Chapter 3.

It's finally time to close for the day, and I check the office to see Mr. Hemsworth working on some papers.

“May I take my leave now?” I ask him from the door.

“Yes, but before you do, I'm thinking of expanding this business and employing more workers” he says

“That would be great sir, we could really use the hand around here.” I smile.

“Do have a good night rest” he says as I head out.

As I shut the door behind me, I turn to see an excited Stewart smiling at me with vibrant yellow rose flowers.

“Hey, you scared me” I say in shock

“Well I didn't mean to, sorry about that” Stewart says, handing me the bouquet of flowers. “I got this for you”

“Thank you” I say as I collect the flowers and smell them, “it smells nice, thank you. Roses are my favorite” I smile.

“Well, at least that makes up for scaring you, want to go for a ride with me?” He asks shyly.

“Well, are you a kidnapper? Should I be scared?” I question.

“There's only one way to find out, want to hop in?”

“That's actually scary, I think I'll decline that offer and go for a walk instead”

“Oh come on Stasia, there's no harm in getting to know someone in a car”

“This desperation makes me feel like I should run away from you” I giggle

“ Trust me, if I wanted to kidnap you, we won't even be having a conversation, I could've carried you a long time ago, you know that right?” He asks.

“Alright fine! But where to?” I ask, finally giving into his demands.

“Somewhere you'll never expect”

All these mystery signs, but I decide to go in any way…. There is total silence throughout the ride, and I break the silence when I see him parking in the parking lot of a classy building.

“I'm not dressed for this” I pout, looking at my choice of clothing; a baggy ripped jean and a T-shirt. I further examine the building through the windows of the car, and I pray to God that I’m not so underdressed.

“Neither am I, but it doesn't matter” he says

My phone rings from my bag and I check to see it's Kendra. I decide to ignore it because I was not about to tell Kendra I went out with someone I just met after telling her to be more careful last night.

I get down from the car and Stewart leads me right into the restaurant.

“Wow! I mouth, but my voice gets stuck in my mouth after taking in the look of the restaurant, I've never been to somewhere this charming and huge before just because it was way above my budget.

We were seated at a table directly opposite the TV screen and a waitress comes up to us.

“Good evening and what may I get you” she says with a beam

“Give me your very best” Stewart replies. “Trust me Anastasia, you'll love it” He says, turning to look at me.

“So why did you decide to bring me here?” I ask, trying to prevent the awkward silence that was about to surface between us.

“Cause I like you........ nothing more nothing less”

“Well yeah, that's a lame reason”

“But I like you, trust me I'm not trying to impress I just know you're a little stressed and this dinner is my little gesture to make you feel relaxed, am I right?”

“Well yeah I'm stressed at work, I'm literally the only one working there, it gets tiring, can't lie”

“That's why I'm here, to suit your nerves with food, it's a popular saying everyone likes food”

“Well then, I hope this meal is worth it”

“It's definitely worth it, you'll see”

“I'll trust you on this one”

The waiter brings a plate of food and walks to our table to drop it, “here you go, the very best on the list” she says as she places the food on the table.

I stare at the meal placed before me and take in the aroma, “it has a beautiful aroma” I say, looking at the plate that has been adorned with steaks, creamy mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables with southern fried chicken served with buttery corn bread by the side.

“It looks good” I compliment and the waitress grins and walks away

“What are you waiting for? Dig in” Stewart says as he takes a spoonful of each ingredient on the plate and smiles with satisfaction.

“Hmmm” I hum with utmost satisfaction after taking a bite off the plate too, “how could they have made mashed potatoes taste this good?” I ask after swallowing and taking a mouthful of food in.

“You must really love mashed potatoes”

“Of course I do” I say while eating and grinning from ear to ear

“If you don't mind, I could get you a takeaway too”

“Oh no, thank you” I reject, trying to maintain the classy look

“It's not nice to reject offers given to you”

“Okay then, fine”

I remember that Kendra tried to reach me and I ignored and realized that she would've been worried sick about me, so I texted her telling her I'm alright and that she doesn’t have to stay up waiting for me.

*********

The ride back was lively, unlike the ride to the restaurant.

“Any traumatic scars?” Stewart asks as he turns down the volume of the music and I stare at him in shock but decide to answer anyway

“We all have traumatic scars, don't get me started with that conversation” I say to him

“Well then, friendship takes time to build, and I know we'll get there” he says, taking his eyes off the road to smile at me

“It sure does, you've just got to be patient” I say smiling back at him

“At the end of the day, I didn't kidnap you” he says, driving into you in my parking lot

“Yes you didn't, yay" I cheer

“Well have a goodnight rest and don't think about me too much” he winks

“You wish” I giggle

“Can I at least have your digits now that you know that I'm not a kidnapper?” Stewart asks, and I can see he's scared of what my answer might be.

“Well then sure you can," I say as I collect the phone from Stewart's hand. I type in my phone number and hand it back to him.

“Thanks for tonight! It really helped me to relax a little" I say.

“Friendships with me come with more than free lunches” he says

“Till then, bye” I wave to him as I turn my back to head into my apartment and I hear the car zoom off from the parking lot

“I hope you had a great night Mrs. Anastasia” Kendra says while standing at the door

“Forgive me Kendra, but I texted you to know I would be coming back late today”

“Yeah after I called you like 25 times"

“Stop Fucking around girl, you called me once”

“Busted girl! You saw my call and didn't pick up”

“If it makes you feel any better, I brought a bribe" I say while stretching the takeaway bag to Kendra

“No way you went to that classy restaurant down town” she whisper yells as we walk inside and forgets that she was being dramatic literally two seconds ago, “and you got flowers tooooo?” She adds after taking a good look at the bouquet of flowers in my hands.

“Yes I did girlllll” I flex

“Tell me all about it girlie, tell me all about it and don't miss even a single detail else I'll cut your head off” Kendra says while I dive into the sofa to relax.

“Okay fine I will, but I need to shower first” I say, still lying comfortably on the sofa

“Then what are you waiting for, girlie? Get your lazy ass off that sofa and into the bathroom” Kendra says as she dishes her food into a plate.

"Alright, fine" I grumble and head for the bathroom.

“It don't take more than 30 minutes to have a clean body yunno" Kendra yells from the sitting room, wondering why I've been in there longer than usual.

“Take a chill pill, I'll be out in a jiffy” I yell back as I wrap my towel round my body and head out of the bathroom

A few minutes later, and I'm relaxed on the sofa opposite Kendra

“The meal was so good! You've bribed me well” she giggles" so give me the deets, yunno, about the flower and the free food” she adds.

“Well, nothing serious, just a random customer who decided to take me for diner, said he wants to be friends”

“Is that all you're going to tell me, you can't be serious”

“Well, that's a pretty great summary I did for you, you know, he's been hitting on me and just got the boldness to ask me to dinner. He got me flowers, and you know I love roses, so I couldn't say no”

“Girl you don't sound like you, you sound more like me cause that's something I would do, I'm beginning to rub off on you”

“You wish”

“I thought this conversation would be detailed, but it's not, so might as well retire to bed”

“Okay chill, I got laid”

"You what what?” Kendra asks, seeming interested in the conversation.

“I'm just joking, go to bed” I laugh hysterically

“Go suck a dick” Kendra laughs as she walks into her room

“Goodnight sis” I yell

"Fuck you” she replies, and it makes me laugh harder than I did.

“Nooo!!!! Nooo!! Please don't hurt me, I promise I'll never disobey you again daddy, please"

Kendra rushes into my room and pulls me into a hug, telling me it's okay, and I'm okay.

“I didn't deserve that” I say after scanning my environment and realizing that I was safe with Kendra

“Yes you didn't, nobody does and no one, absolutely no one can hurt you” she says, holding me tight like if she left me, she was going to lose me

“Kendra, I was little, all I wanted was a little less pain” I sob in her arms

“Girl you got this, and you got me, we don't have everything, but I know we're not in pain, we got this” she consoles and once again we fall asleep on my bed.