender smiled and it would indeed be a night he would remember forever.
*********
Frank was at his widths end, Justin was simply out of his mind to threaten Sebastian and the other like that. He was at work when Justin made the phone call with that burner phone of his. That app that changed his voice sounded phony as fuck, but he knew that it was all Justin got. He only wished that Justin did not call his boss directly, he did not know that Gloria knew Sebastian Coleville until today. But it explained a lot, why the Quince family business showed interest in the small start-up. Sebastian was Aemilia's husband, that at least is what he heard during the break. He hated the fact that he got involved with this, but ,885, Justin was his younger brother. Only the man did not show any sign of reason. Frank shook his head when he opened the door, Justin and his buddy, named Buddy were sitting at a table playing cards. He did not ask how they were doing, or how their guest was doing. He had changed the locks after Justin's attempt, which made it not so safe for her while he was at work. But at the same time she was not going to be raped by any of these two. Which set his mind at ease when he is at work, he was the only one of this little group who did. Buddy and Justin never hold down a job for long and were now putting so much time and afford into stalking this poor woman's family and friends." Frank unlocked the door and entered. Gloria lay on the bed.
"I have some new cloths, and food with me." He said. She pushed herself up and looked at him.
"I am not hungry." She replied, she had not eaten since Justin attacked her. Maybe she was afraid that the food and drinks he provided were drugged, which was not a strange thought.
"It is still in its original wrapping. Straight from the covenant store." He said, but still she came not towards him or the food. He packed out the plastic bag and took the plastic bag with him. Afraid that she might hurt herself with it if he left it there. But when he checked upon her again, a few hours later she still had not thatched the food, or the clothes for that matter. He sighed, he was already afraid for this. Maybe this would be a good idea to pull the plug out of this plan. But how would he do it, he couldn't call the police while he was here. He needed to do it when he was at work. Then Justin and Buddy will not find out that it was him. Just in case something goes wrong.
******
The next morning he entered the office, and went straight towards Sebastian's office. Sebastian was already sitting at his desk.
"Boss, can I talk to you?" He asked. Sebastian didn't look up.
"Is there something wrong with the assignment I gave you?" He asked, but Frank shook his head and quickly closed the door.
"I am here to tell you that I have called the police, it is about Gloria Nightegale." Frank said, this made Sebastian look up. "I know where she is because I am part of the group who kidnapped her." Now even Adam looked up. "I knew it was wrong, but helped my brother anyway. I already informed the police where she is and also where I am. I have to warn you that she is not doing so well, I protected her as much as I could. But I am here all day, working my butt off to keep my head above water, well, supporting my baby brother and his good for nothing friend." Frank hung his head. "I am not making excuses or anything. I just wanted you to know why I did it." Sebastian stood up from his desk and looked him straight in the eye.
"Why do you tell me this now?" Sebastian asked.
"She stopped eating, I bought her sealed off food. To let her know that I wouldn't drug her or something. But she has not touched a meal or something to drink for an inter day." Frank said. "This can't go on, so I made the call and I think that there is the police to arrest me." Frank turned around and saw the police woman of yesterday coming towards him.
"Mister Coleville, mister .... I am here to inform you that we have rescued miss Nightegale, thanks to a tip." The woman said. She now looked at him. "Mister Ness, please place your hands on your back." He did as she said and she walked behind him.
Stolen story; please report.
"Officer Blackwater, let him walk out of here without them." Sebastian said. "I do not think he is a flight risk."
"That is for me to decide, mister Coleville. He is a criminal, after all." She said, pleasing the cuffs on his wrists, but she did not put them on too tight. "But it is thanks to this man that miss Nightegale is going towards the hospital. She was highly under fed and dehydrated. Do not worry, mister Ness, I am not blaming you for this. I have seen the food and drinks in the room."
"That is the main reason why I called you, officer." Frank said, he looked at Adam and Sebastian for one last time. "I am really sorry about all of this." That was before the woman took him away, his colleagues were looking at him in shock. But he knew that he did the right thing, he would face his crimes with his head held up high. "Madam, do I need to face my brother and his friend?" He asked before she opened the door of the car. She looked at him with her bright green eyes, she was beautiful and strong.
"Are you afraid of them?" She asked, and he nodded.
"You have seen my brother's records, if not you will see them. But let we say that my brother is not that stable." Frank said, she nodded and motioned for him to get in.
"Then no, you do not have to face them." She said, before closing the door. She stayed out of the car and made a phone call. He did not know who she was calling, but he hoped that it was protective services. It did not take long, before she hung up the phone, took her place behind the wheel and drove off.
*******
Adam jumped up and made his way out of the office. He needed to see her, and there was nobody who could stop him. Not that Sebastian would try, because he was following him. He was going to pick up Aemilia, to get her to the hospital. But he would go straight up. The road was empty and the traffic lights were not stalling for time, for once. But he wouldn't have cared, he needed to see her. He needed to be with her. He needed to ask mister Quince for his money, so that he could help her. He parked the car and rushed inside, the smell of the sterial inverment hit his nose. He did not care he rushed to the desk.
"Hello, I am looking for miss Nigthegale. She has being brought in?" He asked the lady behind the desk. The woman looked at her computer screen and then gave him clear directions. He followed them, while trying not to run. This was a hostpital, not a racing track. He entered her room and saw her laying on a bed. She was vast asleep, there were wires and tubes everywhere around her. The doctor followed him in.
"Are you family of miss Nightegale?" The man asked, he wanted to lie, but he shook his head.
"I am a friend. Her family would be here not before long." He said, the doctor nodded and sighed. "Doctor, I am willing to help her in anyway I can." The man sighed.
"I would not be surprised if the woman has PTSD after this, so maybe look into therapy. Or maybe a service animal." He said. A service animal? That was maybe a good idea, he took out his phone and started to look it up. "I know a shelter who trains this types of animals, cats, dogs, even small pigs." The doctor grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the adress.
"Thank you doctor, I will look into it." Adam said, just as Sebastian, Aemilia, her father and Gloria's parents walked in. Gloria's mother was in tears when she saw her daughter. The doctor told them what was going on, and even more tears were shed. The doctor left them. "Gloria talked about adopting a dog, before she got kidnapped."
"So I just got an address from a shelter that does train service animals. Maybe it will be a good idea for her to have a service dog." Adam said, and Aemilia nodded.
"That is a great idea." She said. "I will help with finding one." Adam smiled at her, she was indeed a great friend and he fired up the site. For them to look at profiles of the dogs. All of them were looking cute and the descriptions really helped to figure out which dog would be up for the task. A three-year-old Chow chow named Padditon was his personal favorite, but it will be up to Gloria which dog she was going to pick. He looked at her, and she looked at him.
"You are awake." He said, now all the focus was on Gloria, who nodded.
"I am going to look for the doctor." Sebastian said, and he left the room. Adam walked over her and took her hand, her first reaction was to pull it away. But after that she was the one who took it once again.
"Sorry." She said.
"That was something I wanted to say." Adam replied with a soft smile. By God what was it a relief to see her awake, she was once again safe. "I am so sorry that I was not there when you needed me." She shook her head.
"There is no way, you could have known that this was going to happen." She said. "So, do not beat yourself up over it. I am back, and did I just hear you are talking about a service dog?" So she heard that, he showed her the picture of Paddington. Her face light up and she nodded. "Can we go to the shelter as soon as I am discharged?" He nodded, he would do anything for her at this point. Move mountains, cross rivers, so the least he could do was drive by a shelter for her to adopt a dog. "Good."
"I will call them and ask them if that is alright with them." Aemilia said, and she left the room. Adam looked at her parents, they clearly wanted some alone time with their daughter.
"I am going to grab something to drink, do you guys want anything?" He asked, her parents shook their heads. So he left the room, Aemilia looked at him and sighed.
"She is safe." He nodded, she was.
*******
Gloria was glad that she was able to leave the hospital the very next day. Adam was the one who picked her up.
"Good morning, sunshine." He said. He opened the door so that she was able to get in. "We have an appointment, at the shelter, in half an hour." He said while he got in the car, he started the car and drove off. They did not drive for a long time, and she felt nervous. What if none of the dogs were suited for what she needed? Or another problem, what if none of the dogs liked her? Adam got out of the car and breath in deeply. "Tell all the lovely doggo's that it is adoption day." He sounded so sure, maybe she needed to push her worries to the side. She got out of the car and together with Adam entered the shelter. A young woman greeted them.
"You most be miss Nightegale, what I am glad to meet you." The woman said. "I will take you to our living room and then we are going to introduce three dogs to you. Paddington is one of them." She smiled. "Please come with me." She turned around and walked away. "Our shelter get our animals from shelters that have a high kill rate, we look for dogs, cats and other animals that we can train to be service animals. It is not an easy task, not every animal understands the game that they need to play. But there are some gems among them, like Paddington. He is trained to be an emotional support dog, he can guide the blind and notice when people going in apoplastic shock." Gloria listened carefully to the woman's words. " I heard you need a dog for PTSD." The woman said, and Gloria nodded.
"It is still not diagnosed, but both my therapist and doctor suspect it. I am not going into much detail." Gloria replied. The woman nodded.
"And I would not dare to ask any further. If those two are suspecting it, who am I to doubt it." The woman said. The living room was nicely decorated, it was not overly loud in colors. Which was nice, but it was still cozy. There was a couch big enough for Adam and her. But Adam chose to keep on standing.
"It is your dog, not mine." He said, when she looked at him. The woman brought in the first dog, which was a small dog. Gloria liked him, but the dog didn't want anything to do with her. Which was fine, this meant that this dog was not for her. The next one was a shiba-inu mix, and again there was no connection between her and the dog.
"This is so strange." The woman said, while taking away the dog. Adam sighed.
"Let's hope everything will be alright with Paddington." He said, she agreed with him on that note. She hated the fact that the other two dogs didn't like her. The door opened and Paddington, a chocolate brown chow chow, rushed in, and he went straight towards her. Jumped on the couch and lay down, with his head on her lap. He licked her hands, she felt better.
"He went straight to work." The woman said. "Normally a dog needs to be with you for a period of time to pick up your signs, but he already pulled on the lease when we came near the door. As if he could smell that you needed him." The woman stroke Paddington's fur. "There is no doubt in my mind that he is the dog for you." Gloria nodded and then looked at Adam.
"I got a dog." She said, he started to smile too.
"Paddington is used to be with other dogs and even with cats. So other animals will be no problem, you need to train with him. But that can be done at home with a personal trainer, or you can do it here. Also take the dog to therapy with you." The woman said, she stood up and came back with all the paperwork.