CHAPTER THIRTY.

Elena's Pov.

I told Katie all about the phone call, but that seemed to be the least of her worries. I asked what was going on, but got only bits of information which I could not understand, she told me to hold on, when she sorted it out I would be filled in on the recent happenings, so for now I was not in the know about what was going on, but that did not mean I was not curious nor that I did not continue probimg and nagging to know everything, but I backed off when I realized that she too was confused and could not give me a comprehensive answer.

"So where are we heading to?" I asked, peeking at her from underneath my lashes.

"Focus on the road girl, we are going to the mall" she replied rolling her eyes.

"Which mall?" I queried, looking at her again, something was off, there some kind of mark on her neck, she caught me looking and  immediately covered it up with her scarf that had slipped off.

"I'll direct you, just keep your eyes on the road." She warned.

I smiled, it has been a long time  since I went shopping, but now, what was I shopping for?.

"What are we shopping for?" I asked, taking care not to look at her again.

"Just stuff you need for tomorrow's shoot." She answered.

"Take the left" she ordered as we reached a junction that separated into two roads in the opposite direction.

"Yes ma'am" I did as I was ordered, not wanting to get scolded again.

"What is it?" She asked me, probably noticing my expression.

"Well the thing is .. I want to ask you a question, promise me that you will not be angry."I asked holding my breath.

"Uhm... okay?" She said it rather like a question but that was my cue to ask my question.

" Is that a love bite on your neck, is that why you are covering your neck?" I quizzed.

" Where?" She touched her neck, feigning oblivion, but I knew better than to belief her act of innocence.

"Don't even think about trying to fake that ignorance, I know you know what I am talking about, but for what it's worth let me rephrase it, is that a hickey on your neck?" I inquiredas bluntly as possible.

"Well.. it is a love bite alright, take the right now" she answered first then directed.

I followed the instruction and found myself on a straight road.

"Just go straight then you turn your right again, we will arrive at the mall.

I felt like she was trying to divert from the train of questions that were forming on my mind, and rightly so, I wanted to ask her about her boyfriend, his name was Joe according to what she told me, but then why did she not want to introduce me to him, why did I always have a bad feeling about him, maybe it was because of the growing paranoia these days, or maybe the way her face contorted when she heard any mention of him, I just couldn't understand why she would date him if he did not make her happu, but then that was her life and she did not want me to get involved in her romantic life, maybe because of some past trauma or something, I just wished Iet me in and share her troubles with me, like I always do with her.

"Elenaaa" a shove on the shoulder brought me back from fantasy world back into reality.

"What Katie, why are you shoving me like some sort of criminal" I drawled.

"I should have done more than shoving you, maybe hitting your head on the steering wheel and killing us both" She retorted.

"But why, why do I get such treatment from you". I questioned.

"You have passed the mall while you were in you reverie or trance or whatever you were doing" she replied savagely.

"Sheesh.. calm down, no need to bite my beautiful head off, I passed the mall, that fine I just have to reverse and everything will be fine, don't be so violent about it." I soothed.

"I wonder what you are even thinking about" she mumbled.

"Uh Katie, why don't you want to introduce me to your boyfriend yet?" I questioned.

"He.. he is really busy so he cannot be available at all time you see" she looked at everywhere but me.

"Not to lie to you, but I feel like you are not particularly happy about the relationship, do not take this the wrong way because I care about you so I don't want you to be unhappy but that is exactly what you are when you hear the mention of his name, tell me, what is wrong, you always want to avoid every discussion about him, is there anything I ought to know?" I said with care and concern evident  in my voice.

"We are here" she said and climbing out of the car, not even waiting to hear another word from me. She was obviously trying to divert the conversation and escape talking about him, and I sighed to myself, why can't she trust me completely like I trust her, I let go of my insecurities because of her support, now she is the one shying away from facing her problems, I sighed again.

I made my way into the mall and could not find her anywhere, bringing out my phone, I gave her a text message.

'where are you' and sent it.

Shortly I received a reply.

'Don't worry about me, I'll meet you outside in an hour's time, do your own shopping and buy whatever you want to, I'll shop for the rest, see you' 

I sighed and tucked my phone into my purse, she was obviously trying to avoid me, so that I won't ask her anymore questions, but I knew that we would talk about it eventually and I would wait patiently for that day to come.

Now onto the current situation, I had never been to thisall before, it was not what I had expected, I had expected it to be some extravagant place for celebrities, but on the contrary, it was a normal mall and it felt so good to be in the midst of those who were not part of the high ranking elite society and rich and wealthy people.

I was still at the entrance and I wondered what to buy, clothes, shoes, hats, accessories, I had those, so I settled for books, I would buy novels, series and mangas so I could past my time, I had a library at home that was stacked full with books, but I wanted to buy at least ten seriey and mangas that were not there.

So, I proceeded into the bookstore and got swallowed up in the world of fiction,non fiction, fantasy, fanfiction, comics, mangas and the rest of them. I chose to buy three series of fantasy books, then  I paid and made to leave.

I was now roaming about with my books in hand, not really knowing where to go and what to do. I grabbed a little fruit punch that I was not sure was healthy, but who cares, no one was watching me now. After draining my fruit punch, I felt uncomfortable and as quickly as possible, I flew to the rest room. The was someone in the females toilet and the person was sobbing, I banged the door hard , worrying that I may have to wet myself if the person did not come out fast, the woman at the other end seemed to understand my incessant banging and immediately opened the door, her eye lids were so puffy from crying that I felt somewhat sorry for her.

I pushed past her, not waiting for her to leave the toilet fully, and did my bidding, feeling relieved at the comfort I felt when I was through. I washed my hands, dried it and went outside. The woman was no longer there and I knew for a fact that she had been waiting for me to finish, probably so she can fix her makeup and her disheveled hair.

I looked left and right, did not see her then started walking slowly away. I heard a screech then something like a struggle and then a hard slap, after that everything went calm and quiet.

I followed the sound immediately I heard it, it was a soft whimpering and I was coming from one if the male restrooms. I brought out my phone, ready to call the police if I found something inappropriate. I opened the door to the restroom slightly, enough to peep inside, what I saw made my heart ache.

Author's Note:

Hi guys 🥰🥰. Here is your daily update 🎊, really hope you enjoyed reading it, please follow me on Twitter @cancerzodiac9 so that we can talk and get to know each other, I might answer questions and post some spoilers. Goodbye For now🥰.