Erin felt like she had been making good progress on Bruce's sweater, as in the space of two weeks, she had completed the back and was a quarter of the way finished with the front. There was something extremely therapeutic about the progress she was making, and while she was already mourning the fact that she wouldn't be able to see Bruce's face when he received the sweater, there was still a faint flicker of hope burning in her chest at the thought of this clue that she would be sending to her family, and right under John's nose. Still, her hands were starting to hurt a little, and she set aside the project for the day before getting to her feet and cracking her back before walking around the perimeter of her room in order to get some blood flowing in her legs.
"John, I need a way to exercise. There's not room for a machine in here. I don't know how you'll solve that, but I' certain you'll come up with a solution." Heading into the bathroom, she quickly peed and then washed her hands before taking a look at her reflection in the mirror. Since she couldn't get to her hair salon, her roots were starting to darken a little, along with silver strands making their appearance. Erin thought that it made her look older, but she wondered if David would feel the same way. That would be her second order of business, when she escaped this nightmare, getting her hair back to the state that she preferred it.
Turning, she made her way out of the bathroom, only to find the food door open, and a yoga mat sitting on the shelf where her meals usually resided. Laughing darkly, Erin picked up the thin mat and propped it up next to her dresser. She supposed that she could look up yoga routines on her laptop, since it appeared that her access to the internet would not be cut off. That still didn't stop her from trying to find ways around the blocks that John had in place, but she still hadn't broken through yet. Plopping down onto the bed, Erin picked up said laptop and began to look up beginner yoga routines, hoping that there would be something easy to start out with. There were quite a few different ones, so she settled on a face that looked friendly to her and queued it up for the next morning, knowing that she didn't feel up to starting something new at the end of her day.
Picking up her book, Erin maneuvered herself into the corner, like she normally did, settling in to read as she waited for John to deliver her supper. She found her thoughts divided, however, as she kept thinking about the taunts that John levelled at her each day, now. He couldn't help but needle her about the fact that David and Penelope were growing closer, that he had been seen spending more time with Ashley Seaver outside the office, that he had been on a few dates with Aaron's sister in law. She knew that they were meant to hurt her, and she hated to admit that he was right. Sighing, she set aside the book and grabbed her notebook and pen, deciding to doodle for a little bit to clear her mind.
Finally, Erin felt like she had excised her excess negative thoughts, and she tossed the notebook back on her nightstand before picking up the book and finding herself more able to focus on the words written there. "Supper has arrived!"
She closed the book with a dull thud and placed it on top of her notebook before making her way over to the food door. "Yoga, John? Really?"
"As you said, there's not much room in there for a lot of equipment. If you want, I can get you some weights to use as well. And I'm certain that you can find some no equipment exercise routines on the internet. Which you've never thanked me for allowing you to use. I could cut off access again."
"Why? It's not like I can reach out to anyone, since you've blocked all forms of social media from my access. But thank you for what little I have." He chuckled darkly as she took the tray off the shelf. "How are my children?"
"They're doing well. Speaking of your children, I have a package for you. I hope you enjoy everything you see. I feel like my photography skills are only getting better over the months." A heavy thump sounded on the shelf before the food door slammed shut, and Erin frowned as she brought the tray over to the table to set it down before picking up the thick manila envelope and carrying it over to her table. As she ate, she found her eyes darting over to the envelope many times, anticipation filling her senses. Still, she forced herself to finish her meal, knowing that she'd have the entire evening to pore over the photographs. Once she was finished, Erin brought the tray over to the door and set it on the shelf before changing into her pyjamas, knowing that she wouldn't be getting out of bed for the rest of the night, as she'd be too engrossed in the pictures to care about changing later.
After picking up the envelope, Erin curled up on her bed, drawing her quilt up around her waist as she leaned towards the light in order to study the pictures at length, drawing in every detail that she could possibly see. The first few were from Tabitha's equestrian exhibition, and Erin sighed happily to see how beautiful her baby looked in her uniform, seated so well on her horse. The action shots that John had managed to capture were beautiful, and far better than any she had managed to take over the years. Flipping to the next picture, she gasped in pleasure before hugging the picture close to her chest. Somehow, John had managed to capture a picture of her daughter leaning forward on her horse, an expression of pure joy on her face, and Erin felt lifted in her spirits to see that expression there. Knowing that she would have to leave that picture out, Erin set it on the nightstand before going through the next few pictures a little quicker, wondering if there were any other hidden gems contained in the photographs that John had taken.
Erin's mood immediately took a nosedive when she looked at the next picture. There, in full color, was exactly what John had been taunting her with for weeks. An image of David, kissing Penelope, confronted her eyes, and she immediately burst into tears. She hadn't wanted to believe that he had been telling her the truth about David, but this was undeniable proof that there was something growing between David and Penelope. She had never thought that she would feel her heart shatter, since when she had ended things with Alan, it had been a clean break, they had hurt each other too much over the end of their marriage to ever be saddened by separation. This picture, though, plunged a knife into the last vestiges of her hopes and dreams of returning to a normal life when she escaped her prison. Unable to look at any more of the provided pictures, Erin indelicately tossed them onto her nightstand, before crumpling up the hated picture and throwing it across the room as hard as she could before curling up into a tight ball and sobbing herself to sleep.