After his proclamation, a woman came in to inform us that we would be flying back that very morning, and to be ready within the hour. Though Andreas' hadn't been too happy with the interruption, I took the chance to slip into the bathroom, effectively buying at least fifteen minutes to myself, if I showered slowly.

As the warm water washed over my shoulders I sighed, thinking over the events of this morning. I wasn't stupid, after what he pulled earlier, I could actually come to like Andreas, despite the obvious red flags. I mean, I'm not exactly in a place to pass judgement. I shook my head, refusing to justify my blatant interest. Keep your wits about you Nicole. You can't even consider liking him. I groaned, knowing that it was way too late to deny interest. I have to curb this then. As I washed the suds from my skin, I was resolved in what I had to do.

***

I'd managed to avoid talking to him for most of the time while we were rushing to get ready for the flight back to New York, and subsequent car ride over to the tarmac. Upon arriving at the plane, I instinctively took the hand he held out to me and mentally cursed myself out. As soon as I got out of the car, I pulled away, briskly walking on board. I returned Cindy's smile at the door before making my way to the back of the plane, strapping myself in as I watched the sky out the window.

I could see Andreas watching me from the corner of my eye, doing my best to display an air of nonchalance as I forced myself to keep my gaze averted. Within a few minutes, the plane took off. Once it was safe to move about the cabin, I relocated to the bedroom, drawing all the windows close before I slipped under the covers, the reality of the past couple of days crashing into me at once.

***

The sound of the door being shut woke me, though I kept my breathing even as whoever it was seated themselves on the bed beside me. I cracked my eyes open, recognising Andreas' arm from the sight of his tattoos under the sleeve of his off-white sweater. I felt him grasp my chin lightly, tipping my head back as he leaned in closer. I fought to keep my breaths steady as I tried to figure out how I should 'wake up'. When our lips were a fraction of an inch away, he pressed his cheek to mine. "I know you're awake." I could hear the hint of a smile in his voice.

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking as though I was just regaining consciousness. "Hmm? What was that?"

He studied my expression. "It's fine, nothing important." I nodded, closing my eyes once more as I turned to go back to 'sleep', facing away from him. He grasped my shoulder, pushing my onto my back. "Nicole."

I met his gaze. "Yes, Andreas."

He seemed displeased by that, though he hid it well. "You've barely said a word to me since our conversation this morning."

I frowned, doing my best to look genuinely confused. "Were we meant to be discussing something today?"

He shook his head. "You know what I mean. You've never once been so quiet these past couple of days." He sighed. "I guess what I'm asking is if anything is wrong."

"Aside from the obvious?"

His frown deepened. "Where is this coming from? Just last night-"

I cut him off with a severe look of my own, sitting up. "Woah, woah, woah. You don't get to react that way. Why is this a surprise to you? Do people often react well to being kidnapped in your experience?"

"Excuse my confusion, but not once have you brought this up in the past couple of days while you were being flown private and dining at five-star restaurants." His tone struck a chord with my defensive nature.

I couldn't stand sitting so close to him just then, for fear that I would physically lash out at him. I shoved the covers off of me, jumping to my feet as I crossed my arms. "You really want to throw that in my face like I had any other choice?" He opened his mouth to respond but I cut him off, getting more and more agitated as I laid my cards out before us. "Maybe if the roles were reversed, you would be able to process all of the shit I've been through in the span of just two days, mind you, at once, but I, a mere human being can only handle one gut punch situation at a time. So I apologise that the topic of my kidnapping has just now come to my mind and pisses me the hell off. I needed all of two days ago to try and figure out my fate as I was being flown to an unknown location with no information whatsoever and yesterday to deal with being forcibly engaged. Sound fair to you?" I struggled to remain calm. "So excuse me if I've offended you Andreas, by not appreciating the privilage of being dolled up and paraded around like a glorified trophy at the risk of my life."

He stood up as well, his irritation wavering. "You're making this out to be way more than it is. Not once was your life ever on the line, Nicole!"

My control over my temper grew shakier and shakier by the second. "Bullshit! Your father made it explicitly clear the first time we met what would happen to me if I didn't play along." I scoffed as I pinched the bridge of my nose. "And let's not forget how you treated me the day he told us the big news."

He stepped towards me. "I told you that won't happen again!"

I refused to back down, stepping forward as he came at me. I threw my hands up. "And how the hell am I supposed to believe that?!" Okay, time to really drive this home. I did my best to amplify my existing anger towards him. I jabbed a finger into his chest as I spoke. "I've known you for all of two days, and I'm supposed to trust you just 'cause? You instruct me to forgive you for yesterday, command me to concede to the fact that I am now your property and you expect me to come smiling despite all you've put me through because, what? You have your looks? Money?" I stopped myself from saying anymore. I wrapped my arms around myself as I took a shaky breath to calm my agitation, looking away. "There is no buying me Andreas. I am my own."

I could sense it as his aggression ebbed, his expression softening as he studied mine. Don't you dare be decent, Andre. I flinched away from him as he reached to touch me, taking a few steps back. He took a moment to figure out what he wanted to say. "What will it take?"

My gaze darted to meet his. "What?"

He knelt down. No, no, no. "Tell me what it'll take for us to start with a clean slate and I'll do it Nicole. I'm a fucking idiot and I say all the wrong shit at the worst possible times, but if you give me a chance," I want to so bad, "I will give you a reason to trust in me."

I fought the urge just then to run into his arms. "Give me back my freedom." I didn't spare him a second glance, knowing that if I did, my resolve would waiver as I turned and left the room, my heart twisting in my chest.

***

Hours later, our vehicle pulled up in front of my building. I took my backpack and reached for the door, Andreas stopping me as he held out my phone. He made sure that our fingers met as I retrieved it from him, and once again my heart twisted in my chest. "Thank you."

The lost look in his eyes urged me to drop the lie, but I managed to catch myself at the last second. He did his best to hide it behind a smile, but the look lingered in his gaze. "Anytime, babydoll. I'll see you soon?" His hopeful tone just fuelled that small spark of feeling dwelling in my chest.

I forced a watery smile to my lips. "I guess." I rushed out of the car as quick as humanly possible.

Hugh met me at the door with a smile. "Hello Nicole, welcome back. Haven't seen you in a while, I was beginning to worry."

I smiled in return. "Aw, that's sweet of you. I was just at a friend's for a couple of days. Kind of a surprise trip."

His expression faltered a touch. "Ah, well please excuse my dramatics then Miss. I couldn't help it, what with the entire building talking about that gruesome incident that happened a couple streets over."

"Gruesome incident?" I had a feeling I knew where this was going.

Hugh nodded. "Yes, I don't know if you've heard, but a man was murdered; shot, a couple nights ago. A mugging gone wrong they said." Of course they would say that. "Understandably, it has everyone on edge."

I put my hand over my mouth as I expressed my 'surprise' at something so awful happening in the neighbourhood. Hugh and I chatted for a short while longer before I excused myself to return to my apartment.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I shut my front door behind me, comforted just by finally being back in my own space. I made quick work of returning my SIM card to my phone, plugging it into my charger on my way to my closet, where I changed into more comfortable clothing. I started to return to my bed, when something occured to me. They wouldn't have bugged the place would they?

I went back to check my phone, seeing multiple messages from Roderick. I clicked on the notification. He answered on the first ring. "Nicole." He sounded as he always did, gruff.

"Hey dad."

"What are you up to, honey?"

"I'm at the apartment, just got back from sightseeing."

"Is it noisy where you are? I feel like there's some interferrance." Code for: are we being listened to?

"I'm not sure, I don't really hear anything."

"You might want to check that out hon. Might be serious."

"I will."

"How's the new apartment treating you, by the way?"

"Oh dad, it's great."

"How about you send me a video later? I'd love to see how the I.D.'s work turned out. Thinking of remodelling my office."

"Oh they did a great job. Will definitely give you the full tour."

He paused for a moment. "I'll actually be in town in a couple of days, are you going to be free for dinner any time soon?"

"With you dad, of course."

"Alright, I'll text you once I'm in town."

"Sounds great. See you."

"See you, honey." I hung up, feeling more optimistic after making contact with someone from home. What he said came back to me. Guess it's time to get down to business. I retrieved a tablet from within my closet, starting it up.

I pretended to vlog for 'dad' as I walked around the entire apartment, the tablet silent as I used it to scan the entire area for any surveillance equipment. It detected at least one mic in each room of the house. Fantastic. On the bright side, there was no trace of video equipment, so I was at least free to move around as I pleased. I turned the tablet off and returned it to my closet.

I settled into bed, begrudgingly admitting that it was odd not having Andreas around. It was alarming how quickly I had grown uccustomed to having him around. I forced my thoughts away from him, distracting myself by going through my phone to see if I'd missed anything important. Aside from notifications from social media sites, I also had a few unopened emails. One of them caught my eye, 'Femme' in all capitals in the subject.

After reviewing the email, I realised that it was in response to my application to intern at the company. I could really use some good news right now. A quick perusal of their response informed me that that was the case. I couldn't contain my excitement as I shot up, quickly adding the details of my interview into my calendar for Wednesday afternoon the following week.

After doing that, I went through my closet to try and figure out how I wanted to present myself for that meeting. Ever since I was a little girl, I'd always dreamt of being a big time editor of a prominent magazine, despite my parents having other plans. After some coercing though, I managed to get them to come around, though my obtaining the skills and knowledge for their 'backup plan' was a pre-requisite.

In some way, I'd always thought that they'd done so with the aim of discouraging me from becoming a writer, but as time went on, it became more and more apparent that it was just out of concern for my future, and I appreciated them for it. Plus, I had to admit that having knowledge of commerce and business came in handy from time to time. Double degrees was hell, but if I kill this interview, it'll be worth it.

I settled on a off white, monochromatic outfit made up of a oversized satin button-up, and a high-waisted pair of palazzos. It was in college that I started taking an interest in fashion, previously being one of those people that usually didn't pay the topic much mind. I had never minded that most of my clothing was selected by everyone else, figuring that as long as I had value in every other aspect of my life, people wouldn't care what I chose to put on my body.

I picked out a small, black leather crossbody bag with leopard print panelling to go with my outfit. I had always deemed my clothing unimportant, but as I started to grow as a person, better understand myself and the fashion industry, I realised the significance of it.

Fashion for me now was my first foot forward in everything I did, the scene upon which I built the narrative of me for others. The way I see it, it speaks for so much more than just what I wear. As I continue to delve into the topic and subsequently began to better understand the complexity of the industry, I began to better read between the lines of a person's choice of clothing and it's relation to the way they wish to live. This lead me to discovering what I was passionate to write, and use my voice to talk about, and I was determined to make a mark through my work.