Carol

“What is going on Steve?”

I woke up from what felt like a dream. I remembered arguing with Steve and him leaving. What I didn’t understand was why I was with him now and why nothing looked familiar. My brain felt foggy and it was hard to think. Had I been drinking last night?

“You don’t remember?”

I shook my head that I didn’t. I was still laying down, trying to figure out where I was. The pounding in my head stopped me from sitting up. I had tried that once and the groan that I had let out was what had brought Steve to me in the first place.

“No, I don’t. I remember that we went for dinner and then for a ride. Then you came over to the house for a bit and then you left.” I didn’t want to mention that it was because he was acting crazy and jealous for no reason. The man had fixated on David for some reason and I had tried to keep it from him so he wouldn’t start something. Now I wasn’t sure what had happened. The only thing I knew was that my mouth was dry and I needed something to drink.

“Is there anything to drink?”

He looked surprised, like it was a strange request that he hadn’t thought of. “Yes I will get you something to drink. I didn’t think about you being thirsty. Just give me a moment.”

I tried to lift my head again while he was gone and I took in the room around me. It was small and it felt like we were kind of moving or swaying in a way. I was no closer to figuring out where I was and after a quick look down my body, it looked like everything was still in order. Then why did I have the throbbing in my head and the stiffness in the rest of my body.

When I heard Steve coming back downstairs, I don’t know why, but something told me that I was supposed to be in bed. I didn’t have a reason to not trust him or the present situation, but I didn’t. I wondered what it was that we were doing here and where here was.

“I got some water. There isn’t a lot to drink, though when you are feeling a bit better, I will bring you some soda. I made sure to get some of that kind that you like.”

“Thank you Steve. Where are we?” It was the second time I had asked, but this time I really needed to know.

“I thought after the week we have both had that it was time for us to have a little getaway. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

It sounded about as nice as the face that held no emotions. Something was off and I didn’t like the way he was beating around the bush.

“I can’t just take off of work. Neither can you.”

“Well I have a little time that I was able to take off and I already called your work. They understood that it was needed, so they were fine with you taking some time off.”

“You called my work?”

I don’t know why out of everything that was going on that’s what really got me thinking. What in the world was he talking about and how could he think that calling my job was going to be a good thing? Didn’t he know that I would be mad? The last thing that I wanted to do was have my boyfriend calling in for me like I couldn’t call in for myself.

“What do you mean that they understood it was needed?”

He wasn’t answering my questions and I could feel my heart starting to beat faster in my chest. I could feel every last bit of anger inside of me well up.

“How dare you call my work and tell them anything! What are we doing here? Answer me Steve!”

The more my mind started to clear, the easier it was to see that I was not in a situation that I really wanted to be in. I was in a dangerous situation and most likely Steve was a lot more dangerous than I had first thought. The nice guy that I’d thought was like the man I was supposed to be with was smiling and sweet, but the meaning behind the grin was hard to ignore. This was not the man that I was dating anymore.

“You sure do have a lot of questions Carol. Why don’t you get up and we will talk about it like civilized adults? I don’t want to talk to you like this when you are lying down. It feels weird.”

“My head hurts and I don’t think that I can get up.”

“Drink more water and it will help.”

He seemed to know what was wrong with me, but something told me that I wasn’t supposed to know or bring up that fact that something was off. The way I was feeling I didn’t think that I should bring attention to it. Taking another drink of water, I tried to get up and he helped me with gentle hands. I was full of different emotions and I wasn’t sure what it was I was supposed to feel. Which one was right?

“I can’t.”

“Here, let me help you Carol. It’s going to be okay.”

I didn’t believe that statement, but I did hope that getting up I would be able to see more. I would be able to see where I was or at least get a better idea of it.

When I did sit up, it didn’t help anything. Wherever I was, there was nothing else around that made much noise, just a soft sound in the background. There were no windows to see out, just a salty smell in the air that threw me off a little. I was no closer to figuring out where I was and it was agitating to say the least.

“So where are we Steve? I don’t recognize this place and this isn’t your apartment. I don’t even know how I got here to begin with. The last thing I remember was you leaving my house and me getting a glass of wine.”

“Yes, I figured that you would need some wine. It is a bad habit you know.”

I wasn’t going to agree or disagree. I just wanted to know what it was that I was doing here.

“It may be, but I only remember having a half of a glass, so I don’t know how that would have made me be here without remembering. How did I get here?”

My voice was starting to sound desperate and I hated it. I didn’t want to be afraid, but the longer he didn’t tell me what was going on, the worse it was. I could have sworn that he was being obtuse on purpose, like he liked my discomfort.

“I brought you here. You looked stressed out and seemed like you needed a break.”

“Where is here?”

“On a boat.”

The rocking started to make sense now. Before I had tried to figure out the few weird inconsistencies that didn’t seem to make sense, now there was too many to count. The lack of windows and the movement had given me some crazy ideas, though the fear I had of water made my current location no better. Steve and I had a talk once about fears. He had brought it up and I had mentioned water. I had other fears of course, but it was the only one that I had felt comfortable to share. Now I wished I had kept my mouth shut.

“You know I can’t swim.”

“I do, but it isn’t so bad in here, right? Besides it gives us all the time alone that we would ever want. There are no distractions, no friends that pop in at all hours of the night…”

“Are you still on this?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to talk about it now. Let’s get you settled in and then I figured that we could get some dinner. You have been sleeping for a while so you must be famished.”

“How long was I asleep? What time is it?”

He put his hand up to silence me and told me that I was just going to have to wait for all of the answers. “It has been a long day for both of us, so let’s just have a meal and get you up top. That will have you feeling right as rain in no time.”

I agreed, but I didn’t believe that anything was going to make me feel better. Something sinister was going on and his smile didn’t fool me. It wouldn’t take much of a push to get a completely different person out of Steve. That I knew for sure.

There was no other choice then to go with it. He wanted to be in charge and at least until I was feeling better, I was going to let him think that. I had to, something inside of me said that I was just going to have to be quiet and wait for a good time. He hadn’t said that I was not able to leave, but I had a feeling that he wasn’t going to help me. Going up on deck was going to be scary, but then I would at least know where it was that I was at. I hoped to see some sort of landmark that would point me in the right direction.

“I didn’t know that you had a boat Steve.”

Steve was chopping vegetables and acting like this wasn’t strange at all. By the way he was acting it was like this was all normal to him. It certainly wasn’t normal to me, but I put on a brave face and tore the lettuce for the salad.

“It is a client’s of mine. I made him a really good bit this quarter and he offered it to me. I wasn’t going to take it, but it all felt right. So now here we are.”

I nodded my head slowly, trying to figure out how to ask a question that he wouldn’t shoot down so quickly. I wanted information and the more I asked, the less he gave me. That was the first straight answer that I had gotten since I had woke up.

“I wish I had clients like that. I guess it would be a better chance of that if I didn’t work for the government, huh?”

“I don’t think you would be able to even accept that kind of bonus.”

It was working, he seemed to be relaxing.

“What is that you are cooking? It smells so good.”

“It’s just some meatloaf. I don’t know how to make too many things, but this is a recipe that I have made many times before.”

“Well it smells good. You are right. I am starving.”

“It will be ready soon, don’t worry.”

I told him that I wasn’t worried, even though I really was. I was nervous about a lot of things and the dinner was the least of them. My stomach grumbled and reminded me that I was in fact hungry, but I tried to ignore it. I needed more information than food in my belly.

Steve seemed calm and like he didn’t have a worry in the world. I think that was what freaked me out the most. He was just so calm about everything at the same time that I thought I was going to be sick I was so worried. I wished I knew what was going on in his brain. He didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that we were on a boat and I hadn’t given my permission to take me. I don’t think it would have mattered if I would have or not.

“I’m glad you are here Carol. I was afraid that it was going to end badly for us.”

I wanted to ask him if this was good for me. It didn’t feel good for me. “Can we eat up on deck? I would really like to see the sun.”

“It is already dark again Carol. I told you that you slept a while. A lot longer than I thought you were going to. You really had me worried for a little while there.”

“Why?”

He stopped like he had said too much and then gave me a lopsided grin. “It doesn’t matter Carol. All that matters is that you are okay and you are here with me.”

I agreed while my mind whirled. What had he done to me and why would I being okay be in question. Steve had given me something. I wasn’t sure how he did it, but he must have drugged me in some way. That must be why I am feeling the way I am.