Chapter Twenty-Seven
Dominic
I should’ve known that all good things come to an end. Especially that good thing was something completely out of this world. After almost two blissful days with Candice, we knew it had to come to an end. I’d gone downstairs to get her another chocolate muffin and coffee, and we’d laughed because we were both still wearing the same clothes we had when we first arrived. They weren’t even dirty though, because we’d spent most of our time without clothes on anyway. The only time we’d gone out had been for the bike ride, the rest of the time had been spent in bed.
Candice went to shower, and I decided to switch my phone back on. I’d turned it off when we had arrived so that we didn’t get disturbed and I had decided not to turn it back on again the whole time. Candice had sent a message to her mother and then turned hers off too. It had been a nice change. Disconnecting from the world like that had really made it seem as if Candice and I were the only two people left. The moment I switched the phone back on, I felt a sense of loss for the time we had spent together. I had no doubt in my mind that we would be back, though. Another than the amazing café, there was nothing special about this motel, and yet it had quickly become one of my favorite places in the whole world. I switched my phone on and got changed.
I immediately knew that something was up when my phone began buzzing like crazy. It was like when you were away at some remote location for New Year’s and receiving all your messages when you finally got back to a place with signal. But this wasn’t New Year’s Day, and people weren’t calling to wish me well. Something was wrong. I grabbed my phone and saw messages and calls from Axel and my father. None of the messages really said what was wrong, but all of them were asking where I was, and all of them were asking me to please call back. I immediately called Axel and was glad when he answered.
“Oh my God, Dominic. Where the hell are you, man?”
“Axel! What’s going on? I have so many messages from you and my father. I’m freaking out. What’s going on? Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Everything is fine here. We are the ones worried about you. Where are you? Why weren’t you answering your phone?”
“I haven’t even been away that long. I took Candice out for a bike ride, and we decided to stay over at a motel. But she told her mom. Why? What’s happening?”
“Okay, well I’m relieved to hear that you are okay. But shit, man, you had us worried. I don’t think her mom got that message. You’re in big trouble here, man,” Axel said.
“What? Why?”
“It looks like Candice’s father is spreading some serious lies about you. He called the police and said that you abducted his daughter. And then, when you didn’t answer your phone, it only made them more suspicious. And, what’s worse, Candice didn’t answer hers either. Didn’t you see that we were all worried?”
“Abducted? What the hell is wrong with him? Why would he say that? Oh my god. Shit. I’m sorry about the phone. I figured she’d messaged her mom, so it was okay. And it’s not like people usually get worried about me when I don’t answer my phone. I thought it would be nice to have a bit of peace and quiet while we were together. We didn’t mean any harm. I didn’t mean to worry anyone. You know that.”
“I know. I know,” Axel said. “I didn’t think you had actually abducted her. Shit, that’s crazy man. I know you wouldn’t do that. And so does your father. We were actually worried that something had happened to you. It was just so weird when you were both not answering your phone. We’ve been going mad. And the police are all over looking for you.”
“Shit. Well, what should I do? Can you let pop know?”
“Yeah, of course. And I guess just come back. It was just a misunderstanding. I’m just glad you’re okay. I wouldn’t normally have worried this much, but I think with everyone panicking like that it all just got blown out of proportion,” he said.
I sighed. “Tell me about it. Okay, I’ll see you soon. I’ll let Candice know. She’s in the shower and has no idea all this is going on.”
“So, things are back on between the two of you, huh?” Axel said, and I could hear the tease in his voice now that he wasn’t so frantic anymore.
I laughed. “Yeah, I couldn’t help myself. I was sick of people telling us what we could or couldn’t do. Her dad sounds like a prize idiot, if you ask me.”
“Well, at least you had fun. I’m happy for you. But next time . . . keep your phone on.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever switch my phone off again.”
As I cut the call, I heard the water switching off in the shower, and I listened to the sounds of Candice getting ready. She was taking her time, clearly unaware of all the problems, but I decided not to rush her. She’d already been through a lot, and she was about to be in a world of trouble. I wanted her to enjoy her few moments of freedom a bit more. But when she came out she knew something was wrong. It must’ve been written on my face.
“What’s going on? Where you on the phone? I thought I heard voices.”
I sighed. “Yeah. That was Axel. I turned my phone on and I had so many missed calls and messages from him and my father. Apparently, they’ve all been worried about us because both of our phones were off. Your father called the cops, and they are now looking for me.”
“The cops?”
“Yeah, he thinks I abducted you,” I said.
Candice sat down. “He thinks you abducted me? Seriously? Why the hell would he automatically jump to that conclusion?” Then she shook her head. “Because that’s what he wants to believe, of course,” she said as she answered her own question. “He wants everyone to think that you’re the bad guy here. Shit.”
“Didn’t you send your mom a message when you arrived?”
She nodded. “I did. That’s why I wasn’t worried. I sent her a message just before I turned off my phone.”
She got up and picked up her phone from the side of the bed and turned it on. Like mine, her phone immediately started buzzing from all the unanswered calls and messages. She shook her head and then scrolled through her phone.
“Here it is. Although, what the hell? Only one tick next to it. It’s like I sent it, but she didn’t receive it. That’s strange. But I have calls from her, so she must’ve used her phone since then. Oh, great. So she didn’t get the message? I probably should’ve waited to see if she messaged me back . . . .”
“No, you had no idea. Ah, this is all just one big mess. Axel seems pretty convinced that your dad is out to get me. I think he wants to have me arrested.”
“What? Arrested? He can’t do that. Dominic, I won’t let him do that. I swear. I will just explain that the whole thing was just a misunderstanding. They might get cross, but they can’t arrest you. Come on, let’s go home before they worry even more.”
I nodded. “Yeah, let’s go sort this out.”
I wasn’t nearly as confident as Candice was, though. She was right. They couldn’t really do anything to me, not when they saw that I had done nothing wrong and that Candice was safe. And anyway, she would just tell them that I didn’t abduct her. But I had this nagging suspicion that Lionel held more power than I could imagine. If he was upset with me, then he was going to do everything that he could to make sure that I paid for it. I watched my NFL aspirations slowly falling away. After everything that I had worked toward, I was now almost sure that I wasn’t going to get what I wanted in life. I just hoped I wasn’t going to lose Candice too.
We walked downstairs and handed in the keys. The woman at reception seemed sad to see us go and concerned as to why we both looked upset. We contemplated going for a last cup of coffee, but we both knew that we couldn’t delay the inevitable any longer. We had to go back and face everyone.
Candice climbed onto the back of the bike, and we drove off. This time, the bike ride wasn’t nearly as pleasant as it had been the times before. She held on tight, and neither one of us bothered looking at the beautiful scenery around us. It was a long ride, and I had no idea what was going to be waiting for us when we got back. But the last thing I expected was to see the cop cars lined up outside. Why were they still there? I was sure that Axel would’ve called to make sure that everyone knew we were fine. My heart pounded in my chest at the sight of them.
We climbed off and made our way toward everyone. Candice’s father was standing outside, next to a cop, and shook his head when he saw us coming. I saw her mom standing nearby, with a look of relief on her face. She came forward and gave Candice a hug.
“Mom, I sent you a message. I told you that we were staying the night. What is going on?”
“Candice,” her father interrupted. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Dad. Of course I’m fine. I’m sorry we worried you, but I did let you know. I did.”
“Are you sure? Or did Dominic do something that you don’t want to tell us about? You can tell us now. You’re safe here.”
“Sir, I—” I started, but Lionel interrupted me.
“Please, I’m talking to my daughter,” he said curtly. He didn’t even want to look at me. I had flashbacks to him as a child now. I had forgotten how stern he could look. How scary he could seem. But I wasn’t scared of him anymore. I knew I could do nothing against him, but I definitely wasn’t afraid of him.
“Dad, don’t talk to him like that. And of course he didn’t do anything to hurt me. Why are you saying all these things? You know that he’s a good guy. I’ve told you that so many times. There was nothing to worry about. Certainly no reason for cops. Why are they still here?”
I watched as her father nodded to the cop next to him. After that, it felt like everything was happening in slow motion. The cop came up to me and handcuffed me behind my back. Then, ignoring our pleas, he walked me to his car and pushed me inside. From the window, I could see Candice crying and yelling for them to take me out. But it was no use. I had known it from the minute I spoke to Axel that something like this was going to happen. And, as we drove off, I watched Candice’s retreating figure in the distance. I said goodbye to all hopes of a future with her, and all hopes of a career in football.
“You shouldn’t have messed with that guy,” the cop said from the front.
I didn’t answer.