44. Sarah
‘What the fuck, Casey?’ Sarah yelled.
‘Calm down. Here, I bought you food. You’re probably starving.’
‘If you think I’m going to eat anything you give me, you are sorely mistaken.’
Casey sighed. ‘There’s no need to be difficult. I did this for your own good.’
‘What?’
‘You needed to get away from there. I rescued you. I only want to look after you, Sarah. I did this for you.’
‘No, Casey, you did this for you.’
Casey sighed again. ‘I’m so disappointed in you.’
‘Yeah, well, I don’t give a fuck.’
‘Open the door, and let’s talk about this.’
‘No fucking way.’
‘Don’t make me do something I will regret,’ he said, his voice getting harder.
‘I’m not making you do anything, you psycho.’
Sarah knew she probably shouldn’t antagonise him, but she was scared and angry, and her fight-or-flight instinct had kicked in. Sarah was definitely a fighter.
‘You brought this on yourself, you know,’ Casey said through the gap in the doorway. ‘It didn’t need to come to this.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘If you hadn’t started seeing that… that guy, I wouldn’t have had to do this.’
‘You’re going to need to explain that, because I don’t see what me dating Theo has got to do with you.’
‘He just wasn’t right for you. Look at what happened when his fans found out. You don’t need that mess in your life. That’s why I had to do this. To show you.’
Wait… what? Just what exactly was Casey admitting to? Apart from kidnapping her, of course.
‘What did you do?’ Sarah asked slowly. Her rapidly growing fear had pushed aside the anger.
‘You didn’t get the hint when you saw what a two-timer he was, so I had to show you.’
‘Casey… did you release the photo of me and Theo?’
He couldn’t have, could he? That photo was taken in Japan. Casey wasn’t in Japan… unless…
‘Were you in Japan?’
He snorted as if it was a no-brainer. ‘I had to make sure you were safe.’
‘You took the photo of me and Theo.’
‘I would have taken you home right then and there if I could, but stupid Bodie?—’
‘What?’
‘Bodie took you out and got you drunk. I should have punched him and taken you then, but I couldn’t exactly bring an unconscious woman on the plane with me.’
Casey was delusional. He was certifiable. He was… Sarah didn’t even know. The one thing she did know was she had to get away from him.
‘Um, Casey. I need to use the bathroom.’
It wasn’t a lie. She did need to pee.
‘So open the door, and I’ll show you to the bathroom.’
Oh, right. Opening the door would mean having to face him, and Sarah wasn’t confident she could best him in a fight. Maybe if his hands were occupied and she kicked him in the nuts she could do it, but that wasn’t guaranteed.
‘I have to say, Casey, I’m a little concerned you might hurt me if I open the door.’
‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ he said with a growl. ‘I just want to protect you. Why don’t you understand?’
His voice rose, and he started shoving against the door. The bed jumped and moved a few centimetres. Sarah scrambled over to it and leaned her bodyweight against it, hoping to hold it in place. Casey’s efforts doubled, and Sarah was jostled by the metal bed.
‘Open the fucking door, Sarah!’ he screamed.
Sarah didn’t know how much longer she could hold out before he’d get the door wide enough to reach her. She prayed for divine intervention and wished, for probably the first time in her life, that her mother’s psychic abilities were reliable. Maybe if they were, she could tell the police where Sarah was.
‘Do you know how much I’ve done for you? Do you know how much I’ve looked after you?’
Sarah didn’t answer. She was crying now and holding onto the bed frame for dear life.
‘You love me, I know you do,’ he yelled. ‘You smiled at me, and you were nice to me. You even let me stay at your place. That means you have feelings for me. Why won’t you just admit it?’
His logic was flawed, but there was no way she could make him understand. The things he said? They were just common courtesy. A common courtesy she extended to nearly everyone she encountered daily. By his reasoning, she was in love with every single person she’d ever dealt with.
But he wouldn’t understand. Sarah didn’t need to be a psychiatrist to know that. Casey was beyond rational thought, and he had lost the ability to think critically—if he’d even had the skill in the first place. Casey had built an imaginary world around her, and nothing she could say or do would change his narrative.
Banging on the outside door made Casey pause. Sarah screamed her lungs out.
‘Help me! I’m in here! He’s locked me in! Please help!’
Casey swore violently and resumed his shoving against the door, trying to get to her. Sarah kept screaming. Something broke outside, and then there were feet running and yells from people… and Casey finally stopped his assault on the door.
‘Please help me,’ Sarah sobbed, her voice quieter now as she wrapped her arms around her legs and burrowed her face into her knees.
‘Sarah?’ an unfamiliar voice called through the door. ‘My name is Mila. I’m a police officer. Can you let me in?’
Sarah sniffed. ‘Can I see some ID?’
Mila held her identification through the gap, and Sarah sagged against the bed before taking a deep breath. It was the contact Theo had asked her to call several weeks ago. She kind of wished she had now.
‘Okay,’ she said.
Together, with Mila pushing against the door and Sarah tugging on the bed, they managed to open the space wide enough so that Mila could get into the room.
‘Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?’ Mila asked as she looked Sarah over.
‘No. I’m okay. He drugged me, but I think I’m okay.’
Mila nodded and pulled out her phone. ‘Do you feel like telling me what happened? I’ll record it if that’s okay?’
‘Sarah! Sarah!’ Theo’s voice cut through every other sound, and Sarah jumped to her feet.
‘Theo! I’m here. I’m in here.’
Theo burst into the room and didn’t even bother to look around before rushing to her and scooping her up into a tight hug.
‘Oh God, oh God, oh God,’ he mumbled into her hair.
She clung to him, burying her head into his chest and sobbing uncontrollably.
‘You came,’ she said between sobs. ‘You came.’
‘I’m here. I’ve got you, and I’m never leaving you alone again.’
Hours later,Sarah sat on her mother’s couch with Theo on one side, Alexis on the other, her mother sitting on the floor in front of her, and her father pacing behind the couch, touching her shoulder every time he walked past. The rest of the assembled group, Gabe, Bodie, Levi, and even Levi’s brother Elias, were crowded into the living room and had taken seats wherever they could.
‘Everyone. I’m okay.’
Theo hadn’t let go of her hand since they’d sat down, and Alexis was clinging to her other arm like she was a life preserver.
In reality, Sarah wasn’t sure if she was okay or not. She was okay for now. She would probably need therapy. And she wouldn’t be living in her apartment for a while… if ever again. As for her salon? Well, there were still the trolls to deal with. All she really wanted was to go back to Theo’s place and let him hold her all night. It was nice having her family care about her, but it was a little bit suffocating, and there were things she needed to discuss with Theo.
Theo’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he ignored it. But it buzzed again and again.
‘What is it?’ she asked.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Theo said.
‘Answer your phone. It’s going to annoy me otherwise.’
Sarah just wanted some normality. Theo answering his phone, her mother shuffling her tarot deck, Gabe arguing with her about something. She wanted these things, but everyone was so focused on making sure they didn’t upset her that they were, in fact, upsetting her.
Theo pulled out his phone and scowled at the screen before his face morphed into one of disbelief.
‘What?’ Sarah asked, worried now.
Had something happened to her salon? Had the rabid fans firebombed it? After what had happened today, she wouldn’t discount it.
Theo turned his phone around so she could see the screen. ‘Yu-jin,’ was all he said.
Top Actress Y Exposed in Bullying and Abuse of Power Allegations.
‘Are you sure?’ Sarah asked.
Theo nodded as he swiped up. It was a message from Dan saying they would be officially distancing themselves from Yu-jin, and the whiskey promotion would now run with only the solo pictures of Theo, as the company was also distancing themselves from her.
Sarah didn’t want to be happy to see another woman get beaten up by the press, but Yu-jin hadn’t exactly been nice to her. Not to mention the fallout from Theo’s fans thinking Sarah was the bad guy. Whatever way Sarah looked at it, the situation was sad. Sad for the people who were bullied and sad for Yu-jin too, even if it left a bad taste in her mouth to admit it.
‘What is it?’ Alexis asked.
Theo told them, and there was a round of ‘serves her right’ and ‘couldn’t have happened to a nicer person’, but it just left Sarah feeling yuck.
She pushed to her feet. ‘I need to sleep,’ she announced.
‘I made up the bed in your old room,’ Fran said.
‘No.’ Sarah turned to Theo. ‘I’m going to Theo’s.’
‘No—’ everyone said it at once… everyone except Theo, who stood beside her and took her hand again.
‘My building has state-of-the-art security. You are all welcome to come over tomorrow, but I think what Sarah needs right now is some peace and quiet.’
Sarah squeezed his hand. ‘I appreciate all your concern, but I just want to be with Theo right now. I need to decompress.’
Fran stood and looked into Sarah’s eyes before nodding. She clasped Sarah’s hand first and then Theo’s.
‘They’re right.’ She pulled Sarah into a tight hug. ‘But I will be on your doorstep tomorrow morning at eight o’clock.’
‘Can’t I at least have a sleep-in?’
‘Okay, nine. But that’s the latest.’
‘Fine,’ Sarah said.
Sarah had to hug every person before they would let her leave the house, and she could hear Theo being threatened by each one of them to take good care of her. Finally, they escaped the claustrophobic room and were in Theo’s car.
‘Take me home,’ she said.
‘I thought you’d never ask.’