Rivals

 Jake closed from work and decided to take a walk to ease his mind. It had been months since that day at the club and he had never seen that lady.

 'Until now, his mind points out and he realized he was staring at her at the moment.

 She was walking along the lonely path with him and he noticed two strange men following her closely. He knew they had to be up to no good so doubled up his steps to catch up with them. 

 “Hello, Stop right there!!!", one of the men shouted and she stopped.

 She turned around only to see two huge thugs sneering at her with their hefty muscles covered with all sorts of tattoos and she immediately became frightened now trembling on her feet.

 “Umm... sir, can... can I help you?", she muttered in a trembling tone.

 “Shut up woman!", the other guy commanded and signaled his colleague to collect her phone along with some accessories while he dragged her towards the wall and held her throat. 

 “I'm going to ask you a few questions and if you’d be honest and answer them properly, then I will let you go peacefully but if you lie, I will pull out your tongue and roast it tonight,” he threatened and started laughing mischievously. 

 “Sir, ask me anything and I promise to answer them if I know of it but please let go of my throat, you’re choking me to death", she pleaded amidst tears. 

 “Mmm, interesting! Ways to meet death aren’t far any longer if you dare not tell me where you are..."

 “Leave the lady alone, she’s my wife and I have called the corps. I also took several pictures of y’all harassing her," Jake ordered from behind and the men immediately took to their heels. 

 She immediately burst into tears and rushed to hug Jake immediately. He patted her back softly then took her to his house since she was in too much of a terrible state to continue to wherever she was going at that moment.

 The lady woke up feeling better and slowly remembered she was in someone else's house. She stood up from the couch immediately and realized she was hearing a noise.

 Following the noise led her pass the dining section where she saw a portrait of Jake and his girlfriend hanging on the wall and she smiled. She continued following the noise and soon entered the kitchen where she finally saw the source of the noise: he was preparing food. 

 “Sorry mister but..."

 "Mr. Jake Smith," he replied and smiled at her as he cut his chops.

 “Okay! Mr. Jake, thanks for saving me today and sorry for staying here, I don't know why I fell asleep in the car, but I have to go. Besides, it seems you’re cooking for your girlfriend, so I should rather go than disturb you guy's romantic moments", she said coldly. 

 “I am cooking for you”, Jake chirped in and continued with his cooking then she started coughing.

 “You're what?”, she asked rolling her eyes swiftly. 

 “Cooking for you, and you’re not going anywhere till you eat, or do you have a stripping job today?”, he asked facing her for an answer. 

 “Ummm... not really, I’m not going today, it’s my off day," she replied in an embarrassed tone.

 “Then I guess you’re staying over, I see you haven’t fully recovered from the shock, and those dirty guys might still be around somewhere waiting for you, or do you have any plans tonight?”

 “Not really, just that my..."

 “Perhaps your husband? Or is there anything you have to do with those guys?", he asked. "Did any of their bosses pay you for a night and you didn’t show up? C’mon, tell me how much is it? Let’s go get a loan and repay them so you’d get out of danger"

 “You know what Mr. Jake? I’m not having it with you anymore! I can’t stay here and let you put me through emotional stress. You know nothing about me and that’s one thing you’d never be privileged to know! Besides, you saved me and I already did the same, so don’t think I’m forever grateful and indebted to you", she flared up roaring like a wounded lioness, and went to the door while Jake continued smiling at her as she struggled to open the door.

 “Open this door Mr. Jake or I will be forced to call the police,” she threatened and he chuckled.

 “And why didn’t you call the police when those thugs were about to cut off your throat?”, he taunted coming close enough to her to hold her close to the wall. “Mmmm why are you silent? Tell me where this tigress strength of yours was?”, he asked just as she forcefully removed his hand from her waist.

 “Umm, it’s because... I was...", he stammered and broke down in tears again. “I don’t know what they wanted! All my life since I started stripping I've never had an outside affair with anyone, not because nobody is coming after me or whatever but because I have a responsibility. I have a three-year-old daughter without a father, but I am happy to at least be there for her anytime and the day she wants," she explained and wiped out the mucus running down from her nose.

 “I can’t help but be a little bit strict with men because I don’t want to be played again after her dad dumped me when I told him I was three months pregnant. Life was a living nightmare for me so I had to move over to this city and started serving there as a waiter, the club I mean. When I was about to give birth, I had difficulties birthing her on my own so I had to use the other way round but no money for that so I borrowed a loan from my boss. A week after my delivery, I returned but there was no vacancy in my previous post and they said they wanted to open a stripping show and I had to be among them since I owed them lots of money.“

 "Did I have a choice? No! I had to take up the offer so I would also have time with my daughter since it’s always done at night. You see, it’s quite a funny story but a difficult one, I’m living again only because of my daughter. I have to give her the life I never had and protect her from that worthless man that happens to be her father. As for those people after me, I sincerely don’t know them and I haven’t done any dirty business with anyone. Even though I may need lots of money to take care of both the house I live in and my daughter, I respect my dignity a lot", she paused and realized she’s been talking a lot.

 “Oh shit! I can’t believe I'm saying all these to you. Please pardon me, I don’t want to bother you with my problems so please let me out," she pleaded. 

 “No! No! No! C’mon, I'm not angry with you for sharing your problems with me, at least it will make you feel good, getting those burdens off from the heart. Come sit down first, let’s eat before it gets cold," Jake winked at her and rushed to set the table immediately. 

 They were eating and glancing at each other, Jake can’t remove his mind from what she told him.

 'Damn! She’s really going through a lot and still seems okay, I feel for her right now. Being a single mom isn’t as easy as when you’re just working a petty job to make a living. But I won’t let her go either, I wish I even had a daughter too, I won’t hesitate to start taking care of her all day long. People are quite wicked though...,' he thought.

 “You’ve been staring at your food since. If your wife or girlfriend is coming around tonight, I can go before she meets us here," she offered and her soft voice cut him off his thinking. 

 “Lol, you’re funny," he replied and sat up immediately. "I’m not married and neither do I have a girlfriend at the moment. Happily single and searching," he winked back with a smile and continued eating. 

 “So who’s that lovely lady I saw with you in the portrait? The one that hangs on the wall I mean," she asked

 “Oh that, she’s my ex-girlfriend. She broke up with me, maybe because I was too busy with work and she couldn’t wait any longer," he replied coldly. 

 “Then she never loved you!”, she spat out and Jake raised his eyes as if he heard something he has been waiting for.

 “Of course, she never did and anything that happened between us is now in the past," he replied. "What's your name though?"

 "Jessica" 

 After the long meal, Jake decided to freshen up and take Jessica on an evening stroll which she accepted since she couldn’t opt out either.

 He was done with bathing when he realized he forgot his towel in the sitting room and he immediately dashed towards the living room with his wet naked body forgetting he had a visitor, a female one for that matter.

 “Oh no, what!!!," he shouted immediately after he got to the sitting room.