Free Falling (43 page)

He smiled and shook his head, barely even looking at her or
her chest that was obviously being given a helping hand by a padded bra. “No
worries.”

“Hey, aren’t you one of the guys that just did the
freerunning presentation?” the same girl asked, faking shock as if she hadn’t
just followed him over here and bumped him on purpose just for an excuse to
talk to him.

“Yeah,” he agreed, smiling awkwardly.

She stepped closer to him, putting her hand on his arm and
placing her other hand over her heart. “I have to tell you, it was incredible.
The stunts you did were great. Do you perform a lot? Where can I see you next?”
The suggestion in her voice was blatantly obvious; she didn’t mean that because
of his freerunning, she meant when can she see
him
next.

Zach missed it though. Grinning and digging in his pocket,
he pulled out a flier for the village fair that was happening in a couple of
weeks. “We’re performing here in a few weeks. You should come along. Our
routine will be different there because there’s less space there than here,” he
replied, handing her the flier and turning back to me. I grinned as the girl
frowned, seeming thoroughly confused at his knock-back. Zach cocked his head to
the side. “You hungry? Want to get something to eat while we wait for the
ride?” he asked me.

“I’m fine,” I refused, chuckling because the girl and her
friends were still standing there waiting to be acknowledged some more and he
hadn’t even really noticed. “Maybe you should do the girls an autograph?” I
suggested, chuckling wickedly as she shot me a dark look.

Zach looked at me like I was crazy and the girls turned on
their heels, marching off, probably whining about me. “I don’t think they were
after an autograph,” he muttered, shaking his head and laughing under his
breath.

“Oh you did notice then?” I joked, rolling my eyes.

He shrugged. “I noticed. I’m just not interested. Blondes
don’t do anything for me,” he said, faking sadness. The line moved then so we
inched up a little further towards the entrance of the ride before stopping
again. Suddenly Zach’s cell phone started ringing in his pocket. He pulled it
out, answering quickly. “What’s up, Newt?” His eyes tightened as he listened
for a few seconds. “Yeah? That’s great news. Yeah tell him we’ll do it for the
same fee as today. Why can’t you deal with it? You have our bookings calendar
there in that stuff. I’m in line for a ride; we’re almost at the front.
Seriously, Newt, you just book it. You’ll see what days we’re already busy. Why
does he want to talk to me?” He sighed deeply, closing his eyes. “Seriously?
This sucks! Yeah fine I’ll be there in a minute.” He disconnected the call,
looking up at me with apologetic eyes. “I need to go back to the tent.
Apparently the guy who booked us today wants to book us for a series of six
shows too.”

I gasped excitedly. “That’s fantastic,” I chirped proudly.
“Congrats!”

He smiled and nodded. “Thanks. But apparently the guy wants
to talk to me and for me to book it seeing as I was the one that dealt with him
last time. I have to go back and meet him now.” He nodded over his shoulder
back the way he came. “I’ll only be a few minutes and then we can come right
back here and go on this.” His voice was slightly annoyed as he spoke,
obviously not happy with having to lose our place in the line.

I looked back over his shoulder, seeing the tent about two
hundred yards away. I groaned thinking about walking all the way over there
again on my now aching ankle. “You go. I’ll wait for you here and then we can
go on,” I suggested.

He didn’t look like he was going for it though. “No way. I’m
not leaving you here on your own,” he protested.

I pouted, really not wanting to walk again. “Zach, I’ll be
fine. I’ll wait right here for you until you get back. I’m surrounded by
people; nothing’s going to happen to me. I seriously can’t walk all the way
there and back again. I’ll wait here. Go, hurry up,” I insisted, waving my hand
at the tent.

“Maisie,” he whined, his expression pained.

Placing my hand on his shoulder, I gave him a little push
away from me. “Go talk to the guy. I’ll be right here. I promise I’ll be fine.”

He groaned, looking down at my ankle before he nodded and
stepped closer to me, his eyes fierce and warning. “Stay right here. Don’t
move,” he huffed.

I smiled and nodded. “You’re so bossy,” I joked, turning my
nose up at him playfully. He chuckled and turned, running off quickly towards
the tent. I watched him until he was out of sight, and then adjusted my weight
on the fence to get more comfortable. I busied myself by looking around at the
crowd. My friends were probably around here somewhere, but I couldn’t see
anyone I knew. The line moved again, so I waved the people behind me on,
telling them I was waiting for someone. The noise and laughter circulated
around me; the smell of popcorn and hot doughnuts made my mouth water as I sat
there, just enjoying the atmosphere.

After a couple of minutes my cell phone vibrated in my
pocket. I pulled it out, grinning down at it, expecting to see a text from Zach
asking if I was alright. Instead, the screen announced that I had a message
from an unknown number. My eyes widened before I even opened it. My skin
prickled as the hair on the nape of my neck stood on end.

Not again, please!

I barely had the nerve to open the message. For a few
seconds I just looked down at the notification, wondering if I didn’t open it
whether that would somehow make it disappear. In the end my fingers got the
better of me and I opened it, holding my breath as I read the words.

‘Comfortable,
sitting there all alone? Want some company?’

The words weren’t sinister, but for some reason my heart
plummeted down towards my toes. They could see me again. Had they followed me
here, were they watching me all the time? I jumped to my feet, almost falling
when my ankle gave way, making me lurch forward into a tall guy who swore and
grabbed hold of me in a bid to keep himself upright. I gasped, looking up into
a pair of angry eyes as he frowned down at me.

“Sorry. Sorry,” I muttered, shoving myself away from him. My
eyes darted around quickly, seeing if anyone was watching me or paying too much
interest in me or something. Was the person who sent it hidden in the crowd,
laughing at my clumsiness?

My cell phone vibrated again in my hand, and I looked down
at it in horror. I swiped my thumb over the message tab and up popped another
one from the unknown number.

‘If I were you, I’d
run’

Run. The word echoed in my head. Run. Run. Run. I didn’t
think twice, I took off in the direction of the tent, knowing Zach was there,
silently scolding myself for suggesting that nothing could happen because I was
surrounded by people. Wrong again it seemed.

Tears built in my eyes as I did my best to dodge around
people, wincing with every step because my ankle was burning and almost giving
out with each movement. People scolded me and griped as I narrowly avoided
bumping into them as I stumbled past. The tent was getting closer and closer,
and I could feel my hope building up. Zach was in there; once I got in there
everything would be fine again.

But as I burst through the door at full speed, I was greeted
by nothing but the empty chairs and a few empty water bottles. My eyes widened.
Where the hell is he?
“Zach?” I shouted, spinning on the spot, hoping
he’d materialise from somewhere, but no such luck.

My cell phone started ringing in my hand then. A little
squeak left my lips as I dropped my phone onto the floor in my surprise. I
clamped my hand over my mouth as I stood there, staring at it, seeing that it
was a private number calling me. There was no way I was answering it. I didn’t
know what to do, the phone seemed to be deafening as it continued to ring and
ring.

My thoughts shot to Luke. I wanted Luke – no, that wasn’t
quite right, I
needed
him. My need for Luke suddenly made things clearer
for me. I needed to call him and get to somewhere where he could find me. I
shouldn’t be standing on my own in a marquee where anyone could come in and no
one would be any the wiser.

I bent and snatched the phone from the floor, instantly
rejecting the call as I bolted back out of the door and into the middle of the
crowd, not stopping until I was right in the centre of the attractions where it
was busiest. I knew that if the guy was watching me that he’d be able to see me
right now, but at least he wouldn’t be able to do anything while I was
surrounded by people. I kept darting my eyes around for anything suspicious as
I hit speed dial one and called Luke’s number. As the line connected my phone
battery beeped, signalling it was about to die soon. I whimpered, praying it
would hold out enough until I spoke to Luke.

Thankfully he answered after a couple of rings. “Hey, baby.
Where are you?”

The sound of his voice brought a lump to my throat. “Luke,
oh God, the phone, a message, please,” I rambled.

“Message? From the person that’s harassing you? Damn it!
Where are you? Tell me where you are and I’ll meet you there. Stay with Zach!”
he barked angrily.

My chin trembled as I looked around quickly, trying to find
something I could describe to him so he’d know where I was. “The shooting stall
next to where you won my crocodile,” I muttered, not having the will to explain
that I was on my own.

“Okay, I’ll be there as quick as I can.” He disconnected the
call. I let my hand drop to my side as I walked further into the crowd and just
stopped in the middle of the walkway, not even apologising when people walked
into me or bumped me because I was in the way. The crowd made me feel slightly
safer, but not as safe as I knew Luke’s arms would make me feel.

An hour and a half later I’d given a full report to DI
Neeson. Luke had called them after he’d finally managed to calm me down. He’d
also called Zach, laying into him down the phone about leaving me alone and how
he was lucky I was alright and hadn’t been hurt. The happy atmosphere had died
out almost straight away; the fun had been sucked out of the night. Luke and I
had left the others at the fairground to continue with the merriment, while
Luke drove me to a McDonalds close by so I could give my statement to the
police. He’d arranged with Charlotte that I was just going to stay at his place
tonight instead of going to hers. I was actually extremely grateful for that.
Being in Luke’s arms tonight was just what I needed. I hadn’t informed my dad
of the change of plans. He would probably say no and insist that I go home, but
I couldn’t be alone right now. Staying at Luke’s was what I desperately wanted.

I swallowed the last of my coffee, looking up at him now.
His expression was a mask of concern as he looked back at me with those big
brown eyes that I fell in love with so deeply. He reached out, taking my hand
across the table and interlacing our fingers. DI Neeson had not long left and
we’d just been sat in silence for the last few minutes. I didn’t even know what
to say. I longed for life to go back to normal, for us to be normal and
together, for me to stop being terrified all the time. I hated everything about
my life at that moment.

“Come on, let’s go. I’ll run you a nice hot bath when we get
to mine and you can soak and relax,” he suggested, helping me up from the seat.

I sighed dreamily at how nice that sounded. “Thanks.” We
hobbled out across the practically deserted parking lot and over to his Jeep
that was parked in the corner. When we got to it I leant against the side of
the car, watching as he dug in his pocket for his keys. “I can’t wait to graduate
and leave for college,” I mumbled, shaking my head tiredly. “Think all this
will stop when we go away to college?” I asked hopefully.

His eyes searched mine as he nodded. “Yeah,” he confirmed.
“Have you… have you decided on college then?” he asked, dropping his eyes to
the floor and playing with his keys in his hand.

Decided on college? What is he asking me that for?
“I
thought we’d decided on that months ago.”

He looked up, confusion clear across his face. “Yeah but,
you know, things changed since then. I screwed up. So I assumed you’d be
looking at colleges closer to your family instead.”

I shrugged. “Why would I do that?” I questioned. We’d talked
and talked about colleges before, we’d decided on one that offered us both
great opportunities.

His mouth dropped open in shock. “Are you saying that maybe
we could still go to Oregon together?” he asked. The hopeful tone to his voice
made my heart stutter.

Standing in the cool night, illuminated by a streetlight a
little way away, it hit me just how much I loved him. All of this stuff that
had happened recently just proved to me how much I needed him in my life. He
was the one for me. He was my first thought when I was scared, the one I wanted
to comfort me when I cried, and the one I wanted to share everything with. He
had always been that person for me, I’d just been too clouded by hurt to see
that us being together was inevitable.

All of this stuff, this being in danger stuff, had all
served to show me how precious each day was. I shouldn’t be wasting time being
sad and lonely, when the thing I wanted more than anything, wanted me too. I
was just doing myself an injustice by denying myself something that made me
incredibly happy all the time. 

“When we leave school I think everything will be better.
Right now every time I look around I get reminded of what you did, the people
all know so I feel like they’re laughing at me. I think once school is over and
we’re at college then we can start afresh,” I suggested. Starting afresh
sounded like bliss to me.

His eyes widened as he stepped closer to me, so close that
his body was merely inches away and his toes actually touched mine. “Start
afresh. Please tell me you’re saying what I think you’re saying,” he begged.
His voice broke as he looked at me so intently that it made my stomach flutter.