Dirty Secrets

III.

Rhedon’s P.O.V.

My music pauses and a loud ringing noise goes through my entire car. The disadvantage of listening to loud music. The Prime Ministers name comes up on my GPS Headunit.

‘Sir?’ I say as I answer and I can tell already that something is wrong. He sniffs a few times before speaking and I can hear his deep breathing.

‘Arielle left. We had an argument and she just left all alone. I have Michelangelo looking for her around here, could you please check her apartment and maybe her friends or her university. I don’t know…’ He says very upset and sounds a little like he’s crying. That’s why I hate immature, young clients.

‘Of course sir. How long has she been gone sir?’ I ask, turning my car around and driving off to her apartment.

‘I don’t know when she left, but if she left straight after the argument, than it’s been over an hour.’ The Prime Minister is very good at his job, but not as good on parenting as it seems.

‘I’ll find her sir.’ I say and hang up the phone. I have one hour until it is pitch black. Certainly she isn’t stupid enough to be in a public place. I get to her apartment and it’s empty. No sign of her even being here. I get back to my car and sit there for few minutes trying to think of where she could be. My phone begins to ring and it’s a blocked number. I answer with a little hope that it’s Arielle.

‘Hello Mr Michaels.’ A very deep man’s voice says and I struggle to recognise it.

‘Who is this?’ I ask a little confused and the man begins to laugh. That can’t be good. The GPS headunit begins to look for where the signal is coming from, but the conversation is too short.

‘Why don’t we play a game? The game is called who will find Karlisle’s gorgeous, yet very naïve and stupid daughter first. I have a pretty good idea, do you?’ He says and hangs up the phone. I hate games and competitions to begin with. I quickly drive off to any place I can think off. She can’t be far from the house, she isn’t stupid she wouldn’t put herself at risk. I head back to the Prime Ministers house and hopefully she will be around there. It’s almost pitch black and makes it so much harder to find her. I drive past a big park, it looks almost like a forest. Perhaps she’s hiding in there somewhere. I stop by it and get out of the car. I look around, maybe the man I spoke to on the phone is here too.

After ten minutes of walking around the park all I have found is a cat and a few squirrels. I look over to the street where my car is stood and see somebody walk past and head towards the park. She’s wearing a sleeveless top and some leggings. That is definitely her. I begin to walk towards her and from afar she seems a little not okay.

‘Are you drunk?’ I say grabbing her by her arm as she almost walks right past me. She turns around really happy and smiley. She begins to laugh a little and stares at me.

‘That hurts a little.’ She says and I quickly let go of her arm. As I let go she almost fall to the floor. I hold onto her and she stares at me again. Her mouth parted.

‘What did you drink?’ I ask as I help her get to the car. I open the back seat door for her and sit her down. It’s like looking after a child, which she is one, but I would expect her to be a little more mature. I sit down in my seat, I could not be more irritated and annoyed.

‘You can’t drink while you take medication that you got from the hospital.’ I try to explain and begin to drive her back home.

‘I don’t drink my medication. Besides I didn’t have that much to drink, you don’t need to babysit me mum!’ She says with a slight laugh, annoyed. She lays down on both of the seats and looks like she’s about to cry.

‘Why aren’t you taking your medication? And I wouldn’t have to babysit you if you didn’t run off all by yourself. What happened with the Prime Minister? He was so upset when he called me.’ I try to keep her awake and keep the conversation going so she wouldn’t throw up or any other nonsense.

‘Oh I bet he was. What a liar! Just tell him to leave me alone.’ She says closing her eyes and going to sleep. I try to drive faster, but she doesn’t have her seatbelt on and I’m afraid she will just fly off of the seat.

‘What did he do?’

‘He made Mike go through my things so he could find out about Gabriel.’ She says mumbling, while almost fast asleep. She begins to sniff and I don’t know if she is cold or if she is crying.

‘Who is Gabriel?’ I ask trying to keep her awake as we are nearly there. This is exhausting. I love little kids, but this requires more patience than little kids.

‘He’s my mother’s boyfriend. He ruined my life.’ She quietly says as we stop by the house. Finally. I get out of the car and take off my blazer.

‘Come on.’ I open her doors and say. She stays laid and refuses to even answer.

‘Miss Montel.’

‘Arielle?’

‘I’m not going in there.’ She says curling up into a ball and stays laid on the car seats. I hand her the blazer and she sits up to put it on.

‘You have to go in there. You have no other choice.’ I say and she slowly begins to get out of the car. She looks very annoyed and upset with me. As she stands up she almost falls again and I hold on to her arm, before giving my keys to Kyle to park my car. I lift her up in my arms and carry her inside the house. As we step inside I can hear a bunch of very loud steps coming our way. The Prime Minister, Cole and Michelangelo all come down stairs to see us.

‘I think I should take her to bed. She’s a little intoxicated.’ I say before anyone has a chance to ask anything. They all nod and let us through to the stairs. We get to her room and I lay her down in bed. I put the covers over her and she still has her eyes closed.

‘Tomorrow is grandma’s funeral.’ She says as I turn around to leave. Her hair is covering her face and she sounds sleepy. I come closer and move her hair from her face. She opens her eyes and just stares at me.

‘Yes, I and Nick will both come with you.’ I say with a slight smile and hope that she just goes to sleep and I can go.

‘Nick is coming with?’ She says a little more excited.

‘You like him huh?’ I say with a smile and tuck her in a little more, hoping this is it.

‘He saved my life.’ She says looking up at me with a smile and closing her eyes. I stand still in front of her for a few seconds before walking out of the room. I keep the door open a little for some light. I go downstairs, already preparing what I will say.

‘I don’t think she should go back to her classes just yet. Somebody called me, they knew me and they knew you and they knew Miss Montel. They even knew where she was before I did. She had a few drinks and she was upset with you Sir and Michelangelo. I and Nickolai will both escort Miss Montel to the funeral tomorrow.’ I explain to the Prime Minister and he nods agreeing with me.

‘If you do see Clayton and Rider before I do tomorrow morning, please make sure they both come see me as soon as they can.’ He says before heading up upstairs.

‘Yes sir.’ 

The next morning I drive into work at ten am to pick up Miss Montel. Hopefully I will get my blazer back and she won’t be as immature as yesterday. Today is going to be a difficult day for her and us. With the man knowing Arielle’s every move it will be twice as hard to protect her. I get to the house and it’s completely silent. No noise at all. I walk up the stairs and knock on Arielle’s door.

‘Come in.’ She says and I open the door and peak my head inside. She is stood in front of her mirror with a black dress, black heels, wavy hair and a grey cardigan in her hands. I stand frozen for a few seconds before entering properly. She looks so different. Like an actual adult.

‘Hey, here.’ She says walking over to her bathroom and bringing me my blazer. The blazer looks spotless and very neat. It’s washed and ironed.

‘You cleaned my blazer?’ I say taking a step forward to collect it.

‘Yes.’ She says with a smile and walks past me, walking out of the room. She walks down the stairs and her shoes echo in the entire house. I quickly follow her and escort her outside into my car. She sits down in the back and we drive off.

‘We just have to pick up Nickolai.’ I say and she nods leaning by the car window with an emotionless expression. We drive for twenty minutes before we reach Nickolai’s house. She hasn’t moved in the twenty minutes and still looks miserable. Nick quickly runs over the street and sits down in the car.

‘Morning.’ He says putting his seatbelt over him and I look over to Arielle and she carries on to sit emotionless. Nick also looks towards her and back at me with a miserable expression. I’m surprised he hasn’t got any jokes, even in very bad and inappropriate situations he usually has something to say.

‘So you will be the one going in with Arielle. I will stay outside and make sure nobody suspicious gets into the building. You are pretending to be her boyfriend. You introduce yourself as her boyfriend " Jaxon. The touching is minimal. Hand holding, no kissing or intimate hugging.’ I explain to Nickolai and hope that Arielle is listening too.

‘Understood.’ Nickolai says placing his ear piece and getting ready. We finally arrive and without even waiting for us Arielle opens her door and leaves the car. She begins to walk towards the reception of the funeral and Nickolai quickly gets out going after her.

Nickolai’s P.O.V.

I don’t think I have seen Arielle this upset before. I also haven’t seen her dress like this before. We only met a few days ago, but I already feel like I have known her for years. We have definitely been through more than me and most of my friends. She quickly marches on into the reception and I catch up and place my hand on her lower back, as her pretend boyfriend. She takes in a deep breath before stepping over and into the building. We walk past several people and walk almost to the front of the seats to her mother.

‘Hi mama.’ Arielle says kissing her mother’s cheek. Her swollen eyes and cheeks show as she turns her head to kiss Arielle back.

‘Hey, you okay?’ She says to her younger brother as he hugs her with a secret smile.

‘I missed you.’ He replies and she hugs him tighter. She carries on to walk towards her aunt and I walk to her mother.

‘Hello, I’m Ari’s boyfriend. I’m so sorry for your loss.’ I say and she gives me a very tight hug. I give a smile to Arielle’s little brother and he smiles back. This place is all black and grey. I don’t know any of these people and yet I feel as upset. As I look around I see Arielle walk towards the casket with a blood red rose. She stands a little far from the casket and looks afraid to go any closer. I slowly and quietly walk over to her and stand behind her.

‘I can’t believe that just like that, I will never hear her voice again, or see her ever again.’ She says without even turning back to look at me. She takes another step closer to the casket and quickly retaliates to me. She puts one of her hands around me and stand beside me, hugging me a little.

‘There is an envelope with my name on it, in the casket.’ She whispers as she forces the red rose into my hand. I look down on her and she looks terrified. I lean forward to kiss her cheek.

‘Go to the car, now.’ I whisper as I kiss her cheek and she turns around and walks over to say goodbye to her mother and brother. I walk closer to the casket and place the red rose, slowly lifting the envelope and placing it inside my blazer. As I look back I see Arielle walk out of the building and I follow her. We both get back in the car where Rhedon is and I slowly open the letter.

‘You won the first game, I’ll be sure to win the next.’ It reads and Rhedon quickly takes it from me.

‘This is for me. How did he know I would be here?’ He says rereading the note again and again.

‘Who are we talking about?’ I ask Rhedon and I look back at Arielle. She’s back to her miserable self and is leaned by the window again.

‘When I was looking for Arielle yesterday, he called and asked if I wanted to play a game called who will find Karlisle’s daughter first. He said he already had a clue where she was.’ Rhedon explains and I look back at Arielle to see if her expression changed at all, which it did not.

‘You left by yourself?’ I ask her a little annoyed and she ignores me.

‘Ari?’ I ask again and she looks up at me and Rhedon as if she didn’t hear a thing we were speaking about.

‘Yes, sorry.’ She says and looks back out of the window. 

‘Do you want to go back in there?’ I say not sure how else to help and make her feel better.

‘Your job is to protect me, not keep me happy correct? Well I’m safe so…’ She says not even looking up at either of us. I and Rhedon look at each other and begin to drive off. We drive for about twenty minutes and suddenly see Arielle sit up.

‘Why wasn’t Gabriel at the funeral?’ She asks us both. I and Rhedon both shrug our shoulders.

‘Can I borrow your phone to call Mike?’ She says tapping me on my shoulder. I take my phone out of my pocket, ready to hand it to her.

‘I can call him.’ Rhedon says and calls him on his GPS headunit so we both can hear.

‘Hello.’ Mike answers with a slight laugh.

‘Mike, did you tell Karlisle what you read from my journal?’ Arielle says and we both look at her confused. I leave for just one day and the world turns upside down.

‘No, I swear I didn’t tell him. I’m so sorry Ari, you know why I did what I did. I really wasn’t pretending when we were talking in your room just so I can look through your stuff. I’m really sorry.’ Mike says and I and Rhedon both look at Arielle even more confused.

‘It’s okay, we’ll sort it out when I see you.’ Arielle says and Rhedon hangs up the phone.

‘Can you please call Karlisle now?’ She says and Rhedon calls the Prime Minister. We both stay sat a little speechless and not sure what to say or do, other than listen to her. The call goes into voicemail and as Rhedon is about to hang up, she stops him.

‘I swear if you went through my things again or if you asked Gabriel to come over and talk I will never f*****g…’ She begins to rant and on the word Rhedon hangs up the call instantly.

‘Wow, wow, I don’t think that’s a good idea. What happened with you two? You just met.’ Rhedon says a little annoyed at her swearing and she leans back against the window annoyed at Rhedon for hanging up the phone. She doesn’t speak or make a noise for the rest of the trip home. We stop by the house and she quickly storms out of the car and back inside.

I walk in right after her and she stays stood close to the door and the Prime Minister is there waiting for us.

‘How was the funeral?’ He asks Arielle and she shrugs her shoulders and stays away from him. She looks so upset and so miserable.

‘We were only there for a few minutes.’ She says looking up at him. She looks back at me and begins to walk towards the stairs to go to her room.

‘Is everything okay?’ Karlisle asks her, taking a few steps after her.

‘I’m exhausted.’ She says with a slight smile and goes off to her room. We all stay downstairs and hear her shut the door and lock it.

Arielle’s P.O.V.

I have never had this happen, my bipolar has never been this bad. Maybe all of this is way too soon and way too much to handle right now. I wash my face with warm water and hear somebody knock on my door.

‘Ari?’ I hear Rayaan’s voice and walk out into my room. I feel everything weigh down and almost disappear for a second. He makes me so much more comfortable and happy to have someone I know well around.

‘Hey.’ I say smiling at him. Seeing him definitely makes me happier. I feel as if the steam is coming out of my head as I begin to relax and feel like myself again.

‘How was the funeral?’ He says awkwardly walking closer to me. He isn’t being himself. He does not know the word shy, or embarrassed. He was always so confident and strong and not afraid to speak his mind.

‘It was fine. I see it’s your day off?’ I say smiling as he is wearing his normal clothing. He’s wearing a dark hoodie and some black jeans, with a white top. His hair is messy as if he had his hood on.

 ‘Ah, yes …’ He says, awkwardly smiling at me and brushing his hand through his hair. He looks to the floor and stands awkwardly. He hasn’t acted like this before. I feel awkward and a little speechless.

‘Than why are you here?’ I ask laughing as the situation is so awkward it hurts.

‘I needed this.’ He says coming even closer and hugging me tight. I slowly and awkwardly place my arms around his neck and stand still. I close my eyes and embrace the hug. He feels so warm and safe.

‘Rayaan?’ I get a little uncomfortable as butterflies try to break free from my belly and his aftershave rubs onto my clothes. The hugs lasts a little longer than expected and the situation isn’t getting any less awkward.

‘I thought I warned you about this!’ Rhedon yells at Rayaan as him and Karlisle walk into my room. How do you even manage to come in at exactly the same time as the other time? I roll my eyes as I see him in the door way.

‘No it’s okay! I hugged him.’ I quickly defend Rayaan. He doesn’t seem to be liked by Astin. Rhedon needs to relax a little and let a few things slide from time to time. He is way too concentrated on the way everything looks on him, not like anyone is more professional than him. I’m sure his position is not in jeopardy.

‘It’s your day off. You shouldn’t be here.’ Rhedon opens the door wider for him to leave. He looks so annoyed and almost hating Rayaan. Strict

‘Sir.’ Rayaan says bowing his head, before leaving the room. I feel the depression and moodiness come back.

‘You know him?’ Karlisle asks a little confused. Must look a little weird. A police officer hugging me.

‘Yes, we were neighbours.’ I reply before walking over to my bed and climbing onto it. I refuse to face Rhedon or Karlisle. I just want to curl up in a little depression ball and stay in my warm and cosy bed.

‘He seems to fancy you a little.’ Karlisle chuckles as I open my covers and sit down, covering myself. I look at him with no expression. As a father who hasn’t seen his daughter in over ten years, he isn’t very protective.

‘I don’t think so. Anyway why are you here?’ I ask Karlisle and Astin, changing the subject. Today has been so exhausting I could probably sleep into tomorrow.

‘I was wondering if you saw anybody in the funeral that you didn’t recognise. That could have left that note.’  Rhedon says walking a little closer to my bed. I shake my head with a slight smile.

‘I didn’t know half the people there.’

‘I’m really tired, I just want some space and silence.’ I say covering my face with my covers and exhaling as loudly as I can.

‘You feel tired because you haven’t eaten in hours.’ Karlisle says and I roll my eyes under the cover. I don’t say anything and neither do they.

‘Tell me what they can make that you will eat? The last time I saw you eat was when we both had breakfast almost two days ago.’ Karlisle says slightly concerned and annoyed. I pull off my covers and exhale looking at the ceiling.

‘Fine I will go and eat.’ I say quickly getting out of bed and beginning to walk on towards my door. I slow down by Karlisle and Rhedon as I begin to feel light headed and really tired. Rhedon says something and puts his arm around me, holding me for a little while. Everything is mute. My ears are ringing and everything is a little blurry.

‘Arielle?’ Rhedon asks again making me face him and I stare at him for a few seconds. I take a few seconds to understand what is happening and get back to my senses.

‘I’m fine.’ I say standing up properly and giving them both a smile, quickly going down the stairs to get something to eat. A few hours later I’m back under my covers ready to go to bed. I feel so tired and my eyes are burning hot. I hear a few of the police officers leave as their shifts are over and somebody runs up the stairs.

‘Call me if you need me. I put all of the bodyguard numbers on your phone.’ He says quickly running to my bed and handing me a phone. He gives me a light smile. I don’t understand how he can one minute be so professional and treat me as a child, and the other be so awkward and almost apologetic and sensitive.

‘Thank you.’ I smile back and my depression feels a lot easier.

‘Good night.’ He says and turns around to leave. I watch him leave and turn off my light, turning over to go to sleep. 

Author's Note

Do you like the Mike character? Sorry about the swearing.