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Looking in my suitcase, I decide to do it topless so I don’t ruin a t-shirt. I wrap a bath towel across my back and around my shoulders. “That’ll do,” I say to myself.
I’ll need to replace the towel on my next store run, I should have thought of that earlier when I was out.
It’s time to leave Andrea Shaw behind for real. Well, her hair, at least. I slide the terrible ‘one size fit all’ gloves on before mixing the solutions from both boxes as directed. I have the giant pamphlet of directions open and lying on the counter in front of me.
I part and squirt the dye all over, starting with my roots and working it down the strands. It feels like it takes forever, but I apply more and more, repeating until I’ve saturated all my hair with dye.
I give it one more massage before tossing the gloves in the trash. I scan over the directions, looking for how much time I’m supposed to let it sit. As I search, the words ‘DO NOT MASSAGE INTO SCALP’ catch my eye.
Welp… that’s precisely what I did.
Too late to fix it now, so I move on. Thirty-five to forty minutes is my wait time, so I check the clock, mentally taking note of my rinse time.
Settling on the end of the bed to pass the time, I get the remote and turn the TV on. I used to watch the news every day. I wanted to stay up to date on things going on in the world. Especially what was being said about Christopher.
Now, I find myself avoiding it.
I don’t want to know what’s being said about Christopher, and if I’m being honest with myself, I don’t want to see what may be being said about me.
I see a flash of Addy’s worried face in my mind. My heart squeezes at the thought of her sadness and concern. I doubt Christopher is acting as if I have disappeared. So, he wouldn’t allow anything into the public that might hint I’m missing. He’d want to look under control, like he has a loving and supportive fiancé andnotlike she up and left him “for no reason.”
However, Addy may be looking for me. In fact, I’m sure she is. Even if she can’t look through traditional means like reporting me missing to the cops.
I lose myself in a sappy movie. It’s about a career driven single woman whose life is turned upside down when she takes a trip to Nowhere, USA and falls for a small-town chef. I catch myself smiling at the story.
Cheesy as it may be, I hope I find a love like that one day. One that’s unexpected, grabs me up and holds me tight, and with someone I can trust with every deep secret I’ve ever had.
Someone I never have to fear.
Someone who I can runtowardinstead of away from when the world is dark, and I’m scared. A tear slips down my cheek. I didn’t realize how much sorrow I’ve been holding in.
I wipe my eyes, pushing my dreams of finding something real one day aside. That’s not in the cards for me right now, and that has to be okay.
I check the clock and see it’s time to rinse.
Heading to the bathroom, I carefully discard my pants, bra and underwear and hop into the shower. After a couple of good rinses, I apply the provided conditioner, allowing it to sit for a few minutes. After another rinse and a blow dry, I smile in the mirror.
It feels like Andrea is lookingintothe mirror, but Andi is the one who looks back. The chocolate color hair flowing down my back and over my shoulders is far different from anything I’ve seen on myself before. It’s shocking, to say the least. I survey myself in the mirror, deciding if I like it or not.
A few short moments pass before I decide that I really love it! It suits me even more than the blonde.
Tiding up my mess, I think of Addy again. I want to find a safe way to reach out to her. If nothing else, I just want her to know I’m okay. More than anything, I hope she’s okay, too. Dad and Andrew put an unbearable amount of pressure on her before I left, and I hope it hasn’t worsened. They shouldn’t have dragged either of us into the middle of their mess.
When I return to the living area, a yawn overtakes me. Three-thirty comes early, so it’s obviously time for bed.
Changing into pjs, I tuck myself into bed. Exhausted from the day and emotionally drained, it takes no time at all for me to fall asleep.
Chapter 20
Iwakeupina panic; a sweating, heart racing, gasping for air, full-blown panic. I dreamt of Adalyn. She was crying and screaming my name. I couldn’t get to her, and she couldn’t get to me. The terror in her eyes shook me to my core.
Looking over at the clock, I see it’s 3:00 AM. Scrubbing my hands down my face, I try to turn my thoughts to something else, like getting started for the day. But that isn’t happening anytime soon. I can’t get the sound of her pain-filled voice out of my head.
Tears roll down my cheeks and into my ears as I lie here. My sadness turns to anger while thinking of being ripped away from my sister. Christopher and Andrew are responsible for this. She and I shouldn’t have to be separated because of their choices.
Wiping my tears away, I push myself from the bed, heading straight for the shower. Determination fills me. Iwillfind a way to contact Adalyn today.
I arrive at the café early, unable to sit in that motel room any longer. I needed to move. I pace on the sidewalk as Charlie and Irene approach.
