Page 149 of Don't Leave Me

The server interrupted us and took our orders. I wanted to change the subject, put the focus on Hana.

“So, where are you staying now, Han?” I looked at Hana curiously. I didn’t even want to look at Jack.

“Oh, I’m staying with Jack,” Hana nodded, then turned to Jack and searched his face before smiling at him.

I watched as he smiled back at her. “Oh,” I nodded, already knowing the answer.

Jack turned to me and smiled smugly. “Making up for lost time,” he said.

I wanted to puke. I turned back to Hana.

“Well, you know, Han…you’re always welcome back at the apartment,” I smiled sweetly at her.

Hana widened her eyes. She suddenly looked terrified as she nodded, looking down at the table. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, looking up at me, then turned to Jack quickly. “I can’t see myself going anywhere soon though,” she smiled at him.

I watched as her smile faded again before she looked back down, then back up at me. I smiled at her, wanting to reach out for her hand again to try to comfort her. She smiled back at me.

Jack quickly chimed in. “How’s the gallery running?”

I started to blab about the gallery, how it had its slow days but was mostly busy, about difficult clients and artists. He brought up Art Basel and a documentary they had watched recently. I half listened as I watched him and Hana; she had barely said a word in minutes and Jack wouldn’t shut the fuck up about some artist he saw in the documentary. Finally, our food arrived, and I couldn’t focus on anything but trying to find a way to get some alone time with Hana.

I finished my tacos and took a sip of water, and I started with my plan. I dabbed my lips with my napkin and then started to stand up. “I need the restroom. Hana?” I eyed her casually. She had barely touched her food.

Hana turned to Jack quickly. She hesitated before she smiled and turned back to me. “Yeah,” she nodded, then stood up and we started for the bathroom.Thank fucking God.

My heart raced as we walked into the empty bathrooms and I quickly took Hana’s hand, guiding her towards the sink and then turning them on. I figured that would tune out our conversation if anyone was trying to listen.

I widened my eyes at Hana and I could feel my heart thumping in my chest. Hana stared at me with her big green eyes.

“What’s going on, Hana?” I was whispering loud enough for her to hear me over the running water.

Hana’s eyes got bigger, confused. “What?”

Please, please tell me, Hana.

I tilted my head at her and gave her a look. “I knew something was off when you invited Jack here after I offered to buy you a ‘ladies night’ dinner,” I explained, my tone disapproving.

Hana furrowed her brows at me. She bit her bottom lip and shook her head, and it took her a moment to respond.

“He just gets lonely. I’m literally his only friend,” she whispered back, her eyes sad.

I scoffed. I wasn’t buying it. “Come on, Hana. You’re being so careful around him. You flinch when he reaches for his drink. What’s really going on? I know you would never leave Michael. You were fucking crazy about him!” I blabbed – I had to let it all out, tell her that I knew this was just not right.

Hana’s breathing grew quicker. Her eyes widened even more, tears starting to fill them. She was shaking now. She looked at the closed bathroom door and then returned her eyes to me, scared.

“Listen to me carefully, Billie,” she said, her voice low and quiet. “I need your help.”

My heart sank. She continued as I listened intently.

“Jack took me, he drugged me, and he took me against my will. He had me tied up in his apartment the first day. After that I have been trying to gain his trust. I can’t tell you everything right now, I don’t have time,” she was talking quickly and I couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth. “But I need you to believe me. Jack has a gun and he has shown me, and he will use it. He has threatened to kill you, Michael, Emily, my parents, everyone that I love if I don’t listen to his every word. I don’t know how to get out of this, Billie. He has my phone, my laptop…I don’t have access to it so don’t try to communicate with me on there,” she breathed for a moment, checking to make sure the bathroom door was still closed. “I need you to somehow gather everyone and get them safely to the police and then we need to figure out how to get me out of his apartment when Jack doesn’t have the gun,” she explained, then waited for my reaction.

Oh my fucking God. This was worse than I thought. Hana wasn’t psychotic – she was coerced into this relationship with Jack. She was fuckingkidnapped. That explains her jumpiness, her strange body language, her odd facial expressions.

“Hana, we need to leave right now. We will just leave. Does he have his gun now?” The panic was already set in and my need to protect her was in full force.

“I…I don’t know,” she twisted her face, looking like she was about to start bawling. “Don’t cry, don’t cry…he will know something is wrong,” she said to herself, composing herself in just a second. “Just…the next time we get together, which I will try to make happen soon, you get everyone to safety and once we’re together, we’ll run,” she widened her eyes to me. “Okay? Yes? That’s the plan?” she nodded to me frantically.

“Hana, I can’t let you leave with him right now,” I pleaded. “Please.”

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