A few hours later, Racheal arrived at a completely different police building. She noticed how different this place was from the building she had been held in. It was open, and the hallways were busy. Cops and other people in plain clothes milled around, speaking in polite voices. Delbert led her upstairs in an elevator, and a cop joined them, as soon as they stepped out of the elevator. “Hello Mr Dalloz.” She greeted. “Ma'am.” She politely bowed to Racheal. Both of them nodded in acknowledgment to her greeting. “This way please.” She said and began to lead them down a glass-walled hallway.They walked for a few minutes, and were soon ushered into a room that was as small as the one she had been held in. It was dark, with a lone electric lamp hanging low over a table in the middle.Racheal felt uneasy being here, and she had a strong urge to run away. But she felt a calming hand over hers. “I am here.” Delbert said soothingly.She nodded and they moved further into the room. A
Racheal ran past the cop who was trying to get her out of the open space, past Delbert and Isaac, and took the stairs up. Two at a time.She ignored all of them calling out to her, and took an elevator on the second floor. The elevator door slid shut just as Delbert reached her. She saw the anxious look on his face.If anything happened to her, he would be blamed. After all, he brought her out here from the safety of the Presidential villa. But she could not just leave here without trying to help. She would never be able to forgive herself. She pushed all thoughts out of her mind as the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. She stepped out, and carefully took the last flight of stairs up to the rooftop.As she came out into the open, she realised how dangerous this was. The wind here on the fifteenth floor was strong. The sun was beating down, causing one to squint in order to see clearly. “Just step away from the edge ma'am. You don't want to do this to your baby.” A female
Racheal smiled tightly at the young woman. She could only help her if she trusted her. “I will hand your baby over to my friends now, so she can get out of the rain. Is that ok?” She asked. The young woman nodded. Racheal slowly turned her upper body, keeping her legs rooted on the ground. Isaac gestured for Delbert to stay back, and strode forward. He gently took the baby from her and handed her to another guard who took her away.Racheal turned back to the young woman. “What’s your name?” “Laura.” “Laura, I will come closer now.” She said over the wind.The young woman nodded. Racheal tried not to think of how scared she was. She slowly edged towards her, getting further into a slope with each step she took. She smiled tightly at Laura again to reassure her. When she was close enough, she stretched out her hand for Laura to take it. Just as Laura reached out, the wind picked up. Racheal saw Laura lose her footing and slip.Without a second thought, she dived for her and gra
“Any siblings?” Racheal asked. “No. I am the only son of an only son.” Delbert responded. “Oh.” Racheal said. So Delbert was the Dalloz heir. A family she suspected were more powerful than the Sherrods. And here he was, sitting beside her, eager to give her the world. She shook her head, she wished they had met under a different circumstance. She caught him smiling. “What is it?”“You told Laura I was your friend.” He was transformed into a shy teenage boy. “Are you not?” She teased. His smile widened. “I guess I am.” He replied. She had more questions but they were back at the Villa now. Delbert stepped down and opened the door for her. “Thank you.” She smiled at him as she got out. “Racheal.” He called as she was walking away. She turned. He looked at her, hesitated and said. “See you later.” She watched him hastily climb back into the backseat. She waved and watched the car till it was out of her sight. She turned around, and entered a lobby that led to her quarters, hol
Racheal stared at the black and gold sequin mesh dress, as Luna repeated Steffan's words verbatim. “He was here?” Racheal asked, looking around. “Yes.”She ran her hands over the fabric, it was very soft to touch. She pulled it out of the box, and heard her maid gasp behind her. The dress was a vision. It had a full skirt, sweetheart neckline and careful gold embroidery on the skirt.This must have cost a fortune, seeing Steffan only gave her expensive gifts. She carefully lay the dress on her L shaped couch and stepped back to look. “And you said he insisted I wore this?” She asked.“Yes. He said he will not have you wear another thing, that you are his wife. He is wearing a matching outfit.” Luna said.A thought snuck into her mind. She could wear another dress just to tease him. She knew he would be furious, as he is easily angered. But she did not know what he would do, or what his limits were when angered.She was not ready to find out yet. Her mission was to find allies, a
Rachel Rana parted the amber coloured curtains of her bedroom window and stared outside. The crowd at the city square, just outside the presidential palace, was increasing in size. They looked similar to the crowds that had gathered at this same spot in the past, tired, passionate eyes and hungry looking. But now they were happy, waving olive branches in the air and shooting fireworks. She spun around at the sound of her door opening. She was relieved to see Maxwell."Is it over?" She asked slowly, releasing the curtain she had been clutching in her grasp. "Yes." He responded. And she ran into his arms happily. She hugged him tight, the moment felt surreal. There had been rumors that the war that had raged the country for five years was coming to an end. Even Maxwell, a palace guard high up in the presidential palace had told her as much, but it had been almost too much to hope for."It feels surreal. Now we can leave and really live" she said softly withdrawing from the embrace
Racheal waited nervously the whole night and most part of the next morning for her father's return. As the president's daughter she understood politics, and could not share in the joy of her countrymen. This proposed marriage was no beautiful union or an example to emulate as the local and international media was making it out to be. She was sitting out on the balcony when she heard heavy boots approaching from within her room. She stood up in panic when she saw the white uniforms and black hats. Two men reached out and grabbed her arm, while the third man said,"We are here to escort you Miss. Your father ordered you'd be brought up immediately." Racheal recognised him as the chief guard in charge of her father's personal security. "But I am not even properly dressed." She argued weakly as they half dragged her out from the balcony into her room. She had only grey shorts and a black tank top on. The men completely ignored her protests and practically marched her up to her fathe
Rachel did not wake up until many hours later. She opened her eyes to a doctor bent over her. Her mind traveled back to the conversation with her father and she sprang up, and withdrew in fright. Her head began pounding in protest. "Relax." The doctor cooed. "I am glad you are up. How does your head feel?" Racheal looked at the woman with distrust."I have a terrible headache." She said,"That was expected, the blow to your head was quite..." The woman paused with an uncomfortable smirk. "Bad." She added. "How is your vision?"Racheal slowly removed her gaze from the doctor's face and looked around. "Fine." She announced. The room looked a little hazy but she suspected it was because she had been out for so long. "How long was I unconscious?" She asked. "About six hours." The doctor responded. "You should really not be receiving blows like this. They are very dangerous.""You should tell HER that." Racheal said. She had been maltreated for years. Roselyn would hit her violently