Second Chances Don't Come Often | Scarlett Johansson x Daughter

Chapter Thirteen

A/N: Sorry for the wait - and sorry for the worlds shortest chapter, but I have to keep you guys on your toes somehow! Enjoy!

New York was nothing like London. Nothing at all. She felt overwhelmed as she made her way down the sidewalk. People didn't care if they barged into you, it was like fighting the waves.

Ella made it to the corner to the block she was on. Where she was going, she wasn't too sure. Her passport was back at Scarlett's, so she had no chance of getting that back. She stood on the street corner, rubbing her bare arms as the September chill bit at her skin. People passed her by in a hurried daze, no one paying mind nor attention to the young girl lost in a city she didn't know. In the end, Ella decided to follow her feet wherever they may take her.

The smell of hotdog stands and other cuisine was beginning to make her stomach rumble. But the ache in her stomach, the nipping cold, and the soreness of her feet weren't a big enough distraction.

She left you again. Worthless

Worthless!

Worthless!

Ella felt her stomach twist and tighten that it was probably good that she'd had no breakfast today. She'd be sick again. Tears didn't dare make their way down her face – she'd cried enough in the past over the mother that never wanted her. She'd cried when watching movies and trailers, when her friends came to school talking about her in their favourite films. She cried over the falsely given birthday and Christmas cards, cried that the woman never wanted to see her or to even speak on the phone. The woman who brought her out here to show off the new family she would never be part of.

Ella felt the rage bubble inside her, replacing the tears that she couldn't let out.

She stormed down the sidewalk, not caring who she pushed past.

She came the edge of the sidewalk and began to cross the street, pushing past people waiting at the cross walk patiently.

She heard the taxi cab before she saw it

X

Scarlett had searched the bathroom three times, after searching every other room on the sixth floor. She was awash with sickness and dread, not knowing where her daughter went. Kate had said she'd asked to use the bathroom, and simply disappeared.

Every possible worst-case scenario was playing in her head. Had she run away? Was she hurt somewhere? Had someone taken her out of the building? Scarlett felt the fear begin to consume her; she braced herself, placing her palm on the wall to steady herself as she tried to control her breathing.

"Baby where are you?" She felt the whisper escape her lips as carefully as the tears on her face. She wanted her daughter, she wanted her baby back. She shouldn't have gone upstairs; she should have sent someone else. Damn that was what the assistants were for! But she always liked to get stuck in. Now she took her eyes off the one thing that mattered and she lost her again!

"No one has seen her on the floors above." Kate said, rushing down the corridor. Her own stomach was knotted with guilt, not having realised that Ella hadn't returned. Scarlett rushed past her, through the exit for the stairs and down the flights of stairs to the lobby.

Debbie was already talking to the security. When Scarlett came down, they were reviewing the security footage. All of them had concerned looks on their faces. Scarlett squeezed in, fearful of what she may see. Had someone taken Ella from the building? Had her daughter been pulled away from her again. As they watched, Kate phoned the police to report the girl missing.

Scarlett felt her heart twist in an unimaginable way as she watched – Ella had walked out of the building herself. The footage wasn't the best, but Scarlett knew, she knew from the way that Ella walked and kept her head down she was upset. Something had upset her and made her so scared she ran away! Whomever had done that to make her baby run away would have to deal with her! She watched the footage again, as Ella walked out the door, unhindered and unaccompanied, and turn left outside.

Heart beating rapidly, Scarlett ran from behind the security desk. Kate was still on the phone to the police as Scarlett ran across the lobby. The footage was nearing thirty minutes old, Ella could be anywhere; she could be with anyone; she could be hurt. As Scarlett reached the door, another opened it before she could, and she stopped in her tracks.

Her heart stopped in her chest, and she felt ready for the world to crumple at the sight before her eyes.