2

The next day Evelyn worked till late at night. Susan had to leave because she had a blind date so she requested Evelyn to take her shift and Evelyn agreed.

Joshua has already called her earlier and informed her that he would work late hours as he has to prepare a presentation for tomorrow's meeting so she must have her dinner as he'll have dinner outside.

There was no customer at that time as she played a game on her phone. Mrs. Smith has already left and tonight it was Evelyn's duty to close the shop.

As soon as the clock struck ten. She walked to the door and locked it, shifting the banner to closed.

She grabbed the stuff and started cleaning the place and put the chairs upside down on the table. She noticed the clouds rumbling outside, it was late. She hoped that it wouldn't start raining. And also she didn't tell Joshua that she would work till late hours because then he would've left his work and come to drop her home before getting back to his work. She would've contemplated telling him but his office was at a pretty good distance from their place so she decided not to bother him.

Once she was done with her work she changed her uniform and tied her hair up in a bun before grabbing her stuff. She hurried to the door and a scowl settled on her brows.

It was pouring. She loves the rain, there was doubt about that but she didn't like an untimely downpour. 

It was already so late and now this incessant downpour. She thought about waiting for a while so the rain would stop but the way those ghastly grey clouds were grumbling. It seemed like it won't stop pouring any time soon.

She grabbed an umbrella and turned off all the lights before unlocking the door as she stepped out.

A cold breeze swept past her causing a few rogue strands to come out of her hair bun. She shuddered as she hurriedly locked the door and pushed the keys into her jeans pocket.

Grabbing her coat she wrapped it around her frame before opening the umbrella. She was standing under the shade as she gazed at the bus stop which was invisible because of the wild downpour. 

No soul was seen and for a second she thought it was a bad idea to leave in such bad weather but she had no other choice. It was already so late.

With a deep breath, she held the umbrella covering herself under it as she stepped out of the shade and started walking towards the bus stop.

Her steps slowed down when she heard cursing followed by low snickers. A group of guys dressed in leather jackets came into her sight and she noticed two of them were holding bottles of alcohol in their hands.

Her eyes bounced around the place hoping to see people but there was no soul in sight. She gulped and fastened her pace. If she could just walk past them fastly.

Just when she walked past them and nothing happened she let out a sigh but a yelp left her lips when someone grabbed her coat and she was pulled back.

She stiffened, finding herself standing between those guys as they stood around her in a circle. Their eyes scanned her up and down.

"Hi, sweetie." One of them slurred as she yanked the back of her coat out of his grasp and built up the courage to glare at him.

Without a word, she tried to walk away from the space between the two guys but one of them noticed and instantly stepped toward her causing her to step back.

She was scared. She shouldn't have left the coffee shop at this time knowing that this area wasn't safe at this time.

"Move aside," She said but the guy in front of her only smirked.

"You want me to get closer?" He asked stepping closer as she flinched back only for her back to hit another guy as she stumbled away from between them.

There were five of them and one of them snatched her umbrella and threw it away.

She shivered as the cold rain slapped against her skin and within seconds she was fully drenched.

She was terrified as she wildly looked around. "I'll call the cops, move aside." She tried to threaten them but they all started laughing while looking at each other.

Taking advantage, she pushed one of the guys and made a blind dash towards the bus stop but unfortunately, no one was there.

She noticed them running after her and her heart fell into the pit of her stomach as she started running even faster. She didn't know where she was because she lost her way but they were still after her. The only reason they couldn't catch her yet was that they were drunk.

Evelyn noticed a car approaching and she jumped in front of it waving her arms. The car came to a screeching halt as she slammed her palms on the bonnet of the car while gaping wildly at the windscreen.

She couldn't see who was inside but before she could ask for help. One of those thugs grabbed her arm and started dragging her away from there.

"NO! Stop!" She screamed when all of a sudden that guy's hold was gone and he was thrown away.

A man stepped in front of her as he blocked the other guys. He was tall as she was completely hidden behind his back.

"Get in the car," The man said in his deep voice. Her heart stuttered, she had heard that voice somewhere and when she looked up her eyes met with the dark silver pools as he glanced at her over his shoulder.

It was the intimidating customer from yesterday.

"Who the f*ck are you?" One of the thugs hissed charging at him and Axel instantly grabbed his throat in a tight grip before he picked up the f*cker in air and then slammed his back down on the floor as he cried out in pain, his back arching painfully.

The other guys looked at him horrified. He was able to get a hold of another thug and he punched him while the others ran away.

Axel watched menacingly at the f*ckers whimpering on the ground as he raked his fingers through his hair before he turned around and she wasn't in sight and nor in the car.

His eyes widened as he walked to the other side of the car only to find her crouching on the floor against the car as she hugged her knees to her chest. 

His heart thumped a little wildly seeing her big brown eyes looking up at him with fear and despair swarming in them and all he wanted to do was comfort her.

As soon as she barged in front of his car, waving at him to stop. He recognized her as the girl from that coffee shop. She was all soaked and then he noticed the f*cking thugs grabbing her and he felt rage consuming him.

"Are you alright?" He asked gently as her wide eyes looked around and he felt the need to assure her.

"You're safe. They will not come after you," He said as she tried to stand but her footing slipped. He grabbed her arm to balance her and she flinched badly, stepping away from him.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you." His deep voice was soothing and Evelyn blinked at him and then at the two beaten guys on the road. She gulped. "T...thank you," She whispered.

The cloud grumbled and she jostled while biting her lower plump lip.

"The rain won't stop anytime soon, come I'll drop you." He said opening the door of the passenger seat.

She stared at it skeptically because she was scared. What if he tries to do the same thing as those thugs?

"I...I'll manage," She whispered, looking around and trying to understand where she was.

Axel looked at her drenched state. If she went alone, it wouldn't be safe for her.

"You can trust me. I won't hurt you. Please, I insist. Let me drop you," He said, combing his wet hair back with his fingers.

She gulped. It seemed like she had no choice but to trust him.

"Okay," She said in such a small voice but he heard it. She got into the car and he got into the driver's seat.

She sat as stiff as a statue. Her gaze followed his right hand as he roared the engine to life and put the car to drive.

"Where do you live?" He asked and she gave him her address.

She kept looking down at the leather seat. Her wide brown eyes gazed at the interior of the car and she continued to shift. 

"I...I'm sorry. I...I don't want to dirty your car," She whispered and his thick brows shot up. "No, please. Relax. It's alright," He tried to ease her up but she was still tense.

He snuck a glance at her and noticed a tear escape her eye as she instantly wiped it. He couldn't help but recall her smiling face from yesterday and the urge to hit those f*ckers intensified. But if it was any other person at her place he would've done the same for them.

She was shivering.

His hand shot to the console, changing the temperature setting and switching on the heating on her seat, he noticed that she immediately felt the pleasant hot air brushing her ankles and arms as her legs went gradually warmer and the bounce of her knee slowly subsided.

He opened his mouth to say something but then shut up not knowing what to say exactly. He stopped the car in front of the lobby and they both looked at each other at the same time.

Grey pools peering into warm brown hues.

"T...thank you," She whispered and he noticed the quivering of her lips in the cold. 

"No problem," He said.

"I apologize as I don't have an umbrella," He said slowly.

"It's okay, thanks again, sir." She said, hugging her coat to her body as she passed him a small smile and his heart thumped in his chest, a little louder.

She got out of the car and dashed inside the building. He waited for five minutes hoping that she got home safely before he drove away.

Axel inhaled deeply and sighed relaxing in his seat. His car smells like her. He won't be getting his car clean from the inside until her intoxicating scent lasts in there.

He couldn't help but recall her scared face. She looked so terrified and innocent that he felt like protecting her from the whole damn world.

F*ck! He should not think about a stranger so much.