Nolan's vehicle was large and had all types of buttons inside. I watched him click through various things on the buttons, and music came on. Again, it was nothing like I had heard before, but I loved the beat. Nolan occasionally looked in my direction and smiled. Each time our eyes met, I dropped my gaze in embarrassment. I spent the rest of the ride looking outside my window. We passed streets further than I ever walked.
The longer we stayed in the car, the more clarity returned to my thoughts. I kept focusing on two competing things. I needed somewhere to stay. And I didn't know what Nolan would want in exchange for staying in his place. I began to play out which was more important to me. I couldn't decide. Before too long, I was shivering in the cold air of his car. I looked down at my clothes and realized my outfit was not designed to help keep out the cold. I folded my arms up against my chest. Nolan saw me shift and looked over. He asked, "Are you cold?" I nodded. He reached for a button, and after a few minutes, I felt warmer. I relaxed. He was so nice. I felt like I could trust him.
We finally arrived at his place. It was smaller than I was expecting. I didn't know what I thought it would look like. Even Olivia's building was huge, even though she only had a small chunk of it. I looked around and noticed there were no visible houses around him. There was more green around his place than I had seen anywhere else in Los Angeles. He smiled at me and said, "I have a fireplace inside. Be prepared to be impressed." I was not sure how to respond to his arrogance. I both appreciated it and was put off by it. He smiled at me, put his arms around my shoulders, and rubbed them. "Let's go in before you turn into a snowman," he said. I walked in the direction of his house. I didn't have another option. I continued to hope for the best.
Inside his house was not very decorated. Coming from a palace, I assumed all homes had furniture, art, lamps, and other things to fill them up. He only had a few artworks up. His couch was small, and the rest of the room was empty. I turned to Nolan, and he was watching me take everything in. He said, "I haven't been in this place for too long. My promotion at work happened last year. Before I moved into my place, I had been sharing a place with two other roommates. I am sorry for the Spartan living conditions inside. But I do have more stuff in my bedroom. Which is on the other side." He showed me where I could put my purse. He wasn't in the room for more than a few seconds when a fire magically appeared. I gasped! I had never seen a fire start so quickly. He laughed, "I told you I had a fireplace. Isn't it nice?" He sat down on the couch, which was in the same room. He tapped on the couch next to him. I took my cue to sit. He leaned into me, "For warmth," he said. I do feel warmer. He kicked off his shoes and stretched out a little.
In comparison to Olivia, he was a giant. After a few minutes, my thoughts all came back to me. The fact that I was homeless. The fact that I was far from my real home. There was no familiar face that I had seen for a very long time. I expected someone to come get me. Whoever saved me from the castle? But they never showed. I thought about how even if I managed to get back to Pergamum, there was no guarantee I would be welcome. In the eyes of my family, they probably think I ran away. And I was stuck here, in Los Angeles, with no money, no friends, no place, no food. Tears were falling uncontrollably from my eyes. It gets clearer every day, I am not getting home anytime soon. Raella and her husband have probably arrived in their place and begun their new life together. I cried because I didn't know if I would ever see her again. And I don't know if I wanted to see her again, after what she did to me. I tried to calm myself down because I was sitting in a stranger's house, and I felt so alone.
He didn't know me and wouldn't understand if I tried to explain anything to him. I didn't even understand what had happened. How does someone close their eyes as Ana and wake up as Olivia? My tears kept coming. Nolan grabbed me and tried to comfort me. He didn't say anything, he let me continue to cry while sitting next to him. After a few more minutes, I calmed down. I couldn't accomplish anything with tears. He finally asked, "Is there something I can do?" I shook my head, "No. I apologize for crying like this. I have had the weirdest few weeks. I lost my job earlier, and my place to stay. I don't have family close by. I don't know what to do." Nolan weighed everything I was saying. He smiled and said, "You want to stay here tonight? I am fine with that." I asked him where I would stay. He had an even more eager look on his face when he said, "The bed. I will get it ready for you."
He got up and looked through a closet for something. He then said, "Why don't you go to the bathroom? It's connected to the bedroom. You can clean up and get dressed in some of my clothes for pajamas." He then pointed to where the bathroom could be found. I got up and walked over. I was tired, sad, and alone. I wanted to sleep. I felt grateful that he gave up his bed for a stranger. I looked at the couch earlier, and it didn't seem like a good place to sleep.After I cleaned up all the streaks from the crying on my face, I looked around his bathroom for soap. I could use a shower. I turned on the water, and the room fogged up from all the hot steam. I was quick to get cleaned because I was still feeling uncomfortable. When I was done with the shower, I noticed a pile of clothes on the bathroom counter. Nolan must have brought them in while I was taking a shower. I put them on and they were too big. I looked like I was playing dress up in my father's clothes. I laughed at that random thought. My dad would never have allowed such a silly thing, but I always wanted to try on his cloak and crown.
I walked out of the steamy bathroom, and Nolan was standing in front of the bed. He had been right about his room being cozy. There was a lot more in here. I looked around at a picture on his wall. It said the name "Sanatana". I smiled for a minute. I came back to my senses. I could start looking for a new place and a new job tomorrow. Maybe with a job, I could make money and afford to do more in my search to get back home. I was sitting on the bed, waiting for Nolan to leave. I said, "Thank you so much for the clothes, for the bed. I can't tell you how grateful I am." He smiled at me when I said this and said, "If you had to try and quantify how grateful you are, what would it be worth?" I stopped. I had never heard a phrase like that. I didn't know if he was waiting for some culturally relevant saying that I should say. I was thinking about what he wanted me to respond with when he came and sat down in the bed next to me. He put his hand on mine. With him on the bed, I can feel the heavy weight next to me. He got even closer to me and said, in my ear, "I am so glad you stayed. I don't know how I would have felt to see you leave."
He then began kissing my neck. I was taken aback by this. I tried to push him away. He didn't stop. He kept putting more of his weight on me, and he continued to kiss other parts of me. I told him to stop. He didn't. He said, "I have wiped your tears, I gave you clothes, and I agreed to let you stay. Don't you think you owe me something?" He stopped and looked at me. I didn't say anything. He took this as an invitation to keep kissing me. I tried to push him away again, and at this point, he had all his weight on top of me. He was too big for me to fight against. My eyes were tearing up. I told him that I wanted to go home. He ignored me. His hands tried to pull off the clothes he loaned me. I felt sick.
I was stuck under him with no chance of getting out. I needed to get through this. I have to think about something other than what is happening to me. I began to try to imagine myself being somewhere else. Anywhere else but here. I tried to think of where I wished I could be, and what I wished I could be doing. My mind slipped away to my memories of training to fight with the sword. It was some of the happiest times I have ever had. I tried to remember what that felt like. And while I did, something clicked. I may not be in the same body, and my muscles don't have those moves memorized, but I could think about what that felt like and try to do the same as Olivia. I took a deep breath and I began to gather my courage. I looked up at the sign on the wall, and from this angle, it looked like it said, "Ana." It was the only sign I needed.
I put myself mentally back into a move I used to disarm another person by attacking their wrist. I did the move so quickly that Nolan had no time to realize what was happening. He yelped in pain and moved, and began shaking his wrist. While he was distracted, I was able to push my body slightly out from underneath him. I had successfully gotten myself closer to the edge of the bed. Nolan looked back towards me, and I did something I had never done before. I kicked him right in the crotch. He rolled over to his side in pain, and I rolled off the side of the bed, landed on the floor, and was trying to get back up. He went to grab my arm, and I scratched him. It was the last thing I had left, and it worked. He again shouted in pain. I ran out of the bedroom, grabbed my purse, and ran out the door.
I didn't look back to see if he was running after me or not. I had to keep running. After a long time, I finally got the courage to turn around. He wasn't chasing me. I stopped running, and when I did, I noticed a pain in my stomach. I gasped and looked for somewhere where I could sit down. I found a partially lit-up bench. I sat down on it and began to feel completely emotionless. What happened could have turned out way worse. I didn't know why I was so stupid to have gone over to his home in the first place. I didn't know what I was thinking. I was stupid. I put myself in danger. And for what? A knight in shining armor? A big, strong man to come to save me?
I got colder because my clothes were too big for me had a giant rip at the neck of the shirt. I was embarrassed, I was cold, I was stupid. I put my hands up to my forehead and rubbed it in frustration and tried to think of something. I couldn't think of anything. I guess I was going to sit here until I die. Die of cold, die of embarrassment, or maybe from something else entirely. I hated this place. This never would have happened at home. Leaning up against the wall on one side of the fence, I heard footsteps. I got put on high alert. Maybe Nolan came after me. I sat up and peered over into the darkness where the footsteps were coming from. As they got closer, it didn't sound like someone who was running. It probably wasn't Nolan. After a few more minutes, the person was lit up by the street light. I made eye contact with a woman. She had dark black hair pulled back into a bun, she was dark-skinned, and her clothes were big and squishy. She looked away and then stopped and looked back at me. She took in everything about me. She walked over to me and said "Are you alright?"