Bag of trash

****

Dropped to the wet ground, on the same spot I had been standing before I was abducted, one of the men handed me the shopping bag and walked away to join the others. It was too late to catch a glimpse since there hadn't been any street lights.

Standing in the thick of the dark, the smell of earth lingering and the hissing of crickets growing louder, I felt cold, lonely, and distraught. The tears in my eyes rolled down every two seconds as the memory flashed in my mind like a blinding light.

Luckily, a taxi pulled over and asked if I was ready to go or not. I opened the taxi and entered without a word. I told him where I was headed and he affirmed with a light nod. He drove away. He asked if I was okay, then I said that I was doing just fine. I wrapped my arms tightly backing up my unsure answer. Who would ever believe that I was ruthlessly fucked by a stranger I couldn't see or taken by could never recognize, even with the help of the scorching sun's reflection.

I handed him the money and stormed off, making my way toward my lonely apartment in the middle of a reserved and serene neighborhood.

I opened the door and walked right in. I slammed the door behind me. I walked to the kitchen and dropped the shopping bag on the counter. Not even the hunger and desperation I had been feeling earlier could distract me.

Heavens! My V still hurts.

As fresh and new as the incident was, I froze in disbelief. I took a glass, opened the tap, and turned it off as soon as it got filled. I sat by the counter took a sip of the water, and took another sip. Then the third.

Tears rolled down my face, uncontrollably. There was no excerpt or description of what had just happened earlier.

I had thought about reporting to the police, but what would I say the man looked like; tall, short, dark, fair, slim, thick, or what shall I say? No references, no traces. I sighed, frustration etched on my face.

My forearms rested on the counter while my face was buried in my cold palms.

"What do I do?" I asked myself, sniffling.

I took a sip from the glass of water again and looked up and heaved a grievous sigh.

"Hello? Who's there?"

I heard Daphne call out from the stairway as she walked closer. She appeared to see him holding a bat in the air about to strike.

"Holy Chri---" She dropped the bat to the floor and drew closer to me with that sympathetic look on her face. "May where have you been? I've been trying to reach you---"

"Didn't you realize that I left my phone in the house?" I asked offhandedly. I was pissed off.

"Y- Yeah, I realized that. There was nothing I could do but wait until you returned..." She innocently started walking closer, wearing a concerned look.

"What if I didn't return?" I asked, her lips parted to speak, and then I interrupted. I knew what she wanted to ask next. "I don't wanna talk about it. It's pointless," I snapped.

"But May, I've been looking all over for you. I was worried sick, don't you think I need to know what went wrong?" She demanded, then she looked observantly. "What's that bruise?"

"Quit it!" I snapped again. I got off the seat and attempted to walk away.

"May?!" She called out in concern. She seemed frustrated just as I had been earlier, but my present state was beyond frustrated. I was angry and devastated. Downcast. Demoralized. Dumb stricken... Or every similar word that could describe my state was what I felt. I didn't imagine that Daphne would understand if I had told her. Maybe she would, but not tonight.

"Maybe when we agree about which one of us was getting the grocery shopping done or something, maybe you should stick to it and not return home drunk and wasted. I wanna be alone tonight, please." I started and ran up the stairs, heading to my bedroom. At this point, it was a good thing that she had hers.

I figured that all I needed was a warm bath and a rethink about what I had to do next. After I had showered.

I sat on the bedside crossing my arms, the mirror adjacent showed my reflection.

All I could see was a disoriented, dark-haired girl, confused and restless.

My phone rang and I grabbed it at once. It had been just the way I had left it. I answered it.

"Aus...Austin! H- How are you doing?"

"Where have you been, May? Been calling for the past two hours!" He barked at me.

"I was out shopping, and I got stuck in the rain. And...I just got home... And—”

"Without your phone, huh? Are you serious?" He asked sarcastically, and the streaks of jealousy had begun to rise.

"I...I forgot about it...I mean, it wasn't useful at that time." I briefly explained while Austin flared.

"We are meeting tomorrow and that's final," he instructed, and cut the call.

"Really?" I asked myself, very arrogant and domineering, and charming a few times.

If I can remember very clearly, Austin and I met at a colleague's wedding, and he came up to me like an angel. I stumbled on a gift box and fumbled, then he caught me firmly

He was charming and adorable, until the time he found his way into my life, and now he left wondering whether or not he was the sweet guy I had known...

"May, can I come in?" Daphne screamed out from behind the door, then I told her to simply go away since I didn't want to talk about it. She left. I took a balm and massaged the side of my forehead tenderly.

The notification sound I got from my phone caught my attention. I took a peek, then I realized that it had been an email.

When I opened it, I read carefully.

It was an invitation to interview for a job offer I had applied for two weeks ago at a popular business firm. The position of personal assistant.

"Good news on a bad day? Really?" I blurted out unexcited and huffed in frustration.

A few moments later, Daphne opened the door with the spare keys. She waved a small brown paper bag over me and smiled.

"You could've just told me that you went to see Austin or won the lottery," She said offhandedly.

"What?!" The word wouldn't come out of my mouth clearly, it was stuck somewhere between shock and surprise. "How did... did that get to the house? It's not mine!" I snapped.

"Well, don't play pretend. I found it in the shopping bag." She snorted.

I froze for a minute, then it dawned on me when the stranger threw a paper bag at me and asked me to do as I pleased.

"What if I told you that I was abducted and raped, then given this money to do as I pleased, would you agree?" I snapped, narrowing my gaze at her and she laughed hysterically

"Come, was that the best you could come up with? You're ridiculous! Just tell me what exactly has happened. Who did the lucky man find earlier?!" She asked with a broader smile, then she nudged my arm playfully.

"I'm very serious Daphne, I was raped."

"By who? How?” She stared at me chaotically.

"A stranger!” I added.