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“Real mature. God, you’re pathetic.”
That was a mistake. He turns and launches the laptop at me. I don’t know how I move so fast. Maybe it’s all the hours I spent scrubbing toilets and dealing with the filth and grime of my job, all to pay for that laptop. Somehow, I catch it. The plastic digs into my hands.
Axel narrows his eyes, then claps like his prized pet has just done a trick.
“Damn, didn’t know girls like you could move so fast.”
“There’s something wrong with you,” I say, knowing I should stop, but it’s beenweeksof putting up with this.
“Is that so?” He approaches, shaking all over. “The only thing wrong with me, you stupid bitch, is that we’ve got a perfectly good room here. We could use it for anything. Lily wants to be a singer. This could be her studio, but instead, we’ve got a mopey bitch taking up space.”
I wish I could stop the insults and hurt him somehow. From the wall, Luke stares impassively. If he was here—my wildest, most unlikely fantasies tell me—he’d never allow Axel to speak to me like this.
“You’ve really pissed me off,” Axel says. “So, we’re going to make a deal. You fuck off. You never come back, and I won’t lock the door and have some fun with you.”
Lily bursts into tears, retreating into the living room. No help there.
“I mean it. I’m sick and tired of you. Get. The fuck. Out.”
* * *
What choice do I have?
Lily texts me, explaining that I can return once he sobers up, but I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to be homeless, either.
I’m sitting at the window of a café, my black coffee beside my laptop. It was three bucks, even pushing the boundaries of what I can afford. My paycheck is barely enough to cover rent and bills.
Around me, people live their regular lives. A couple sits in the corner, the man laughing. A mother rocks a child up and down on her knee. I don’t let myself think about being able to live a life like theirs.
Headphones on, laptop out, and music going… but I can’t focus on my work. My thoughts stray to what will happen later when I go home.
Home. It’s never felt like that.
The sun is setting. The café will be closed soon.
Then, the impossible happens. I stare through the tall windows of the café as Luke Hart strides across the street. Rubbing my face, I’m sure I’m not hallucinating.
I’ve crushed on him for years, the withdrawn girl with few friends, with few prospects, but a dream that one day, my knight in shining armor would ride into my world and fix everything. Craziness, obviously, but at least I’ve had a chance to see him in the flesh.
He’s even more handsome in real life, his eyes gleaming, his suit hugging his body tightly. His hair has recently been cut, the sides super short, the part on top slicked back so that it glistens in the setting sunlight. I expect him to walk by, but he stops right outside the window.
Now I’msureI must be imagining things. Luke Hart is staring right at me.
