Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Now, it was back to the status quo.
Even her boss had moved on.
Standing behind the counter, with the shop fully stocked, the back room clean, and the place sparkling, Jade tried not to think about the man who had saved her. She hadn’t gone back to that alley, or to that bar either. She had kept to herself.
She had also deleted all the dating apps and anything to do with dating and the opposite sex. Jade had learned her lesson.
She never dawdled on her way home, but walked with purpose. She’d also invested in some pepper spray. She kept a can in her bag at all times, and there was also one in her coat pocket, ready. Whenever she left work, she always kept her hand on it, just in case. There was no way she would be caught off guard again.
During lunchtimes, she stayed in the store, eating in the back, away from all the products. With the dark nights taking a grip, she went from work to her apartment, only changing her routine if she needed to go to the grocery store.
Her life had gotten even more boring, and she had even been tempted before the attack to go to some nighttime classes. She wasn’t sure what she was going to study—anything and everything.
Another day came and went of her daydreaming about a man whose name she didn’t know. It was driving her crazy, but she knew she was never going to see him again. She stood with Lucille, who was talking about her husband’s antics. She liked her boss, but they were not close. Lucille was always talking about her family and her kids. She had a very active social life. Jade had gotten used to nodding, smiling, and doing the occasional ahs where appropriate.
They said their goodbyes, and once again, hand on the pepper spray, she worked with speed, making sure to only take the busy streets and keeping as far from the alleyways as possible. She didn’t even dare look down the streets.
By the time she made it back to her apartment, she was out of breath, and her hands shook as she let herself into her apartment.
She had to keep telling herself she wasn’t afraid. She closed the door and locked it. She had been tempted to go and pick up a couple more locks, but she had avoided that by telling herself she was fine.
The locks back in place, she let go of the pepper spray, put her bag on the single hook, as well as her jacket, and then stepped through her apartment, going straight to her kitchen. She was hungry. On her way into the kitchen, Jade stopped. Something didn’t feel right.
Glancing around her small apartment, she frowned and then reached for the light, turning it on, and then pressing a hand to her chest.
Her mystery man, the one that had saved her, was sitting in her chair.
“What the hell? You nearly gave me a heart attack!” She couldn’t believe he had snuck into her apartment. This was insane. She felt happy and terrified at the same time.
“You’re not having a heart attack,” he said.
She shook her head. “It’s a figure of speech. What are you doing here?” She was glad to see him, there was no doubt about that, but also a little shocked.
For weeks she had been wanting to see him. In every spare moment, she had been thinking about him, wondering who he was.
“I came to see you.”
“Why?” she asked. She tried not to cringe and wasn’t sure if she succeeded or not, but then she just stared at him and waited.
He got out of the chair and moved toward her.
Jade didn’t move. She kept still and waited.
He reached out and brushed some of her hair off her face. “I wanted to make sure you’re nicely healed.”
She tried not to move or show how much she liked him touching her. It was next to impossible to do so. Taking a deep inhalation, she tried not to smell him, but she did. He invaded her senses and made her ache.
“Everything is fine.”
She wanted to reach out and touch him, to assure herself that he was indeed real and she wasn’t imagining him.
“No problems?” he asked.
“No. Are you a doctor?”
“No.”
“How did you know how to treat my … head?” She pointed at her head as she asked.
“I have my ways.”
He was so evasive. She had to wonder what he had to hide.
Jade nodded. “Do you want to stay for dinner?”
She had no intention of inviting him to eat with her, but the words just slipped out. It was like they had a mind of their own, and she could do nothing but sit back and wait.
“What are you having?” he asked.
“I … don’t know. Whatever I have in the fridge.” She pointed behind her and then forced herself to walk away from him to go and check what she had for leftovers. She did know what dinner was this morning, but now she couldn’t quite wrack her brain around what she needed to know. It was simple—a meal—but it seemed so hard for her to understand.