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He took his responsibility over his brother seriously. Camila could tell that he was furious with Adrien for his behavior, but he was also mad at himself for not being able to stop it. She wouldn’t bother him, either.
Besides, there was still the protection order, although her guess seemed to have been right. Adrien would have had the same document sent to him that she had telling him to stay away and to stop trying to contact her. He didn’t care about violating the no contact order, because he always did whatever he wanted.
Camila decided to be careful from then on. Over the next several days, she rarely even stepped outside of the apartment unless she really needed to go out. Anytime she thought about leaving, she began to panic, thinking Adrien would be there.
Even for work, when there was something for her to do, she had her colleagues email her the copies so she wouldn’t have to pick up the documents. And then she even paid for a courier to bring ones with confidential files that could not be digitally distributed.
Hey, beautiful, would you like to go to dinner tonight?Samuel texted a few days after the grocery store incident.
Camila frowned. She wanted to say yes, she’d missed him terribly in self-enforced imprisonment, but the thought of leaving terrified her. She had officially become the agoraphobic she’d worried about!
I’m sorry, I can’t tonight I have to finish a project.She sent back. It was a lie, but she didn’t want to tell him how afraid she’d become.
Alright, we’ll plan it for another night then, beautiful. I have to go out of town for a bit, but I’ll give you a call tomorrow before I leave.
Sighing, Camila set her phone down.
She’d thought it would be enough, staying in her apartment and never leaving. She’d thought he’d give up and go away, and for a few days, things were quieter. No calls, no messages from Adrien. She started to relax.
She was working on an assignment when the phone rang. Picking up her phone, she noticed it was from an unknown number, but it could have been someone calling her from a borrowed phone or something, so she answered.
“Hello?” she said, only passably curious. “Who’s this?”
“It’s me.”
She didn’t say anything as thoughts raced through her mind. For a lot of people, just saying ‘it’s me’ wouldn’t be enough to tell who it was. Except this voice was very familiar, and at the same time, not. At first, she even thought it was Samuel, until he spoke again.
“Don’t tell me you don’t remember me, Camila. It hasn’t been that long since you last saw me, right?”
The moment she realized who it was she was on the phone with, Camila was petrified. Her heart pounded in her chest and her hands were shaking, but she shook herself out of it quickly and cut the call, then dropped the phone on the desk and stared at it.
That… had been Adrien. He’d sounded different, because it was the first time he had talked to her with his voice sounding so…strange. Usually, he was a ball of excitement compared to his brother, and it always showed in his voice. For his voice to suddenly change that way, even she wouldn’t recognize it immediately.
“Why am I afraid of a phone?” she muttered to herself, suddenly scowling at her phone.
What was the point? It wasn’t as if he could see it on the other end of the line, and the call was cut already.
“Note to self,” she sighed, going back to work. “No more picking up calls from unknown numbers.”
Her heart was heavy, but she ignored it and worked.
The phone continued to ring, from different unknown numbers, so she turned the phone off. She had hoped once again that would be the end of it, but of course, it wasn’t.
She couldn’t escape going to the office at least a few times over the past couple of days. Her boss would no longer allow her to pay a courier to pick up the documents. He wanted to put them in her hand himself and she didn’t want to explain why she didn’t want to come in. She was on edge every time she stepped out of the apartment to go there. Fearful that she would see him, she rushed the whole way to the office and back home again. She lived in fear of Adrien creeping up on her and doing…something. What, she had no idea, but it was the thought that drove her to hurry faster.
Camila sat at her computer, answering emails when she noticed one from her boss.
Camila, I have been trying to reach you, but your phone isn’t working properly, and it keeps going directly to voicemail, but the box is full. I need you to come into the office, I’ve got a project for you, and it’s time sensitive. As in ASAP. Now.
Camila sighed. She’d been in the office earlier that morning and he hadn’t mentioned anything. Looking at the time on the email, she saw he’d only sent it ten minutes earlier. She opened her phone and noticed one hundred fifty-three missed calls from the unknown number, as well as fifteen from her boss.
Crap.
Throwing on a hoodie, she headed out of the apartment. She furtively looked about as she made her way down the street and that was when she saw him. He stood right across the street, staring right at her. His face was a stone mask. It felt like her heart shriveled inside her chest in panic.
Looking around, she saw a cop further down the street, checking parking tickets. As she rushed toward him, looking over her shoulder, she noticed Adrien keeping pace with her, just several feet behind her on the opposite side of the street. Camila focused on the cop again. He had something strapped at his waist, and she hoped it was a useful weapon that could keep Adrien away. She rushed over to him.
“Excuse me,” she said. “Sir?”
