Big Black Car

Ch. 7

Meanwhile, Adam was finishing up his Voice meeting and was itching to meet with the band. He could hear the familiar beginnings of a new song building in his head, and he wanted to go somewhere where he could write it all down before he forgot. It had been so long since inspiration had come, and he couldn’t help but think that Annik might be the source of this newfound creativity.

Hugging Blake, Christina, and Cee Lo goodbye, Adam jumped into his car and sped toward the studio. To his surprise and relief, he was the first one to get there. It was sometimes hard to write new music when all of his band mates were patiently looking at him. He sat at the piano, grabbed a piece of paper, and began to jot out the chords he had in mind. As he started to play, life coursed through his blood and he began to sing for the first time in weeks. He sang to her.

Tonight before you fall asleep, I’ll run my thumb across your cheek,
Cry, cause I’m here to wipe your eyes.
I know he made you feel this way, you got to breathe, we’ll be okay
Cry, cause I’m here to wipe your eyes.

Please don’t lose your faith, don’t worry cause I’m here to keep you safe
I promise if you let me see your face, that I won’t let you down, I won’t let you down.
I’m here to wipe your eyes.

It wasn’t a full song yet, and he wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but it was the first honest thing he had written in a long time.

It felt good.

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After a few hours, Annik had left the comfort of the porch and decided to walk around outside of Adam’s house. She changed into the pair of sweatpants Adam had set out for her and her own sneakers and grabbed the phone before stepping outside for the first time in two days.

As her feet slapped the pavement, Annik felt the anxiety start to rise within her. The warm sun from this morning had turned oppressive, and it choked her. She needed to be free, free—her feet quickened of their own accord and soon she was sprinting, her hair whipping behind her as she ran to nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

Her arms pumped faster and she gritted her teeth, trying to hold in what was so desperately beating to get out. Annik was running faster than she ever had in her life, the thought of if only I had been running faster spurring her onward. She turned one corner, then another as if being relentlessly chased, as if she was trying to lose herself. Endless pavement stretched before her, and finally her chest heaved and her head fell back, a cry of anguish tore through her lungs, echoing around the seclusion of the wealth that surrounded her.

She sunk to her knees in the middle of the road, her head in her hands, her shoulder wracking with sobs that would not release the tears from her eyes.

After a minute of this, Annik’s sobs subsided and she was left with the occasional chest heave as she tried to recover herself. She looked around, checked her watch and realized that she had run much for much longer than she thought. Twenty minutes of sprinting in various directions had landed her in the middle of nowhere.

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Adam whistled, a smile on his face as he opened the door to his house. It had been a great day, his first in a while where he felt like he had actually accomplished something.

“Annik? I’m home,” he sang, grinning.

There was no response.

“Annik? Where are you?”

Nothing.

His heart sped up and he began to jog around the house, peaking in every room.

Where did she go?

As he paced around the kitchen, Adam frantically dialed the number of the cell phone he gave her.

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Trying not to panic, Annik began to walk toward what she thought what she thought was the way back to Adam’s. After forty-five minutes of walking, she could see the beach in the distance and her heart leapt. She was lost, yes, but Annik loved the beach.

Annik considered asking for directions, but decided no one would believe her if she told them she was staying with Adam Levine. Instead, she took off her shoes and stepped into the sand, feeling instant relief. She stepped closer, letting the tide wash up onto her toes, clearing the sand that had collected between them. Rolling up the baggy sweats to her mid thigh, she waded further into the clear pacific coast water, loving the way it lapped at her shins.

Before she could go further, the phone in her pocket began to ring.

Adam flashed on the screen.

“Hello?”

“Annik, where the hell are you? Are you okay? Are you hurt--?” Adam’s panicky voice came loudly through the speaker.

His concern for her made her smile slightly. “No, I’m fine, I promise. I just had to get out and then I started running and ended up at the beach.”

“The beach??” Adam swore. “You must have been running for over an hour. Stay put. I’m on my way there.”

“Alright, take your time. It’s nice here.”

The phone clicked off and Annik dropped it and her watch in her shoe and continued her descent into the ocean. Her clothes floated around her as the water reached her chest, her neck, and finally submerged her whole body.

Annik opened her eyes and saw the fish swimming below her, the warm caress of the ocean all around her keeping her safe and easing her wounds. She felt cleaner that she had in days.

After twenty minutes of swimming and enjoying the California sun, Annik saw Adam running down the beach toward her, and she swam to the shore and emerged, her clothes sticking to her skin, her wet hair streaming around her shoulders, her mouth stretched into a wide smile that quickly faded when she saw Adam’s expression.

His mouth was in a hard line, his eyes blazing with… anger?

He stopped a few feet from her, careful not to impede on her personal space as he had during the past couple days.

“I was so worried about you. You couldn’t have texted me or left a note or something? I was so afraid something had happened—“

Annik, smiling widely again, took two steps forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, not caring how much water she was getting on him. She hugged him tightly and did let go for a good thirty seconds. After recovering from his surprise, Adam hugged her back, stroking the ends of her hair as they curled down her back.

She pulled away, still holding his hands in hers, her eyes shining with tears and her head tilted slightly back as if magnetically drawn to the sun.

“Thank you for caring about me, Adam,” she whispered, not wanting to destroy the almost holy feeling she felt welling up inside her, so glad to be rid of that tightness that she thought would never leave.

Adam was looking at her very strangely. She was still bruised, still scratched, and yet she seemed to be a little less broken. What had happened?

They were quiet for several minutes as Annik reveled in this moment.

“What they did to me was horrible, and I know it will be with me forever. But this is not going to… ruin me,” her face changed as she said this, hardening slightly in it’s ferocity. “I’m going to be okay eventually.”

He finally smiled at her, amazed at the strength in her words.

She took a deep breath before adding, “I am ready to file the police report. Will you come with me?”

“Of course,” Adam said, squeezing her hands.

She grinned at him.

“Seeing as you’re already a little wet, want to go for a swim?”

In response, Adam scooped her up, laughing, and ran into the waves.