Chapter 133: Bored

Chapter 133: Bored Mari sighed when she woke up from a very long sleep. She had slept for hours, mostly out of boredom than tiredness. She had never stayed quiet or idle for this long. She always had someone to talk to or something to do. If she wasn’t talking to Jamal or Emily, she was talking to her Dad or following her mom around, or busy with computers or on social media. She never stayed idle, and this current state of idleness was driving her out of her mind. She feared that she would go raving mad if she stayed this way for days. Was this Jax’s plan? To slowly kill her with boredom? Where was he, anyway? What sort of kidnapper was he? How could he be away for over a day and not check on his hostage? When he said she wouldn’t see him for a while she had assumed that he meant for a couple hours, not over twentyfour hours. She had not seen Diva or Venita either. It was as though they had all left her alone in the house. What sort of irresponsible kidnappers were they? Were they doing this because they were so confident that the house was secure and she couldn’t escape? Or were they perhaps sitting down somewhere, watching and laughing at her? Mari sat on the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around them. She sighed and stared at the ceiling. Thankfully, the irritation had subsided and her eyes felt better now. The sting was gone. Her eyes were just a little soft around the edges. Getting off the bed, she picked up the glass cup containing her contact lenses and went into the bathroom. She washed her hands before reaching into the glass cup and she fixed the contact lenses in her eyes. Now everywhere was clear again and she could leave the room. She had not stepped out of the room since the previous day because she couldn’t see clearly without her contact lenses and she didn’t want to embarrass herself. Mari walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside. The sun was setting. Her stomach gave a small grumble. Even though it had been over twentyfour hours since she last ate, she wasn’t even that hungry. She was just bored. "I’m going to lose my mind in this house," she muttered under her breath. She opened the door and peeked out. The hallway was empty. The silence in the house was loud. No footsteps. No sounds. No voices. No drama. Nothing. Mari stepped out. She tried humming to herself to fill the silence. It helped for five seconds. Then it didn’t. She walked down the hall, dragging her fingers across the painted wall. Curious, she decided to check out all the rooms in the hallway. She walked down to the end of the hall and decided to start from the first room. She opened the door and immediately the light in the room came on automatically. It was the janitor room. She could see a ladder, mops, buckets, vacuum cleaners, dustpans, cleaning chemicals and other equipments. She shut the door and walked to another door. It was the Laundry room. She could smell detergent. She kept walking. She opened the next door. It was the storage room. There were lots of items and trunks inside. She walked past her door to the next. She peeked inside. It was library. There were books and shelves. A desk with a lamp. Did kidnappers and drug people read? She mused as she stepped into the room and found the light switch. Perhaps they read books about kidnapping tactics? Or books on how to get away with crime. She first headed for the desk. Wanting to see if she’d find a laptop or something she could use to communicate. When she got to the desk she drew open the drawers but they were all empty. She closed the drawers. She went to the shelves. There were a variety of books on religion, philosophy, art and many others. Boring. Not what she expected, but boring nonetheless. She left the room and decided to check the last one. She smirked when she saw a gym. She wasn’t surprised. Judging by how toned his body was, she could tell he worked out a lot. Going inside, she stepped on the treadmill, and walked on it for less than five minutes before leaving the room. Was the guestroom the only bedroom down here? She mused since she had checked out all the doors on the hallway. She wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge. There were lots of things to eat but nothing called to her. Who made the food, anyway? Diva? Or was it Venita? Jax had said they had their own places. Did that mean he lived alone? She took an apple, looked at it, then put it back. She didn’t even want it. As she returned to the living room she passed a painting. It was a lone boat on a lake with the reflection of the sunset in the lake. She stared at it for a while and then moved on. As she walked into the living room she dropped herself onto a couch face-first. She lay there like a pancake for several long minutes. "I’m going to die of boredom," she mumbled into the cushion. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling fan spinning slowly above her. She counted the turns. One. Two. Three. Still not fun. With another sigh, she pushed herself up and picked up the remote controller. She turned on the television and scrolled through several channels but nothing held her interest. She rose up and looked around the living room. If there was no other bedroom on that hallway, that meant there were rooms elsewhere. She needed to find the other rooms. Jax’s bedroom. She wasn’t entirely sure what she planned to do once she found it. Knock? Walk in? Demand an explanation for his disappearing act? Maybe ransack the place in search of a phone or computer? Yes. That. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do. She wandered past the living room and into the opposite hallway that led to the left wing of the house. She hadn’t gone this way before. There were fewer doors here. She stopped at the first one and tried the handle. Locked. She moved to the next. Also locked. At the end of the hallway was a larger, darker wooden door. Something about it felt more personal. It seemed private and unwelcoming. It had to be his. She reached out, hesitated, then turned the knob. It opened and her heart skipped a beat. Mari stepped into the room cautiously. The scent hit her first. It wasn’t cologne, but something more subtle. Masculine. Clean. Like leather, cedarwood, and the faintest hint of spice. There was another scent in the air too. She wrinkled her nose as she tried to figure out what it was. The bedroom was dark-themed. Charcoal walls, black furniture, soft gray bedding. The curtains were half-drawn, allowing a golden sliver of evening light to pour in across the king-sized bed. There was a nightstand, a low dresser, and across from the bed, a mounted flat-screen TV. No clutter. No pictures. Everything was in place. She walked to the dresser and opened the top drawer. Neatly folded black T-shirts. She frowned. Was black all he wore? She opened the second drawer. Sweatpants and a few rolled-up belts. The third held socks and... a black gun. She immediately slammed the drawer shut, heart thudding in her chest. "Okay. Okay," she whispered to herself, backing away from the dresser. "No surprise there. He’s a criminal. Criminals carry guns." Still, something about seeing it there made her skin prickle. She checked the bedside drawers, but they were all locked and the key was nowhere in sight. She noticed there were two other doors in the bedroom. A slightly ajar door that revealed his walk-in closet. She wandered to the other door and pushed it open. Bathroom. His bathroom was elegant like the rest of the room. Marble countertops, a glass shower, matte black fixtures. No signs of personal clutter. No toothbrush out of place. No razor or towel hanging loose. No water stains. It was too clean. It made her feel like she was in a model home, not a lived-in space. She could barely keep her room organized. She returned to the bedroom and stood at the foot of his bed, arms folded. Why wasn’t she finding anything useful? There were no phones. No laptops. No hints of who he really was. Not even a notebook or a half-read book. It was frustrating. Almost as if he had anticipated she might snoop. Perhaps she should take the gun? She reasoned, narrowing her eyes. She could keep it for her protection. But if he found out the gun was gone, he would know she had taken it. Wouldn’t that make matters worse? What if he got mad and threw her into a real dungeon or began to treat her like a real prisoner? She was still staring at the drawer and thinking about it when she noticed a sudden movement and turned to see Jax stepping out of where a wall had been. Her heart skipped a beat as their eyes locked. Where did he come out from? There was no door there, she mused as she stepped forward wanting to see how the wall had opened. "You’ve been snooping," Jax said without any expression, his gaze flicking briefly toward the drawer where the gun was kept. Mari ignored him as she went to feel the wall, "How did you come out of there?" Jax watched her, "What are you doing here?" He asked, ignoring her question. "Isn’t it obvious? I was snooping. Your room is very neat, by the way. Creepy neat," she said still not turning to look at him. "I like my life organized." "That I can see. I prefer mine disorganized. There is so much fun in chaos," she said, turning to look at him now. "What’s that smell?" She asked, wrinkling her nose again. She moved closer to him to sniff him because the smell had gotten stronger now that he was in the room. "You shouldn’t be in my bedroom," he said flatly without answering her question. "Why not? You disappeared. I got bored and wanted to find you," she said, smiling at him. "I said you wouldn’t see me for a while," he said, looking at her eyes and feeling relieved that her eyes no longer looked so red. "Yeah. I assumed you meant a few hours. Not a whole day. Or were you testing how long it would take for me to go crazy?" She asked, raising a brow. "You were sleeping when I got in," he said, walking away from her into his closet. "Did you enjoy watching me as I slept," she asked sweetly as she followed him into his closet. "I didn’t watch you sleep," he said, and frowned when he turned around and saw her standing behind him and looking around his closet. "Why are you following me?" He asked as he stepped back carrying two shopping bags. "Because I missed you, baby," Mari said with a sweet smile. Jax looked at her strangely, but said nothing. "Here," he said, handing her the bags. "You got me gifts. How sweet of you," she said, batting her lashes at him as she took the bags from him. Jax frowned when they walked out of the closet and she sat on the edge of his bed. "What are you doing?" "Checking out what you got me," she said, lifting one of the bags to empty the items on the bed. "Wait!" Jax said, alarmed, but she had poured it all out already. He turned away, not wanting to see the look on her face when she sees the contents of the bag. To his surprise and much to his embarrassment she giggled. "Aww! You got me undies?" What had he expected from a crazy girl like her? He asked himself as he turned to face her. She was holding up one of the undies with a grin on her face. "I didn’t choose them. I paid someone at the store to pick out some stuff for you. I figured you’d need them and not just clothes since you can’t possibly wear just the set you have with you," he babbled, feeling uncomfortable. She made him uncomfortable. He knew he should have kept the bags in her bedroom when he went to give them to her and saw her fast asleep. But for some reason he could not understand he had wanted to give them to her himself when she was awake. He had himself to blame for this embarrassment he was feeling right now. She giggled, enjoying his discomfort. "Aww. That’s so thoughtful of you. Aren’t I lucky to have such a handsome and thoughtful kidnapper?" "You are," he said, and she scowled at him as she emptied the second bag. Her eyes widened when she saw a familiar glass case. She ignored the clothes in the bag and quickly snatched up the glass case. She opened it and she almost wept for joy when she saw her spare glasses which she usually left in her car. "How did you get this?" She asked, looking up at him. Jax shrugged, "I have my ways." She frowned. "Did you take my car?" "Don’t worry, it will be found in a couple of days," he said, and she sighed inwardly. At least she had her glasses now. That was worth being relieved about. She looked at the comfortable clothes he had gotten her. Pajamas, a couple of shorts and tops. "I see you are bent on making me comfortable here," she murmured. "I am," Jax agreed. "I noticed you haven’t eaten anything..." "How did you know? Do you have cameras around? Are you watching me?" "I know where and how everything is kept and I know you didn’t go to the kitchen," he said as he turned towards the bathroom. "I’m hungry. Get your stuff and let’s go have dinner." He disappeared into the bathroom to go wash his hands, and Mari took off the tag and slipped one of the thongs under his pillow, hoping that Diva would find it. She grinned as she packed up the rest stuff. "So, you are eating with me?"she asked when he returned. "No. I’m eating and you’re eating. I’m not eating with you," Jax said, and Mari rolled her eyes as she rose, carrying the shopping bags. "It’s all the same. So, I was thinking, since you want me to be so comfortable how about you give me my phone too..." "Not that comfortable," he said cutting her off as he headed for the door, and she giggled as she followed him.