Chapter 18: Waking Up Alone

When I woke up, I noticed that Dax was gone. I was kind of disappointed that he had left my side. Even his scent hadn’t stayed in the bed to bring me comfort. I had expected to see him to stay with me.

Maybe I should’ve enjoyed his company more while I had the chance. I figured Dax wouldn’t have left me until he knew I was all better. He probably had his reasons, but it was so sudden.

After checking the clock, I had noticed that many hours had gone by. At least I had slept a long while. My body had needed the rest desperately.

I was feeling quite better. This surprised me, since I thought I wouldn’t get over my sickness. The nausea wasn’t even around. At least for the moment it seemed gone.

But I wasn’t going to push my luck and try to eat anything yet. That would have to wait until I knew I was absolutely over my sickness. I wasn’t going back to square one with this.

I laid there for a few seconds before I decided to get up and look around for Dax. He had to be somewhere around the mansion. Maybe he had gone back to his room or something.

I kept hope that he hadn’t just left me without explanation. I wanted to thank him for being there for me. He needed to know that I appreciated him for his kindness.

Where had he gone? I checked around the nightstand to see if he had left a note or anything. There was no note or explanation lying around.

A sudden thought came to me. I was still in pajamas. I wanted to change really quick. After I changed with some difficulty, I rebrushed my hair. It was a total mess and had a few tangles in it. I wasn’t sure why I was trying to make myself look better. Dax had already seen me at my worst. There was no chance to get him to forget that sight of me.

Shortly after I got finished, I headed down the hall to his room and searched around for him. I saw that his bathroom door was open and walked in. He wasn’t there either.

I had to look downstairs. He could’ve been in his office or eating a meal. As far as I knew, work was over for the day.

I headed for his office and found he wasn’t in there. There were no evidence of Dax still being around either. None of his paperwork was on the office desk.

After I headed to the living room, I asked the maid. “Do you have any idea where Dax is?”

She nodded her head and said, “He’s left for a business trip. You just missed him.”

My heart sank at hearing her words. I told her, “Thanks for telling me.”

I walked away from her and headed near Dax’s office. For some reason, I hoped that she had been wrong and he’d reappear.

I was pretty upset that he had just left like that. How could he do that after taking care of me and being so comforting? Why did he have to keep confusing me? I couldn’t keep going through this with Dax.

Dax had done such kind things for me, but he had still left. I wished he could’ve stayed this time. He could have had the decency to let me thank him for what he had done.

I wasn’t sure why his leaving made me feel this way. It wasn’t as if he was my boyfriend and had left me without saying goodbye. I shouldn’t have let it bother me.

Maybe I needed to take my mind off of Dax. Visiting my sister seemed like a good idea to escape my thoughts.
Besides, I needed to check on her again. I worried about her more as each day passed.

As long as she owed money, she was in danger. I knew her debt would take a long time to pay off, even with the retainer money. I wished we could pay it in full in days instead of months.

It drove me crazy knowing that she couldn’t feel safe these days. I only wanted the best for her.

I went to find the chauffeur and said, “I’d like to go to my sister’s.”

He held the front door open for me. I walked out the door and headed for the car. At this point, I wasn’t trying to drive.

After we got into the car, I wondered if this was a good idea. I had no clue if she had plans or was still working. Her shifts were always inconsistent.

I hoped that she’d be there when I arrived. We really needed to catch up. I wanted to know what was going on in her life and push aside what was happening in mine. Dax was one major aspect that needed to be put to the back of my mind.

I still couldn’t believe he had gone off for a trip without telling me. He could’ve at least told me that he was leaving. It almost made me feel that he didn’t care about me when he did things like that. How was anyone this hot and cold?

As we got farther away from the mansion, I started to think more about my sister. I hoped she was doing well.

On the drive, I looked out the window and admired the beautiful scenery we passed by. Out here, there were more wooded areas with tall trees grouped together. There were also a lot of homes along the way.

I had seen Victorian style, modern, and luxurious cabin styled houses. All of them looked like they should be in a magazine.

As we got closer to the apartment, I got excited to see my sister again. After what I had gone through, I deserved something good.

When we got to her apartment, I asked, “Could you please wait here while I visit my sister?”

“Sure."

I got out of the car and headed up the stairs. After I reached the door, I texted her.

I didn’t want to startle her by showing up unannounced. Besides, I found that kind of rude if someone wanted to barge into someone else’s place.

Lola texted back to me and said the door was open, since she hadn’t closed it after getting all her groceries in.

It worried me a little that she hadn’t locked it right away. What was she thinking? I knew she could be a little absentminded at times but not that badly.

I opened the door and headed in. A weird feeling came over me. Right away, I noticed a man was watching me in the hallway and wasn't being very discreet. The sight made me stop in my tracks.

A little bit of panic came to me. Why was he looking at me like that? It made me shiver.

The man wore a suit that Dax’s staff had on, however. I was just being paranoid. This man had to just be a secret security detail Dax had brought in. I highly doubted that this man was spying on me and kept walking.