The Little Life

Chapter Thirty Five

A few weeks later Jack and I were sitting at a bistro near his house. I was sipping on a chai latte while he was eating a prosciutto bagel and drinking a regular black coffee. We were talking about my next set of classes I was going to take in a few short weeks when the fall semester began.

We were cleaning up our table and getting ready to leave when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I looked at the caller ID but didn't recognize the number so I sent them to voicemail and slid my phone back into its place in my shorts. We finished cleaning up a bit and ventured out to go grocery shopping.

When we arrived at the grocery store it was pretty packed. I guess Sunday's are everyones grocery day. We made sure we had our list then made our way into the store after grabbing a red shopping cart. I stopped to smell the flowers at the front of the store while Jack continued to the vegetable section. I got caught up in the flowers and didn't realize he had gone ahead of me before I heard him yelling my name, causing my face to grow red.

"You're supposed to stay with me at all times, especially when it's so crowded. What if someone took you? You need to stay with me, little one" Jack said as he grabbed my hand and gently placed it on the cart under his own hand.

"I'm sorry I was just smelling the flowers" I said shyly.

"That's fine, but tell Daddy when you stop okay?" He said and I nodded in agreement as we walked to the bread section. I grabbed a loaf of store brand organic wheat and threw it in the basket.

We eventually made it to the last section of the store and I got excited when I saw they had my favorite limeade in a pretty, tall glass bottle. I sat two bottles in the cart and continued our store trip, checking off things on the list as we tossed them into the basket. As we finished and walked towards the checkout counters, my phone buzzed again. I noticed it was the same number and again sent it to voicemail, not thinking much of it.

"Who was that?" Jack asked as I put my phone in my crossbody.

"Some random number. It's called me twice today but they haven't left a message so it must not be important" I shrugged as I pushed the cart to the cashier and he began ringing up our items. After everything was placed into the reusable bags I made Jack buy, we left the store and headed home.

As we pulled into driveway to Jacks house, his phone rang. He answered and by the way he was talking and his facial expressions, I could tell it wasn't good. I wasn't able to detect what he was talking about but he kept looking at me with a sad look on his face. After a moment of talking, he thanked the person on the other line and disconnected the call. He sat for a minute and breathed out a breath it looked as if he had been holding in the entire conversation.

"What's wrong?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I'm so sorry, Cal" Jack said as he slowly closed his eyes and rested his arms on the steering wheel.

"What?! What's going on?!" I asked, starting to panic.

"That was Tristan. He said Tasha was taken outside of the club. The police have been trying to contact you since you're her emergency contact"

"What? What do you mean taken? What are you talking about?"

"Sweetheart, she was kidnapped"

I laughed. And I mean laughed. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe as Jack stared at me in horror. This went on for about ten minutes before finally he placed a hand on my shoulder, causing me to move from laughter to crying. He pulled me to him as I sobbed into his shirt, occasionally coming up for air.

After what seemed like 3 days, I finally slowed my crying enough to choke out, "She's t-too strong to be kidnapped. S-s-she would hurt them before they c-c-could do anything"

"I know baby. She is strong. We're gonna find her, I promise. She's gonna be okay" Jack reassured.

Nausea clawed at the bottom of my esophagus and before I knew it, I was leaned out of the car emptying the contents of my stomach onto Jack's driveway. I composed myself before getting out of the car and opening the back door to get the bags of groceries that had been sitting for the entirety of that episode.

"Babygirl we have so many people looking for her and our cameras got some footage that should help us. She's a fighter. She's strong. The person that took her is probably dead by now and she's somewhere beating his face with his own penis"

I attempted a smile but it was useless. I gathered the bags and walked to the front door, waiting for Jack to open it. We got inside and I sat the bags on the kitchen island before walking into my room and shutting the door. As it shut, I backed against it before sliding onto the floor. I tried to cry but nothing was coming out. I probably looked insane but I didn't care. I took out my phone and called Tasha, praying to a god I didn't believe in that she would answer. After the third time calling and hearing her voicemail message, I chucked my phone across the room and watched as it smashed against the wall beside the closet.

I pulled a pillow off the bed and threw it on the floor before laying down on it. I laid on my stomach and pushed my face into the pillow before screaming as loud as I could. I continued for a minute or two, long enough for my throat to become dry and my eyes to water. I turned over onto my back and closed my eyes, hoping sleep would make this whole situation go away.