Liberating Mia - Chapter 3
Mia was about ready to go out of her mind. She was stuck in a hotel room in Cape Town, cut off from her family, and loneliness ate at her. It seemed like a lifetime ago since she’d last seen or spoken to them, and she was feeling the isolation deeply.
Staying on the move, she’d zigzagged her way across the province of Gauteng before finally making her way back to the Western Cape and repeating the process in that province too. Finally too exhausted to keep going, she’d found a small hotel away from the popular beach area to hole up in and rethink her options.
Since she’d been on the run for about four weeks already, she hoped to hide in plain sight. Hoped that Dylan would think it too obvious a move for her to go home. She was beginning to feel like a rat trapped in a maze with no way out. If this was what her life would be like from now on, she’d far rather end it now.
There was no way Mia could see herself living the rest of her days on the run like this, always looking over her shoulder. Wandering from place to place just waiting for the day Dylan found her. And each day, she grew to hate him a little more for forcing her into a life that was no life at all.
Mia knew she couldn’t stay – she’d already been here for a few days. She just didn’t have it in her to move on quite yet. However, to stay in one place for too long meant the chances of Dylan finding her improved exponentially. In a day or two, she would need to be back on the road, but Mia realized that, at some point, she was going to run out of places to hide. Johannesburg and Cape Town were out of the question. Those were his home territories, and the risk was too high that he would find her.
By now, her family would have figured out something was going on since she used to speak to her mother almost daily, and it tore her up inside knowing they would be beside themselves with worry. But her fear was so great she didn’t want to contact anybody lest she put them in harm’s way. If Dylan suspected she had anything incriminating or that she’d seen what had happened, she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her family to draw her out.
Mia couldn’t believe she’d never seen this side of him. How had she missed such a fundamental part of his personality? How could she have been so blind? Apparently, he’d simply been so good at hiding that side of himself. She’d never suspected such a monster lurked under that suave exterior.
Standing at the window staring out as the rain sleeted down, it echoed the desolation in Mia’s heart as the tears rolled unnoticed down her cheeks. What she wouldn’t give just to connect with someone without fear of putting their safety at risk. Even if only for a little while. Even a couple of hours interacting with another human being would be better than this deafening silence and godawful unrelenting loneliness.
Watching a water droplet slowly slide down the windowpane and collide with another, to be absorbed and make a bigger droplet, she got lost in the chaos of her thoughts. When she could no longer take it, she spun away from the window. Mia grabbed the remote off the bedside table and channel surfed aimlessly. Nothing grabbed her attention, and with a sigh of disgust, she threw the remote onto the bed beside her.
In a moment of rebellion, she decided to go down to the bar, and maybe later she’d treat herself to dinner in the hotel restaurant. She pawed through her meagre supply of clothing for something suitable to wear. Then she took extreme care getting ready, making the most of this one opportunity she would allow herself. When she was satisfied with the results of her efforts, Mia made her way to the elevator and to the bar.
She crossed the room, oblivious to the looks she was getting. Sitting down on a barstool, she ordered a drink. When the bartender put it down before her, she smiled her thanks.
Mia sat sipping her drink, contemplating what to do as yet another lonely evening stretched out before her. Inevitably, her thoughts turned to Dylan and the mess she found herself in.
In an effort to get away from her thoughts, she twisted in her seat to look around the room and noticed a man sitting at a table by himself reading a newspaper. She couldn’t see his face, but she could see his hands. And what hands they were. Tanned, manly, strong looking; they conjured up all kinds of thoughts as to what he could do with them.
No companion, no wedding ring. Her curiosity was piqued. It wasn’t like she had anything else to do other than stare at this man and create a fantasy in her head about who he was and what he did. Whether he was married, involved, single? Why was he here? Business? Or was he here for some personal business? Maybe he was here on holiday? But maybe, most importantly, how would it feel to have those hands all over her body?
As if feeling the weight of her stare, the man looked up, straight at her. For a moment, he just gazed at her. And then he smiled and took her breath away. The man was devastatingly handsome, but when he smiled? Dear god, he was positively lethal. He studied her for long moments, and Mia could feel her heart pounding just from his gaze. With another panty-dropping grin revealing a dimple in his left cheek, he stood.
Tall and well-muscled, he held himself with a confident ease she envied. Not once had he looked away from her. While maintaining eye contact, he folded the newspaper neatly, dropping it onto the table, and sauntered toward her.