“I know, right, It’s like they don’t even know you at all. He’d be the last person you’d go to. I don’t know, Izzy. Something’s going on, something serious, but no one wants to tell me anything, and really, I can’t blame them. I did steal you.” She giggles.
“So, what did my father-in-law say? Is my dad behind all of this? That’s why they’re trying to kill me because of him?”
“I honestly don’t think anyone is trying to kill you. Well, maybe Alexander tried… a few times. But not on purpose... I don’t think? Aww fuck, I don’t know, men are weird.”
Anna pulls on the threads of the blanket. She is nervous.
“Anyway, they came, and I side-tracked them. They didn’t get any answers from me, but your father-in-law is scary as hell. He said nothing the whole time; he just stood there watching me. It was creepy. Then he looked at me, smiled, and said I reminded him of his wife.” Her face scrunches up, “That love, and loyalty go hand-in-hand and that if I heard anything to get a hold of Danny.” Anna shivers and hugs her body.
“God, I’m so sorry. You have got to get me out of here, so they’ll leave you alone.”
“It doesn’t matter; they already think you’re gone; we already knew they were going to come and ask me questions. I just didn’t expect the Godfather to show up. FYI, Alexander looks just like his father. No wonder they scare you shitless. Once he turned those silver eyes on me, I almost cracked.”
“Will you spend the night, or will you return home and risk it? I think after today, Danny will not leave you alone. Plus, he loves you.” I smile at her, and she twists her lips to the side.
“Yeah, he looked a little worried when The Godfather started talking. But he never moved. He can’t protect me even if he wanted to. I did this. It was my decision and didn’t involve anyone else. I just have to laugh, though.”
She breaks out in a big smile. “He kept rubbing his throat the whole time. Ahhh, memories.” She hunches her shoulders and laughs now.
I push her. “You really are crazy, ya know? Who gets this much joy out of knocking their boyfriend on his butt?”
“I do.” She points at her face.
We settle back and have a cup of coffee. We watched a movie. She gets up, gets ready, and goes home, and that’s how this whole week went. We visit, we both laugh, eat junk food and watch movies, and I’m feeling like me for once. I’m still scared and nervous, but excited and happy at the same time, too. It’s just a waiting game for Helen, and then I’m out of here.
Saturday morning comes and Anna shows up with breakfast from McDonald’s, so we settle down and start eating. She tells me that Helen called her, and I should move out on Monday. But we have a hitch in the plan. Alexander has the men watch Helen’s library, Anna’s apartment, and the museum. So, getting me out of here could be a challenge. But of course, Anna has a plan for that too.
“Okay, so the plan I came up with, and Helen agrees that this is going to work. Do you remember Karl?
I have my mouth full of food, so I nod at her and wave for her to continue.
“Okay, so Karl is going to send a shipment here by accident, but technically on purpose. We’re going to put you in the “wrong” shipping box. Again, sorry you’re going to be stuck in another box and I’m going to return it to Karl.”
My eyes bug out of my head, and I swallow my food. “Are you serious? This is some serious cloak-and-dagger shit.”
She pinches my cheeks and I look like a fish. “Oh, I love it when you swear. You’re so cute. Anyway, Karl will have everything that Helen has gathered for you already at his restaurant. It’s all waiting for you there. She’s never told me the plan, and you’ll find out when you arrive at Karl’s. So, once we get you out of here and onto that truck and you’re off loaded at the restaurant, you’re free and no one’s going to be the wiserbecause you’ll be stuck in a restaurant box.”
I laugh and hug her. “You are brilliant. You’re like a bloody wizard! I would never have thought of that.”
Anna smiles and bows at the waist. “Thank you, thank you very much. I am brilliant.” She smiles and lifts her eyebrows high in the air. “Plus, the shipment is already here. I’ve already got the return label signed and stamped. You’ll be picked up Monday morning.”
I’m not stupid. I knew after last Monday when they showed up that Alexander would have people watching everything. When I was at his house, they basically trapped me in my bedroom, and he had six people guarding the house and grounds. Plus, he found me at Helens, so he knew that would probably be the first place I would go, so I was expecting him to have his men watching her store.
My eyes burn with unshed tears I’m trying to hold back. We have one day together. I know I’ll see her again and I’ll try to keep in contact as best I can through Helen. But it’s not the same as having her in my life every day like I’m used to.
Anna smiles at me and wipes under my eyes.
“This isn’t the end for us, you know. I will see you again. I will visit you. When all this blows over, we’ll see each other. You’re my bestie now and forever. Just think of it as a brief vacation for a little while. That’s what I’m doing. Pretending it’s a vacation. It’s the only way I’m making it through without losing my shit.”
Sunday afternoon comes, and we hang out most of the day. She brought pizza again, and we watched Deadpool. I finally convinced her to let us watch one Harry Potter movie together. She is sleeping over again. We are trying to get every minute we can together. Monday morning comes and we slowly packmy stuff. Putting it into baggies that’ll fit in the container with me. We want to get it packed up and me in the crate before anyone arrives at work, so we’re up early.
It’s depressing, and we both cry off and on the entire morning. It doesn’t feel like the end, but it feels like an end. And for me, there’s a whole gamut of emotions that are going through me because this is the start of a new life. A life I have to start without Anna. I wish I had never married Alexander. I wish I had run away when I was younger. I wish that morning when I was looking at myself in the mirror getting ready for that stupid dinner, I would have done what I wanted to do, packed my bags and left. I would have saved everyone the trouble.
Anna locks the door. We head upstairs, and she opens the door to the docks with her tag. We walk hand in hand to the crate and stop, both of us take a huge breath.
“Jesus, this is harder than I thought it would be.” She smirks at me and wipes her eyes. I nod. I can’t talk over the lump in my throat.
Anna pops the lid off and we both look inside. It’s wide enough for me to curl up in. She puts my clothes in as a pillow and stands and looks at me.
