3 Devastation

Grinning, Claire hurriedly rounded the corner into the living room; ready to answer Derek's proposal. However, what she saw was even more shocking than anything else that she had experienced that day.

Derek was kneeling in the center of the living room, surrounded by roses in the shape of a heart, proposing to someone else.

"Yes! I do! Derek, I love you so much" the mysterious woman cried out with a smile as Derek stood and kissed her after placing the ring on her finger.

"Nicole, you really are the love of my life." Derek said as he pulled away from her.

Claire was stuck, standing frozen in the doorway. Time seemed to come to a complete halt.

Her mind was blank, and her limbs ran cold. Before she could fully react to the situation, several large hands grabbed her. A hand forcefully covered her mouth while the others were firmly gripping her arms; and like that she was yanked away.

Panic filled her as she attempted to break free from the grasp of these strangers; however, the more she thrashed, the harder and more painfully they squeezed her. Pain radiated through her arms deep into her bones. It felt as if they squeezed any harder, they would snap her arms.

Her sight became blocked by tears, and it was hard for her to breathe. All she could see as they dragged her away was their black clothing.

After a few minutes of being dragged, she was thrown into the back seat of a car with dark tinted windows and a divider separating the driver from the rear passengers.

Completely mortified by the turn of events, Claire immediately tried opening the door to get out of the car, but it was locked. Further terrified, she started screaming and banging on the windows.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE! THIS IS ILLEGAL. WHAT IS GOING ON? YOU CAN'T DO THIS" Claire screamed, the door remained locked, and her fists had no effect. Claire continued to scream and bang on the door until her throat was raw and her voice was gone.

Suddenly the car started moving, and the divider was slowly opened.

"Hi Claire, I apologize for the rough actions of our security team. They will be reprimanded." The man driving the car calmly spoke out in a seemingly gentle but cold voice.

Frightened Claire sat back in her seat and stared at the man operating the vehicle.

"Eugene? Is that you?" Claire asked in confusion, her voice was quiet and rough from overuse.

'Eugene is Derek's assistant, what is he doing here?'

"Yes, Claire, it's me." Eugene responded.

"Eugene, what is going on here? Where are you taking me? Why was I dragged out of my house? Who was that woman? And why was Derek-" Claire's voice broke into a sob.

"I understand that you have a lot of questions, I will try my best to answer the questions that I have answers to. I'll start with where we are going. I am taking you to the old apartment that you both used to live in. The lease is still good and it's a safe place for you to stay tonight. Your suitcases are in the trunk, and the things you had at the house are all in storage. I will give you the storage unit key and information when we arrive at the apartment." Eugene said in a smooth and even voice.

"The woman you saw is Nicole Goodmore, the daughter of Duncan Goodmore of Good Industries. You were dragged out of the house because you almost interrupted an important moment for Derek. As for why Derek didn't explain anything to you before tonight? I do not know. Any other questions?" Euguene asked politely.

Claire was once again too stunned to speak. She could only let tears continue to run down her cheeks. Her heart was completely broken.

The rest of the ride continued in silence. Eugene navigated the car with extreme skill, and they were able to arrive at the old apartment complex without any difficulties.

"We have arrived." Eugene called out as he parked the car. He then got out of the car and opened the door for Claire.

Feeling like nothing but a shell of her former self. She wordlessly followed Eugene as he grabbed her bags and carried them up to her former home.

Most of the furniture was gone from this apartment. All that was left behind was their old broken couch. Eugene placed Claire's bags near the door, and then turn to her and said:

"Alright, this should be everything. In this folder you'll find the information on the storage unit, as well as the key. If you need anything else, you can give me a call at the number on this card." After handing the card and folder to Claire, Eugene left. 

Unable to process any of what happened that evening, Claire sat on the couch staring blankly into the darkness. The night was cold, and her stomach was gurgling loudly, but Claire continued staring completely numb to these sensations.

The hours of the night grew later and later, when randomly Claire's phone started buzzing aggressively. At first, Claire ignored the vibrations of her phone, but after several minutes of repeated calls she finally picked up the phone to answer it.

The caller ID read Selena, as Claire connected the call.

"Hello?" Claire answered meekly.

"Hello? What do you mean hello? Girl, are you ok? I just saw what that dickwad of a former boyfriend of yours just posted. What the hell is going on?" Selena screeched through the receiver. "Actually, hold on, let me add Emma to this call."

A few seconds later Selena returned to the call with a sleepy voice Emma.

"Good evening." Emma yawned.

"This is not the time for good evening, Emma, check InstaPost. Claire, are you ok?"

Feeling started to return to Claire's body, she could feel the aches and pains in her leg and arms, a dull emptiness in her chest, and her stomach protesting loudly. Her eye grew misty as she replied. "No. I'm not ok."

Emma, finally catching up on the major events of the evening replied "Where are you? What happened? If you want, John and I can go pick you up."

"Right, Let Emma and John come get you." Selena added.

"No, its ok. I think I'll stay where I am for tonight. I'll head over to you tomorrow." Claire responded.

"Ok, we won't force you. Do want to talk about what happened?" Emma continued.

"I don't think I'm ready to talk about anything right now. To be honest I don't even fully understand what all happened. But if you guys could keep me company on the phone that would be great. Talk to me about anything else." Claire said while curling up and hugging her knees.

"No problem, girl. We'll stay up with you all night if we have to." Selena confirmed.

Claire and her friends stayed on the phone chatting about a wide variety of lighthearted topics until the sun began to rise. The conversations help ease the pain of loneliness for Claire. She still felt shocked about the events of the previous day, but their support was very comforting.

After hanging up with her friends, Claire laid back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. Her stomach was still growling, as she had not eaten anything during the previous day, but it was still too early to order any food.

Once again scrolling through her phone, a notification popped up at the top of the screen. It was a message from Derek.

'Hey. We need to talk. Will you me at the Sunflower Café?'