Meeting Face to Face

  I accompanied Mia the whole day, then walked her home when we were done.

   “You're not going to come in?” She said when we reached the streets to the house.

She always asks this question whenever I accompany her home, though she knows the answer but she still hopes I would go in.

   I shook my head “Not today”

She sighed, expecting that as my answer.

I smiled “Go inside”

  “See you later Lee” she said softly. I watched her enter the house before turning away.

    Eclipse Lounge was louder than expected. I weaved my way through the crowd and went to the counter.

    I felt someone tap me “ You're the new kid” I nodded, not comfortable with the word kid.

   “I'm Gregg, the owner of the place” he handed me a black button-up shirt.”Wear this”

“Where do I change?”

“The locker room”

I blinked at him

“Oh, you're new here.” He pointed towards the back. “Once you reach the back, keep moving forward. You'll see a locker room sign.”

I nodded and went in the direction he pointed at and quickly changed into the shirt. Gregg told me that since I was a newbie, he'll let me start with the easy ones this week, serving drinks to the customers so that I can adjust, before finally moving into the part of entertaining guests next week.

    I tied an apron around my waist and stepped into the chaos. The first few minutes were overwhelming, shouts from the customers, the air was mixed with strong smell of alcohol and cologne. The music was so loud that I could feel my eardrum bursting.

   I felt a sharp pain in my head reminding me that I wasn't fully healed yet.

  I have no choice though, money comes first.

  I kept my head down, worked fast and avoided creeps.

  By the time my shift ended, my feet ached and my head pounded.

It was already two in the morning, few cars drove on the road and even fewer people walked. The further I walked, the more empty the road became. At first I could still see two to three people walking, but then they reduced to two, one and soon the streets were empty.

I hastened my steps.

Why did I have to work at a place that was too far from home?

   I felt a prickle at the back of my neck.

Someone was watching me.

Tightening my hands around my coat, I turned back. The moment I did, I saw Fabian, leaning against a streetlight.

  My stomach dropped.

   He was dressed differently now, expensive leather jacket and neatly styled hair.

He smirked when our eyes met.

   He took a slow drag from his cigarette before exhaling.

    “Lee” he said, his smooth and taunting voice gave me goosebumps “Missed me?”

   Run stupid! My body screamed at me.

I couldn't, I couldn't move so I just stood there, frozen in fear.

He dropped the cigarette and took a step forward. That was all I needed to break the paralysis.

  I turned and ran.

It didn't matter where. I just needed to get away from the man whose voice haunted me even in my dreams.

But I wasn't fast enough. I was yanked back by his strong hand, the strong force made me crash into his firm chest.

   “Still trying to run away from me, little dove?”

My heartbeat slammed against my ribs when I heard his voice close to me, and my entire body went rigid.

 His dark eyes roamed around my face, and he smirked when he saw the fear in my face. “You look even prettier when you're scared” he traced his fingers on my cheeks and lifted my face up to look at him. “I missed you dove, didn't you miss me?”

    I struggled against him but he didn't move an inch.

“Let go of me Fabian” I finally found my voice.

  He clicked his tongue and shook his head like I disappointed him by saying those words. “I just got out, and this is how you welcome me?” His grip tightened around my wrist and he pressed my body closer to him. “You think I'll let you slip away again? I'm back for good and this time I won't let what happened last time repeat itself”

   A shudder rolled down my spine. I swallowed hard and forced my voice to stay even. “You don't own me, not anymore. If you misbehave, I'll call the cops and…”

  Fabian didn't let me finish. He let out a low, quiet chuckle.

  “Oh, Little Dove,” he murmured, brushing my hair backwards with a tenderness that sickened me. “You still don't get it, do you?”

Then just like that, he let me go.

“I'll leave you alone for now. I have a lot of things to settle. Once I'm done with them, I'll come back to you, just like the old days. We have plenty of time”

   I ran.

I ran as if I was being chased by the devil.

   By the time I reached my apartment, I was already out of breath, my hands were shaking so badly, I could barely fit the key into the lock. I cursed and forced the door open. As soon as I was inside, I slammed the door and bolted every single lock.

   Finally safe.

But I couldn't breathe, I clawed at my neck as if it would make me breathe.

Oh God, it was starting!

     No no , not now. Please not now, my chest tightened painfully and my lungs struggled for air.

   My panic attacks were starting again, it's been three years since I stopped having them.

   Breathe Liam, just breathe.

I stumbled towards the cupboard and yanked it open. My fingers fumbled around till I found a plastic bag. I pressed it to my lips and took quick shallow breaths.

   Crash!

I flinched, tightening my grip around the bag.

  The memories I tried so hard to repress were coming back.

 I saw myself on the floor, Glasses were shattering and some were slicing my skin.

    “No…please” my voice was hoarse as I pleaded to no one in particular.

   Another crash.

   “You're mine Little Dove. You'll always be mine”

   I squeezed my eyes shut and clutched my head, the plastic bag now forgotten.

   “ Please… go away,” I whimpered.

But the memories didn't stop.

    They never did.