Burning Passion

CHAPTER 141: SAVING NIKKI (Fourteen) and the Past

"SPECIAL CHAPTER EDITION: ENCOUNTERS and a KISS" 

* * *

White House, Remy Town 

Elisha has this unexplainable intuition. She was too worried about Nikki when Maureen showed up at the doorsteps with her siblings. She instantly realizes that Nikki went to the cemetery alone. 

It worries her she might cross the Hale's. She has known the reputation of this family, and it wasn't a good one. She already had this fear when Nikki made friends with a younger Hale. She was nervous that Nikki would entangle with his family, and her fear had come true when Jonathan died, and they blamed her granddaughter. 

"Grandma, relax. I am trying to call Nikki, but her phone is off." 

"She turned it off so that her father cannot contact her. Now I am anxious. Maybe I should follow her? I need to make sure that she was safe." 

Worried as well, Maureen apologized. "I'm sorry grandma. I should not let her go alone." 

"Don't be. Your siblings need you. You should not leave them behind. Stay here. I try to look around if someone saw her in the cemetery, also if she bought a ticket at the train station going back to Mainland City. I will only have peace if Nikki already leaves the city." 

"Okay, grandma. That should be the best." 

Elisha was preparing to leave, anxiously waiting for Leon— her housemaid's husband, to drive her toward Hanford City. While waiting, Maureen receives a call from an unknown number. 

With a loud thud in her chest, she answers the call. "Hello?" 

"Hi! Maureen, it's Jeremy." 

It felt a weight lift on her back heard it was an angel that could help them. "Oh, Jeremy! Thank God you called me." 

"Oh, did something happen? Is Nikki still with you?" asked Jeremy Maureen.

Maureen sighed. "That's my mistake, and it worries us." 

"Hah? Why? What's the matter?" Jeremy glanced in Theo's direction, who's the one driving this time. Theo just let him drive this morning to grant his wish to have the freedom to do what he wanted today. Now back to the real issue. It sounded like a problem regarding Nikki. Maureen shared that Nikki visited the Highland Garden alone. Hearing this, Jeremy senses the stress from the other line. He queried, "Is it you supposed to accompany her? What happened?" 

Another sighed Maureen had released. She regrets that she lets Nikki go to the cemetery alone. She has known it was dangerous to meet Hale. She responded to Jeremy, "Yes, but my father was in an accident. I can't leave my siblings at home alone." 

"I see." 

Listening, Theo asked his brother, "Where is Nikki?" 

"She went to the cemetery alone. Now they are worried about her." 

Maureen heard the brother's conversation. She asked Jeremy, "Why did you call me, by the way?" 

Jeremy responded, "About it, we would like to take Nikki with us going back to Mainland City by the car we rented. We are thinking to fetch her before we negotiate with the car company of our extension renting the car." 

"Oh, perfect! Please take Nikki with you guys. Can you check her out if she was still in the cemetery? Or ask the caretaker of that cemetery if they spotted Nikki?" Maureen felt relieved hearing this. She likes the idea. 

"Okay. We will search for her. We are reaching now the city." 

"Thank God. Thank you so much!" 

"No problem." 

"Please, let us know if you find Nikki." 

"Yes, we will. Goodbye, Maureen." Jeremy ended the call and turned to Theo.

"So?" 

"We have to check if Nikki was still in the cemetery." 

"All right." Theo speeds up the car. He doesn't like how his heart is beating this way. 

Back in the White House, Elisha relieved a little. But until she hasn't heard directly from Nikki, she wouldn't be at ease. 

"Grandma, take a seat. Jeremy and Theo went to search for Nikki. They will give news once they find her. Don't you worry now, okay?" 

Elisha nods and takes a seat in her rocking chair. It worries her so much, and all she could do now is praying for Nikki's safety.

"I will get you water, grandma."

"Thank you, Maureen," said Elisha. Now that Maureen left for the kitchen, she reaches her chest and rubs it.

~~~~~

The guy shakes her shoulder, but she was only staring at him for the next seconds.

"Nikki, what happens?"

The guy asked her with concern in his voice. Her eyes blinked several times before she recognized him. She immediately threw her arms around the guy and cried to her heart. 

"What happened? What's wrong? Why are you in a panic?" 

Nikki continues crying. The warm embrace around her gives her a sense of security.

"I want to go home," she mumbled. 

"Yes. We will go home. But please, tell me what happened? Your grandmother worried sick about you." 

"Theo…" 

"Let's get inside the car first."

Nikki partly parted from him and looked up, gapes at Theo's eyes. Her feet won't move as tears continue flowing down her cheeks. Theo wipes her tears again. He locked her inside his warm arms while petted her head. 

Inside the car, Jeremy instantly phoned Maureen and gave the good news. But something is going on with Nikki. However, he mentions nothing to Maureen until he is certain of what happens. Jeremy gaped at Theo. Comforting Nikki like that, it surprises him that his brother has this side of him. He never shows emotion to other people unless it concerns him, as his very close family. 

Could it be possible that his brother was serious about Nikki? Is Theo developing an affection for the young girl?

Meanwhile, Theo continued patting Nikki on the back. The moment she threw her arms around him, her body was shuddering. He suspected that something did happen during her visits to the cemetery.

"Hush now. Do you want me to beat whoever made you cry?" He says to comfort her. Theo felt Nikki's head shaking against his chest. In a faint voice, she uttered to him… 

"I just wanted to go home." 

Theo gets frustrated. He wanted to know why she was acting strangely. He sighed. "All right, let's go." 

Theo guides her toward the car. Nikki stared at Theo one more time. He treated her with gentleness, unlike what she got through just a while ago. Theo's warm palm causes her to relax her senses and feel at ease. 

Nikki has seen Jeremy in the front seat. The guy also smiles warmly at her and asks…

"Are you okay, Nikki?"

She peered at him for a moment. A trace of concern displayed on his face. Afterward, she nodded but said nothing.

Theo sat beside Nikki to talk with her sincerely. He noticed the upper button of her dress was taken off, like with forced. He scanned her from the head down to her feet. 

He saw the hem of her dress has a cut.

"What happens to your dress?" Theo asked suspiciously. 

"I— a sharp object caught my dress when I passed to a gate." That was true. But it's not the best time to share that her friend's brother had an attempt to kill her and rape her. 

"Why your neck is red? Tell me what happened, Nik? Please?" He was persistent. He is determined to hear out, as he has a bad feeling about Nikki's appearance. Besides, the playful eyes were gone. Their sparks turn into a gloomy sky. He needs to know what happens to her during her visit to the cemetery.

Thank God they contacted Maureen to get her, or they wouldn't know that she went to the exclusive's graveyard in the highlands alone. He drove the car at its fastest velocity.

And later, he saw Nikki in the intersection, standing beside the road, but she seems not on herself. It worries him if something traumatic happens to her. Nikki's reactions telling him so when he grabs her by the shoulder. 

"I just wanted to go home now. You can drop me at the train station," said Nikki, dropping the conversation.

Theo doesn't want to give up but persuades Nikki. "You will not go home alone. We will go home together. But before that, tell us what happens to you, Nikki." 

Nikki lifted her head and met Theo's gaze. Later, she told him, "It's nothing. I just took a long walk, so I am tired now."

He doesn't believe of course, but she doesn't like to talk. Theo meets Jeremy's eyes. They're telling him not to force Nikki.

"All right. We plan to extend renting the car. So, firstly, we will drop by at their office to settle something. Is that okay?" asked Theo.

Nikki nodded. She clasped both of her hands onto her lap and lowered her head, staring down at her shoes. Theo heaves a hopeless sigh. 

He reaches for Nikki's jacket to fasten the buttons to hide her chest, but Nikki jolted from his action. He glanced at Jeremy, a suspicion arose in their minds. Nikki gets through an unlikely experience.

Theo drew back his hand when he caught the sight of a paper about falling from the pocket of Nikki's jacket. It looks like a piece of his sketching pad. He took it, and Nikki didn't notice.

Theo gets out of the back seat to position himself in front of the steering wheel. Before he steps inside the car, he reads what's written on the paper. It was the sheet where he wrote a message for Nikki, and she wrote a reply to it.

"Takers, keepers. I'll take your heart. I keep it. You take mine, and you keep it. Deal?"

Theo's lips tear into a big smile. He opens the car door, which startled Nikki from his sudden action. She looks up at him with confusion.

Without warnings, he leans over and claims Nikki's lips.