The time to leave for New York came too soon. Before she knows it she was packing her luggage and waiting for Justin to call about the time that they’re supposed to pick her up and leave. It’s going to be cold in New York since it’s already the middle of October so she packed sweaters and jeans instead of shorts and tank tops although she still packed some of those because for her those clothes are necessity. Then she moved to her bathroom to pack her toiletries. She went down to her laundry room just to make sure she didn’t leave anything. That’s when she saw her black bag containing her black leather jacket and the red scarf. She knows she needs to bring that bag but for once in her life she just want to be a regular girl like every one else. After a few moments of pause looking at the bag but not touching it, she went back upstairs but with the bag in her hand. Before she could put the bag away and close her suitcase the phone rang on the night stand.

“Hello?”

“Hey Gabby, are you ready?” Justin asked

“Just about, why? What time are you coming over?” she took the phone with her while she continued packing.

“Actually, I’m in front of your house and we have our flight in about an hour so I’m now here to pick you up”

“Really? I’m ready so just wait for five minutes but before that are you really sure you wouldn’t mind me coming with you? I mean paparazzi will be all over you when they see you with me” she explained.

“Yes I’m sure, I don’t mind. I’m actually excited in showing you New York. It will be my first time to be a tour guide”

“You don’t have to, I’ll find my way but it would be nice. I’m ready now so I’ll be coming down” she told him and waited for him to say yes before hanging up the phone.

She drags her suitcase all the way down but not after checking all the windows and electricity are turned off and locked. She did the same downstairs to all the windows and doors and also checked if the fire alarm is on. After that she checked the gas making sure it’s also off before going out of the door setting the alarm before she locked the door.

Justin greeted her just outside her gate putting her suitcase at the back of his car. “You only have one suitcase? Normally, most girls have more than one suitcase even if they’re only going away for two days” he asked when both of them got in to the car and Justin started to drive. “Nah, its New York. I’ll be shopping” they both laughed.

They arrive at the airport a few minutes later and they went straight to the first class lunge after arguing about the payment for the ticket. Justin booked the ticket yesterday without her knowledge and he won’t take any payment from her when she tried to pay him back for the ticket. But after a few seconds of argument she let it go since it looks like he’s not listening. After a few hours they arrive in New York with Gabby’s head on Justin’s shoulder. They went straight to Hyatt hotel and true to his word Justin booked the room. He could only book a suite with two bedrooms inside because the hotel is fully booked and this is the nearest hotel in all the locations that he needed to go to.

When he informed Gabby about it, she just told him that she’s not bothered by it since she knows Aikido and other martial arts. He just laughed it off and followed her to the elevators. They both have the key to the room but Gabby opened the door. The room was big and luxurious both rooms have their own bathroom so they don’t have to share it although there’s only one living room. It was already seven in the evening so they decided to eat out. While Justin called in one of his favourite restaurant to reserve them a sit she checked the whole suite noting down quick exits and possible weapons. For other people, this would seem like a paranoid thing to do but for her it’s a habit. Sometimes she doesn’t even know that she’s doing it whenever she enters a room.

They went to have dinner in an Italian restaurant. Justin got recognise twice but other than that there’s no other incident that happened. After dinner, Gabby convinced Justin to just walk back to the hotel since it’s only four blocks away. He hesitated for a bit before he starts walking with her.

“So what do you wanna see in New York City?” Justin asked after a few moments of silence.

“I definitely want to watch a basketball game although no specific teams, then there’s the statue of Liberty of course, Picnic in Central Park even if it’s just us and shopping but I could do that alone”

“That’s good. I’ll go to every place you want to go especially that picnic since you’re a good cook” he laughed. “Then we’ll watch a game. We’ll do everything you want including shopping”

“Thank You” she looked at him and smiled then they continued walking. They were near the hotel when a man stepped in front of her.

“Ella?” the man said looking straight at her with astonished and confused look in his face. When she heard that name she stopped in her tracks and looked at the man in front of her. But after a few moments of pause she checked herself and made sure that she’s not showing any reaction at all. “You must be mistaken” she told the guy and started walking again.

“No, I know it’s you Ella. Why are you hiding?” the man followed them as well when they walked faster.

“I’m sorry but my name is Gabby not Ella” she didn’t stop walking and hold on to Justin’s hand pulling him to walk faster.

“Ella I know it’s you. We’ve been looking for you for such a long time when you disappeared”

“I told you I’m not Ella. My name is Gabby so please could you leave us alone” she continued walking and entered the hotel with Justin. The guy couldn’t enter the hotel because the doorman stopped him and they didn’t stop until they are both inside the elevator.

She didn’t realise that she was still holding Justin’s hand until she looked down. She also saw that she is shaking very badly. Justin noticed this too so he put his arm around her and just hold her. When they came in to their room, she went straight to the mini bar and took out a bottle of vodka and drunk it straight from the bottle. It was almost empty when she stopped drinking which raised Justin’s eyebrow.

“Do you know that guy? He called you Ella” Justin sat in front of her watching her walk back and forth in front of him.

She didn’t answer for a while. Justin even thought she wasn’t going to answer him or even heard him at all. She was shaking and looks really scared about something but she’s not talking at all.

“Yes. I know him” was all she said after a few minutes.

“He called you Ella but your name is Gabby right?” he asked confused

“My full name is Gabriella Lawson and I used to go by Ella before I moved to Florida” she answered him.

“Why? You told him you don’t know him and you told him your name is not Ella. Why would you do that when he is right?”

“I had to but I can’t tell you right now so can we please forget about this? I can’t tell you anything at all even if I wanted to. That’s why I can’t be photographed. All I can say is I’m not a bad guy; I’m not hiding because I did something bad. I’m hiding because I have to. This is the main reason I can’t get involved with you, I can’t drag you in my life without you knowing who I really am or anything about my life. I’m going to tell you everything about that but not right now. I’m sorry” she explained.

Justin gave a heavy sigh but didn’t pursue the subject anymore. He just reached out and squeezes her hand. She smiled to show her gratitude then got up and went straight to her room leaving Justin on the coach. He stood up and went to his own room still thinking of everything that happened. She’s a really complicated girl and after everything that happened tonight she became even more complicated in his eyes. If he’s really serious with this girl he has to prepare himself for everything that might happen. After that he fell asleep thinking about her and her might be complicated life.

It was 3:49 am when he was awakened by someone screaming. He didn’t even think of anything and he just started running towards Gabby’s room. He didn’t even bother to knock, he burst in to the room and saw Gabby twisting and turning in her bed sobbing.

“Gabby wake up you’re having a bad dream” he shook her but instead of waking up she started beating at his chest pushing him away so he shook her harder.

“Justin? What are you doing here?” she woke up confused and looked around. She sat up quickly and pressed her back to the head board still looking around but this time Justin noticed she was shaking bad.

“Are you okay? You were screaming” he told her but instead of answering him she started crying. It took Justin almost ten minutes to calm her down and when she started to quiet down that’s when she started talking but didn’t pull away from him.

“I’m so tired of having nightmares every time I close my eyes. I just want to close my eyes and not see anything. I’ve been running my whole life from everything but my sub conscious is the only thing that won’t let me run and won’t let me forget”

“You could tell me I swear I won’t say anything at all. I’d keep your secret you could trust me” he said.

She pulled away so that she could look straight at him. “It’s not that I don’t trust you or that I think you can’t keep a secret. It’s because once you find out all about me there’s no turning back and you would be involve. I can’t do that to you; it may ruin your life or lose everything you have” she explained. Justin didn’t say anything but just looks back at her. “I’m sorry I woke you. I know you have to leave early”

“It’s okay. I finish at around two in the afternoon, how about we do the picnic later, I could pick you up here and we’ll go to the park and just relax. What do you think?”

“Yea okay. That would be great. The suite has its own kitchen so I could cook. I’ll let you go now and thank you for … you know” she couldn’t say it. She couldn’t say for consoling her. He just smiled and left her alone. When Justin left, she tried to get some sleep again but it’s impossible so she decided to go down the gym. She changed in to gray sports bra and cycling shorts with a white shirt on top of it. She tried to be quiet so she won’t wake Justin up when she left the suite. When she reached the lobby, there are not a lot of people around. A woman from behind the reception desk said hello and went back to her work. The gym was big and the equipments are lined up neatly along the wall. She went straight to the part where the punching bag hangs and wraps her hands with bandage. Afterwards she started punching the bag aggressively. She lost track of time, she only stopped when a few people including Justin came in to the gym. He didn’t say anything; he just stood there watching her until she noticed him.

“Hey you’re all dressed up” she greeted.

“Yea I’m on my way to do some promotion. I just wanna say bye. I didn’t see you in the room and when I asked the receptionist they said you were here. You might wanna go easy on the poor punching bag” he laughed.

“That’s sweet. I’ll see you later enjoy doing your promotion” she said breathing heavily from her exercise. After a few more minutes Justin went to do his promotion and Gabby resumed her work out.

After her work she went to take a shower and started cooking some food for their picnic later on. She decided to cook spaghetti with meatballs and also made some salad. For dessert she cooked some apple pie for a change. She put the food in small containers before putting it in a wicker basket. She still had time to relax and watch a TV for a bit before she had to meet Justin in the lobby. While watching television, her mind drifted to what happened last night and she couldn’t help but feel nervous on what’s going to happen next. But she didn’t get to continue what she was thinking since it’s already time to meet Justin. She grabs the basket and a baseball cap together with her purse on her way out of the room.