I stepped back as much as could, like I wanted to blend into a wall… or become the wall. My whole body instinctively tried to escape. Since I couldn’t, I looked into his eyes and forced a smile.
“Hello,” I choked out with a low voice.
“Hello, Miss Neighbor,” he said with the same smirk as before. He got into the elevator and stood next to me and turned to the screen showing floor numbers.
I spend the next few days on writing my novel. Each time I took a break I went to do some groceries I got back to writing right after that. I didn’t see Tom those few days, which even made me regret that I didn’t follow him the other night. The curiosity was killing me, although I was far from being a busybody but there was something that kept drawing me to that man, like a moth being attracted to the light. “God, that&rsqu
The group of men were just around the corner, they were getting closer. I heard their voices. They were aggressive, violent, and most probably – drunk. I knew that I have to get away from here fast but not in the way to draw too much attention.My heart started to pound, I was so frightened I could barely breath. I turned around and run towards the well-lit street but they came faster than I thought. I still had half of the alley to go when I heard them almost right behind me. I sped up but it was too late, I was a perfect prey for them.
When I opened my eyes again I saw something bright, it was blinding. My vision was still blurry and it took a while before a noticed that I’m staring at the white ceiling with fluorescent lamps around it. Next, I figured out that I lying in bed covered in white, hospital-like sheets. I could only take shallow breaths, my ribs were aching with every deeper one. I wanted to rise my upper body but I felt pain in the stomach and quickly gave up on trying to get up, at least for now. I decided to limit my movements as much as possible and start with turning my head to the side to look where I am.“Hey! You woke up?&rdquo
In the bag left by Tom I found sleeping pills. He must had known that I would have troubles with closing my eyes peacefully. I took one. They were strong enough to make me fall asleep couple of minutes later.I slept for fourteen hours and still, woke up feeling exhausted. I couldn’t tell if it was because of my physical or mental condition… I felt pathetic. I was writing about strong, determined characters while being this weak.
I stretched on the bed and yawned, I felt relaxed and finally couldn’t feel any pain. I smiled and stretched a little more but then I felt weirdly too comfortable as the sheets were directly touching my body and I noticed that … I'm naked!“Hey! You’re awake?” I heard a familiar voice coming from the other side of the bed. I turned around with my heart pounding hysterically only to see Tom… naked Tom!I ju
I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking if the person who hacked my computer could equally easily break into my phone, building’s CCTV, or who knows where else… Was he really watching me that moment? Or was it me being paranoid…?I used my last sleeping pill to close my eyes for, at least, couple of hours but sleep was unable to help me recover from anxiety. I decided not to turn on my laptop for a while. I knew I might act unreasonably but it helped me feel less uneasy… for a while.
I felt strangely nervous all of the sudden. Simon brought me a freshly brew cup of tea.“Hope you like green strawberry tea. This type is my favorite,” he handed me a cup with warm smile.“Thank you,” I smiled back at him then tried taking a sip but I almost ended up choking. My throat was even more tense than rest of my body was.
I spent next days on writing. I got some new energy and a burst of creativity, and the words kept popping in my head, furthermore, I was able to put them in sentences that were making sense!I wrote three more chapters in less than two days and then gladly read comments left by my new readers. Most of them were flattering… expect for one. Someone wrote that my novel is lacking a romance… Well, maybe the reason was – so was I.