Beautifully Broken

We had sex, nothing spectacular, but it soothed the craving for another human’s touch.

But he hasn’t left.

I’ve seen him hanging around at the local bar and have stopped going there. It makes me feel apprehensive, so my guard is up.

It’s time to leave. I can feel it in my gut.

I shrug on my jacket that’s seen better days and make sure the heater we keep under the counter is off. This store is already an icebox, and it’s not even winter yet.

While Mr. Johnson locks up in the back where his workshop is, I quickly take out my food for the day. The water in the thermos is still warm, so I just pour some over the cup o’ noodles and then wait for Mr. Johnson.

He comes shuffling out of his workshop, and I open the front door so he can keep shuffling by me. I don’t want him to slow down, because he’ll find a hundred things to do, and I’ll be stuck here longer.

Using my foot as a doorstop, I quickly turn the open sign, so it shows closed. When we’re both out of the store, Mr. Johnson locks the door. He waves tiredly at me before he slowly shuffles down the sidewalk.

Time to go home.

I let out a sigh at the thought.

Home.

There’s no such place for me. I move from shady motel to even shadier motel. That’s been my life since I ran away from that hospital. I had to run, not only for fear of my life but because I had no way of paying the insurmountable bills. I snuck out like a thief in the night.

Another heavy sigh leaves me as I begin to walk while testing the heat of my dinner with the tip of my finger. It’s cooled down already. I stick my finger in the cup and stir until it looks good enough to swallow. When you’ve been living off cup o’ noodles for years, you don’t chew. You just swallow so the stuff can fill your growling stomach.

Chewing, now that’s reserved for tacos, or pizza, or burgers… sigh.

“Hi,” I hear someone call behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Steven jogging toward me.

“Well, this sucks,” I mutter, wishing he’d leave me alone.

Steven catches up to me and throws his arm around my shoulders, making me feel annoyed and even more guarded than usual. “Where are we going?”

“We?” Oh, buddy, you have high hopes. “We aren’t going anywhere. I’m going home.”

“I’ll walk with you,” he says way too cheerfully as if he’ll be getting lucky tonight.

“I’m fine by myself.” I shrug his arm away from my shoulders and walk faster.

Damn, I wish he’d get the message I’m not interested.

“Oh, come on, babe. We had a good time the other night.”

I stop dead in my tracks and glare at him. “One. Night. Stand,” I spell the words out for him, holding up one finger for emphasis. “That’s not happening again. I have zero interest in you.”

He takes hold of my hand, his grip way too tight, and starts pulling me into the street.

“I said no, asshole,” I snap, trying to yank my hand free. Alarm bells start to sound through me, and nervous tension washes over me.

The cup o’ noodles spills over my hand, and it has me angrily snapping, “You’re spilling my dinner!”

Steven doesn’t seem to care about the loss of my food and just keeps yanking at my hand, forcing me to move faster.

My stomach tightens painfully with apprehension, and for the first time, I actually start to feel scared.

How well do I really know this guy?

Shit.

“Okay,” I say a little breathlessly. My heart is racing as panic floods my veins. “You can go to the bar, and I’ll meet you there in half an hour. I just want to go shower the day away.”

My voice is pitching. Fuck, he can hear I’m scared.

“Hell no, babe. You’re not going anywhere,” Steven says with a dark undertone to his voice.

He drags me across the street, his grip on my hand now bitingly painful. I hear the squealing of tires, and before I can glance over my shoulder, it’s too late.

Arms grab me from behind, and a piece of cloth is shoved over my mouth and nose.

Harrowing fear instantly ripples over me as it sinks in – I’m really in danger.

Oh, God.

A terrified scream tears from me as I’m thrown onto a hard metal surface. I hear a door slam shut, and an overwhelming sense of fear and panic stuns me for a moment.

My heart lurches to my throat as prickles of shock spread over my skin. My senses heighten until it feels as if I’m having an out-of-body experience.

I manage to yank my face away from the sickly-smelling cloth. “Let me go!” I scream while I start to blindly kick and hit at anything in my reach.