by Miss Merikan
“You’re the best, Anna,” Dan said, and Gavin rolled his eyes as he went back out into the corridor. Dan was like a puppy, following Anna wherever she’d go. Gavin used to be angry with him, jealous, but after half a year of observing Anna and Dan’s relationship, he knew there was no reason for jealousy. Anna would never date Dan, and the only thing Gavin now felt for him was pity. One day Dan would understand how futile his devotion was, and it would break his heart.
When he walked into the living room, Anna was pulling out chicken from the oven. She smiled at Dan, who was getting the plates ready. “Where did you put Fiona’s box?”
Dan stilled. “I only took the dolls we had on the back seat with you. Gavin?”
“I put all your stuff on the bed.” Gavin said and approached the delicious-smelling dish.
Anna pulled a piece of meat toward her mouth, but then dropped it to the plate and rushed to her room.
Dan frowned. “It’s gonna get cold.”
Anna waved at them. “I just want to check if her faceup isn’t smudged. Just a sec.”
“I’m sure it’s fine!” Gavin yelled to her with a grin and picked out a piece of bacon from one of the baked potatoes laid out around the meat. There was a moment of silence, but when Anna called back, she didn’t sound all that happy.
“Guys, you sure you haven’t left her in the car? She was in this wooden box,” Anna said, rushing down the corridor.
Dan swallowed and put down his plate. “There wasn’t anything in there when I locked the car.”
Anna walked over to the door. “It’s not funny. I put her in the trunk myself.”
“I didn’t take any wooden boxes. I only took the bags with handles,” Gavin said, already going to the door. “Let’s check again.”
Anna put on her boots and stormed outside, rushing to the car. “Dan? Where do you have the keys?”
The car lights lit up when Dan unlocked it with a remote, and Anna opened the trunk, only to look into the completely empty space. She stared at it for a moment before diving into the back seat.
Gavin opened the back door and looked under the seats, but there was nothing there. “I’ll check in the house again,” he said, more alarmed by the second.
Anna walked around the car, stunned and stiff. She got so pale Gavin hesitated if he shouldn’t stay, but if he found the box somewhere, it would instantly put her at ease so he ran inside. The look on her face made Gavin search for that box as if his life depended on it. The last thing he wanted was to see her upset. He knew just how much Anna was obsessed with her Fiona. He’d looked through every nook and crook in the house, but it’s hard to misplace a big-ass wooden box. It just wasn’t there.
“I need my phone,” muttered Anna from the corridor, walking in with Dan holding on to her arm, as if he shared Gavin’s worry that Anna could faint or worse. “I remember putting it into the trunk. I pushed it all the way to the left,” she said with her voice getting a higher pitch with every second.
“I can’t believe this.” Gavin passed her the phone. “Maybe you did leave it at the expo?” A knot tied itself in his stomach when he thought about them just walking about with all their boxes and bags. There were brief moments when there was no one watching the car.
“That’s not possible. I double checked it. Someone must have taken it,” uttered Anna, and Gavin’s stomach shrunk when he saw the watery glint in her eyes. Dan was right beside Anna and pulled her into a hug, only prompting a deep sob.
Gavin looked into Dan’s eyes, for the first time since they met feeling a sense of mutual purpose. “Let’s go back to the expo and ask around, ask the organizers if anyone found it.” A nasty feeling in his gut was screaming at him about Dollmother and her sticky fingers all over the last Katyusha to finish her collection. That woman was mental enough to come up with the plan to steal her heart’s desire. She reminded Gavin of those crazy fans who broke into the houses of celebrities to ‘feel close to them.’
Anna gave a furious nod, and the dinner was forgotten. The Expo building was closing when they arrived, and Anna disappeared from sight almost right away, chasing after one of the organizers. In this situation, Gavin and Dan gravitated toward the ball-jointed doll section to look around the stalls. Without Anna, the silence between them became hard to stomach. Even now that Gavin and Anna weren’t dating anymore, Dan was treating Gavin like a tumor he would eventually get rid of. Maybe it was time to start the topic that was poking at his brain?
“Dan ... I was kinda thinking,” Gavin started cautiously.
Dan raised his eyes from behind the table but got to his knees, looking all over the floor for anything they could have missed. It seemed futile though—all the producers and customizers were already gone. “What?”
“I mean, it’s kinda obvious I suppose, but you’re really into Anna, aren’t you?” Gavin put his hand in his pocket.
There was a brief flash of panic trailing over Dan’s features, and the poor guy stuck his head underneath some green cloth, as if he believed the box could be underneath. “How is that any of your business?”
“I’m not with Anna anymore, so I thought maybe we could talk more honestly.” Gavin took a deep breath. “I don’t hate you or anything. I’m at your house every other day.”
“I know, you’re Anna’s friend,” muttered Dan, slowly getting up, his nape bright red in the halogen light. “I’ve known her way longer than you.”
“So I wanted to suggest, out of good will, that you should get over her.” Gavin scratched his chin, feeling the daggers of Dan’s gaze stab him a million times.
Dan’s nostrils flared, the scowl looking strange on his roundish, friendly face. “You know what, you’re new to all this, and maybe things work differently in your world, but I don’t appreciate you sticking your nose into what’s between me and Anna.”
“Jeez, I’m only saying this because you seem like a nice guy overall, and you’re wasting your time on a girl who’s never gonna like you back the way you’d like her to.” At least Gavin didn’t have any hope anymore, he wasn’t deluding himself with fantasies of married bliss and a bunch of polyurethane babies.
Dan’s jaw twitched, and he exhaled loudly, looking like he was ready to lash out. “You’re such a cunt, you know that? Shut up already and stop hanging around just because we feel sorry for you.”
Gavin’s fingers instantly started itching for a cigarette. “What the actual fuck?” he growled. “I’m just trying to help!”
Dan spread his arms. “You’re not helping. You lost Anna’s doll because you were too busy staring at her tits. I’ve been watching you.”
Gavin’s eyes went wide. “I wasn’t even supposed to carry the wooden box because I have only one fucking arm if you haven’t noticed. You lost her doll when you were too busy trying to climb out of the friend zone!”
Dan’s mouth dropped open, and his face became bright red. “The fuck? You’re the one she dumped after you told her you love her. I’m pretty sure that’s the deepest depths of the friend zone. No, the Mariana Trench of friend zones.”
Blood boiled in Gavin’s veins at the memory of that humiliation. “Oh, yeah? At least I had the balls to tell her what I felt. And yes, I sure fucking hope I’m in the friend zone now, because I love being her friend. I don’t stick around hoping I’m gonna taste her pussy one day!”
Dan stared at him, swallowing with his jaw so tight it looked like he was hurting. “Of course, you’re not. You’re just using her as a free teacher, and you get customers because she’s promoting you. There’s tons of people who do the kind of faceups you do.”
Gavin shook his head with a scowl. “Whatever. I was just trying to be friendly, but now I know why you work photographing objects not people.”
Dan opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything as a thumping of boots started closing in on them. “She’s not here. Someone must have stolen her,” uttered Anna, approaching them in a swaying gait, much like a zombie.
Gavin swallowe
d, forgetting stupid Dan already. “I don’t wanna sound weird, but I bet it’s that creepy Dollmother lady.”
Anna stopped dead and slid her hands into her hair. “So I’m not the only one thinking that? Oh, God, I was told she left for Paris early.”
Dan swallowed. “We should call the police.”
Anna leaned against a column, deflated. Her eyes were bright red from crying, and Gavin couldn’t think of a moment when she’d seem so sad. He just had to do something about it. “There’s no proof. They don’t have any cameras where we parked.”
“You think she’d be stupid enough to photograph her at some point?” Gavin’s heart beat like crazy, and he stepped closer to Anna to wrap his arm around her. He couldn’t lie to himself when she leaned into him for a tight hug. He still wasn’t over her, and it didn’t look like it would happen anytime soon. But Dan didn’t have to know.
“She has four already. Nobody will believe me.” Anna sobbed again, hiding her face in Gavin’s tank top.
Gavin bit his lips, trying to think out of the box. “What if we ... actually went there? To her mansion. You did a faceup for her, so you’ve got the address.”
Anna stepped back, staring at him through the glaze of tears. “Would you come with me?”
“Of course, we would!” Dan was right by their side and embraced them as if this were a group hug. “We’ll take the car and get the proof we need. I can just tell my agent that I got ill.”
Gavin cringed at Dan’s hand on his back, but he would not back off. “Paris it is then. We’ll get Fiona back.” He looked down into Anna’s chocolate eyes, desperate to never see her cry again. And sure enough, her bright eyes shone with determination. There was no question that they would be leaving tonight.
Chapter 17
The trip couldn’t have felt longer. With Gavin and Dan in the front seats, Anna kept moving around in the back, desperate not to lose her mobile Internet. It took almost half an hour to write the appeal for anyone who’d seen her stolen Katyusha to please let her know or at least alarm their local police. She posted it all over the Internet, with close-ups of Fiona and the pictures they’d taken together. She didn’t write upfront about her suspicions but didn’t hesitate to describe the people who hovered in the general area of her table for too long, and Fairy Dollmother was quickly mentioned in the comments. To Anna’s dismay, people believing in the doll kidnapping were a minority. She actually switched off the forum after one of the members called Anna a crazy witch hunter.
And it was not like that. All she wanted was to hold Fiona’s cool, smooth body in her arms and then safely deposit it in the display case. She had been so stupid to take her to the convention. It was because of all the requests to see the doll that Anna decided to bring her along. She kept an eye on Fiona all evening, so the thief must had sneaked up on them and taken her out of the trunk. There just wasn’t any other option.
With her mind a mixture of grief and anger, Anna couldn’t sit still, though getting out of the car for a meal seemed like a waste of time, so they had something at a drive-through and sped north. It was night when they arrived on the outskirts of Paris, at a motel Anna booked on the way.
They got out of the car tired and hungry, so Gavin offered to make a dash for the only store in the area that seemed to be open until late, leaving Anna with Dan in front of their laptops. The motel wasn’t anything special, but she couldn’t care less. With Fiona gone, she probably wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.
Frustrated that she was getting nowhere and tired with the flood of comments that ranged from supportive to downright abusive, Anna got up and kicked one of the beds. “This is fucking useless.”
Dan grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes. “Hey ... Anna, come on, we’ll find her, I promise.”
Anna clasped her hand into a fist but gave him a nod. She believed their plan was crazy, but she wanted to go through with it anyway. “Thanks. Sorry for dragging you all the way here.”
“Maybe let’s take a breather, go for a walk, huh? The area’s nice. It’s not like we can do much here.” Dan got up from the chair, looking oddly pale. He was so worried about the whole thing, and Anna couldn’t have been more thankful. Without him, Gavin and she would have had to take the train, since neither of them drove.
She shrugged. “I suppose we can wait for Gavin outside. I could use some air.”
It was as warm as in the daytime outside, and the night sky was clear of clouds, but Anna couldn’t find any joy in it all when her little baby was kidnapped, alone and cold somewhere, treated God-knew-how. She’d be probably lined up with all the other Katyushas like a grotesque altar to worship greed.
“What do you think we should do?” Anna started pacing around in the parking lot, breathing in the scent of some flowers. “It’s not like we can just show up at her door and demand entry.”
Dan led her down the road. It felt surreal that they all came to Paris on a hunch that Fiona might be here. Dan’s smile soothed her nerves. “I took my long distance lens, and we could gather some evidence.”
“You did? Awesome, you’d be like a paparazzo working for an actual good cause!” The thought brought a smile to Anna’s lips, and she gently shoved his arm, just for the fun of it.
He nudged her back. “You know I’d do anything for you, right?”
The sweet smell of flowers engulfed them to the point where it was getting too much. Anna looked at Dan, surprised. “Wow, that sounded serious,” she said with a chuckle. “You know I’d do the same for you, right?”
Dan took a deep breath, looking like a blond bear about to pounce. “Anna, I’ve never felt this way for anyone before.”
It almost felt like Anna’s brain was rewinding those two seconds over and over. And all she could think of was something along the lines of Oh, fuck, no. No. Not Dan of all people.
She was cold all of a sudden, and it didn’t help that she couldn’t just dismiss what was being said. She loved Dan to bits, but definitely not in a romantic way. He was like a big brother. Or a gay friend you wanted at your side, as your wingman. “I see.”
Dan’s face was flushed, and his chest rose and fell like bellows. “I love you so much, Anna,” he said and before she could react, his lips were on hers, his big hand cupping the side of her face.
She stopped breathing and pushed on his chest with bright, aggressive colors dancing behind her eyelids. With her mouth firmly pressed together, she stepped back, trying to untangle herself from the thick, warm arms that at this point felt anything but inviting. That wasn’t what she signed up for. She’d been living with Dan for two years. Did this develop over time, or did he move in with her hoping for something more?
“Seriously?” she heard Gavin’s voice from far away, followed by stomping of his boots, and it was like the kiss of death from the other side.
“Let go of me,” hissed Anna with another push. She pulled herself free and stared at Dan, completely out of her depth.
Gavin approached, looking like a comet ready to crash into whatever was in its way. “I went the other way, to get you a curry, so you’d feel better, and this is what I fucking find?” He put a plastic bag with the food on the ground and stepped closer, imposing, towering over her. “What the actual fuck, huh?” Gavin raised his voice. “You told me he wasn’t your type, that you’d never date him!”
Someone screamed at them in French from the window, but Gavin went on with his tirade. “I get it that you don’t want me, but this guy?” He pointed to Dan with his eyes on fire.
“Get out of her face, you fucker!” Dan yelled and pushed Gavin all the way off the pavement and onto the empty road. It was like a clusterfuck of misunderstandings Anna couldn’t get a word in to stop.
“What did you do?” she uttered, staring at Gavin on the asphalt, trying to pick himself up with only one arm. There could have been a car driving past. Breathless, she rushed to Gavin’s side and offered her arm as support. Her heart was beating like crazy.
�
�He can’t talk to you like that!” Dan said with his nostrils flaring.
Gavin pushed away Anna’s hand. “I’m fine!” he said despite blood drizzling from his scratched arm.
“You’re not, you asshole,” hissed Anna through gritted teeth and grabbed him by force. His body was stiff beneath her touch, but just as warm as she remembered it. And in the midst of it all, her mind kept screaming that Gavin was still jealous about her.
Dan threw his hands in the air. “I can’t believe this! He comes here, screaming at you, and all you do is help him up? And you’re mad at me?” Anna’s heart froze when she saw his eyes glistening in the glow of the nearby streetlight. This was going downhill pretty quickly.
“Dan, he only has one arm. It’s dangerous. You can’t just shove him into the street. He wasn’t gonna hit me, or anything,” she uttered, holding on to Gavin harder and harder with every second. He wasn’t pushing her away anymore.
“He’ll live,” Dan groaned, eyeing Gavin as if he were toxic waste.
Gavin pursed his lips, looking at them both without a word.
Anna sighed and allowed herself to slowly rest her head on his shoulder, knowing she was about to progress to the tricky part. “Dan ... I think you must have misunderstood something I did. This is ... a bit weird.” It was like kicking a puppy. Really the last thing she wanted to be doing now.
Dan swallowed, breathing hard. “I don’t get it, Anna. What does he have that I don’t?”
Anna wanted to howl. She didn’t want to talk about this with Gavin around, but there was hardly a way around it. “There’s nothing wrong with you. But we’re friends. I love you as a friend. No one can just pick and choose those things,” she muttered, looking at him with her chest tight.
Gavin cleared his throat, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “So ... you weren’t kissing?” he muttered.
