Running Away to London

by Geiza Stefany de Oliveira

  “I promise I'll never let it happen again.”

  “How did you let?”

  “I wasn't around, and I'm so sorry duchess.”

  He holds it at my waist causing me to deconcentrate the misfortune that has happened.

  “You are going to kiss me?”

  I ask.

  “Yes, I will, duchess.”

  He holds to my face and I pull him at once to my lips! He is so handsome... of course, I date him! I think I fall in love a little now because the way he holds me around the waist and kisses me is so intense. This man is crazy about me!

  “Liz, how are you?”

  My dad yells from afar, making me blush a little. I walk away from Elliott right away and he smiles at me.

  “I’m okay, dad.”

  I smile at Elliott too, and finally, he shows me where I can change my clothes. My bath is relaxing, I try to forget a little of what's going on, but it is almost impossible. In the wardrobe, there are a few pieces of clothing that I think is mine, so I wear tight jeans and a thin tank top. I throw something over me because of the cold.

  I go quickly to the living room, after almost getting lost. Only my dad is in the living room typing on his cell phone.

  “Where is he, dad?”

  I ask very interestedly.

  “He is in the kitchen. Are you feeling better?”

  I sit down and he hugs me, my dad gives me a little more of his affection curling the strands of my hair.

  “Just a little dad, my head is better, but this situation... suddenly, I have got a new life in London, a boyfriend and you look terrible...”

  “I'll tell you everything, Luiza.”

  I sit beside him, I look at my father with fear, for his countenance to me is very serious.

  “Your mother and I divorced because she was having an affair with a boy from her job. Our wedding was not going well before that trip to Rio in 2016. And she didn't want to try to save our marriage anymore so I decided to put an investigator behind her. When I opened myself about the situation your mother used you against me. She made you believe that I was the one who broke our marriage, so we haven't talked in about two years, the same time you decided to come to London.”

  I fall into a shock as hard as I try to be strong. It is very difficult, my father gets up and puts a pen drive in my hand. Then he looks at me devastated and leaves me here, alone with Elliott... I have not the strength to ask him to stay. I have no strength for anything else.

  Chapter 31

  “You have got to eat, duchess..." Elliott hands me his cell phone on the couch. We have got been here for almost 2 hours, sitting and silent.

  “I can't, not after discovering the truth.” He gives me a kind look.

  “You can deal with that later, Liz.” I nod and try. Elliott intertwines his fingers with mine and leads me to his dining room table. My dad's pen drive is in my pocket.

  “How did we fall in love?” I ask after serving myself.

  “ We had an accident on my Ferrari, and then I started to see you differently” I shake my head in disbelief. I smile at him very skeptically. Elliott looks at me curious all the time, arms folded. I love how he dresses! He tells me several things and increasingly makes me smile by telling me about a trip we made to Dublin; it is from there the castle and my picture.

  For the first time since I woke up in 2019, I am distracted and relieved. Elliott pulls me to dance in the middle of his room without telling me anything, even with his mouth too close to my ear. He just wants to pull me calm. With each passing second, I wonder what else this man did to make me say yes.

  He puts on a song I know very well: "If You Ever Want to Be in Love" by James Bay. I smile in Elliott's arms leaving some of that pain of having my parents divorced now. He caresses my back, warms me in here and makes me feel very special.

  I see his smile at me and I fall in love a little more, for the first time wishing my memory back. So I fell in love with my English boss, my best friend... what a beautiful mess! Before we can kiss my cell phone rings.

  “Hello.”

  I mean without pretense and I hear a girl speak English. I do not understand much what she says after "honey" because she talks too fast! I leave my cell phone with Elliott for a moment and discover that this is a friend from here... again the cell phone rings and it is my mother.

  “Luiza! Are you okay? Say something!”

  She talks among a lot of people, looks like she is in a terminal.

  “Where are you?”

  I ask very angrily.

  “I’m in London. Have you left the hospital?”

  “Yes, I left with dad and Elliott, now you just have come.”

  She is silent suddenly.

  “Did you call your father first?”

  “Yes, I did mom. You know I always had more attention from him. Come see me, we have got to talk.”

  She gets so mute that it looks like I am talking to myself. It does not take more than an hour for my mom to get here.

  “Let me just talk to her.”

  I ask Elliott who made me a hot drink.

  “If you wish, it’s okay I will be close if you need.”

  He kisses my forehead and greets my mother. Elliott leaves us then still catching my eye. What a beautiful man! My mom smiles at me realizing this, she then looks around.

  “What a nice match you got, we are very similar to this.”

  “Then that's it? A note about my boyfriend? Mom something hit me hard in the head and I lost my memory of the last 3 years!”

  She takes a deep breath and stares at me carelessly.

  “It was not my fault, and your father knows that, because it was not in my plans to get pregnant by accident, let alone marry your father, not even keep me in marriage after you were old enough not to be breastfed.”

  That is all. I did not even see the pen drive. I cry, but I try not to do it now.

  “You're getting to be the worst thing of my life...”

  “Now I'm the villain? It's not fair, Luiza! At least try to put yourself in my place, I could not support you alone and continue my studies!”

  “Okay, I was a big hindrance in your life, so you were entitled to make up for lost time with my father.”

  “It was the best thing I did. Now I'm happy Luiza, you're dating Pollentier's editor-in-chief...”

  “My father has been in depression and hasn't talked to me in 2 years, what about it?”

  I can not stand... I looking away at what may have been our lives for the last 3 years.

  “He forced things to be like this, Luiza. If only he hadn't insisted on marrying us...”

  I take a deep breath and my tears stop.

  “We can no longer change what happened, but from today you will return everything you stole from my father while using me.”

  She gives me a disdainful look.

  “Do you see this pen drive? It's your end if you don't do what I'm saying.”

  I mean showing the pen drive after pulling it out of my jeans pocket.

  “I'm your mother, Liz! Give it to me now!”

  This time Elliott listens to her scream, but I decide to keep the pen drive in my pocket.

  “Go away, mom, and do it right this time before it's too late.”

  “You'll regret it, girl!”

  She marches out of Elliott's house probably rejecting me as a daughter. I will not escape this situation, much less what happened to me. Nothing changes my head. I face what is happening now.

  Chapter 32

  Elliott sees me in the living room, but I dry my tears in time.

  “Can we go for a walk?” I pass the phone to him and instantly he gives it back to me.

  “Yes, babe. You just need one more coat.” Finally, he takes me to London. I try to imagine what it should be like in my old life if I changed much of what I am today...

  “How did things used to be?” I ask Elliott at Hyde Park as we walk slowly. I try to imagine myself the more I find out about myself.
Suddenly, things start to make sense in my head the more he talks. Elliott holds my waist and takes me with him into London in the meantime.

  I will get used to and feel the horror of this situation falling behind. Elliott finally kisses my lips before we enter a house. We are in another neighborhood when I find myself, it is his family. There are two ladies: one is Margot, a critical eye, and the other Audrey that have got a disinterested look.

  The sister newer than Elliott sits next to me and what was to become complicated, it becomes fun. Elliott and his sister show me my name in the magazine we work in, his family magazine. God, this is better than I thought.

  “Are you going to Paris Fashion Week?” I ask Elliott and he smiles at me.

  “We go, duchess.” I shudder a little... me, in Paris? Next to Elliott, I would for sure! Suddenly, a charm begins to take over me at his mother's house. I do not have all the answers I need right now, even if I will regain my memory, but I ask God about my gift.

  That is all I have got, and it is all that matters now that I can make better choices and be truly happy. May God guide me and may it help even those around me, like my family and Elliott.

  Chapter 33

  Jordan's beautiful face prints the magazine cover in my hand next to mine, but Mia and Kim make me put it aside. I've heard Elliott explain to me and tried to digest several times that his ex-girlfriend was the one who did this to me. She is dealing with justice.

  Rebekah hands me a Christmas list in English. I keep it in my bag at Pollentier and look at the office I am leaving while I am treating myself. Tomorrow I am going to Paris with Elliott, and tonight I have got dinner with my father in a Portuguese restaurant.

  “I can hear you from my room.”

  Elliott watches, making us laugh. I stare at him, seeing him so well dressed.

  “So, just for now, we will leave you alone, boss.”

  Elliott smiles the more I speak English again. Not everything is clear in my mind, but he is a good teacher and my friends too.

  “Stay in touch!”

  I say closer to him. Elliott kisses my forehead and leaves us here, unfortunately. Oh, how this man fascinates me!

  “Liz, there's a little drool in your cashmere!”

  Rebeca catches my eye making us all laugh. They are terrible to me! God, thanks for my next dinner. I leave my friends as soon as my schedule with my dad gets closer and then I see him so much better in the restaurant. He still hugs me long. We talked a little about frivolities.

  “I missed our friendship a lot.”

  He says to me.

  “I bet I did too, you're the most important person to me, dad.”

  He kisses my forehead, so much lighter.

  “Forgive your mother, my daughter. In situations like these, the children are the most affected and I don't want you to live without peace.”

  “I have got already forgiven mom, and I deeply hope that she will mature with this situation.”

  “She will, my daughter, one day. Are you going to Paris?”

  “Yes, I am going. Will you continue living in London when I arrive?

  I ask very expectantly. He is been in town for some time now, using the savings to keep his eye on me and I do not know if I realized this was happening.

  “Yes, for a few more weeks. We will spend Christmas together if you want.”

  It is the best thing I could hear today! I love Christmas so much and with my dad next to me things could not be better! He takes me home, where everything is ready for me to travel with Elliott. We said goodbye with a tight hug until the end of Fashion Week.

  The truth is, Elliott will take me to Paris to stay there for a little over a week. He wants to do many things and I love it! Elliott knocks on my door at 7 am and full of anxiety I am ready, my face swollen with sleep.

  “Wow, you look so gorgeous!”

  He spins me around, looking me completely in one of the best sets and coats I've found in the wardrobe.

  “You are more, babe.”

  I hug him, Elliott is so handsome that I look at him as a silly girl. We walk side by side, hand in hand until we get to the plane... it is not my first time, but Paris, next to Elliott makes it look like it is the first time.

  “When Mia and I were kids we used to hate airplanes and trains, but we liked Paris. Fashion Week was a hindrance to my father.”

  Elliott laughs, how noticeable he misses his father right now!

  “He is proud of you.”

  My boyfriend kisses my forehead instantly.

  “I hope.”

  We enjoyed the trip, talking basically and through Google Translate until we finally arrived in Paris! Every detail for me is exciting close to haute couture and all the fashion culture that we will have got in contact from now on.

  Elliott pulls me into a restaurant and meanwhile, I am losing my mind as I suddenly realize that I am really in Paris. We go to Le Cinq on Avenue George V while our bags go to the hotel. Elliott holds me by my waist and we quickly meet some acquaintances of his.

  Anyway, a lady is leaving the restaurant while we are entering. She dresses so well, has purely French features and is definitely from here. I hear my boyfriend call her Bella Petit, but the name is unfamiliar to me. She smiles at me and I smile back, they still exchange another word.

  “She's one of those fashion figures.”

  Elliott quickly explains it to me before I even ask.

  “I wondered. Do we both know each other?”

  Elliott smiles at me.

  “No duchess, but soon they may be colleagues.”

  I forget Mrs. Petit as we enter the restaurant and have got such an amazing meal! Elliott is all the time smiling because of my expressions.

  We started getting ready together at the hotel, and that is fun for me because I do not take my eyes off him and his rituals to look even more beautiful than he already is. When I see him splashing over his body Giorgio Armani, I can not stand it... I need to hug him and feel that scent closer.

  Elliott and I are getting to know each other. I realize now how much he likes me because. I do not understand who I was, and I will not stop being who I am now. In my dressing gown, I win because of Elliott, a long black dress from Dior. Something tells me that he likes Italy very much. We found ourselves properly groomed ready for the show.

  Oh my gosh! Here are so many personalities, and I see things that make me gaping! Fashion Week is fantastic. At some point or another Elliott takes me to see a little more of this amazing place. I get as involved as Elliott as much as possible.

  Elliott is working most of the time and even gives interviews, soon Mia arrives and her mother too. Time here goes by so fast with all the work, but tomorrow there's still a Pollentier Magazine event. Mia and I talk a little closer to some models backstage because I fall in love with the makeup I see in them.

  It is then that every part of my body starts to fail... there are stylists around Elliott, models, journalist and my head is spinning... uh! I have got a lot of med the now, that something terrible is happening and my head can get consequences for the rest of my life.

  “Excuse me, Liz, you...”

  I lower my eyes getting a little dizzy.

  “Get me out of here, Mia, please...

  She looks at me in horror and then I feel someone hold me from behind and wrap his arms around me. I smell Elliott's perfume and then everything goes off. I open my eyes. I see Elliott and the paramedics. I remember many things... and I am back.

  Chapter 34

  Oh, this is very complicated... They look at me, but I look for the look of my boyfriend. He is here by my side.

  “I'm fine, I just feel a little nauseous.”

  I say and Elliott changes his gaze to me completely.

  “We recommend that you stay at rest now and do not push yourself.”

  Elliott reaches out to me right away and I catch her still taking in everything that pops into my mind.

  “No, Elliott. You stay, the night is not over
yet and...”

  He interrupts me with a peck. Oh, how I love his lips! I smile.

  “We'll go to the hotel and Mia will stay with my mother.”

  That is all he says and I do not argue anymore. Elliott grasps my waist and takes me outside, though, with hundreds of flashes I get a little sicker, we carry on. We get in the car and he kisses me like we are not going to do that anymore.

  “Elliott...”

  I whisper.

  “God! I missed you so much, babe.”

  We smile in the car. We kiss again and again and finally, we hug here. Elliott has got not given up on me, in fact, he is doing everything thinking of me. He is the sort of man who likes and does everything in his power to demonstrate.

  What happened while I was in amnesia changed our relationship forever. As soon as he arrived at the hospital, he said:

  “Hi, babe, I was in a church which is comical for me, since I haven't been in one for a long time. But I asked God for you to wake up and come back to me...”

  I interrupted him and then he went more calmly and patiently. When he saw my father quickly stepped forward:

  “I know everything I need about you, but Luiza now has got me and she won't be persuaded by your lies!”

  My father immediately answered.

  “There is a lot to you and Luiza need to know about me, the truth is above all that. I know that you love my daughter, by the way.”

  When he took me to his mother's house he said as soon as we arrived:

  “She hasn't recovered her memory yet, but here's something you always need to remember, she's the woman I'm marrying and will be part of this family with your love and respect!”

  When we arrived here in Paris, he told Petit.

  “You are the only person my father would trust now, and me too, soon my fiancée too.”

  She smiled at me and I barely understood one word and another... now Elliott watches me wake up. It makes me smile st surprise at the same time I want to throw him a pillow.

  “I love you, Luiza.”

  It is the first thing he says in his voice so hoarse in the morning and I smile in love.