Take Me Away novel Chapter 119

The fitting room was bigger than what Fiona had imagined it to be.

She then turned around, intending to take the dress from the shop assistant. The assistant, however, shook her head and made her way into the fitting room before gesturing to Fiona to follow her in.

Fiona frowned. While she knew the assistant wouldn't understand what she would say anyway, but she still went ahead and said, "I want to change my clothes myself. Please go out." As expected, the shop assistant didn't understand what she said. Charles, on the other hand, did. This was the first time Fiona experienced having a saleswoman accompany her inside the fitting room. 'Why is she doing this?' she thought to herself. 'Charles must have asked this girl to do what she is doing!'

And indeed, when the assistant sensed some annoyance from Fiona, she looked at Charles in a bid to understand what was happening.

Charles slowly walked towards Fiona and said, "You will be trying on so many clothes. It's just not convenient for you to dress yourself. If you let her help you, we will save a lot of time."

Fiona rolled her eyes. "I can do it myself," she said, her voice emotionless. "I really do not need her help."

"Don't be childish, Fiona." Charles' voice reeked of authority and danger.

Fiona wasn't fazed by Charles' demeanor. "Well then, forget it. I won't buy any of these. I don't like them anyway." Without taking a look at all the pretty clothes prepared for her, she turned around and headed towards the door.

"Stop!" Charles suddenly roared, his face showing a pained expression—he looked like he wanted to be angry at Fiona but he couldn't. After a long pause, he took a deep breath and said resignedly, "Okay, you win. Go inside and try the clothes on yourself."

After that, he went to the shop assistant and explained what had happened.

The shop assistant just nodded politely to everything Charles was telling her. After their little talk, she neatly hung everything on the rack, bowed to Fiona, and left.

A small smile spread on Fiona's lips. She appreciated Charles' quick resolve. With that, she started walking back, but before she could, he blocked her way. He closed the gap between them and caressed her face with his left hand. "I can't do anything that will upset you, Fiona," he whispered. "I'm pretty sure a smile from you is all it takes for me to go and do whatever you want me to."

He then looked deep into her eyes. Without a warning, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. In a gentle voice, he said, "Fiona, as long as you're with me, I promise to give everything your heart desires."

Fiona's mind instantly went blank. The moment she realized that what Charles said seemed like a heartfelt confession, her muscles became stiff and she felt like she could not move. Hell, she didn't even know how she walked into the fitting room.

When she came to, she found herself standing in front of a mirror, a light pink chiffon dress in her hand. She sighed deeply and went ahead and started changing her clothes.

However, just as she was about to unbutton her top, she saw a figure of a man suddenly pop up behind her in the mirror.

"Ahhh!" Fiona felt her heart race faster than ever before. Before she was able to scream for help, however, the man already had his hand over her mouth, effectively muffling whatever she was going to say.

"Don't scream," the man whispered. "It's me!"

The voice sounded extremely familiar to Fiona's ears and so she quickly turned her head around to see who it was.

Indeed, it was someone she knew: Spencer! The expression on her face changed dramatically, and her heart now was thumping because of excitement and disbelief. Spencer had lost so much weight. There were also dark circles around his eyes, which suggested that he hadn't been sleeping well, and unkempt stubble on his chin and above his lips.

She wanted to say something, but someone suddenly knocked on the fitting room's door. "Fiona, are you alright?" asked Charles from the other side of the door.

Fiona's heart skipped a bit and her eyes widened. "Nothing," she said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I'm trying on clothes, don't mind me!"

"Okay then," Charles replied. "Call me if you need any help."

"Okay!" Fiona had to take a deep breath to calm down. After her heart rate came down to normal, she looked Spencer in the eye and started tearing up.

"You look thinner."

"You look thinner."

The two of them spoke at the same time. Huge smiles started spread on their lips, and before they knew it, they were already kissing passionately.

Feeling Spencer's body so close to hers once again made Fiona so emotional that tears started streaming down her face.

She had missed him so much.

The kiss they shared was full of passion, love, yearning, and guilt. While this was all happening, a part of Spencer's mind was focused on something different: Charles.

Initially, he thought that Charles took Fiona in order to threaten him. But then with everything that had transpired today, it was clear that Charles had no intention of doing that—he just wanted Fiona to be his! Spencer would not allow it, even if it meant laying his life on the line!

There was nothing in the world he wouldn't do in order to make sure that he was the one who would hold and kiss Fiona like this until the end of time. But when he remembered the kind of situation they were currently in, he knew that he had to let the love of his life go for now.

He tried to savor the moment, but when he felt Fiona's tears, he couldn't help but feel sad inside. Slowly, he let go of her lips and gently took her beautiful face in his hand. As he looked deep in her eyes, he wiped her tears away with his finger while whispering, "Please, baby. Don't cry. I beg you."

His comforting words, however, only made Fiona cry even harder. All the emotions Fiona had bottled over the last few weeks were pouring out of her. She felt happy, sad, euphoric, depressed, relieved, and scared at the same time. Everything was overwhelming her, and so she wrapped her arms around Spencer tightly, buried her head in his chest, and cried silently.

Spencer felt helpless because he knew he couldn't do anything to make Fiona feel better. With a deep breath, he just hugged her back as tight as he could, and then planted a kiss on the top of her head. Even for a moment, he felt that everything was all right in the world.

"I really missed you, Spencer," Fiona said, her head still nestled on his chest. Slowly, she raised her head up to look at the man she had longed for so long. Spencer didn't answer. Instead, he elected to feel the heat radiating from Fiona's body in his skin.

"I missed you too," he said after a while, smiling softly. However, the aggrieved look on Fiona's face wiped the smile of his face. Hurriedly, he apologized, saying, "You must have been so scared. It was all my fault."

Fiona nodded her head and punched at him with her fist. Through her sobs, she complained, "Why are you so late?" Once again, she broke down and buried her head onto Spencer's chest.

Spencer allowed Fiona to hit him, understanding the immense hurt he might have caused her. Suddenly, however, she stopped and once again raised her head to look at his face. "Does it hurt?" she asked, a look of genuine concern seen in her eyes.

"Not at all," Spencer replied, shaking his head. A small chuckle even escaped his lips. He then took Fiona's hand, and looked into her eyes. "I'll get you out of here," he said quietly, his voice determined.

Fiona's eyes brightened up. Quickly, she wiped away the tears on her cheeks. "Can we do that?" she asked earnestly.

"Definitely," Spencer answered firmly. "I went through the ventilation pipe. You can escape through it. I'll hold you up and then you climb along it until you exit this place."

"What about you?" Fiona asked, alarmed by the fact that Spencer seemed to only be talking about her escape. Also, she just realized how high the walls were. 'How am I going to scale that?' she thought.

"Don't worry," Spencer said comfortingly. "I will be right behind you. It won't be difficult for me to boost myself up." He reached for Fiona's cheeks and wiped off the last drop of tear on her face. "We will get out of here together!"

Fiona gave him a hopeful smile. "Okay, Spencer. I trust you." Finally, it was time to leave.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Fiona," called out Charles. "What's happening in there? What's taking so long? Are you having problems with the dress?" Fiona's eyes widened with fright.

Suddenly, her breathing became labored because she started panicking. Her head then snapped towards Spencer as she was trying to see if he had any plans of action.

Spencer was frowning, and a murderous look flashed across his eyes. With one swift motion, he lifted Fiona up to the vent he was talking about.

Somehow, Fiona immediately understood what he was doing and started to wriggle free from his arms. Would he go up against Charles face-to-face after boosting her up to the ventilation pipe? No! He couldn't do that! She wouldn't let her do that!

"Why aren't you answering, Fiona?!" Charles said from the other side of the door, his rising voice full of concern and suspicion. He was now knocking incessantly on the door. "Fiona, answer me. Have you changed your clothes? Open the door! If you don't, I'll break in!"

"In a minute!" Fiona shouted abruptly.

"One more minute, Fiona, or I'll break in!" said Charles in a threatening tone.

"What are you doing?!" Spencer voicelessly said. He gritted his teeth and felt very agitated, as he did not understand why Fiona did what she just did.

"Leave," Fiona whispered. Her face was stern. "We can escape another time. I live in a place called Cherry Grove Residence, go there and we'll plan a way out." She pushed herself off of him and picked up the dress she was supposed to be wearing. "I can't let you take this risk," she said firmly.

Spencer's mouth was agape. He couldn't believe what he just heard.

"We can't do this, Spencer. We won't stand a chance!" Fiona said. "Even if you successfully send me up there, do you really think we can escape?" Fiona was calm and composed, as if she hadn't been crying hard and panicking just seconds ago. "Leave, now. We will always have a chance to do this. Please, Spencer. Leave. For me."

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Charles was now banging on the door. "Spencer, go!" Fiona whispered angrily at Spencer. "Please...I love you so much. I don't want you to take this risk." An unfathomable emotion contorted Spencer's face. Fiona's heart ached, but she must do what had to be done. "Go. I'm...just so happy to see you again..." Then she stood on tiptoe and kissed him on his left cheek. "I'll wait for you, even if it meant I have to wait forever. I know you'd save me—I believe in you. I love you."

Spencer was almost becoming emotional because of what Fiona was saying but he suddenly noticed that Fiona had already taken the gun from his waist band. She pointed it at him with tears in her eyes and said, "Go."

"Fiona, what are you doing?" Spencer said, alarmed. "Put that thing down, now!" He was at a loss as to what was happening.

"Shut up and hurry!" Fiona hissed. Her lips were trembling. She knew that Charles was just seconds away from barging in, and if she didn't do this, Spencer wouldn't be able to leave!

Spencer closed his eyes and fell silent for two seconds as he raced through the advantages and disadvantages of the action he was about to take. Soon enough, he opened his eyes and clenched his fists. "Wait for me, Fiona," he said. "I will come to save you. That's a promise."

Fiona nodded as a despairing smile graced her lips. Quickly, she handed the gun back to Spencer. At the same time, he took something out of his pocket and handed it to Fiona. It was her phone!

"Fiona, open the door!" Charles once again yelled. "Open this door now! I don't care if you're naked—just open this goddamn door!" Fiona felt his rage through his voice.

"Charles, calm down! I'll get to it, just please wait!" When she saw that Spencer had already leapt up the vent and put its grill back on, she hastily took off her clothes, put her phone into her pocket, and grabbed a new outfit to put on.

Merely a second later, Charles burst through the fitting room door.

They looked at each other for a few seconds before Charles' warily eyes went around the huge fitting room. Fiona could feel her heart beating through the dress she messily put on.

Her throat was beginning to dry up, and her palms were already sweating. But when she sensed that Charles was about to look up at the vent, she broke down in tears.

"What's happening? Why are you crying?" Charles said as he rushed towards Fiona. His voice was colored with rage, doubt, and concern for the woman in front of him.