Figure 8 (15 page)

We also visited Gibraltar, after what seemed like hours sitting at the border waiting to go through. We went up the Gibraltar rock and Damon took pictures of me with the monkeys. I was anxious going up on the cable car thing, that takes you to the top but Damon held me tightly, whispering in my ear the whole journey, my fear of heights forgotten when he was close to me. We also spent one of the day’s shopping in the El Corte Ingles, a massive hypermarket in Puerto Banus, where I bought presents for Jenny and Jack and my dad.

Tomorrow we have to go home and I don’t want to go back, I have felt so relaxed the past five days. Finally for the first time in forever, I feel at peace. I am so in love with my gorgeous man, he has made me whole again. He has taken my heart, and fixed all the shattered pieces. I just hope he doesn’t break it again.

“Good morning princess.” Damon strides through the kitchen whilst I am sat at the breakfast bar nursing a cup of coffee and a hangover. No matter how much Damon drinks, he never seems to feel rough the next day, and he always looks perfect.

“Good morning yourself, handsome,” I wink at him, and then cringe as the pain from my headache rips through me. I watch as Damon opens the cupboard and pulls out a box of paracetamol. He brings me a bottle of water and places them both in front of me.

“Drink the whole bottle, and take two of those, I need you raring to go in an hour.”

“Where are we going?” I ask confused, we hadn’t made plans for today, I thought we were staying here and having a swim and relaxing day before we have to pack for the morning.

“It’s a surprise.” He winks and then walks back towards the bedroom. I lay my head on the breakfast bar, placing my hands over my ears. I wish I hadn’t drunk so much last night.

An hour later and I am ready, feeling a little better. Damon holds my hand all the time we are in the car, every now and then he turns and winks at me, or smiles his incredibly delicious smile. I want to jump on him and kiss him forever. We arrive at the Marina and Damon parks the car.

“Are we sunbathing again?” I ask hopeful, I really don’t think I can walk today.

“Well, kind of. Wait here a minute, I need to speak to someone.” I watch as he heads off in the direction of the boats. He stops when he sees a man coming towards him. The man has long blonde hair and is wearing khaki shorts and t-shirt, he looks every bit the surfer dude.

Oh crap, he’s taking me surfing.

He eventually waves me over; I grab my bag and follow him. We walk down the jetty, and I admire all the boats as we pass them by. Eventually we stop next to the ‘Izabella’ and the man jumps on board. Oh my god, he is taking me on a boat!

“I told you I would buy you a boat one day,” he says, I swear all the colour drains from my face.

“W..wh..what?”

“Only joking babe, I have rented it for a few hours.” I think I just had a heart attack, I know he could never afford to buy me a boat, especially not one as luxurious as this. Damon jumps up onto the deck, and reaches out to help me up. We take our seats whilst the driver-or captain, or whatever they call themselves-prepares to take off – drive, sail-or whatever they do. I have never been on a boat before, I am apprehensive, what if there are sharks in there and we sink?

“You okay baby?” he pulls me into his side and hugs me tightly, kissing the top of my forehead.

“I am perfect, this is perfect, you are perfect.” I look up into his eyes, I love this man so much, I can’t get enough of him. We sail out into the Alboran Sea, the coast getting further away every minute, I am nervous, but as long as Damon has hold of me, I feel safe. “Thank you for everything, this has been the best holiday ever. I really have had a wonderful time.”

“Iz, it has been my pleasure. I have loved every minute of it. I wish we didn’t have to go back to the normalcy of home.” I feel his phone vibrate inside his pocket; he reaches in and looks at the screen. “I’ve got to take this, it’s a patient, I’m sorry babe.” I shrug as he stands and walks over to the other side of the boat. I sit and listen to the sound of the waves hitting the boat, the breeze of the air prickling against my sun-kissed skin and the quietness of the surrounding emptiness.

Damon’s voice rises and I try my best to listen in to the conversation but it’s not easy with the sound of the waves lapping against the sides of the boat. ‘I want you to get rid of him, he is obviously using her to get to me.’ Is the sentence that makes me look up. He notices me and turns around, whispering the rest of the conversation. He puts the phone back into his pocket, runs his hands through his hair then turns and walks back towards me. “Sorry babe, just something that needs my attention when we get home.” I shrug, his job doesn’t concern me, but I am curious as to what he meant. We finish off our amazing boat ride, sunbathing whilst drifting and chatting about our plans for when we get back home. Damon has said I can re-decorate the apartment, to make it our home. I am excited about what tomorrow may bring for the first time in my life.

The flight home is a sad one. I don’t want to go back to reality, and would be happy to stay in our little bubble forever. However, everything has to come to an end and I am now looking forward to the next chapter of our adventure. We make our way up to the apartment and I squeal when Damon scoops me up as we leave the lift.

“What are you doing?” I shriek at him.

“Carrying you over the threshold of our new apartment.”

“Don’t be silly, I moved in ages ago and it’s not like we’re married or anything,” I giggle at him as he holds me close and plants a kiss on my forehead. He fumbles for his keys, placing them in the lock.

“Hmmm, not yet.” He smirks at me, and I melt at his suggestion that we might marry one day. He opens the door and walks us inside, lowering me to the ground but still keeping a tight grip on me. I look up at him and I see so much love in his eyes, my heart skips when he lowers his head and claims my mouth.

“I need to call Dad, and Jenny, I say breathlessly, pulling away from him.

“Can’t we pretend that we are still in Spain, just for a little bit longer?” he pouts at me and I can’t resist those puppy dog eyes. I nod a silent reply and he scoops me up again, carrying me in to the bedroom. He kicks the door open and then stops. I look up at him to see why he has stopped but all the colour has drained from his face. I think he has stopped breathing.

“Damon, What is it?” he grips me so tightly in his arms and I can’t move to see what he is staring at. “Damon, you’re hurting me.” And he is scaring the ever-loving shit out of me. “Damon, OUCH,” I yell and wriggle out of his arms. When I get free I turn around. “What the fuck?” Damon moves like lightening, jumping on the bed and removing all the dead roses that are shaped in the form of a figure 8 in the middle of our bed. I freeze, visions of the nightmare that plagues me creeping into my memory. “Who…who did this?” My voice is shaking and I can feel a panic attack coming on. My life was so perfect just a few minutes ago and like a light switch flicking, it has been turned into a nightmare.

“I don’t know,” he replies coldly. His eyes have turned black and his jaw is twitching, I have never seen him so mad. He scoops up all the roses and carries them out of the room, barging past me as he goes. I turn and follow him out the door.

“Damon, talk to me, what’s going on. Did you tell someone about my nightmares? Is this payback for something I have done? Please answer me.” I am frantic now, I fall against the wall, sliding down until I am sat on the floor, my breathing accelerates and I can’t slow it down. I feel betrayed, how could he destroy me like this, I confided in him and he has let me down. I place my head in between my legs and try to breathe.

“Izzy, I swear I haven’t told anyone.” I feel his hands on either side of my head, his lips pressed against my hair. “I don’t know what this is, but I swear to you, I will deal with it. Someone is playing mind tricks, I will get to the bottom of it.” I look up at his face, his eyes are softer now. “Breathe baby, breathe.” I take a deep breath and then burst into tears again. “Shhh baby, it will be okay, I promise you. I love you.” He stands and reaches out to pull me up. He holds me tight swaying me, soothing me. “I have to go out,” I look up at him confused.

“Why? Damon, you can’t leave me here, I don’t feel safe. I mean how did they even get into our apartment, there was no signs of a break in.” I start to panic again at the thought of him leaving me.

“I will call Jenny now and ask her to come and sit with you. Isabelle, I had someone investigate the break in at your flat. I need to go and speak with the man who is looking into it. I promise I won’t be long.” I head to the sofa and listen as he calls Jenny, and then whom I assume is his investigator. I lay my head on the soft pillow and close my eyes for just a second. When I wake up I instantly smell coffee.

“Hey sleepy head,” says, a smiling Jenny, as she stands over me. “I am not entirely sure why I was needed to babysit a sleeping Isabelle, but I am here anyway.”

“I’m sorry, Jen, I don’t know why I am so tired lately. I could sleep for England.”

“Nothing new there then, is there?” she laughs whilst handing me a steaming hot mug of coffee.

“Thanks. Did Damon tell you what happened?”

“Yeah, he gave me a quick rundown as he was heading out of the door. I mean what the fuck Izzy, why would someone want to hurt you like this?”

“I don’t know, Jen.” I can feel my heartbeat racing again and I breathe deeply this time. “I don’t know what’s going on, I haven’t upset anyone.” My mind starts racing. “Do you think this has something to do with Damon? He got so angry when he saw the flowers. I don’t know if he was angry because it was about me, or if this is something to do with him. All this started when I met him.” I watch Jenny mull my spoken thoughts over in her head until she eventually speaks.

“You could be right, but this is something you need to discuss with Damon. I mean it could be a vendetta against him, but then how would the person know about your dreams?”

“You’re right. I think I am overthinking this. My head hurts.” I stand and walk over to the kitchen to grab some paracetamol. I just make it to the sink before I hurl the contents of my breakfast into it. “Ugh, this stress is doing me no good. I think the breakfast at the airport was dodgy.” I sit back down on the sofa after gargling some water.

“So tell me about Dizzy’s holiday.” I look at her confused. She often comes out with some crazy talk but that nickname is a first. “Dizzy, as in Damon and Izzy. It’s my new combined nickname for the two of you.” She laughs to herself.

“Okaaay,” I say slowly.

“Come on. It’s a good nickname; it took me ages to come up with it. Now tell me all about your hols.”

“Oh Jenny, it was so amazing. We had the best time ever. We stayed in this gorgeous little villa in the mountains and the scenery was breath taking. Damon took me on a boat.” I pause, my memory suddenly flooding back to me. “We were on the boat, Damon took a phone call but I couldn’t hear what was being said properly. I distinctly remember him saying that someone was using me to get to him.” I look up at Jen and everything clicks into place. This isn’t about me. This is all about him. But still how would they know about my dreams. Something doesn’t add up. I need to speak to Damon. I stand and walk towards my bag to find my phone, whilst Jenny is still sat trying to piece everything together. She never was the sharpest tool in the chest. I hit the call button when I find Damon’s name, but it goes straight to answer machine. “Damn it,” I murmur. “Jen, do you have your car with you? I need to go out.”

“But Damon made me promise to keep you here.” She looks nervous.

“Who is your best friend Jen, me or Damon?” I question sternly. She huffs and stands grabbing her bag and coat from the chair.

We drive to Damon’s office, the Range Rover isn’t in its usual parking spot, but I make my way up into the building regardless. His office door is locked, I pull out the key that Damon has given me for when he works late so I could meet him after Candy has locked up. Putting it in the lock and turning, the door opens and I quietly make my way inside feeling like a criminal breaking and entering - without the breaking. I open the door to Damon’s private office. He isn’t here, but something pulls me towards his desk. I brush my hand over the dark wood as I make my way around it. I sit in the chair and glance around the room, my eyes finally resting on the top drawer of the desk. I open it, and then I close it again. I shouldn’t be prying into his personal things; there could be confidential files in there on his patients. Just as I am about to turn and leave, I spot a file on the top of the desk, almost hidden under some paperwork, the top of the file reading - Isabelle Marie Riley. I can’t help myself, I pull it out and open it, flicking through the pages. There are pages on my history, my medical records, my old psyche evaluations and there are a few pages of writing on our sessions as a doctor and patient. I turn the last page and my mother’s face stares back at me, it’s a newspaper article from the day after she died.

Why would he have this?

Has he known all along what happened to my mom?

I never told him how she died, but it’s clearly obvious that he knew already.

I can feel the anger building inside of me, I am furious. I can’t believe that he would investigate me without even consulting me about it. I put the file in my bag, intent on confronting him about it but I pause on my way out of the door.

Am I doing the right thing? Maybe he had all this stuff before we started our relationship and he did it as a doctor? Maybe I am jumping to conclusions; my head is spinning with so many things. I think I need a drink. I put the file back on the desk, exactly the way I found it, deciding that maybe now is not the best time to bring this up. We have enough problems to deal with at the moment. I need answers about other things before we can deal with this. I open the office door and come face to tit with a massive set of breasts. I look up to see a shocked Angie looking down at me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“I came to see Damon, I wanted to thank him properly for his help the other week.” She bats her eyelashes at me and then raises her brow insinuating something. “And who exactly are you?” she spits.

“I,” I say angrily, my temper rising every second. “Am his girlfriend, and Damon is not here. I will tell him you said thank you.” I leave the office and shut the door behind me, then wait for her to leave. She turns on her pretty little heels huffing, exiting the door.

“Tell him I will see him soon,” she scoffs.

“I’m sure he will be thrilled,” I say sarcastically.

I lock the door and head back down the stairs. I shrug at Jen who is waiting outside the building, leaning against her tatty little car.

“I am guessing he wasn’t there? What took so long?”

“Nah, I was looking to see if there was anything with a clue as to what’s going on and then I bumped into some stalker patient of his,” I shrug. I don’t like lying to my best friend, but this is between Damon and me. “I need a drink, let’s go.” I move to get back into the car and Jen heads for the driver’s seat. We drive to Jen’s apartment and drop the car off, before heading towards the bar that I work at.

“Hey beautiful, I missed you so much. When are you back in work?” Jack bombards me as we walk through the door. “Looking hot Jen.” He winks at my best friend. I smile; I’ve missed his face.

“Hopefully next week Jack, I’ve got a few things to sort out before I return. Stop gabbing and get us a drink, I’m parched.”

“Sure darl, your usual?” I nod and he goes off to make the drinks.

“What you going to do babe? Have you tried to call him again?” Jen looks concerned but right now I couldn’t care less about it all. I am exhausted and my brain has gone into overdrive.

“Right now honey, I am going to get bladdered and forget all my problems.” I lift my glass that Jack has sat down in front of me and clink it against Jenny’s glass.

After several more drinks and lots of laughs, we stagger out of the bar and head towards the flat. I get a tightening knot in my stomach when I pass the alleyway where Damon ‘saved me’. We round the corner and open the door, which leads to the flat; my stomach twists again when we go inside. This is the first time I have been here since the night that I was attacked. Memories of that night flash through my mind and the phone call I received telling me to stay away from ‘him’, my mind works overtime as all these little details flood back in.

“Jen, remember when I had that phone call? All the things that have happened, the attack, everything, it has all been because of Damon.”

“Iz, I am way too pissed to make any sense of any of this. I think we both need some coffee.” Jenny moves across the kitchenette to make us both a drink. I sit myself down on the breakfast stool and take my phone from my bag. I glance down noting the seven missed calls, I unlock it and scroll through, deleting them as I go. I really don’t want to talk to Damon right now, but I need to know what the hell is going on. I press 1 on my phone and listen to the answer messages. There are several, all from Damon, mainly asking where I have gone, the last one makes me pay more attention.

‘Isabelle, Please just answer the phone. I love you and I am worried about you. I have been trying to call Jenny, but neither of you are answering me. I am frantic. I promise, if you come home I will explain everything to you. Just please, don’t leave me, please just hear me out. Call me baby, I love you so much
.’