Scarlett

“I’m sorry about that,” He sheepishly apologized to me as he waited for me to get into the driver’s seat to close the door of my small, compact red car after me.

I scrunched my brow in confusion, turning my car on and rolling the window down to question him. “Sorry? For what?”

“I shouldn’t have acted like that back there,” he continued, rubbing the back of his neck in nervousness. “It’s just-”

“It’s okay,” I smiled, cutting him off gently. “You’re the only one that has ever really stuck up for me before. I should be the one apologizing for making you feel like you had to do that.”

Virgo bent down to lean on my door, his smile contagious, “I’m happy I got to meet you, but I have some business to attend to now.”

Hiding the fact my heart dropped with his goodbye, I nodded with a smile, unable to say anything- because the only thing to say was goodbye back, and I honestly didn’t want to.

Virgo gave my car a couple taps as he straightened up, backing away from the car as my queue to leave. 

Reluctantly, I began to roll my window up while fighting an insanely strong urge to cry, keeping my window cracked in case my fairy tale continued; I was wanting him to suddenly beg me not to go. But my reality was far from being Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty.

I shifted my car from park and into drive and began to pull out of my parking space; I was the one begging him not to go- I just couldn’t find the words to say it.

Then, as I fully passed him, I heard him yell out, causing my heart to flutter one last time- “I hope to see you again!”

And I began to cry. ‘Thank you,’ I thought to myself, wiping away the steady stream rolling down my cheeks.

If it wasn’t for Virgo finding me, I never would’ve had the opportunity to drive home again, and yet, in less than 30 minutes I was walking through the front door of my cozy little one-bedroom apartment on the 1st floor. 

With a heavy sigh of relief, I dropped my purse to the ground just inside the door, a tiny backpack, before taking my shoes off and placing them directly next to it. 

And then it hit- Fatigue like I’d never felt before. ‘Had I been running on pure adrenaline this entire time?’

I quickly flicked on the light before dragging my feet on my way over to my loveseat. Upon reaching it, I plopped down upon its cloud-like, faux, black leather cushions. Every muscle in my body felt like it was on fire, and I wanted to do nothing but sleep. 

And fatigue was going to win without a fight- I was more than willing to give in. I twisted my body, bringing my legs and feet up onto the couch as I curled myself up and into a sideways fetal position while closing my eyes, resting my arms underneath my head.

‘Let me dream about him, please.’ 

One sheep...

Two sheep....

Three.....

My phone suddenly chimed, a muffled ding coming from my purse, still by the front door; disrupting my slumber. But instead of being irritated, as I usually would be if someone disturbed me when I was trying to sleep, I was excited. I never got his number, but he definitely had mine. 

I bolted from the couch, falling onto the linoleum floor with a loud thud as I began to frantically crawl over to my purse in order to check my phone. And by the time I reached my purse, my knees were in excruciating pain from being dragged against it.

‘Please, please, please.’ I begged silently, the butterflies in my stomach masking everything as I rummaged through the pockets, my brain completely fogged as to where I put it.

What felt like forever, but was probably mere seconds, I had finally found it- and I had 1 text notification from an unsaved number. The corners of my lips began to curl up, and my thumb shakily unlocked my phone to read the message.

And as I read it, my heart stopped.

It wasn’t Virgo.

It was a woman named Scarlett. 

I knew who she was, but I never talked to her before, outside of her being a bitch to me as everyone else was. 

But in the text, she wasn’t being mean, but quite the opposite. She was apologizing to me. 

“Hey, Katherine, it’s Scarlett,” her message began. “I know I’ve been unforgivably mean to you for the past few years, but I would like to apologize. Are you free to meet up somewhere?”

I glared at my phone, as if it were its fault she was unbearable in all my past memories of her. But despite my hesitation, I replied back. “The police station.” 

A couple dots began to pop up in the chat, indicating she was ready, already having read my response and had begun to reply back. 

“For real?”

“Yes. After everything, how can I not want a place that’ll protect me?”

“I’m sorry for making you feel that way. If it truly makes you feel better, then let's meet there. What day?”

The only upside to having quit my job to ‘disappear,’ was that I had unlimited time- just limited resources. “Tomorrow morning?” I wanted to at least sleep first. 

Scarlett texted back immediately. “Alright. 10am?” I only replied with a thumbs up, before stuffing my phone into my pocket and defeatedly making my way to the bedroom instead of the couch. I really needed a more peaceful slumber to be able to deal with, and recover from everything happening all at once, suddenly.

After entering my room, I haphazardly placed my phone onto the light brown, wooden nightstand while I simultaneously collapsed onto my queen-sized mattress; fully decked out with the most comfortable set I could’ve afforded at the time. But as I rolled myself around to face my phone, I noticed a folded-up piece of lined paper underneath it.

I sighed; I didn’t need to read it to know what it was, so I simply crumpled it up into a ball before shoving it into one of the tiny drawers of the stand itself, slamming it as I closed it. 

‘I hope Scarlett doesn’t try anything,’ my thoughts were racing as I attempted to sleep, my eyes bloodshot from being sleep deprived. I hated being such a kind person to everyone, no matter how hard I tried not to be. I knew that any sane person wouldn’t meet up with one of their tormentors, but me? I guess you only have to apologize to request a meet up. 

I huffed loudly, grabbing one of my pillows before sandwiching my head between two of them. 

Fuck it.

I shot up, the top part of my pillow-cookie went flying to the floor, before I snatched my phone back up, squinting as the screen blinded me briefly. “I’m going to call her,” I whispered aloud as I simultaneously dialed her.

Ring...

Ring...

Ring...

Is she working? 

Ring...

Ri-

“Hello?” Her voice was far from sweet- but she was trying hard to make it sound like candy.

“Hey, it’s Katherine,” I cautiously began, “What’s the real reason you want to meet up?”

I just couldn’t believe her.

My ears picked up on faint teeth grinding before she answered, as if the answer physically pained her to say. “I want to apologize for everything I’d done to you. I figured it’d mean more face to face.”

“You’re serious?” I was having more than a hard time believing a word that came from her throat. “I’ll press charges if you try anything,” I threatened as I trembled.

There was brief pause before she answered, “I’m serious, Katherine. Tomorrow at 10am. Just you and me, I promise.” She sounded like she wanted to vomit, but other than the voice she liked to use when being mean, I never did hear how she normally talks. But I began to assume it was harsh, like she had a swollen throat. Like she wanted to puked at any given moment.

“I’ll see you tomorrow...” I cautiously said, before hanging up on her.