Three Thousand Miles - Forever, (book #3 of Three Thousand Miles, Series) (16 page)

“You drive me crazy, but I love you and of course I forgive you. Alanna you
must never accuse me of that again, do you understand.” I wrap my arms
around him.

“Yes, I am sorry, I love you Adrian.” I whisper. Adrian gently kisses the top of
my head and then he leads me back over to our bed. I climb in and when
Adrian positions himself next to me, I huddle tightly into his chest. He begins to
stroke my hair as he explains everything to me.

“Zara has been calling me, but I can assure that it’s only because of the child. It
took me until yesterday, but she has finally agreed to the DNA test. What you
have to understand is that Zara is a very difficult woman. Everything has to be
on her terms and she has conditions that I have to, obey.”

“What conditions?” I ask softly. Adrian sighs as he talks.

“Before she will allow the DNA test, she wants me to spend the day with her
and the boy.” My head is spinning and I feel sick.How can I let him spend the
day with her? She will manipulate him into feelingthings for her and I can’t
allow this.

“Adrian you know how hard that’s going to be for me. I can’t think of you with
her.”

“Alanna, you can come with me and you can see for self that I feel nothing for
her. Will you do that for me?” I smile at him.
“I will hate seeing her smug face again, but I know how important this is. So
yes of course I will go with you.” Adrian kisses the top of my head and I fall
asleep soon after with a vision of his face running through my head.

Eight

I wake up in the morning with a massive headache. I open my eyes and they
don’t adjust to the sunlight that beams into the room. I slowly start to pull
back the covers as I make my way out of the bed. I rise from its edge and my
head is spinning. I feel dizzy and my eyes are still not adjusting to the light. I
slowly walk across the bedroom floor, until I reach the bathroom. I switch on
the light and my head is now pounding from its brightness. I close my eyes
gently and when I open them, I can see little black spots forming in my vision. I
take a deep breath as I begin to splash some cold water onto my face. I catch a
glimpse of myself in the mirror and I am shocked at what I see. My eyes are
heavy and they have black circles underneath. My lips are very dry and my skin
is ultra-pale. My eyes finally adjust to the light, but my blurriness is now
replaced by nausea. I can feel my stomach turning and I now I am going to be
sick. I stumble over to the toilet and as soon as I reach down to its level, I am
being sick. My head is bursting as I vomit more. I feel as if I have a massive
hangover, but I haven’t been drinking. Maybe I have food poisoning or
something either way -I am feeling like crap.

I pick myself up off the floor and I make my way back to the sink. I carefully
wipe away the beads of sweat from my forehead as Adrian bursts into the
room.

“Are you okay?” He asks as he rushes behind me. I turn to face him as he
towers above me. I am actually starting to feel a little better now, so I smile at
him to reassure him that I am okay.

“Yes, I am fine.” I quickly brush my teeth and then I make my way back into the
room to get dressed. I throw on my blue skinny jeans and a black button up
sweater. I scrunch my hair into a high bun and then I make my way down the
stairs and into the kitchen. Adrian is on his phone as he sits at the breakfast bar
I smile at him and then I march over to him and I begin to make his breakfast. I
pull the frying pan out from the cupboard and then I dart over to the fridge
and take out some eggs.

“Baby, you don’t have to do that I can pick something up on the way to work.”
Adrian says as I begin to the crack the eggs into the pan. I shake my head as I
don’t pay any attention to his words. Once Adrian has eaten his breakfast
consisting of scrambled eggs on toast – his favourite he ushers over to me and
grabs me firmly. “Are you sure that you are feeling okay? You never touched
your breakfast.” I smile at him.

“I still feel a little fragile from throwing–up, but don’t worry I am fine. Now you
better go or you will be late for work.”

“I am the boss so I am never late.” He smirks at his words as he pulls me close
for a kiss. I grip him firmly as he catches my face in his hands. I look at him and
I still cannot believe the drama which unfolded last night. One minute we were
kissing and next we were ripping each other’s headsoff. Last night was crazy
and I hope that there are no more restless nights like that to come.
“Even so you had better get going,” I insist. Adrian narrows his eyes at me and
then he kisses me again. I walk him over to the door and I kiss him gently on his
cheek. He smirks at me and then he gives me my orders for the day.

“Do you remember what I said to you about your safety?” I roll my eyes at him
as I feel annoyed that he is still rambling on about me being in danger. I really
feel that I am not in any type of danger as I haven’t had any more threats since
that last one before the wedding. I have had no surprise packages or flowers
with hidden messages. I haven’t been followed or chased in anyway and Adrian
has even agreed with me when I told him that I didn’t need security any more.
I feel that Adrian has grown and that he has learned that I am not in constant
danger and there is no need for me to be guarded twenty-four hours a day. I
just don’t need to be babied all the time and I am so glad that he has made
progression with his obsession for my safety. He was reluctant at first, but he
soon realised that we had made the right decision. However, he still has little
things that I need to obey.

“Okay, so you know to drive with doors locked at all times and that you
mustn’t stop off anywhere strange like, new stores or deserted coffee shops,
right?” I frown at him.

“Yes, I know, now please leave.”

 

“If I didn’t know any better I would say that you are trying to get rid of me!”
Adrian says smugly.

 

“I am not trying to get rid of you, but I am going to be late if you don’t go.”

“Okay I am going, but remember what I said and please baby, drive safely.” I
roll my eyes again at him as I lunge into his arms.I kiss him firmly and then I
pull back from him. He smiles at me and then he gently kisses my nose. I watch
him get into his black Range Rover and I stare after him until he is out of sight. I
sigh when he is gone and I make my way back into our empty, glamorous
house.

When I arrive at the orphanage an hour or so later, I walk into the building and
I am surprised when I see that all of the children are busy tidying up. I walk
through the crowed hallway and into the large lounge area. When I walk in the
place is unrecognisable. All of the toys, books and games are all packed away
neatly in storage boxes and all of the chairs are smartly placed on top of the
tables. I walk further into the room and I can see a few of the smaller children
lying on the sofa. I quickly walk over and greet them, but they take no notice of
me. I start to wonder what’s wrong as I make my way into the dining room. As I
enter, Janet embraces me with a kiss on each cheek and then she ushers me to
one side.

“Sweetie,” she says as she grips onto my hand. “Today is visiting day,” I scowl
at her as I don’t know what she means, who is visiting?

 

“I am afraid I am clueless, you need to explain, better.” Janet smiles at me and
then her face straightens.

 

“Visiting day is just a term we use for an open day. We are expecting a few
families in today, you know that want to adopt.” My heart sinks.

 

“Oh I see,”

“We need to be extra sensitive today as the children have waited for this day
for some time. They put very high hopes on days like these, especially the
younger children, they truly believe that their new mum’s and dads are going
to come and find them. It’s a very tough thing to witness are you sure that you
are up to it, Alanna?” I glance around the room at the faces of the orphans,
they are all smartly dressed and they have superior smiles on their little faces.
As I look at them I can tell that they are resting all of their hopes on today
going well. I just wish that it does. I turn my attention back to Janet.

“I can handle it,” I confess. Janet smiles at me as she leads me over to the
children. I embrace a few of them with hugs and then I ask them how they are
feeling.

“So how is everyone today?” I ask as I sit down onto the floor next to a few of
the older girls. Sammy is ten; she has black hair and dark eyes. Holly is eleven,
she has blonde hair and blue eyes and then there’s Emily who is thirteen, has
bright red hair and brown eyes and she has a majorcrush on Adrian. I smile at
the girls as they read and share stories from theirmagazines.
“We are fine, oh Alanna I was going to ask you if you could style my hair for
me?” Emily asks with a wide grin. I reach out for her hand as I give her my
answer.

“Let’s go and style that bright red hair!” She laughs and then she drags me into
her room. I have never been inside the children’s rooms before and I am
surprised at how nice this one is. She shares her room with Sammy and Holly
and it is a typical teenager’s room. There is make-up everywhere and posters
of One Direction cover the pink walls. There is a single bed at one side and
then at the other side are bunk-beds. The bed covers are pink to match in with
their furniture and they have a large TV mounted on the wall. I never expected
the bedroom to be so nice, but what was I expecting? A little mattress on the
floor with no heating and no covers, I am realising that my thoughts of how an
orphanage is - was terribly wrong.

Emily takes a seat at the dressing table and I position myself behind her as I
begin to play with her hair.

 

“So what are we doing with you hair?” I ask as I run my fingers through her
mass of thick red hair.

“I was thinking something like yours?” I smile at her as I am flattered that she
wants her hair like mine. Although my hair is a mess today and I can’t imagine
anyone wanting to style their hair like mines. I smile at her again as I plug in
the curling iron. I wait for it to heat up and then I part Emily’s hair into
sections, so that it will be easier for me to style. I twine her hair onto my finger
and then I slowly and carefully wrap her hair along the hot wand. I wait for it to
curl and then I release a long red curl. Emily’s face lights up as I begin to curl
the rest of her hair.

“Is Mr Black working today?” Emily asks and I can see her plump cheeks blush. I
gently laugh at her words and then I fill her in onAdrian.

 

“Yes, he is working today. Do you like Adrian?” She blushes again and I cannot
resist the urge to quiz this little girl on Adrian.

 

“Yes he is very… nice, I like him.” She says quickly. I smile at her as I begin to
curl another section of her hair.

 

“He is very handsome, right?” Emily blushes again.
“Yes he is. Miss Alanna, can you please tell me about your wedding.” I gently
laugh as I haven’t thought about that day in forever.

 

“We got married in September and it was the happiest day of my life. We had
all our friends and family there and it was an amazing day.”

 

“It sounds wonderful. What was your dress like?” I laugh again at her.

“My dress was Vera Wang. It was long, tight and it had a mermaid tail. The
fabric was lace and my straps where jewel incrusted. It was a lovely dress; it
would look good on you.” Emily sighs.

“Tell me more!” She urges.

“Our reception was stunning, everything was black and white. We had amazing
food and a wonderful five-foot cake. We had silk chairs and goodie bags for all
our guests. We danced all night to Michael Bublé and we kissed in the
moonlight which shone through the marquee. That night was the most
spectacular night of my life. Adrian and I went through – some horrendous
stuff, but that night we were finally united forever. I married my prince
charming.” My mind flashes back to that night as I lightly mist Emily’s hair with
some Elnette hairspray. I can still remember the taste of our wedding cake and
I can still hear the soft music which played all night long. I close my eyes and I
am back there in that moment, me in my wedding dress and Adrian in his tux
with his hair slicked back. His eyes were glowing and I couldn’t stop staring at
him. He reached out for my hand as he lead me onto the dance floor and I can
remember the first time that I saw his wedding band on his long thin finger.
My heart stopped as that moment will live with me forever.

“Wow, I want my wedding to be exactly like that.” Ismile at her. “Miss Alanna,
how do you know if a boy is the one for you?”

 

“How old are you again?” I say sarcastically. She rolls her eyes at me.

“I am thirteen, old enough.” She says firmly. I shake my head at her as I feel
that she is a little young to be thinking about boys. I remember when I was
thirteen - I think that I was still playing with dolls.
“Well I guess that you know someone is the one when you can’t imagine
yourself without them. You live and breathe for that one guy and when you
picture your life, you can’t guess what’s going to happen or what the future
might be, but if you have him then you know that everything will be fine.”

“But how do you know that you will feel the same way at thirty as you do at
thirteen?” I am starting to worry that Emily is asking me this because she has
boyfriend? I feel that it’s my responsibility to find out.

“No one knows how they really feel at thirteen and your feelings and opinions
change as you get older. It’s such a young age to be thinking about being with
one person forever. At thirteen you haven’t lived, you need to grow up and
then find your one true love.” Emily sighs and I can tell that something is
bothering her. I really want her to confide in me and I want to help her
understand how she is feeling. I wish that she would open up and tell me her
feelings.

“Miss Alanna, I have met this boy and he is really special to me. I feel like I love
him, but he is older than me so I am not sure how to behave around him. He
has older friends and they talk about stuff that I have never heard of before. I
really like him, but I don’t know if I fit in with his life.” Emily’s confession has
me worried and I don’t like the sound of her with an older boy.