When we arrived back home, it was so strange to see the house again, as if we were out of town for weeks. James escorted me up to the apartment and carried my things in.

"Thank you for taking me," I said politely. "I really had a wonderful time."

"I did, too." He hugged me tenderly, while I waited for it to finish.

He started to walk out the door but stopped. "Corrine, I feel you and I have come a long way together. And we're ready to move forward." Then he shut the door.

If I had had the chance to speak, I wouldn't have known what to say, completely confused by his comment. What did he mean, move forward? I was worried that meant he was ready to have sex. Rape.

The longing to go home came flooding back to me. I could no longer suppress or ignore it. I needed out of there. But I saw no way how.

I finally took a nap, and I longed for the sun I had felt earlier in the day. It was so easy to feel claustrophobic without a window to dream out of.

It was five o'clock, and I hoped there would be no family dinner tonight. I wanted to be left alone, to be numb, to forget what happened. Forget moving forward.

When it was apparent James wasn't coming up, I made myself a turkey sandwich, a salad, and some grapes—a wholesome, well-balanced meal compared to the crud I had eaten last night. Oddly enough, it felt good to get back into my old schedule, as boring as it was. At least there were no curveballs. I knew exactly what to expect at home—no sexy Cassandras.

The next morning I wasn't sure if James was coming for our usual workout or not, but I got prepared just in case. If he didn't show, I would exercise alone. I managed to get some sleep the night prior and felt a little more like myself.

But James didn't come. It really was a relief. I was in no mood to socialize with him. Instead, I worked out by myself. I did extra reps with the weights, pretending to punch James with every extension of my arms. Damn, it felt good.

* * *

The next day was a Sunday. I got up at 7:30, as usual, fully expecting to work out, even though I wasn't in the mood at all. While I waited for James, I watched a bit of Good Morning, America in the meantime.

Around 8:15 James came in with a couple bags and a bowl and went straight into the kitchen, seeming in a rush.

I sat up. "What's going on? Aren't we working out today?" He wasn't dressed in his exercise clothes.

"Nope," he replied, with no clarification.

"So, um, what are you doing?"

Curiosity was getting the best of me, and I walked over to the kitchen. James was already busy scrambling eggs. It looked like pancake mix in the bowl and fruit in one of the bags. In another bag there were half a dozen red carnations on the table. They were beautiful.

"Wow. What is all this for?"

"It's a beautiful day, is all," James exclaimed, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek. I fought the temptation to say a snarky comment about how I wouldn't know anything about the weather.

After breakfast was made, we sat down to eat. I hadn't had a high-calorie breakfast since before I was kidnapped.

"Wow, this is delicious. You're spoiling me," I said.

"You deserve it," James said.

"I hope my stomach knows that," I chuckled. My digestive system still wasn't quite the same since the party the other night. It's funny how much your body wants and craves nutritious food. When you deviate from that, you pay for it. Although I missed the sweets and junk food of my past life, I really did feel better eating healthy. But I hated admitting it. If I was going to take anything out of this experience when I became free was to take better care of my body.

"So, what should we do with our day today?" James said. His tone made me suspicious.

"Uh, I don't know." How many choices did he think I had in this small apartment?

"Well, it's a beautiful, sunny day out. There's a lot of fresh snow on the ground. I suppose we could go have some fun," James said, as if that was something typical we'd do together.

My eyes bulged, and I practically jumped out of my seat. I hadn't been outside, truly outside and not in a car, since I came to Kansas. What was it like to walk the earth freely, run on snow?

"But I'm sure as a Southern California girl, you wouldn't know a thing about what to do in the snow," he teased, winking at me.

"Oh? I think people throw things that look like this." I chucked my crumpled-up white napkin at him, and we laughed. "Is that what people do?"

"Something like that," he said.

"I can really go outside? You're really going to let me?" I asked.

"Unless, you don't want to."

"I do, I do! I'm in shock is all."

After breakfast, I rummaged through my closet. I had wondered why I owned a thick jacket, sweaters, and thermals. Now I knew why. And I could hardly contain my excitement. Even though I was still mad at James, this was an opportunity of a lifetime. I had to let go of my anger and enjoy the day.

When James came up to get me, he again began his threatening speech about not trying anything funny. Just like he did at the party.

"Really, James, where could I run to, even if I wanted to? And how far could I get when you're right there?"

"Just so we all know where we stand."

I hesitated. "Do you think there will ever be a day you'll trust me?"

He thought about it. "Maybe," he said coyly. "If you play your cards right."

"I'm afraid you never will," I moped.

"Time will tell, sweetie. Time will tell."

He led me downstairs. I was engrossed in my own thoughts. Of course, I wouldn't be dumb enough to try to escape, but that didn't stop me from daydreaming about it. I had thoughts of busting James's head right open and running into town. Wherever that may be.

"You look nice and warm," James said. "I forgot to get you a pair of gloves, so borrow these for today. I'll pick you up some if we go again."

If we go again . . . I got butterflies in my stomach thinking about it.

"Thanks." I put them on. They didn't fit, but they were better than nothing.

It was such a beautiful day, a crystal clear blue sky and blinding white snow. His front yard (Our front yard?) had a few trees, hillsides in the distance, then many more trees. It was gorgeous. It must've been about forty degrees out, very cold to me, but James said this was the warmest day they had had in a while.

"So, where are we going?" I said when we got on the porch.

James picked up the sled. I was jumping up and down like a little kid on Christmas morning. I couldn't believe he was letting me do this. He laughed at me.

"Let's head up over there to the nearest hills."

"OK."

It took us about five minutes to walk there since the snow was deep and fluffy. The Kansas backdrop was relatively flat, and anything resembling a mountain was more of a hill when you got closer to it. James held onto the sled with one hand and my hand with his other.

On the way up there, I reached down and threw a snowball at him. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I was so lucky.

I hit James with another snowball. I couldn't help it. I had so much pent-up energy. Surprisingly, James didn't say anything again, only smirking a bit. So, I threw yet another snowball, this time right at the back of his head. A perfect shot.

He dropped the sled and looked back at me with a devilish look on his face.

"OK, now you've really asked for it." James charged at me, picked me up around my waist, and slammed us both into the snow. I couldn't stop laughing, and I threw snow in his face. I couldn't resist.

Then he kissed me abruptly. It was awkward. Cold. He had such a beautiful smile. He kissed me again, this time softly and tenderly. He opened his mouth and began French kissing me, slowly and meaningfully. Was I supposed to reciprocate, pretend to enjoy this complete violation?

But all I could feel was a complacency that I loathed. I wrote it off as being excited about being outside. But deep down, I worried it was more than that. I was accepting my fate.

James put his gloved hand through my hair and continued kissing me. If this was a regular date, I might've been impressed about his abilities. But instead, I waited not so patiently for it to end. It felt like minutes had passed, and I couldn't take it any longer. I pulled away, turned my head and coughed a bit.

"Sorry, I had an itch in my throat," I said.

"No worries." He put his head on his hand and sighed. "I quite enjoyed that. I've been wanting to do that for quite some time."

You could've macked out with Cassandra if I hadn't interrupted you, I thought.

"Come on, we better get to the top of the hill," James said, climbing off me and helping me up.

We must've spent a couple hours playing outside. My favorite part was taking the sled down the slope. This was a perfect hill for it. I picked up speed rather quickly, and then slowed down to a stop at the bottom. The first couple times James went down on the sled with me. But then he let me go alone, and I could feel his body tense, not being sure if he could trust me or not. Looking around, I had nowhere to run. There wasn't a house in sight.

After one particular trip down the hill, I decided to make a snowman instead of going back up the hill. I had never done it before, and I didn't realize how taxing it was. When people made one on TV, it looked almost effortless, and it came out perfectly symmetrical. My snowman was terrible, but I was proud of it nonetheless.

"Bomb's away!" I heard from a few yards away, then crash! James had taken the sled back up the hill and demolished my Frosty by riding the sled right through it. My mouth hung open. All of my hard work gone in a split second. But I couldn't stop laughing, and neither could he.

I began pummeling him with snow. Next thing I knew James tackled me back down onto the snow, and it was an all-out-war. Of course, I was not nearly as strong as he was, but he went easy on me and let me think I was holding my own.

The best move I made was when I untangled myself, crawled over to what was left of my snowman—the head—then slammed it on top of James's head.

"Oh!" he yelled. I had gotten him good that time, and revenge was in his eyes. I ran back toward the house. I couldn't stop laughing, though, and he soon tackled me so the pummeling could continue. I shivered when he put snow down my back.

I imagined this was what having older brothers was like—lots of physical contact and wrestling. I had to admit I kind of liked it. But I enjoyed being outside even more. Sure, I wasn't truly free, but it felt like I was. And he trusted me enough to give me a chance. Instead of an eight hundred square foot cage, I had the entire valley. I knew he was watchful of me the entire morning. But he tried to hide it and eased up as the morning continued.

The two of us collapsed, our backs into the snow.

"Man, I'm exhausted," James said huffing.

"Me, too."

We sat there trying to catch our breaths and stared up at the beautiful blue sky.

"I'm starving," James announced. "Are you hungry? It's lunch time."

I agreed and started to head back to the house.

"Wait," I said. "I forgot something."

I fell backward onto the snow and flapped my arms and legs, making a snow angel.

"Is this how they do it?"

"That's it." James laughed.

I got up and looked back at my masterpiece. I loved it, my first snow angel. I hoped there would be many more in my future. I ran to catch up with him and was surprised that I grabbed for James's gloved hand. He squeezed me back and smiled. I couldn't suppress my exhilaration. I was a caged bird released.

When we got back into the house, I began walking toward the stairway back to my apartment.

"Hey, where are you going?" James inquired.

"Upstairs. Where else?" I said, puzzled.

"Well, if you want we can make lunch down here," he offered.

"Really? Sure."

I wondered how this day could get any better. And why now of all days? It had to be James's guilt for flirting with Cassandra. Regardless, this was shaping up to be a fantastic day.

I began peeling off the layers of clothing, and James was working on building a fire. Once it got going I sat in front of the fire, thawing out and feeling blissful.

"Want some hot chocolate?" James offered.

"Oh, perfect. Thank you."

James came back after a few minutes and gave me a mug. I took it and noticed there were even a handful of mini-marshmallows melting on top. He gave me a kiss, and for the first time I didn't really mind it. Maybe it was the excitement of the day; maybe it was because he'd kissed me so often, slowly scraping away my wall I fought so hard to keep up. Whatever the reason, I was too excited to fight the feeling inside.

Lunch was hot tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. A very simple meal, but it was so satisfying. Something my mom used to make during winter. After lunch I was waiting for James to tell me it was time to go back upstairs, but he didn't. We cleaned up, and then James turned on the television. He had a huge flat screen, much bigger than mine, with a clearer picture.

"You up for a movie?" James asked.

"Down here?" I asked.

"Unless you want to go back up." He smirked at me, knowing what my answer would be.

I looked around at all of the gorgeous, open windows, the sun shining through. "I think I'd rather stay down here."

"I thought so." He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "So, what sounds good to you? A comedy, a romance, or a romantic comedy. . . or, horror, suspense, or action?"

"Uh, how about romantic comedy?" I ventured.

"Good choice."

After all the dishes were cleaned and the popcorn made, we settled in to watch You've Got Mail, one of the best romantic comedies. I loved Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks together. They had real chemistry on screen that couldn't be contrived, and it had a relevant subplot, too: corporate America squashing small business.

I tried hard to watch the whole movie. But I was so tired from all of the activity and warm lunch. I could feel a sunburn coming on my face, which I didn't know was possible in winter.

James had his left arm behind me, resting on the top of the couch. The more tired I became, the more I found myself leaning my head into his chest and closing my eyes. He made such a wonderful pillow, and he soon wrapped a blanket over us. I dozed off as Joe Fox was figuring out Kathleen was the same lady he had been talking to online.

The next thing I knew, the credits were rolling, and James was trying to unwrap himself without waking me.

"What a great movie," I said.

James laughed. "You slept through half of it."

"I'm sorry," I said, sheepishly. "I think that snow wore me out. Who knew it was such good exercise?"

We began carrying our drinks and popcorn into the kitchen.

As we began loading the dishwasher, I said, "Listen, I just want to tell you this was the most wonderful day, even better than Thanksgiving at the Mannings'. I really do appreciate it."

I couldn't even look at him. I kept on task, cleaning up the kitchen. The air was heavy. As I closed the dishwasher, James gave me a playful nudge with his hip.

"I had a great time, too. One of a kind," he said. "If you want, we can continue the fun this evening."

"Really?" I wondered how much more fun I could handle in one day.

"Why not? I have tomorrow off, so I thought it would be nice to have a special dinner."

"Sure, I'm game," I said.

"OK, I'll walk you upstairs." He grabbed my hand as we headed to the stairs. "Why don't you wear one of your nice dresses tonight? Six o'clock."

So much unchartered territory in one day had me worried. But I couldn't pinpoint why exactly.



So, what do you think James has planned for tonight? Thanks for reading and making comments! :)