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“I have no idea. The moment I walked through that door this morning, something inside told me that she needs help and I can’t shake the feeling off,” I tell him and before she even gets to the table I know that she’s behind me. Slowly, I turn around and look over at the table. She has her back to us. “Excuse me, can I get a fork?” I ask her, but I don’t think she’s listening to what I’m saying.
She lifts the tub, but her hands are shaking, so she places it down again.
I walk over to her. "Here let me." She takes a few steps to the side putting enough space between us that another person could easily stand there. "How about you take a seat?" I say, leaning down a little hoping to get a glimpse of her face, but she has it well hidden. I straighten up again. She's small. I'm over six feet, and I can only think she's around five feet, maybe three, four inches.
“Hope!” I look behind me as the manager walks over to her. “What are you doing, getting a customer to…?” I see her jump a little and she hides away some more, didn’t think that was possible.
I tell him, "Her hands got a little shaky, so I was telling her to sit down." I stop as she goes to take the tub from me, her hand brushes mine and it's cold to the touch. "She just needs some water."
"Well, she can get it on her break," the manager tells me, and it pisses me off. Slamming the tub on the table, I take a step closer to him, and he takes one back, hitting our table.
“If she needs a moment to get herself together then let her.” My voice comes out hard, making a few diners look over at me. “You don’t own her, you can’t speak to—”
“And what areyouto her?” He stops me mid-sentence and that’s one thing I hate. Don’t interrupt me; don’t talk when I’m talking.
I see her from the corner of my eye taking a few steps away from us. What the fuck is on the floor that she has to keep her eyes on it?
“None of your business who I am to her, but listen to this,” I stop as I see her running out of the restaurant. “Get her!” I shout to Jackson. She can fucking move. “Sit the fuck down,” I tell the manager as Jackson walks back over to me.
“Can’t find her anywhere.”
“Where does she live? And before you say you can’t tell me, I would think twice, you’ve already pissed me off,” I tell him getting my phone out to tell John to come get me.
With fear in his eyes, he says, "I'll get the address for you." He walks away from me.
Jackson grabs his beer. "That girl can fucking run, I mean I was out of the door just seconds after her and puff, like smoke," he says as he walks to the door with me. The manager hands me the address, and we leave.
I hand the address to John and tell Jackson to get in the car too. If she tries to run again, I need him to help me. I got some words from him about it, but I don’t care. He can shut the fuck up and help.
Pulling up to the building, I look up, and the only thing I wonder is how it hasn't fallen down yet. John gets out of the car and goes inside to make inquiries. When he gets back to the car, he says, "Sir they said that Hope hasn't got back yet." I give him a nod.
“She should have been here by now—” Jackson begins, as he looks out the car window.
"Not if she walked. If she walked, she should be here in about thirty minutes." I cut him off, and I sit back and wait.
“She walks this route twice a day every day, what the fuck?” I close my eyes as I let Jackson run his mouth.
I know there’s something about her that is pulling me in, is it to help her? Save her? I don’t know but, I can’t let it go. She’s a mystery that I want to solve.
“Hey, she’s here.” Jackson taps my arm.
Opening my eyes, I watch her walking up to the building, ignoring the junkies trying to talk to her.
"Be ready in case she runs," I tell Jackson as I get out of the car. Making my way toward the building I look around at the people that live here; junkies, hookers. She doesn't look like a junkie, and she doesn't have the personality of a hooker—she needs to look at people in the face to do that job.
I walk to the front desk. “Which room does Hope live in?”
He doesn’t even look up from the paper he’s reading. Asshole. “Top floor, room on the left.”
“Where is the elevator?”
“Not working, you know what? I’ll come with you. I need to get her rent anyway.”
I take out my phone to call Jackson and tell him to go to the stairs on the side of the building and get to the top as I get a feeling she’ll try and get out of the window.
When we get to the door, he knocks, and it opens. "Someone's here to talk to you." He pushes the door open, and I get the first look at her face.
I feel like I've been punched in the gut. Her big blue eyes stare at me for a second, but it's all I need to be drawn in. One thing's for sure, she looks lost, and I plan on finding a way to do whatever makes her happy. She goes to close the door, but I stop it and walk into the room. She grabs a small box and tries to get out the window, and I smile as I see Jackson stopping her.
