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The tulle of the dress swishes with every step as I walk over to the chair where my purse is. Reaching in, I pull out the piece of paper with Alistair’s number on it and then my cell phone.
With shaky hands, I dial his number. As soon as it starts to ring, my heart thunders in my chest.
It rings three times before he finally picks up. “Hello?”
A gush of air leaves my lungs and more tears sting my eyes at the sound of his voice. “Alistair?”
“Yes? Who is this?”
“It’s Scarlett. From the key party.” I hate how my voice cracks.
The other end goes silent and for a second, I think he hung up on me. “Scarlett?” he breathes, and my heart starts racing for a whole other reason. I may have only spent one night with this man and his lover, but it was the best night of my life. If things were different, and we lived other lives, I could see myself falling for him. Hell, maybe them.
“H-how are you? I didn’t think I’d ever hear from you again.”
I let out a sad laugh. “Honestly, I didn’t think I’d ever use your number. But Alistair, I need your help.”
“Anything,” he replies without hesitation, and I hold back a sob. He agreed so easily, without even hearing what I needed him to do.
“I’m being forced to marry. I thought I could go through with it, b-but I don’t think I can. I need to get out of here. I don’t know what to do, or how I’ll do it. I need your help. Please.” The last word comes out as broken as I feel.
“Fuck,” he curses softly and I think he’s about to tell me no, that there's nothing he can do, but he speaks again. “Okay. I’ll help. I have a lot of connections. We can get you somewhere safe and go from there.”
“Really?” I finally let a few tears fall as relief hits me hard.
“Yes, Cupcake, fuck. I’ve missed you so much. If you don’t think you can do this, that your life is in danger, I’ll be there.”
“Thank you. Oh, Alistair, thank you!”
“When is the wedding? How long do we have?”
My stomach sinks. Maybe I got too excited too soon. “Actually,” I say slowly. “It’s in twenty minutes.”
“What?” he breathes out harshly. “You're getting married today? Why would you wait until the last minute to call me?” The line is silent and I don’t know what that means. Is he not going to help me?
“I don’t know!” I start to panic. “I’m sorry. I thought I could go through with it. I really did. But I can’t. I can’t. Please, Alistair, help me.”
“Shit, okay. That doesn’t leave me with much time. Fuck. I was on my way to an engagement but let me see what I can do. Where are you?”
“I’m at the church. It’s called St. Colette’s. It’s in downtown Estrella.”
There's another pause, this time longer than the other. I look at the phone, checking to see if he’s hung up, but it shows that we're still connected. “St. Colette’s? Like the big Catholic one with the stone statues out front?”
“Yes!” I remember seeing them as I walked in. “That’s the one.”
“Okay then. I’ll see you in about twenty minutes,” he tells me, and I think I hear excitement in his voice.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I tell him before hanging up. I can't believe this is happening. I think I’m going to puke. God, I feel so dizzy right now, the rush of excitement filling me. I need to relax and breathe. I’m not in the clear yet. If my uncle comes back looking for me, I have to act like I’m about to go through with this.
“We’re going to be okay,” I whisper to myself and my baby. “At least I hope so.”
For the next twenty minutes, I pace the room, unable to sit still and wait.
But with each second that ticks by, I grow more and more anxious.
Where is he? Is he still coming, or did he change his mind? Needing to know, I grab my phone and call him again.
“Answer, answer,” I mutter as the phone rings and rings and rings. “No,” I sob, checking the time. “Fuck!”
