Mr. Big Shot (Mr. Big 1)

“Let go,” I said, fighting with him, hitting his arm, trying to wrest my hand out of his. He fought me, pulling me into the back alley. I saw his car was parked at the end of the alley. I knew enough that I couldn’t let him take me. Once you got in a car with an abductor, it was usually game over.

Luckily, my neighbour Mr. Scott shouted over the fence. “Hey! What are you doing?”

Blaine startled, like he was waking up from a dream. Then he looked at me, stepping closer. ”You're mine," he said and held his finger in front of my face. "You can't hide from me."

Then, he let go and I ran back to the yard, trying to catch my breath and recover.

Mr. Scott came over, his face white as a ghost.

“Are you okay?”

I nodded, my legs like rubber. “I’m okay. Thanks for yelling at him.”

“He was going to abduct you. Do you want me to call the police?”

“No, I will. But thanks.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I’m sure.”

When Mr. Scott left, I went into the house to the bathroom and checked in the mirror. There were red marks around my throat where Blaine had grabbed me and my wrist was red as well. The skin was sore and I was sure there'd be a bruise the next day.

He could have abducted me and if he had, he might have killed me.

It was then I realized I wasn’t safe anymore. I’d been alone at the house. My mom was at work and my dad was still in Phoenix. Only Molly was there and she was in the house, deaf and almost blind with cataracts.

Blaine could have choked me to death and there was nothing I could have done about it. He could have hauled me into his car and there was nothing I could do about it.

He was too strong.

Thank God for Mr. Scott.

I went to the phone, my hands shaking, and called Sheriff Dawson.

"What happened?" he asked when I told him Blaine had attacked me.

I relayed everything from start to finish and he sighed audibly on the other end of the line.

"I was afraid of that," he said. "Sometimes, when women do something to fight back against an abuser, the man becomes more unreasonable, unhinged and lashes out. You're at your most vulnerable right after you break up with someone like that, and most at risk. You really shouldn't be alone if you're going to go through with this."

"I can't even be alone?" I said, feeling like I'd just made everything worse by even considering a restraining order. "What kind of life is that?"

"I'm real sorry, Alexa, but it's a fact. You and your mom better come down to the office and talk with us about what you can do. When is your dad back from Phoenix?"

"Later in the week," I replied, going around the house and locking the windows and doors.

"I'll make sure to have the boys drive by your place when they can, keep an eye out. You don't hesitate to call me if he comes back or if you see him following you."

I agreed and then we said goodbye. I sat at the island in the kitchen, the phone in my hand, and waited for my mother to come home from work, jumping at every noise and every time Molly barked.

It was a very long and nerve-wracked afternoon…

* * *

Now, here I was in Manhattan, far far away from all that, and I finally met someone I could imagine being with for a longer term but he was leaving. He would never be a long-term boyfriend.

I felt sad that the next couple of weeks would be all we had, and was still torn between wanting to protect myself from being hurt when he said goodbye, and not wanting to miss out on any time with him.