“Goodnight, Mr Peter” Isabella said as she grabbed her little bag and headed out of the bar. She had bandaged up the cut in her hand and was ready to go home.
“Oh honey” said Mr Peter, who was behind the desk. “It’s going to rain soon. Are you sure you don’t want to wait a little before you leave?”
Isabella shook her head, “No I can’t wait,” she replied, “I have to hurry up and pick up my dinner, I have lectures tomorrow and it’s already getting late. I will just hurry up, don’t worry, I will be fine. I’m sure I will be able catch a bus”
She rushed out of the bar and halfway to her favourite restaurant it started drizzling. Isabella hurried along. She ducked into the first restaurant she encountered, giving up any attempt to get loan’s tonight. This restaurant would just have to do tonight. She looked around and saw that the place was virtually empty.
The woman at the entrance attempted to show her to a table, but Isabella waved her off.
“Just takeout, please.” she said.
The hostess handed her a menu. Isabella scanned it quickly, trying not to let her fingers linger too long on the sticky plastic cover. The menu presented too many choices.
“I’ll have the beef with brown rice, please.” She said finally.
“Brown rice takes ten minutes.” The woman replied. She was as friendly as a viper and just as pretty. If she thought Isabella would change her mind to white rice with her look, she was out of luck.
“That’s ok. I’ll wait.” She said.
She sank onto one of the red plastic chairs near the door. This job was taking so much of her time. But she needed the money. She only had her father, who stopped being around after her mother died six years ago. It started gradually, and he never really told her what was keeping him away, except that he had ‘stuff’ to handle.
At least he paid her a visit once in a while back then, but gradually the visits turned to just calls. And soon all he was doing was sending her money. Money that wasn’t enough as she grew older, and she wasn’t going to ask him for more, so she’d taken this job.
Isabella was tired and knew she needed a good night’s sleep, but she also dreaded going to bed. Some of her old nightmares had come back again and mixed with new ones. The bad dreams she started having after her mother’s death had started to resurface.
They were always the same. The house they’d lived in years ago. Her parents. Her mother’s sudden disappearance and burial. Her father slowly drifting away. Having to spend most nights alone… Fear that he wasn’t going to return… Having those fears become a reality….
“Beef, brown rice.” The woman’s voice pierced through the recollection of her dreams. Isabella paid her and took the food. She stopped dead at the door.
Damn!
It had started raining in earnest. She had left her umbrella in her apartment, thinking she wouldn’t need it today. Instead of opting for her trench coat, she’d only put on a light jacket. Well, that turned out to be a bad choice. A very bad one for that matter.
She should have known how unpredictable the weather could be, and now she would find out for herself. The weather report had indicated no rain until the weekend.
She had no choice but to brave it as there were no buses around. Isabella knew a course mate whose apartment wasn’t far from here. She wasn’t really sure though, since she had only been there once.
It should be only about three blocks, she thought. Staying close to the buildings, she started running along the sidewalk then made a turn into the next street, and another one a block farther.
The apartment wasn’t far now. She looked around, but in the heavy rain she couldn’t recognize anything. Was it another block more? She wasn’t sure. She wasn’t used to this part of Greenville.
Her clothes were already soaked, and she would have to jump into the shower to get warm again. Where the hell was she? She turned another corner and found herself on a small side street. It didn’t look familiar at all, but that wasn’t her biggest problem; neither was the relentless rain.
The problem was the guy coming toward her. Even though she couldn’t make him out well, she would bet her salary that he wasn’t there to lend her an umbrella.
His imposing frame was silhouetted against the dim light of a streetlamp behind him. The chill of his look seeped into her body as a faint glimmer of light coming from a window appeared on the left side of his face. The scar puckering his skin didn’t inspire confidence.
Isabella turned back to where she’d come from. Before she was able to take two steps, a hand clamped over her shoulder, jerking her back. The sudden jolt made her lose her balance. She slipped on the wet sidewalk, her legs buckling beneath her. Her food dropped onto the ground as she tried to fight for balance and brace her fall.
The guy’s hand on her shoulder gripped harder as she screamed and tried to shake him off, crashing onto the sidewalk in the process. He bent down to pull her up. She yanked her head around. For the first time she could see his face clearly. The blond guy from the bar! Violence, and the intention to unleash it on her, was clearly written on his face. She had known that he was nothing but bad luck.
Isabella couldn’t allow him to drag her into some dark hole. She had to fight him off here, where she had a chance of getting the attention of a passerby.
Fat chance! With this rain, nobody would be outside. Not even a dog.
He hauled her up, seizing her by the collar of her jacket now, having released the painful grip on her shoulder. Quickly, she tucked her arms inward and slipped out of the jacket, leaving him holding onto it. Now she had a fighting chance.
He was startled, and she had a couple of seconds’ head start. With long strides, she ran into the next street, her lean but strong legs pushing off the groun d with a vehemence that was startling for her small body.