Chapter 2

I took a deep breath as I stared at myself in the mirror. My arms were red now. I didn’t even know when it turned like that, all I wanted was to take his hand off me.

I cleaned my face, applied my makeup. Sure, I was presentable, I stepped out.

The sound of my phone ringing drew me to my purse, and I took out my phone to see Gina's name on it.

 “Hi Gina,”

“How was the date? I sent you a text earlier.”

 I looked at the phone to confirm the message. She must have been worried, seeing that I didn’t reply.

“Sorry, I couldn’t reply. I was in the bathroom.”

I walked to the elevator leading to the parking space.

“You sure you are good? Why do I feel it didn’t go well?”

“You think too much, Gina,” I entered the elevator, hoping no one would join me. “ Ask Raya to send a gift to Mr Johnson, if better send it to his mom.”

“He didn’t do anything to you, right?”

“What can he do?” I laughed, and the line went silent. “Just a little disrespectful, so send him a gift that would allow him never to show up in front of my grandfather from now on.”

“Alright.......”

The line grew silent again. “Do you have something else to say? I'm going into my car.”

“Today is the tenth. Will you visit your mom today? It's fine if you don't want to since you had a busy day. I will drop a message to them.” She concluded.

I stopped and checked my phone. It was indeed the tenth. I didn’t know days flew so well.

“I will go. I'm not so tired from work, so inform them of my arrival.” I stepped inside the packing space.

“You know, you don't have to, I could ju....”

“Come on now, Gina, stop being such a mother.”

I stopped seeing a female figure resting her back against my car. I wondered if she was a reporter as she fixed her gaze on her phone. Johnson won't have linked my location to the press, so that means it was from someone else.

“We´ll talk later, Gina, I'm about to drive.”

“Alright, love you.” The call beeped, and I smiled at her cheesy words as I walked further to my car.

“We are going for a second date, of course. He left to get his wallet.”

I took in a breath, knowing it wasn’t a reporter, as I heard her words. I walked to her front.

“Hi, please step aside, you are leaning on my car.”

She looked up from her phone at me.

“Oh,” She looked at the car, then back to me. “I didn’t know it was yours.” She said, but instead of leaving, she leaned on it further.  “If you aren’t busy, can you please wait for a few minutes? I'm waiting for my boyfriend, and I'm really tired,” She asked with a smile.

´Is she serious?´ I looked around at the cars around us. “I'm busy, so please move out of the way.”

I knew the day wouldn't be good hearing about the blind date, but now I've gotten involved with a crazy human. She looked at me like my words didn’t get to her, instead, she turned to look at her phone.

I took a deep breath. I couldn’t get angry. From her clothes, I could tell that she was from a wealthy family. Though we looked the same age, she was obviously spoiled. I rubbed my nose bridge.

“This isn't inappropriate, and if you don't leave now, I'm going to call security on you.”

She glared at me as she stepped away from the car to face me. I stood in disbelief.

“Who do you think you are to call security on me!” She suddenly yelled, and I flinched, and she smiled.

It was normal to meet crazy people, but today wasn’t the best day for me. I didn’t want to spend another moment talking to her. I walked to her and yanked her away from my car. She let out a scream as she fell on the floor. Her actions irritate me. I checked the car, hoping no damage was done.

“Do you think you can get away from this?” She yelled, her voice high-pitched. I clearly don't care about who she was, but she won't understand that.

“Do you know who my boyfriend is?” She yelled again, this time in tears.

Looking at her, she looked pitiful on the floor, and I wondered if she had hurt herself.

“I don't care who your boyfriend is, but call him to come pick you up instead of whining.”

I opened the car, wanting to leave.

“Olivia?”

I stopped. The voice sounded too familiar, a sound rooted in my brain. It couldn’t be what I was thinking, as there is no way for me to meet him here. But I turned, and my breath shortened.

Arthur stood before me, his tall, chiseled frame imposing yet elegant in a tailored suit, the top two buttons of his crisp white shirt undone. His hair tip touching his left eye, the air around him comfortable as he held his wallet.  

My brain screamed for me to move, to get away from the fire, but my foot won't as we locked gaze.

Images flashed in my head as I watched him. I needed to leave, I needed to get away from him. But why couldn’t I move?

 His mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear anything. The world seemed to go silent, and I was alone in the parking lot.

“Arthur!”

I shook my head at the loud call of his name. It felt like I was brought out of the water. The girl stood up and ran to Arthur.

It was all real, and I wasn’t dreaming.

I turned to my call, opened it, and without looking back, I drove off. I couldn’t bear to be there anymore. I needed to be far away from everything.

I felt trapped as I drove around the busy street, my thoughts were a jumbled mess. My throat felt tight, too tight, my heart clenching. The car seemed to be drawing air out of me because I felt suffocated and scared.

Everything was turning blurry. I needed to stop and breathe. I took a turn to the roadside and rushed out of the cage.