'Oh god', Skye thought. 'If I have to listen to one more verse about how
wonderful Luis Alcazar is or how grateful I should be to him for all his
help, I think I will scream. Or better yet, maybe I will just strangle the
nurse, slowly. This is my own fault. I encouraged her to speak her mind.
Looking back, the first couple of days with this little idiot wasn't really
that bad. When I first arrived at the apartment and met the woman that
Alcazar had hired to help me out for a couple of weeks, why is he
inflicting this little creature onto me? She was a small mousy sort of
person. She is easily bossed around, painfully shy, and is more
comfortable reading books in some quiet corner than conversing with people.
I wonder where in the world he managed to dig her up. The first couple of
days, she jumped whenever I asked her to do something. If the girl had an
original thought in her head, after two days in her company, I hadn't found
it. She agreed with everything I said. So after two days of her company,
I was bored out of my mind. The only reason that I was still following the
doctor's orders was because I was too sore to move about on my own.
Given that I couldn't get up and leave without help yet, I made a grave error in judgement. I decided to try to relieve the boredom by encouraging this shy little creature to say something besides yes miss. It took a couple of days of pretending interest in whatever it was she was reading, but on the forth day I was finally rewarded for my persistence. She started telling me about where she worked before this. Apparently she took care of some elderly couples. She cooked, cleaned and made sure that they took their medication. Not a very exciting life, but after being stuck in an apartment for four days with the woman, it was definitely an improvement over hearing her say yes miss all the time.
On the fifth day, I had somehow come to the conclusion that she needed to be more assertive. I started this assertiveness training by trying to get her to express her opinion, well, on anything. It wasn't easy at first. I had trouble just getting the woman to tell me what kind of food she preferred. I really should have stopped there. But you know what they say about idyll hands. I couldn't just leave well enough alone. By the end of the next day, much to my horror, I had created a monster. The girl talked non-stop. But that wasn't the real problem. This little mouse had a crush on her employer, Luis Alcazar. So for the last day and a half, I have had to listen to how wonderful Luis is, how romantic he is, how handsome he is, and it went on and on and on. If I had known at the beginning of the week that she would turn into a walking advertisement for the bastard, I might have turned around and checked myself back into the hospital. Since Luis hired her, she won't leave. I've told the girl that she was fired twice. What the hell was I thinking when I taught her to be more assertive? If I had told her to get out at the beginning of the week, she probably would have broken down in tears and ran out the door. Of course, Luis would have just replaced her with someone else.
I really cannot go on like this. One more week with this woman and swear to god, I will go suicidal. I swear that this woman's chatter is making me ill. That's when the idea came to me. I've got to get away. Not just away from this woman, but from the entire insane situation. But where the hell can I go? It would have to be somewhere that I haven't been before. I can't go to anyone I know to help me out. The second I disappear, the first thing he will do is check with everyone I know.
How do I get away? I can't just walk out the door. His goons are there. That's basically the reason that I'm still stuck in this gilded prison. Just wait, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. They have to let me out to go to the clinic. This won't be easy. Knowing Luis, he probably has the staff bribed to call him over every little detail. So I can't ask for help, chances are that whomever I asked would call him and let him know what I am doing. So whatever I do, I have to do it by myself.
Oh god, what am I going to do for money? All I have are my credit cards. If I use those, it will be like leaving a trail for him to follow. I need to get to a bank. As long as Alcazar's goons are out there, there isn't any chance of that happening anytime soon. I need cash. I will need a lot of it if I plan to move around for long without leaving a paper trail. How and the hell am I going to get my hands on that kind of cash?'
-------
"It has been two weeks, and I haven't been able to find any sign of Skye." Jax said as he paced across the room. "It is like she dropped off the face of the planet two weeks ago. One day she was checked into a hotel in Paris and the next she was missing. All of her things were packed up and taken to some undisclosed location and her bill was paid in full."
Ned looked at Jax with an expression that bordered on pity. "Skye lives on her credit cards. Surely she charged something somewhere?"
"I would feel better if she would. That's how I found her hotel in Paris. If she would just charge something somewhere, at least I would know that she was okay. For the last two weeks, she hasn't used her credit cards even once. I know. I bribed the people at the credit card company to call me with a location the second she does use one. The fact that she hasn't used her credit cards wouldn't worry me so much if I thought she had any cash on her. She doesn't carry a lot of cash and she didn't make any withdrawals before she disappeared."
"Skye is a survivor Jax. One way or another she will find a way to take care of herself. Have you tried her other family? Maybe she borrowed the money from Adam."
"I already thought of that. I'm not getting much of a response form the Chandlers. The first couple of times that I called them, I got her little brother. He just hung up on me as soon as I said my name. The third time I called, I talked to someone called Halley. All she had to say was something to the extent of why in the hell do I care? I divorced her. As far as Halley was concerned, that was it. When I finally did get a hold of Adam, he wasn't even aware that Skye had gotten married much less a divorce. He didn't seem overly concerned. All he said was that Skye had a way of landing on her feet."
"They could be covering up helping her with an act of indifference. That is what Grandfather does whenever he doesn't want anyone to know what he is up to. The old Bastard just acts like he doesn't give a damn."
"I thought of that. But my sources say that she hasn't contacted them. I hired a couple of PI's. They both say that it is unlikely that she will go to anyone for help unless she is really desperate. Even then they aren't sure what she will do. Skye is to damn independent for her own good."
"Well I'm sure that I'm not the first to say that Skye can me a pain in the ass."
"Ned, you're not helping."
"Look, you know that two weeks ago she was in Paris. There hasn't been any indication that she has left. Why don't you just go there and look for her?"
"There also hasn't been any sign that she is still there. If Alcazar has her, he could have taken her anywhere."
"Jax, if you think that Alcazar has her, then follow his people. If it is true that Alcazar was really after Skye, then wouldn't it be logical that he would try to keep her close."
"Why the hell didn't I think of that?" Jax picked up his phone, called his detectives and told then to pick up Alcazar's trail.
"You are that sure that Alcazar is after Skye? I mean, the idea that the guy paid a lot of money just to get to one woman is a little far fetched."
"You believed it when we thought that it was Brenda he was after. Why not Skye? Ned, you should really go by and talk to Brenda. I am only using that name because she hasn't remembered her own name yet. Every day that goes by, she remembers more about what happened on that boat. The more she remembers, the more worried I get. According to Brenda, this Alcazar character was counting on me running to Brenda and abandoning Skye the second that I laid eyes on her."
"If you ask me, he wasn't to far off the mark. Hey don't shoot the messenger. I'm not the one that lied to Skye and set your ex-lover up in a cabin in the same town as your wife. I stand by you because you are my friend. If you weren't my best friend and if I had been closer to my cousin, I would have beat the crap out of you for the way you treated her."
Jax looked at Ned in amazement. "You encouraged me to go after Brenda."
"Well lucky for you, you are my best friend and I can barely stand Skye. But if she makes you happy, I will find a way to put up with her. After all, I put up with a lot worse with the rest of my family. If I were you, when you do find her, I wouldn't expect it to be easy."
"I know. This Alcazar is going to put up one hell of a fight."
"I wasn't talking about Alcazar. With the way Skye cleared out of here, I expect that the woman probably hates your guts about right now. Or are you forgetting that you left her and divorced her for Brenda."
"But I was tricked. She didn't turn out to be Brenda."
"Do you really thing that that is going to matter to Skye? Trick or not, the fact is, you left her for another woman. Somehow, I don't think my cousin is the kind of woman who just forgives and forgets."
"I'm going to fight for her. I don't care what it takes."
"For your sake, I hope you do get her back. Quite frankly, I'm sure glad that I'm not in your shoes."
Given that I couldn't get up and leave without help yet, I made a grave error in judgement. I decided to try to relieve the boredom by encouraging this shy little creature to say something besides yes miss. It took a couple of days of pretending interest in whatever it was she was reading, but on the forth day I was finally rewarded for my persistence. She started telling me about where she worked before this. Apparently she took care of some elderly couples. She cooked, cleaned and made sure that they took their medication. Not a very exciting life, but after being stuck in an apartment for four days with the woman, it was definitely an improvement over hearing her say yes miss all the time.
On the fifth day, I had somehow come to the conclusion that she needed to be more assertive. I started this assertiveness training by trying to get her to express her opinion, well, on anything. It wasn't easy at first. I had trouble just getting the woman to tell me what kind of food she preferred. I really should have stopped there. But you know what they say about idyll hands. I couldn't just leave well enough alone. By the end of the next day, much to my horror, I had created a monster. The girl talked non-stop. But that wasn't the real problem. This little mouse had a crush on her employer, Luis Alcazar. So for the last day and a half, I have had to listen to how wonderful Luis is, how romantic he is, how handsome he is, and it went on and on and on. If I had known at the beginning of the week that she would turn into a walking advertisement for the bastard, I might have turned around and checked myself back into the hospital. Since Luis hired her, she won't leave. I've told the girl that she was fired twice. What the hell was I thinking when I taught her to be more assertive? If I had told her to get out at the beginning of the week, she probably would have broken down in tears and ran out the door. Of course, Luis would have just replaced her with someone else.
I really cannot go on like this. One more week with this woman and swear to god, I will go suicidal. I swear that this woman's chatter is making me ill. That's when the idea came to me. I've got to get away. Not just away from this woman, but from the entire insane situation. But where the hell can I go? It would have to be somewhere that I haven't been before. I can't go to anyone I know to help me out. The second I disappear, the first thing he will do is check with everyone I know.
How do I get away? I can't just walk out the door. His goons are there. That's basically the reason that I'm still stuck in this gilded prison. Just wait, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. They have to let me out to go to the clinic. This won't be easy. Knowing Luis, he probably has the staff bribed to call him over every little detail. So I can't ask for help, chances are that whomever I asked would call him and let him know what I am doing. So whatever I do, I have to do it by myself.
Oh god, what am I going to do for money? All I have are my credit cards. If I use those, it will be like leaving a trail for him to follow. I need to get to a bank. As long as Alcazar's goons are out there, there isn't any chance of that happening anytime soon. I need cash. I will need a lot of it if I plan to move around for long without leaving a paper trail. How and the hell am I going to get my hands on that kind of cash?'
-------
"It has been two weeks, and I haven't been able to find any sign of Skye." Jax said as he paced across the room. "It is like she dropped off the face of the planet two weeks ago. One day she was checked into a hotel in Paris and the next she was missing. All of her things were packed up and taken to some undisclosed location and her bill was paid in full."
Ned looked at Jax with an expression that bordered on pity. "Skye lives on her credit cards. Surely she charged something somewhere?"
"I would feel better if she would. That's how I found her hotel in Paris. If she would just charge something somewhere, at least I would know that she was okay. For the last two weeks, she hasn't used her credit cards even once. I know. I bribed the people at the credit card company to call me with a location the second she does use one. The fact that she hasn't used her credit cards wouldn't worry me so much if I thought she had any cash on her. She doesn't carry a lot of cash and she didn't make any withdrawals before she disappeared."
"Skye is a survivor Jax. One way or another she will find a way to take care of herself. Have you tried her other family? Maybe she borrowed the money from Adam."
"I already thought of that. I'm not getting much of a response form the Chandlers. The first couple of times that I called them, I got her little brother. He just hung up on me as soon as I said my name. The third time I called, I talked to someone called Halley. All she had to say was something to the extent of why in the hell do I care? I divorced her. As far as Halley was concerned, that was it. When I finally did get a hold of Adam, he wasn't even aware that Skye had gotten married much less a divorce. He didn't seem overly concerned. All he said was that Skye had a way of landing on her feet."
"They could be covering up helping her with an act of indifference. That is what Grandfather does whenever he doesn't want anyone to know what he is up to. The old Bastard just acts like he doesn't give a damn."
"I thought of that. But my sources say that she hasn't contacted them. I hired a couple of PI's. They both say that it is unlikely that she will go to anyone for help unless she is really desperate. Even then they aren't sure what she will do. Skye is to damn independent for her own good."
"Well I'm sure that I'm not the first to say that Skye can me a pain in the ass."
"Ned, you're not helping."
"Look, you know that two weeks ago she was in Paris. There hasn't been any indication that she has left. Why don't you just go there and look for her?"
"There also hasn't been any sign that she is still there. If Alcazar has her, he could have taken her anywhere."
"Jax, if you think that Alcazar has her, then follow his people. If it is true that Alcazar was really after Skye, then wouldn't it be logical that he would try to keep her close."
"Why the hell didn't I think of that?" Jax picked up his phone, called his detectives and told then to pick up Alcazar's trail.
"You are that sure that Alcazar is after Skye? I mean, the idea that the guy paid a lot of money just to get to one woman is a little far fetched."
"You believed it when we thought that it was Brenda he was after. Why not Skye? Ned, you should really go by and talk to Brenda. I am only using that name because she hasn't remembered her own name yet. Every day that goes by, she remembers more about what happened on that boat. The more she remembers, the more worried I get. According to Brenda, this Alcazar character was counting on me running to Brenda and abandoning Skye the second that I laid eyes on her."
"If you ask me, he wasn't to far off the mark. Hey don't shoot the messenger. I'm not the one that lied to Skye and set your ex-lover up in a cabin in the same town as your wife. I stand by you because you are my friend. If you weren't my best friend and if I had been closer to my cousin, I would have beat the crap out of you for the way you treated her."
Jax looked at Ned in amazement. "You encouraged me to go after Brenda."
"Well lucky for you, you are my best friend and I can barely stand Skye. But if she makes you happy, I will find a way to put up with her. After all, I put up with a lot worse with the rest of my family. If I were you, when you do find her, I wouldn't expect it to be easy."
"I know. This Alcazar is going to put up one hell of a fight."
"I wasn't talking about Alcazar. With the way Skye cleared out of here, I expect that the woman probably hates your guts about right now. Or are you forgetting that you left her and divorced her for Brenda."
"But I was tricked. She didn't turn out to be Brenda."
"Do you really thing that that is going to matter to Skye? Trick or not, the fact is, you left her for another woman. Somehow, I don't think my cousin is the kind of woman who just forgives and forgets."
"I'm going to fight for her. I don't care what it takes."
"For your sake, I hope you do get her back. Quite frankly, I'm sure glad that I'm not in your shoes."