A PERSONAL THING

ALYSSA

I’m his property? What did he mean by that? It wasn’t as if we were still living in the age of slavery. Or was I?

Before sunrise, the mysterious man took me home in his luxury car. I tried to sleep for a few hours after changing into clean, dry clothes, but my mind was playing tricks on me. That man was everywhere in my head. My body ached from how much unfulfilled desire I felt being so close to him. And his…

“Breakfast is ready!” my mom shouted from downstairs followed by a long cough.

“Are you alright, Mom?” I asked her, digging my fingers into her pancakes. They were delicious. 

“Don’t you wanna stay and eat properly?” She answered with another question, and it felt like she was avoiding my interrogation on purpose. It wasn’t the first time I had heard that nasty cough of hers.

But I refused to answer her. Instead, I placed myself in front of her, crossing my arms over my chest. “I am fine, honey! Don’t worry about me. It is just an innocent cough. I think I will catch a cold or something. Nothing serious…” she explained and coughed again.

“That innocent cough, as you call it, is getting worse by the day. You should see a doctor, Mom. " 

Mother stopped what she was doing. 

“With what money, dear? You know we are so tight right now. Your father’s death left us with so many debts. And in the worst kind of way. He scammed the wrong people and lost a lot of the family’s money. And now we owe big cash to very dangerous people.” 

It hurt me to hear her say that. It hurt me even more because I was a student who couldn’t find a job to help her with the expenses, even though I had been looking for months. No one wanted to hire an art student. Not even a crappy diner.

“Oh, Mom, I’m sorry I can’t be of more help. “I said, and tears formed in my eyes. 

“Love, don’t punish yourself like that. It is not your fault. You just study and graduate. I am so proud of you, Alyssa,” Mom said and came closer, dabbing my cheek and planting a big kiss on my forehead. 

She poured all of her love into that kiss. 

***

At around 8 AM, I arrived at school. But now the atmosphere was so oppressive. People were staring at me and still whispering. 

“Look, you all, the slut came back!” Anna poured all of her venom into those words. 

They were already gathering around me. 

“Leave me alone, Anna!” I said, trying to see my way to my locker.

“Did you think you could get away with it after what happened last night?” She asked, coming closer. “Did you fuck him? Or did he fuck your brains out?” she continued, and all the students laughed.

This situation was so humiliating. I hated her.

“What are you talking about?” 

“Oh, she doesn’t know what I mean. Poor you. I’m talking about the man who started shooting at us like crazy. The same ass that shot Duncan. Ring a bell now? And his other man. Oh, I know, it was a group fuck, wasn’t it?” she pushed even further, and the laughter intensified.   

“Do you feel better attacking me like this? I thought you were my friend, but it seems I was terribly mistaken.”

“Me? Your friend? Only in your wildest dreams, you freak! Look at you! You don’t even know how to dress. To send that ruthless man to chase us with bullets is despicable, even for you.”

“I didn’t make anyone do anything, Anna. We were on the man’s property. Trespassing! He had every right to chase us away,” I said in his defense. 

I didn’t even know his name.

“Convenient, what can I say? How he spared you. God or even the devil knows what you two did there after we all ran away.”

“Stop fabricating stories about me, Anna! Nothing happened, okay? And if it did, why do you care? You and my fiancée betrayed me, remember?”  

“How can you believe that a man like Duncan would want to spend the rest of his days with you? Please come down from that cloud!”

“I won’t let you treat me like this, Anna! If Duncan was an idiot for getting involved with someone like you, that’s not my problem!” I retorted, and then I felt Anna’s hand digging into my hair. She pulled as hard as she could.

 “You bitch!” 

She dragged me by my hair all the way to the front of the university. And she was pissed. But so was I. 

When we got there, she yanked my hair so hard that I lost my balance and fell quite hard.

“Awww…” I cried in pain. 

And that’s when I felt a kick in my stomach with so much anger that I felt it reverberating throughout my entire body. I curled up in pain immediately after the hit. 

But when she wanted to kick again, a tire-squeaking car stopped right next to us. From it, one man got out. The same man who saved me last night. Now I could see him in all his might in the sun. The light was covering half of his face. A hat covered the upper half. Like a mafia hat, but black. 

Somehow I knew I was safe. 

The same large hand stretched out to help me get up. So I did, and now I was standing by this man’s hand, almost like I was hiding behind him. But I was a little hunched over because of the pain I was still feeling.

“This is the second time you've hurt this girl!” I heard the hot stranger say. What did he care that I was hurt? “If I hear it, it will be a third time there would be no you around to tell the story! Got it?” he scoffed. 

Anna was freaking afraid! I had never seen such raw fear in her eyes before. This man was threatening to kill her. That was no joke.

“Come with me!” he said, shifting his gaze to me. Something in his eyes changed as he was looking at me. It wasn’t that ruthless man anymore, in there. There was a certain kindness reflected in his sky-blue eyes. But I wouldn’t bet it would stay for long. “You seem to attract problems! What are you? A troublemaker?” he continued, and his former self reappeared. 

Incredible how right I was. At least I knew there was a human part in him. 

“Hey, who do you think signs me off on my missing classes? I have to be there or I’ll lose credits, and that is not good for my scholarship,” I snapped as he got me into his luxury car and then climbed in next to me, waving to the driver to start.

“Don’t worry about that! It is already taken care of,” he said, all confident and in a low sexy voice. Even in a normal conversation, it seemed like he was flirting with me. 

Stop imagining things, Alyssa! Don’t be pathetic!

“So you have a scholarship. That means you are good at school,” he spoke after five long minutes of awkward silence.

“Top of my class, but I am not bragging about it!” I said sharply. “But if I continue to miss classes, I don’t know how long I will keep my scholarship,” I added with regret. 

It was my only source of income with which I could use to help my mother with bills and other expenses. But I couldn’t allow myself to humiliate myself in front of this man, letting him see the poverty in which we lived. 

“As I already said, I’ll make sure you don’t lose anything. But I’d like to discuss something with you. Something more personal, if I may. "

What could he possibly want to discuss with me? And to think it was personal. How much of an intrusion into my own life was I going to allow this man?

“I don’t understand…” I said, keeping my gaze steady on his face. 

That is when I saw his perfect chiseled jaw and the beginning of a short beard that gave him such a provocative look. I perceived him to be a treasure chest. As time passed, I discovered more and more about him, and I was kind of enjoying it.

I had to swallow hard as my mind was already going ahead of my brain. I always had a fight with my sanity when I was around him. What was so magnetic about him that I found it so difficult to stay away?

“It’s simple! You are smart, courageous, I need someone just like that!” he said briefly and to the point. 

“Now I understand even less. It seems I’m not as smart as you think. As for the bravery…I let myself almost get killed yesterday, and today I was the mockery of the entire school without me doing anything courageous to stop it. Some bravery you saw in me, Mr…” I teased him but also seized the opportunity to know his name. I bet his mane matched his posture. 

“Damien Blackwood,” he said nonchalantly. 

That was when my jaw dropped. 

“Are you…the same…Mr Blackwood?” I asked in disbelief.

“The one and only,” he responded. “And it is not polite of you not to introduce yourself,” he continued. 

His voice was so low and masculine it made me tremble. 

“I am Alyssa…Alyssa Powell,” I answered him like I was hypnotized.

“Nice to meet you, mate!”

“What?” I asked, but he didn’t respond; he was just staring. Maybe I misheard.

I couldn’t believe that I was standing in front of the most famous art dealer in the entire world. What am I saying, the world? Maybe even in the universe. I had never seen him before because he never showed his face; he didn’t go to meet his buyers, and he didn’t reveal his identity so easily. But I had heard about him being the best, but also the most ruthless and thorough. Why did he reveal himself to me, though? Nevertheless, it was an honour to meet him. And to think he saved me twice. He definitely wanted something from me. Now knowing he said it was personal, I was beginning to be a little afraid. 

“Are you going to… hurt me in any way? You know… you said something about a personal thing…”

“Do you think I am going to rape you? Please, I don’t do such things. And to be honest, you are not my type.” 

Now that was like a slap in the face. Duncan also told me I was not his type. Maybe I was nobody’s type. Typless. If that was even a word. But I would not hold him accountable for what he said to me. Maybe it was better that I was so invisible to him. Was it not?

“Then what do you want?” I asked curiously.

“I want you to be the tutor of a 16-year-old girl!”