جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

I sigh. “I don’t really-“ I start to say, but the way she’s looking at me gets to me. So I step in and close the door behind me.I help her stand up, put down the toilet seat, and sit her on it. “Why are you crying?”“I don’t want to do this.” She sniffles.“Is this your first night?”She wipes her tears away with her sleeve and nods. “Yes.”“I cried on my first night, too.” I confess, then shrug. “You don’t seem to me the type to dance. Maybe you should go home and try to find some other way to earn money.”“I can’t. It’s- My boyfriend asked me to dance. Money has been tight, and this is our only way out.”I purse my lips, my hatred for men growing a little inside my chest.“Why are you with him?” I ask her and she looks at me like I’m stupid.“Because I love him.”“I don’t think he loves you.” I say and she huffs.“You don’t know anything about my relationship.”I try to stop myself from laughing at this naïve girl. “Well, I’m not the one crying here, am I?” I shake my head, knowing

After the session, I stomp off to the locker room. I don’t know if I’ve ever before been ignored by a guy, much less one who seemed so persistent in asking me out. My bad mood is leaving my body in waves and I actually huff when Atlas is waiting for me by my car.“You didn’t wait for me after the session.” He accuses me and I lift my eyebrows. The audacity of this –“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware you wanted me to wait for you.” I say with a fake smile.“I told you to wait for me. How is that not clear?”“You kicked me out of the team. I assumed there was nothing we could possibly talk about.”He purses his lips and tilts his head, looking irritated. “I did kick you out. That’s why we need to talk.” He takes a deep breath. “I want to have private sessions with you.”Oh. Well, this was unexpected.“Really?”“Yes, because this is obviously not working. I pride myself on my ability to coach and both times you were present I sucked. I also remember you asking about self-defence lessons, and th

It took a few days for the kitten to realize what was happening. As soon as she entered the big house, she took off and found a hiding place under a couch, where she hid for the next two days, terrified.The dog seemed to understand her fear and decided not to invade her personal space. Still, he was intrigued by the small kitten and laid down in front of the couch in a protective manner. He spend almost the entire two days sitting there, waiting for the kitten to come to him.Finally, the kitten made a small step towards him. It might not seem much, but that was the bravest thing she'd ever done. After that, each step seemed a little easier. Shortly, she was next to the dog, who had his eyes on her, and she sniffed his fur. In return, the dog licked her across the face.The two became best friends in a matter of minutes, and soon became inseparable. At first, the kitten spent all her time next to the big dog, needing to feel safe, but when nothing happened to her, she grew braver and

As we approach his house, a gulp forms in the back of my throat at the sight of the houses we’re passing. This is the high-end neighbourhood. A place in which I definitely don’t belong. He finally pulls into the large driveway in front of a big house, enough for about at least five of my apartments, and I feel stuck to my seat as I look out towards it.I may love money, but I was definitely not born to be a gold digger.Now I will never be able to bring him to my house. I wouldn’t be able to survive the humiliation. “What even am I doing here?”Atlas emerges from his car and walks towards my window, knocking on it. “You forgot how to exit a vehicle? Do you need me to remind you?”“No, thank you.” I clear my throat. “I have legs.”“Well, then use them and come out. I’m freezing out here.” His voice is a bit too sassy for my liking. I purse my lips and leave the car, then follow him inside.A wide open space greets us when we enter the house. The walls are all white, with the modern int

After that, things aren't the same and a few weeks pass by very quickly. September turned to late October and snow is starting to fall every now and then, lifting my spirits. The cops still haven’t turned up – however, there has been a missing person ad circling around on the news and the media about Jim. I’m afraid to assume that means they haven’t found his body, but it’s the only logical explanation. It brings up more questions about what happened to his body, though, and I’m trying not to think about it too much.The nightmares about the mismatched killer still persist, but they happen less often. I assume it’s because I’ve gotten better at training self-defence with Atlas, who’s kind of become my best friend.“Damn, you trying to actually hurt me today, or what?” he mumbles, clutching his stomach and I giggle, moving my shoulders in a little dance. “It’s starting to worry me how happy you get when you land a punch on me. It’s like you enjoy seeing me suffer.” I glance at his face