Panic Attack
“The land is sturdy and the area is hedged with meadows. I think we should occupy that land also and build a small garden there. What say?”
Xander spoke and looked at Evelyn for an answer who had her eyes glued on her tab.
“Whatever you say,” she replied to him in a flat tone and continued scrolling through her tab.
His jaw ticked; he knew she was purposely avoiding him. Well, she had every right to be upset at him but Xander was one stubborn dickhead.
To grab her attention, he stood in front of her. Evelyn noticed that but didn’t grace him with any reaction.
He sighed loudly, “Look I am sorry, all right? If that’s what you want to hear.”
Xander spoke but quickly corrected himself to maintain his arrogant self.
“I don’t need your sorry. Just finalize it so that I can work on the report and make several copies of it. Who knows you’ll destroy it again?” Evelyn muttered under her breath but Xander heard it.
He huffed, done with her ignorance, and snatched the tablet from her hands. Evelyn squinted her eyes at him.
“We’re here for site inspection, not on casual strolling. So, switch off your damn phone and focus.”
Evelyn scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, “I don’t inspect the same place twice. Besides it was your idea so just get over with it quickly,” saying that she didn’t wait for his response and walked away. Xander glared at her retreating figure.
*****
“Why is it taking him so long?”
Evelyn muttered angrily as she wrapped her arms around herself. She looked up in the sky, it was overcast. The cold breeze swept her face and played with her brown locks. Her pink lips stretched into a small smile hearing the rustling of leaves and the howling of the wind as it crashed against the huge trees. The temperature abruptly dropped turning her desperate to fetch some warm clothes. She was only wearing a cotton shirt and trousers as she had left her coat in her cabin.
Evelyn turned to Xander only to see him conversing with his employees.
“He has to discuss everything on an open field. I bet he’ll make me write the report here only, idiot,” annoyed, she rubbed her arms vigorously and looked down as her eyes were turning teary due to the freezing air. Her lips turned dry. To distract herself, she started jabbing her heels into the heart of the earth and looked around for Joseph.
“What the-“
Evelyn jumped when suddenly something warm was draped over her shoulders. She craned her neck up but her heart nearly stopped witnessing Brandon, the person whom she had least expected to meet again.
“Here,” Brandon spoke softly before making her wear his huge black coat properly. Evelyn stared at him with shock-filled eyes but soon was grouped with dread.
She immediately moved back as if confronted with a ghost, “What are you doing here? How come you even know I am here?”
Evelyn prattled. Brandon looked at her, his heart twisted watching fear written all over her face.
“Calm down Evelyn. I need you to hear me out,” he spoke in a hushed tone, not wanting to draw much attention but Evelyn was in no mood to listen to him.
She kept moving back while shaking her head in denial, “No way. I ain’t coming anywhere with you. First, answer me, how did you find out my location? Are you spying on me? Are you the one- Oh, my God.”
Her blood turned cold. Evelyn blinked her eyes multiple times as Xander’s words started ringing in her ears.
“Miller threw himself on you, and again the credit goes to your stupidity. Worse could have happened but you escaped the inevitable. Isn’t that surprising?”
Her breathing labored.
“The results of his post-mortem say that though the body was burned 60%, there were signs of strangulation. But again, the case was buried before the police could investigate it.
“Jonathan said that you don’t remember anything about that horrendous day. But I have a hard time believing that you were just teleported to your house after being saved by your guardian angel.”
His words suddenly started making sense to her. Brandon was the one who brought her safely to the house but never revealed how come he even found her in the first place.
“Why are you investigating the accident that happened two weeks ago and ignoring the things that are in front of your eyes? Are you playing the fool or you’re actually dumb?”
Her pupils dilated in fear. Since his arrival, her problems had only doubled. Maria turned against her, she refused to listen to a word against Brandon and only blamed her for everything.
And today, he boldly came to visit her, in front of everyone. What was he even trying to do?
Brandon was confused by her horrified state. He raised his palms and tried approaching her with baby steps, “Calm down Evelyn. Don’t get any wrong ideas, I will tell you everything.” He tried to convince her as sweetly as possible but Evelyn refused.
She started taking large strides back and tried to get away from him, “No, stay back. I am warning you, Brandon, I will scream.”
Panic overpowered her senses as she started living that nightmare when Miller was molesting her. Instead of Brandon, she started hallucinating him. The way he degraded her, manhandled her, and abused her. Evelyn always put a tough act in front of Maria as she didn’t want them to worry but unbeknownst to her, that bone-chilling incident had left a worse impact on her brain.
Brandon also froze on the spot when the realization dawned on him. He understood that Evelyn was reliving that trauma.
“Okay, okay I am not doing anything. Calm down.” He shouted watching Evelyn having a panic attack. But his scream immediately alerted everyone present there.
Xander frowned hearing that familiar voice. He snapped his head to the left but his eyes widened watching Evelyn who was breathing heavily while sagging to the ground.
“Boss,” Joseph rushed to Evelyn. She tripped on a rock and was about to fall but fortunately, he arrived on time and saved her.
“What happened? Fuck, Evelyn!!”
Pushing everyone aside, Xander arrived at the scene. Panting heavily while shouting her name, He suddenly leaped on Joseph who was startled. Tearing Evelyn away from him, he clasped his arms around her shivering form and hugged her tightly. Joseph and Sara were too stunned to react as they watched him panicking for their Boss.
“What’s wrong-“ Giselle also ran to them but her steps halted when she saw Xander who was patting Evelyn’s cold cheeks gently while calling her name. His eyes meticulously stared at her unconscious figure.
“Am I dreaming?”
She rubbed her eyes unable to digest the scene. Since the day, her boss arrived in Maria Estates, he had left no stone unturned in making the girl’s life a living hell. She was aware that Xander was purposely picking up on Evelyn at every chance he got so watching him going all berserk for her was definitely surprising.
“What the fuck you do to her??”
Finding no response from her, Xander growled at Brandon who also looked equally scared.
He vigorously shook his head and tried to defend himself, “I-I swear, I didn’t do anyth-“
“SHUT UP!!”
Xander didn’t let him complete as he crouched and placed his palms under her knees and picked her up.
“Stay away from her,” warning him, he immediately dashed to his car while carrying Evelyn in bridal style. Joseph and Sara gulped and looked at Brandon before they also after him but Giselle stayed.
She looked at Brandon who was watching them. His eyes were drowned in grief and pain. She hesitantly moved closer to him and tiptoed.
“Uhmm, do you know him, Sir?”
Her voice pulled him out of his reverie. Brandon turned to her only to see her staring at him questionably. Giselle eagerly waited for his response but to her dismay, Brandon simply walked past her and headed to his car.
Pouting, she looked at his disappearing figure.
A frown etched on her face, “Brandon? As in Brandon Tate?”, the name sounded familiar. She started punching her head with her fist when it clicked her. Turning on her phone, she hurriedly searched for him on Google.
“Of course, he is the son of the business magnate, Henry Tate.”
Her fingers swiped through the screen as she checked Brandon’s pics. A smile stretched on her face, “Wow, he is so handsome.”
Smiling like a fool, she kept going through his pictures when the past incident suddenly crossed her mind. Her smile dropped. Hugging the phone, she tilted her head while staring in the direction from where Brandon and Xander left a few minutes ago.
“Evelyn Clarke, Brandon Tate, and Xander Knight. How come the trio are related to each other?”
Giselle started connecting the dots, “Something must have happened in the past which turned them into bitter enemies. None of them seem to like each other but at the same time, they also couldn’t stop caring for each other.”
Curiosity whetted her insides. Tapping her chin with the phone, she smirked before speaking in a raspy tone.
“What are you hiding, Evelyn Clarke?”
