56 || Will you kiss me?

“Leila. It’s me.”

Charles?

The voice broke through her subconscious. Her screams died down and her eyes snapped open. It was Charles. In flesh and blood and a battered hand.

Anger and a flood of other emotions coursed through her veins. She shoved him. “You were following me, weren’t you?” she screamed in his face and pushed him again. “Charles, I told you to stop following me.”

“Where I come from, the word is: Thank you.” He stretched the phone to her and she snatched it. The last thing she felt in his presence was gratitude. Her emotions were in shambles. “I just saved you, Leila.”

“You didn’t save me.” Her heart was racing fast, she sucked in air through her teeth to get her breathing under control. She didn’t trust Charles. She didn’t trust that the robbery was all a coincidence. “Stay away from me. How many times do I have to say it?”

“As many times as you can because I’m not going away.”

Leila’s bag vibrated and she jumped, she needed to leave this place.