“There you go, all set! You look gorgeous, Gabbie! All ready to meet my friends, are you ready for a fun night?”, Cármen cheerfully asks Gabbie as she finishes doing her hair and make-up. “I guess”, Gabbie answers with some hesitation. “Now come on, let’s get excited and let’s go!”, Cármen replies while leaving the room to head downstairs. Gabbie looks into the mirror in front of her. Cármen did a great job with her hair and make-up, she looks great. It’s been a while since she looked this pretty, she can’t remember the last time she was this well-dressed and pretty to just go outside. She hears Cármen locking up the back door downstairs and she gets up from the chair in front of the vanity table to head downstairs. She needs to take it slowly, it’s been forever since she wore heels this high. With every step on the stairs she takes a deep breath, hoping not to fall over and make a scene. Cármen opens the front door and walks back to the stairway. She gives a short laugh and reaches for Gabbie’s hand to help her down the last few steps on the stairs. She has the biggest smile on her face, she is really looking forward to this night out, Gabbie realizes. She’d better enjoy every moment, but all she can think about is that damn cabin in the forest and the doubt if she can really trust Cármen. Are they really going to this restaurant, or is this yet another plan to get her back to the older woman, or worse, back in the basement in the forest?

They step outside the front door and walk around the house towards the garage. Cármen opens it with a small remote control attached to her keychain. In the garage a big black SUV is parked. She unlocks the doors of the car and they get in. She turns on the engine and catchy 90s pop music blast through the speakers. She pulls up to the road in front of the building and she starts driving while singing along to the music. 5 minutes later she pulls up to a fancy building covered in ivy, beautifully and well-maintained trees in front of the building together with some dancing fountains. She parks in one of the free spots and grabs her phone from her purse. “I’m going to give my friend a quick call to see where she is at”, Cármen tells Gabbie. Gabbie smiles and slowly opens the passenger door and steps outside. It’s slowly getting chilly outside, after the warm day they’ve had today. A moment later, Cármen gets out of the car, locks the doors and walks up to Gabbie and wraps her arm around her shoulder. “They’ll be here in about five minutes. Let’s walk up to the garden! It’s beautiful, you’ll love it”, she tells Gabbie with a polite smile.

A few minutes pass by, they both enjoy the beauty of the gardens, the splashing fountains and the singing birds in the treetops, when Cármen receives a text message. She pulls out her phone. “They’re here!” she shouts excitedly. “Come! I can’t wait for you to meet them!”. Cármen grabs Gabbie’s hand and takes a fast pace towards the front of the building where two beautifully dressed women are waving at them. “Gabbie, I am excited for you to meet my best friend, Angéla and her girlfriend Monica”, Cármen introduces the two ladies to her. Angéla is dressed in a tight red dress and wears matching red heels. Her black hair is tied to the back and glued back with what seems like a full bottle of hairspray. Her girlfriend, Monica, has beautiful blonde curls, dressed in a black turtleneck sweater and wears black skinny jeans. They both look very elegant and classy at the same time. They make some smalltalk before they enter the restaurant. Inside the restaurant, the vibe is very high end. Red marbled floorings, details of gold everywhere and a big chandelier just at the entrance of the restaurant. The Maître d’ shows them their table, a cozy table in front of the large windows. On each side of the table are comfortable large seats. They sit down and order a bottle of champagne for the table to share and some small bites. A few minutes later the waiter brings them their bottle of champagne. “Can you please take a picture of us, sir?”, Monica asks the waiter. The waiter agrees and Monica hands him her phone. They all smile and the waiter takes a couple of photos. Monica proudly shows the photos to them. “Monica, send me those photos, they are great! Don’t you think, Gabbie?”, Cármen asks Gabbie. Gabbie quietly nods her head while giving a polite smile while keeping her mouth closed. Monica puts down her phone on the table, face up.

A few minutes of talks about what happened in their lives amongst good laughter pass by as Angéla receives a call, the phone is buzzing on the table and it catches Gabbie’s eye. She takes a peek on the screen and is in shock. The phone shows the name “Miguel” and she starts breathing heavily. She needs to get out of here, she needs to run. It’s one of the men who kidnapped her. Without hesitation she pushes back her chair. “I’m sorry. I need… I need to go to the restroom”, she quickly tells while walking away from the table nervously. Cármen spots the worried face of Gabbie and quickly follows her. “Excuse me, we will be right back”, she tells her friends. Gabbie runs through the restaurant on the way to the restrooms, the swings open the door with all the power she has in her and walks up to the sinks with huge and well-lighted mirrors in front of them. She turns on the faucet and starts crying. A few seconds later, Cármen enters the restrooms and spots Gabbie, crying in front of the mirror. She walks up to her and hugs her from behind. “Gabbie, what’s going on? What happened?”, she asks her. “It’s him, your friend is one of them, I can’t do this anymore, I need to go”, Gabbie replies while crying. “What do you mean, who is one of them? Do you mean the people who kidnapped you, or what?”, Cármen nervously asks Gabbie while she takes two steps back. “Yes. Miguel, I saw the name pop up on your friends’ phone, they’re connected, I’m sure she’s here to bring me back. Cármen, I thought I could trust you, I opened up to you, how could you do this to me?”, Gabbie shouts while making fists of her hands and slamming them on the countertop in front of her. “I don’t understand, Miguel? Do you mean Angéla’s brother Miguel? You can’t be serious, right?”, Cármen replies with disbelief. “Cármen, please, confess already. He was the one who knocked me down and brought me to the old woman. To, what’s her name again, Margret. You know, they kept me in her attic.”, Gabbie shouts to Cármen. “No, no, wait, no… This can’t be true. I’ve met Miguel, he’s a sweet and gentle man, has a wife and two children!”, Cármen quickly replies, still in disbelief that Miguel is the same Miguel as who kidnapped Gabbie before. “Wait right here, I’ll get Angéla, wait right here”, Cármen quickly replies before storming out back into the restaurant.

A minute later, Cármen opens the restroom door again and they walk into the restrooms together. “Gabbie, tell her what you told me about Miguel”, Cármen tells her. Angéla stands still in front of the door, highly confused. Gabbie is too shocked to speak, she bursts out crying and falls down on the tile floor of the restrooms. She has a panic attack and starts shaking. Cármen rushes over to her, places her hand on her shoulder. “Breathe easily, Gabbie, in… and out, Gabbie, listen to me”, she yells to Gabbie in panic. “Angéla, get help! We need an ambulance!”, she turns to Angéla and sends her back into the restaurant to get help. She keeps on trying to comfort and relax Gabbie, but nothing is working. A short minute later, Angéla slams open the restroom door again. “An ambulance will arrive any minute now”, she tells Cármen with fear in her eyes.