7. Zola

Chapter 7

Zola

A ntoine got smoothly to his feet from sitting cross-legged on the floor. “I have to return to work at the restaurant tomorrow,” he told me. “It’s been a few days now. Any more and I think I’ll get canned.”

“Of course,” I said, and he came over to squat in front of me.

“What?” I asked.

He softly brushed my hair out of my face. “I don’t know if I can leave you alone yet?”

I smiled. “What do you think I’m going to do? Slit my wrist?”

The smile was immediately gone from his face. “And that,” he said firmly, “is the reason why I’m not comfortable leaving you on your own.”

I reached out and tousled his messy hair. “I was kidding. I will be fine. I wouldn’t dare hurt myself. Wherever my dad is right now, he would look down and be so disappointed. Plus, I don’t exactly like the idea of doing that before I find the bastard who caused this and make him pay. After that, you can be worried about me. But for now, I’ll stay grounded.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I hear the determination in your voice, so I’ll agree for now. But I’ll keep listening for desolation or anything else alarming and then I’ll act.”

Tears filled my eyes as I wondered about how I would have been able to survive if I had been all on my own. Before he could see them, I turned my face away towards the television. It had been stuck on the news channel ever since that devastating night, but it suddenly changed to a different channel. Startled, I looked up and saw Antoine with the remote.

“You should watch something else,” he said.

“No,” I said as I tried to snatch the device away from him.

He evaded me and instead put on a cooking show of some sort.

“I won’t know what’s going on,” I complained under my breath.

“Everything there is old news. Any important development will be communicated directly to you by the police standing guard outside, so rest your poor mind and heart, please.”

He blew me a kiss before he left, and I settled down to watch the show. I allowed myself to be distracted by the visual stimulation until I fell asleep.

I woke up suddenly. The apartment was in darkness. The only light was from the television and for a second I was terrified. I sat up but was too scared to move any further.

“Antoine?” I called, but I didn't get a response.

He was probably still out. I forced myself to get up and turn on the light. The moment the warm golden ambiance filled the room I was able to relax somewhat. I looked out of the window and wondered just how long I would be forced to remain cooped up in here. I didn’t necessarily want to leave the apartment right away, but I wondered if I ever would without looking over my shoulder.

Just then my phone began to ring. It was the detective in charge of my father’s investigation. I was glad to hear from someone who seemed to be in some sort of control because I most definitely was not.

“Miss Leone?”

“Yeah.” I was gripping the phone too hard.

“I’m just calling to let you know that you will be subpoenaed as a witness. You may want to hire your own legal counsel to guide you through the process. Also, if there’s anything incriminating to either party that is different, or in addition to what you’ve told us so far, then please let us know immediately. Perhaps since the incident, you have remembered some details that might have slipped your mind initially. Any possible identification marks on the assailant …?”

He remained silent, waiting for me until I responded.

“I haven’t thought much about it,” I replied.

“Alright. You’ve asked for some time to consider being in the witness protection program, but always remember you can willingly refuse based on your own personal preference perspective of risk.” He paused for a few seconds, then continued. “If you have any further issues or feel unsafe, please don't hesitate to contact us. Stay alert and be guarded at all times. Contact us if anything seems amiss.”

“Sure,” I replied, but as I stared out of the window, I realized I had one more question for him.

“Can I go back to work?” I asked.

“You can,” he replied. “But we strongly advise against this for the time being.”

“Until when?”

“My personal suggestion will be after this trial has been concluded.”

“And when will that be?” I asked.

“I don’t have the answer to that yet,” he said.