Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
As I sit down and slowly start sipping on my water, Ivy glances over at me. She writes again, her pretty handwriting looping off the page and her long nails clicking. Soon I realize she’s writing me a note. When she passes it over, Ivy presses a finger against her lips, telling me not to speak.
I look at the note. Her handwriting is hard to read, but it’s beautiful. It looks like a work of art. I read what she wrote. It’s just one word with a question mark at the end.
Name?
I don’t know if I should trust this woman. I don’t know if she’s worthy of being let in on my secrets. I don’t think it’s a good idea to give her any information about myself. Nevertheless, I can’t resist. It’s like a siren call that’s appealing to my lonely side, the one that ran away from Xavier even though I had feelings for him. Perhaps this is my only chance to make a friend. And now is the time for me to make a move.
I take her pen from her and write my name, my real name, on the sheet of paper before passing it back over to her. Her eyes brighten up and she stares at me as if she knows something she shouldn’t. Instantly, I’m afraid that she’s going to give up my location and Xavier is going to come here and find me.
I pick myself up to get away. But she places her palm on my hand and stops me from leaving. My eyes go to hers and I stare at her in a panic, convinced that my hiding spot has been found out and Xavier will come storming through these doors any second now to bring me work back where I truly belong.
Suddenly her lips open and a word rips itself out of them.
Her voice is hoarse, but beautiful. She only says one word and I think it’s her name.
"Ivette."
“How long has it been since you last spoke?” I ask her.
I’m so mesmerized by this strange figure I can’t bring myself to walk out of the room. Even though I’m afraid of being exposed, Yvette seems like she’s going to help me. There’s something between us - a camaraderie of sorts, a friendship that could bloom into something beautiful. Something tells me she’s gone through something similar as I have, that she knows just what it’s like to have a dangerous monster of a man on your trail.
She takes my hand and leads me out of the kitchen, but not before crumpling up the piece of paper where I wrote my name. She tears it into a million pieces and then sets fire to them. Together, we watch them burn in silent intensity. Once it’s done, she sweeps the ashes of the table and walks me outside into the backyard area. We go away from the view of the security cameras which are set up all over the perimeter of this building. We have to be safe. There are so many women here, whose men are after them to hurt them, to bring them to justice they’ve deemed is an appropriate punishment for them for whatever they did.
Ivette leads me to a small corner of the backyard and points above us. But there is nothing I see above us.
“No cameras,” she whispers in her hoarse, but somehow still sensual, voice. “We can’t risk anyone overhearing us.”
“So you do speak,” I say with a small smile. “I’ve been wondering about it. Why you’ve kept quiet for so long. Why won’t you even speak to me? Or any of the women working here? What’s your secret?”
“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” she winks at me. Her laugh is melodic and beautiful, even though I can tell from her voice that she hasn’t spoken in a long time.
“Someone’s looking for me,” she finally admits. “Someone who’s very dangerous. And if he finds me, he’ll bring me back to a life I hate. Don’t tell anyone I can speak.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“Because if you do, they’ll make me go back to my husband. So make sure no one fucking knows. This will be our little secret,” she tells me.
Her face is pale. And she looks… different.. She looks like she’s afraid and it makes me wonder who’s on her trail. It makes me want to trust her. I want to tell her all my secrets, too. But I still don’t know who she’s working for or what she possibly knows. It would be easy for her to betray me, go right back to Xavier and sell him the information he needs to bring me back home.
“I’ll never sell you out,” Yvette tells me, as if she can read my mind. “I’ve been in your situation before. I’ve been on the run. And just like me, you’ll be on the run for the rest of your life if you want to stay safe from the man who’s on your trail.”