IF YOU DON'T HAVE A GUN, USE A TRAY

NIGHTINGALE

***

He was so close to me and the stench of sweat, smoke, alcohol and excessive cologne made me nauseous. He leaned closer and sniffed my hair.

“You smell so good." He groaned deeply like he was already having an orgasm.

 "Now turn around like a good girl.” He took a step back and watched to see if I would obey him.

‘Do it for Quetzal. Do it for Quetzal.’ I chanted in my head till the syllables blended together and reverberated in my brain.

“I don’t want to have sex with you. But I’ll do… other things.” I said so low that I barely heard myself.

He laughed like I had told the funniest joke in history right before he forcefully turned me around and pressed my face into the wall.

“You’ll do what I tell you to, girl. I own you now. And before you leave here tonight, I’ll have every hole in your body. And make sure to scream like the bitch you are, it turns me on.” He spoke against my neck and a shiver of disgust went through my body.

The more he spoke, the more I realised that I couldn’t do it, I just couldn’t.

He began to kiss the back of my neck and my whole body began to tremble even more. I knew how much trouble I was in. I had stayed back, thinking that I could somehow convince him to not go all the way. I was willing to touch him to get him off, maybe let him touch me a little, but I wasn’t prepared for what he had in mind at all. And like he said, he didn’t care about my consent at all.

I tried to think of a way to get myself out of the mess I was in when he squeezed my breast so hard that I nearly screamed. It hurt so much and I felt the stinging sensation in my eyes that meant I wanted to cry. But I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing my tears. I took a deep breath and moved my head backward as hard and fast as I could.

“BITCH!” He yelled as he stumbled backward when the back of my head connected with his face. I immediately reached for the door and was only able to open it a little when he yanked me back by my hair and flung me backward, pushing me further into the office.

I didn’t realise that I still held my serving tray in one hand till it fell off my hand and clattered to the floor beside me where I fell. He took off his suit jacket and tossed it to the floor while I scrambled backwards on the floor. I realised that I was putting distance between myself and the only weapon I had access to so I scuttled forward on my hands and knees and grabbed my serving tray just as he was taking off his belt.

“You need to be taught some manners. Bend over the desk.” He said as he wrapped a part of the belt around his hand and flicked the other end through the air.

The menace in his eyes as he approached me and his erection that was a proof of how much he would enjoy causing me pain, made goosebumps spread through my whole body. I had only ever felt this type of fear towards my father, but this situation was worse, way worse.

“Don’t come any closer.” I said as I pointed the tray in my hand at him.

He threw his head back and laughed. My hands were shaking so badly and my voice sounded so panicky so I could only imagine how pathetic I looked. He walked closer to me and I did something stupid, I threw the tray at him in panic. He laughed as he dodged the tray and it clattered to the floor. He dived for me and I yelped as his hands wrapped around my neck and pulled me up.

“I’m going to enjoy breaking you, Nightingale. When I’m done having you, I will make sure every guard that works here gets a turn with you. We’ll fuck whatever worth you think you have out of you. Maybe I’ll even let my dogs have a go at you. You are nothing but a cum dump, Nightingale.”

I spit in his face and he backhanded me so hard I crashed on his desk. The sharp edge of it hit my ribs and I felt a searing pain that knocked the breath out of me. I yelped and barely moved out of the way when the belt came down in my direction. I dropped to the floor and yanked on the dangling end of the belt hard enough to offset his balance. He yelled as his head smacked against his desk and I began to crawl away as fast as I could.

“You’ll pay for that you bitch.” He said as he got up and began to rummage in his desk drawer.

I knew that he had a gun in there and that I wouldn’t be able to make it to the door before getting a bullet in the back of the head. Even if I somehow succeeded at getting to the door, the hallway outside his office had no place I could hide in, so I would still get shot while trying to run to the main area or the exit at the other end. I picked up my tray and crawled back to his desk very fast. He had just brought out the gun when I stood and smacked the tray against the side of his head as hard as I could. He stumbled as the blow disoriented him and I did it again, this time aiming for the gun in his hand. The next two hits were aimed at his head again and he crumpled to the floor as he went unconscious or dead, I didn’t know which and I didn't care.

The tray clattered to the floor as I dropped it and I slid down to the floor with my back to the wall. My head hurt, my face hurt, my ribs hurt, my heart hurt, yet I was numb and not even a single tear came from my eyes.

I was startled when he groaned and began to move. I panicked and picked up the tray. I smacked the tray against his head again and he stopped moving. I contemplated searching his drawers and taking his money, but I didn’t want to give him a reason to come after me.

I ran to the employee changing room to get out of the damn outfit I was wearing and change back into the clothes I had worn to work. Then I ran out of the club. I didn’t stop running till I got home even though my whole body ached and my lungs felt like they were going to explode. I went to Quetzal immediately and the minute she came out and saw me, she wrapped her arms around me. That was when I burst into tears. I cried for the shitty life we had. I cried for the future we may never get to have now that I had definitely lost my job. I cried because my heart ached so badly and I didn’t know what to do with all the pain. I cried because that was all I could do.