Prisoner of Your Love

Adele Luis lounged comfortably on her leather recliner, aimlessly clicking the remote in search of something other than the dull, mind-numbing programs flashing before her eyes. After moments of channel surfing, her finger stopped clicking and her eyes were glued to the screen.

“Now this is what I’d like to watch,” she proclaimed to herself.

She leaned further back into the chair with a smug, self-satisfied smirk on her face as she enjoyed the program – Biography: Adele Luis. The Biography Channel had recently contacted her about an interview, and she gladly obliged. Although her story was a rough one, she felt the world needed to know.

“Adele Isabelle Luis was born in a small town just outside of Paris, France. Her father was an inventor and her mother was a hotel maid. The family had very little money, but Mr. and Mrs. Luis were sure to give Adele the best that they could, even if it meant sacrificing their lives to do so. In 2001, Adele parents’ house caught on fire. Police later determined that this was an act of arson. The flames took the lives of Pierre and Isabelle Luis, leaving Adele alone to wander the streets as a beggar. Once the wills were processed, Adele found out that her parents had left her a fund to travel to America and attend a university there. Adele took advantage of the opportunity and left her home country behind and came to America where her journey would truly begin…,” a female voice narrated on the screen.

Most of what they were saying was accurate, but there were details that Adele chose to leave out. They would never understand the suffering that she endured those eighteen years she lived back in France. She preferred to ignore her past, ignore the harmful memories that plagued her mind. Now she began to wonder whether she had made a poor decision in choosing to watch her own despicable biography.

Uncontrollably, she was pulled out of her involuntary walk down memory lane when her cell phone began ringing loudly in the other room.

“Time to go to work,” she muttered, pulling herself up from the couch, feeling as if she had fallen from the cloud of high esteem from earlier and landed in the pit of self-pity. But regardless of it all, she had to push it away for her to successfully attend to her job.

“Good morning, Miss Luis,” Ashlee, the secretary chirped upon Adele’s arrival in the office. Adele forced a smile and made some small talk before returning to her office.

A folder was waiting for her on her cherry wood desk as she sat down. Before she opened it, she could already tell what it was. Marvel had asked her to create some of the graphics for the next Spiderman movie, which she felt honored to do, especially because they gave the job to her instead of her rival CJ Morris.

Just as Adele was about to get right to work on her laptop, someone burst in through the door. “Ah, Adele, I knew I’d find you here,” Mindy Robinson breathed out as she shut the door behind her.

Mindy Robinson was the office’s biggest gossip, and attention whore. Rumor has it her latest goal is to have slept with every male staff member, but even for someone like her, that would a bit of a stretch. Mindy and Adele have claimed to be friends for about two years now, ever since Adele began to ride the road to fame. Mindy used Adele for the celebrity perks, and Adele used Mindy to get the inside scoop on rivaling producers, such as CJ. So, it was a use-use situation.

Adele shot Mindy a strange, baffled look, which Mindy missed when she was shutting the door. “Yeah, I mean this is my office…you know where I work,” Adele said slowly, in case Mindy didn’t understand that.

“Well, duh! Look, I’ve got a favor to ask,” she said in a tone of seemingly unneeded urgency.

Adele paused a moment and glanced up from her computer screen. “What is it?”

“Can you fill up this thermos? I couldn’t think of where else there’d be coffee being made right now,” she laughed, holding out the silver thermos.

As Adele was going to reach for the cup, while suppressing an eye roll, she noticed something peculiar. Mindy was wearing black leather gloves. When has anyone ever worn leather gloves in the middle of summer in California?

Adele grabbed the cup and pressed the button, dispensing the dark brown, warm liquid. “So, Mindy, what’s up with the gloves?” Adele asked, nodding toward them.

Mindy shrugged, “I’m seeing my mother today. She bought me these gloves a year ago, but I figured it would make her happy to see me using them.”

Adele couldn’t suppress the strange feeling she felt on the inside, but she was able to mask it on the outside with a humored laugh.

“Anyway, a bunch of us are going out tonight. You wanna tag along?” she asked, making sure the lid was closed on her thermos.

Adele sighed, “I’d like to, but sorry I already have other plans.”

Truth be told, Adele’s schedule was actually rather open tonight. But she’d pick relaxing in her indoor pool at night over being hassled by fans at some random night club any day.

“Suit yourself. I’ll see you around then,” Mindy waved as she spun around on her heels and left the room. Peace and quiet at last, Adele thought, thankfully.

If the business career ever failed Mindy, she had been told many times that acting would certainly be the perfect back up for her. She prided herself on her talented lying abilities and acting skills. She could cry on the spot for even the slightest sad moments. She could make up jokes in a second. But most importantly she knew how to connive and manipulate people.

Mindy laughed to herself at the thought of her mother buying her some cheap leather gloves. Hell, why would she receive gloves as a gift anyway? They lived in a state of warm weather! She returned to her desk on the other side of the building, as the secretary for Mr. CJ Morris.

“Here’s your coffee, sir,” she announced, sounding as polite and average as possible.

CJ looked up from his paperwork and nodded, expressing his honest lack of gratitude. Yes, Mindy was a fantastic actress, but CJ was right behind her. If he wanted to, he was sure that he could’ve used his skills to snatch the job from Adele. But he didn’t see the need to. Soon, she’d be pushed far out of his way.

His phone beeped and Mindy’s voice followed. “You have a visitor.” CJ opened the door and came face to face with his guest, almost feeling like he was looking right in the mirror.

“Hey, bro.”

Adele decided to give herself a brief vacation and leave work a couple hours early. Her head ached slightly from staring at the bright screen all day, but she knew it would pass. It always did. She sighed exhaustedly as she turned the stereo on, playing some HIM, one of her favorite Finnish bands.

Despite the fact that she had dropped her rock ‘n roll façade upon arriving in Hollywood, she couldn’t bring herself to forget the music itself. She dimmed the lights around her pool and shed her clothes, eager to feel the refreshing splash of water. This was exactly what she needed, a relaxing evening alone.

However, in her moment of tranquility, frenzy was occurring across the city.

CJ had stayed late at the office, trying to make up for lost time after entertaining his guest. He stared at his computer screen, but couldn’t bring his fingers to do the work that needed to be done. Remembering the coffee that he received from Mindy earlier, he reached for the thermos and was relieved to find that its liquid contents were still warm.

He continuously sipped on the liquid for the next couple of minutes, but suddenly something changed. His throat began constricting and his stomach was burning. A strange mix of blood, bile, and chunks of the sub sandwich he’d eaten at lunch was trying to pry its way out of his esophagus, but there was no time for that.

His body fell backwards off the chair and he collapsed on the floor, his limbs spread in all directions. The throw up finally trickled out of his mouth, as moonlight from the open window reflected off the juicy mess and into his lifeless, dull eyes.

Honestly having nothing better to do, Adele wrapped a towel around her soaking wet body and walked upstairs to her bedroom to change into some dry clothes. It was only 11 PM, but Adele had had a strange day…reliving unwanted bits of memories from her past, the odd run-in with Mindy, and working nonstop on this project.

She fell back into the soft, fluffy pillows and pulled her crimson red silk sheets over her body. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, a loud bang downstairs followed by a set of heavy footsteps shook Adele awake.

She wasn’t alone in her house anymore.