Chapter Twenty-One – Missing
The crowd started cheering after the summit was officially announced closed. Winx and Arya stood up to clap.
Arya noticed Damien walk out through a door. “Let me introduce you to him, come.” she pulled Winx by the hand.
Outside the building, they found Damien searching about for someone. Arya told Winx to wait and rushed to him.
“Good speech in there.” She started a smile on her face. But he didn’t return the smile, that was a first.
“Did you see Debby? She isn’t inside.” He told her before rushing towards his car. Arya frowned, was he bothering about Debby when she was complimenting his speech?
Winx ran to her, with opened hands. “Why is your husband looking troubled? Honestly, he looked quite hot running.”
“He’s looking for that Debby girl.” Arya rolled her eyes.
The grin of Winx’s face fell. “Why?”
“I don’t know. He should look for her, I don’t care.” Arya replied. She attempted walking back into the building but Winx held her arm.
“Wait, ask him why? You can’t just leave, she’s your guest.”
“Well, she doesn’t act it.” Arya retorted, making Winx leave her arm but she stayed there.
“C’mon, what with you? Your husband brought her here, he’d be responsible for whatever happens to her. Go help him.” Winx advised.
Arya scoffed, annoyed at the fact she was entitled to care about a brat for the sake of her ‘husband’.
Either ways she ran towards Damien, holding him from moving. “Did you see Debby?”
“No, what scares me most is that someone was marking her. Please, Arya, stay in the car, okay?” Damien handed his car keys to her and left.
Arya stared at the car keys with confusion. Someone was marking Debby? Had she been kidnapped?
Her mind went back to after they talked outside, she couldn’t remember Debby walking in with her.
“What if she ran away after I slapped her?” another thought came to Arya. She bit her lips nervously.
What if that Debby ran away so Damien would scold her for yelling at her? And if Damien knew she slapped the girl, wouldn’t it annoy him?
With the way the other speakers spoke highly of Debby, and the reverencing she got, Arya was convinced she was a highly substantial girl.
If she got missing in America, because she was mad at her, it’d be bad for her and Damien.
Arya began worrying. “This girl really wants to put me in trouble when she caused me to slap her.”
She saw Damien walking back to her so rushed into the car. She tugged at her hair, hoping to avoid Damien’s gaze.
He opened the car door and brought out a device from his dashboard. Arya watched him intently.
“That’s right, you and Debby walked out earlier. Did she say she was going somewhere?” he asked her, eyes on the device.
Arya’s breathing quickened. He saw them? What would she say? “Um… we only came out to talk for a bit then I went back. That’s all. She didn’t say she was going out.”
“Oh, what did you two talk about?” he asked again.
Arya tightened her lips, scared of the words that would come out. Would he beat her if he figured she slapped his guest?
Flashes of Damien hitting her with a belt, like her father used to do, came to Arya’s head and her eyes moistened. “We just talked, nothing serious.” She managed to say.
Damien, paused, when he noticed the low cracked voice Arya spoke with. He looked up but she looked away. Was she feeling sad because of Debby?
“Hey, don’t worry, I’d find her. She won’t have gone far, okay?” he patted her hand. She nodded, not looking at him.
He decided to not ask her, maybe she easily got emotional. He smiled to himself, getting into the car. “Don’t worry, Arya. Nothing will happen to Debby or you.”
He typed some buttons on the device, it resembled a palm top. A red dot on a map sheet was shown on the face. It looked like a tracker.
Damien started the car, reversing then speeding out. He placed the palm top on his steering and it helped direct him.
Arya felt consoled by his words and wiped her tears that fell down. “I need to get a hold of myself, it’s not like he had hit me yet.” She said silently to herself.
A message beeped into her phone and she smartly brought it from her purse. She noticed Damien glance at her and then away.
The message was from Winx. “I just realize that you’ve gone but it’s alright. When the girl is found, text me. See ya.”
She groaned, feeling bad for leaving Winx standing. “What if Debby stomped off because she was bored after the summit?”
Damien shook his head. “She wouldn’t, she isn’t confident in her English. I saw someone trying to kidnap her. When she went out, they may have used that avenue.”
How sure was he? Arya thought. Her eyes went to the tracker. They seemed to be getting closer to it, that was if the orange dot on the screen was them and the red was Debby.
“You tracked her phone?” she asked.
“The phone I gave her was tracked. Same as yours. It’s a safety measure.” Damien told.
Arya frowned. She didn’t quite like the idea of him knowing everywhere she was at.
“If you want, I’d take it off.” He added, when he saw her frown.
She released her face. “Oh, it’s actually good. Like now that we’re using it to search for Debby. You can leave it. I don’t mind.” She lied. Damien knew.
If she had her mind on another guy, she could visit sometime and it’d be uncomfortable to know someone knew her business. “Don’t worry, I’d take it off.”
Arya felt relieved. The car slowed down besides a bar, he came down. Arya tried to do the same but he stopped her. “I’d be back with a Debby, stay, okay?”
She nodded. But when he disappeared into the bar, that was when she realized that he wasn’t with any weapon?
What was he? Jackie Chan or Jet li or Bruce Lee? How could he go to apprehend Debby’s kidnapper without any defense?
Her hand went to her phone to call but then she remembered he was a public figure, if she drew the police into this, the media would know. It wouldn’t be good for her and him.
She sat still, hoping, waiting. Twenty minutes later, Damien walked out of the place alone. A belt, which seemed to belong to him, was in his hands.
He looked quite chill apart from his hair flying around. “Good news, I found her and released her. Bad news, she is mad at you for something and doesn’t want to come to the car.”
Hearing Damien’s words, Arya’s heartbeat increased. Would he scold her for it? Maybe she should leave the car instead?
“Well, that’s her loss. I helped her take a taxi. She’s quite haughty, right?” Damien chuckled.
Arya’s jaw dropped. How could he release her to an unknown taxi when he just saved her from kidnappers? “I could just leave the car for her..”
“Don’t say that.” Damien interrupted, starting the car. “Don’t say that ever, Arya.”