The next morning

Emanuele opens her eyes and stares at the ceiling. The bed is comfortable and slightly messy. The wound on her neck hurts, although it doesn't seem serious, and the early morning has been terrible because of the nightmares.

The night before, after Joshua left the bathroom after cornering her against the wall, leaving her with a mountain of questions, she tried to take a shower. Her hands shook from the adrenaline, and several times she had to hold back tears as she cleaned herself.

When she finished, the girl noticed that her clothes were still in her suitcase, which was in the living room. Not wanting to disturb her host, Emanuele wrapped herself in her towel and went into the living room, silently thanking Joshua for not being there. Apparently he had gone back to his own room.

It had destabilized her. In fact, more than she was already unsettled. He saves her one moment, only to leave her alone the next?

The dark-skinned girl stood up. Despite the great risk she had taken the night before, she was still willing to make things work. They had to. Otherwise everything would have been in vain.

In her pajamas and slippers, Emanuele went into her own bathroom to take a shower. As soon as she finished, she left the guest room, or rather her new bedroom, and headed for the kitchen.

But even before she arrived, the girl ran into Joshua happily drinking coffee with a stranger. 

The two stopped talking as soon as she looked at them.

"Glad you're awake, Emanuele," Joshua said. He didn't seem unfriendly or taciturn as he had the night before. "Are you feeling better?"

"He told me about what happened," said the woman who was accompanying him. Then he stood up, moving toward the redhead. "Is everything okay?"

Emanuele could barely pay attention to the girl's words. He only noticed how beautiful she was. She had wavy wheat-colored hair, striking blue eyes, and pink lips. She looked like a magazine model.

"I..." Emanuele muttered. 

Joshua stands up quickly, looking guilty:

"Forgive me, let me introduce the two of you. Emanuele, this is Thabata. My girlfriend."

Thabata smiles, but concern still flashes in her eyes when Joshua continues:

"And Thabata, as you already know, this is the new tenant. The one Alexandra said would be coming this morning."

"I had to come early", muttered the young girl. She was completely embarrassed.

"Well, you are here now. Would you like to join us for coffee?"

The invitation was polite, even enthusiastic, but Emanuele's stomach seemed to be wrapped too tightly. And she had no idea why.

"Thanks, but I need to take a walk now."

"Now?"

"Yes. I always take a walk when I wake up," Emanuele lied quickly.

"But you didn't eat anything," Thabata clearly worries, "and last night was a rough night for you." The blonde stares at her cleavage, which only further increases the redhead's discomfort.

"I'm fine."

"If Alexandra were here, she wouldn't let you go out like that", Joshua speaks half-seriously, half-jokingly. Apparently he likes to do that.

"Well, but she's not here, is she?" Emanuele's tone of voice comes out much sharper and more accusatory than she intended. The couple looks at her and is silent.

Not allowing the guilt to reach her, Emanuele simply walks back into the room at a quick pace.

Once inside the room, breathing deeply, the girl tries to calm down. She didn't know why she had become so nervous. She didn't need to be rude like that, but she also couldn't imagine sitting at a table with two total strangers and pretending that there wasn't a whole apocalyptic event going on in her head.

The echoes of the almost rape were still present in her mind. She wanted to talk about it with someone, maybe actually have a real conversation, but not with Joshua. He was her savior, yes, but that attitude the night before had given her a certain distrust.

And Thabata seemed very nice, but she was a total stranger. And apparently Joshua didn't keep any secrets from his girlfriend. Did he brag while he was telling? 

Emanuele picked up her cell phone and tried to call Alexandra. Voicemail. The girl was beginning to wonder whether the real owner of that apartment had ever existed or was just a collective delusion. 

Half an hour later, the small-town girl, feeling so insecure and ashamed, finally left the room to apologize. But there was no one in the living room. Could it be that they were upset and decided to leave? But she still didn't have a copy of the keys. They wouldn't do that to her.... Or would they?

"He went to buy something for me."

Thabata's voice is much colder than it sounded before. The girl is leaning against the kitchen door, arms crossed and a totally annoyed expression.

Emanuele cringes at seeing her like that. Thabata speaks a little louder this time.

"Now, let's have a serious talk for a second."