Alyssa was loving this. This was a totally new experience for her. Even though John was on set and working ridiculous hours he still made it a point to keep Alyssa involved. Which coincidentally was something she'd never knew could happen. With her parents the ridiculous hours were normal, but usually she was tossed aside with a workbook or a wad of cash. Not shockingly she'd give back every wad of cash she'd ever been given to have her dad treat her like John was. This was fantastic.
John walked up dead dog tired, but with a smile on his face. The movie was coming along quite well and he and Alyssa were leaving for Boston tomorrow. He couldn't help but to feel some pleasure as he watched Alyssa sit on a crate near the edge of the set they were working on with a smile on her face. It wasn't often that she gave a genuine smile, so when she did he was head over heels happy. He was still rather unnerved as to how after almost two weeks neither of her parents had contacted her. He shook his head, there was no way he'd ever do that to a child.
"Ready to head out?" Alyssa looked up and nodded still smiling. She felt stupid smiling like a cheesball but she couldn't help it. Times were good. They headed out to the small house that John stayed in off set. The car ride was pretty much the same as all of them. John would ask her what she did while roaming around the set and she'd ask him how many scenes he'd messed up. It was routine, it was cheesy, but she loved it. Her cellphone rang, without looking at it she answered it.
"Alyssa." She felt her blood run cold.
"James?"
"Where are you?" Alyssa couldn't think, she didn't think he'd call her before the 23rd and now clearly he was pissed.
"Um, with my friend."
"Who told you that you could deviate from the plan?"
"I –I told you sir." John took his eyes off the road and glanced at her. She was petrified and her color was drastically paler than before.
"Told me what? That you'd take matters into your own hands? Oh my child let me tell you that you are in for a rude awakening." Alyssa felt tears rising in her eyes. She hadn't seen him this mad in a long time.
"But-but I told you that I would be with a friend and you didn't need to worry about hiring a sitter."
"No, you said you would be fine without one. You never said you wouldn't be at home." Alyssa sighed, that was true, but she didn't think he'd stop by the New Jersey house, he usually frequented the New York mansion when home. This was going to be epic.
John shook his head, her hand was shaking as she held the phone. In the last two weeks he'd only seen an articulate calm sometimes happy girl. This skittish and stammering person seated next to him was someone he hadn't dealt with.
"I'm sorry." James scoffed.
"You think that now, wait until later." Alyssa closed her eyes and felt tears in them. "When are you coming home?"
"I was going to meet you the 23rd like we planned." James laughed.
"Well that's no longer the plan. Catch a plane and be home by tomorrow night." Alyssa was shocked it was the 19th. Why would he want her four days early? She wanted to throw up, he was up to something.
"But sir-", she was cut off.
"This is nonnegotiable." The line went dead and Alyssa just stared at it still processing what had just happened. John pulled over to the side of the road, clearly she need a moment. He waited a few minutes before he spoke.
"Lyss?" Alyssa looked at him slightly incoherent. She was still holding the phone in the same position, the fear had locked her frozen in time. "Lyss, what happened?" A flicker of life returned into her eyes briefly as she opened and closed her mouth several times. No words seemed to come out. This was scaring John, something was wrong. Very wrong.
After ten minutes on the side of the road John decided to get them back to the house so at least they could sit and talk comfortably. It scared him to see her that spaced out. It was like she was in another place.
John sighed, he'd taken a shower and tried to figure out how to help her. He'd racked his brain but nothing came to mind. This seemed all so hopeless to him, he hated feeling hopeless. Sitting here thinking wasn't helping anything, he needed to talk to her. Slowly he walked down to the room where she slept.
Alyssa couldn't think straight. Her dad was pissed. That never turned out well for her. She tried to clear her head, but it wasn't working. She wanted to cry, but that wouldn't help either. This was all so hopeless. A deep sense of despair and dread came over her. This would be a nightmare.
She jolted out of her mind moving at Mach speed as John knocked on the door. She sat up so he could look her in the eye. John grabbed the chair from the corner, turned in backward, and sat on it just in front of her. She decided not to make him ask and just come right out with it.
"My dad wants me home." John sighed, of course she wouldn't want to go back to that.
"That's fine, we can do that right after you spend another few days with me." Alyssa shook her head.
"No, you don't understand. He wants me home by tomorrow night." John was confused.
"I thought they were fine with you being here." Alyssa shifted, she'd never intended on telling John this part.
"Well um, I told them I'd be fine without a babysitter, but I never said I'd be going with you or anywhere else for that matter." John felt a tinge of anger, she'd lied to him.
"Do you know how stupid that was?" Alyssa jumped at the anger in his voice. "I could be arrested for kidnapping. What were you thinking?" Alyssa shook her head, she knew all men were alike. They only cared about themselves.
"Well sorry to be an inconvenience to you." John sighed, he hadn't meant to make it all about him. He took a deep breath and rubbed his head. No point in continuing the pain, he'd just try to piece the puzzle together.
"So why the pale face and shaky hands?" She shrugged, still not willing to trust him.
"My dad found out that I'm not at home and he's pissed." John closed his eyes tight. It all made sense now. She was fearing the consequences of her actions. John shrugged what kid wasn't worried about that?
"Oh, I got it. You're worried that he's going to ground you, right?" Alyssa wanted to laugh, oh if it were only that simple. Clearly, John wasn't that bright.
"Uh yeah, that's exactly what I'm worried about." John noted the complete change in disposition. Sadly, his worst fear was correct. Her father was abusive. He stood up and extended his arms.
"Alright, gimme a hug. I'm going to sleep. We'll see about that plane ride tomorrow." Alyssa sighed, she hated hugs they were so restricting and made her feel weird. She did it anyway to please him. She lay back as John left the room. Tomorrow this time, she would pay for her lack of judgment. Why did things have to change so quickly?
Alyssa had slept very little last night and was feeling the effects of jet lag. John had dropped her off at the airport about six hours ago. She tried to sleep on the plane, but of course it didn't happen that way. Her dreams were filled with stupidity and of course that ever reoccurring nightmare. Now, she was exhausted and dreading her arrival home. She found the driver with her name and followed him out to the car. Honestly, she felt a bit of sadness. A small part of her had expected John to say she couldn't come home and save her from her terrible existence, but then again who believed in fairy tales? She was astounded when she saw a stretched limo. Usually, her dad sent the Navigator that he bought for her to be chauffeured in. The driver opened the door and she slid in. As she did nervousness consumed her. She was now nearing her fate. Her heart began to pound. The front door to the other end of the limo opened.
"Hey fancy meeting you here." Alyssa looked up to the front end of the limo…John?
"What are you doing here?" John smiled as two more large men entered the vehicle as well.
"Well, I figured you could use a hand facing your dad. So I brought along some backup. Meet Triple H, and Dave Batista." Alyssa was shocked by their size, she had thought John was big, but they were enormous! The front door close and the limo took off. Alyssa was no longer dreading seeing her dad. Once again, the pendulum of fortune had swung in her favor.