Promises | ✔️

Chapter 2: Friends

I was walking through the cereal aisle, trying to find Cinnamon Toast Crunch. As I reached up to get the box, someone came behind me. I quickly turned around to face them.

"Well, hello there pretty girl." An older man in old, tattered clothes was staring at me with an ugly smirk on his face. "You need some help there?" He pointed to the box on the top shelf as he walked towards me.

I backed away. "Uh, no thank you, I'm fine." I uncomfortably smiled.

The man continued trying to approach me, and I tried to back away, but I had hit a corner. I was in the back of the store.

He edged his hand towards my waist but suddenly crashed into the shelf next to me. As he tried to get up, I noticed his nose was bleeding. He looked to my right and started yelling. "YOU FUCKER! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" I looked to my right and saw him standing there. The man who I had run into outside.

The stranger's fists were clenched and his right one was bloody. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" In a deep, loud voice, the man yelled at the man who clumsily tried to get out of the aisle. He knocked down some things while leaving the store.

I looked up at the man. His green eyes stared down at me, with some type of dark cloud behind them. His dark brown hair had a few lighter highlights and was parted messily down the middle. Pieces of hair were sticking out in different directions. He had a sharp jawline that also accentuated his cheekbones, and his lips almost seemed perfect with their fullness and pink color. He was taller than me, maybe 8 or 9 inches compared to my 5'5 height. The man had silver chains around his neck. He was wearing ripped, black jeans and a black shirt, with a denim jacket.

He interrupted my creepy staring by clearing his throat. I looked up at him, embarrassed. "Uh thank you." I smiled. "For, uh, helping me."

He looked at me intently for a few seconds and nodded. Then he pulled out something from his pocket. I got a better look at it as he brought it in front of us. It was a picture. More specifically, the picture of my family which I always kept in my pocket. I was guessing it fell out of my pocket when I bumped into him. "Here." He said in his insanely attractive deep voice and handed it to me. I quickly grabbed it and looked at it.

I didn't realize how long I was staring at it before I noticed him walking away. "Hey!" I called for his attention. The man turned around. "Thank you. Again." I smiled sheepishly. He nodded and continued walking. I ran up to him and stood in front of him. He stopped and looked down at me. "I'm Naya." I put my hand out in front. He looked at my hand and then back up at me, and continued walking away, without shaking my hand. Well, that was rude.

I tried to catch up to him and by the time I reached him, we were outside the store. I stood in front of him with my hands folded in front of my chest. "Excuse me. You could at least tell me your name."

He looked me up and down. Then, he suddenly approached me, forcing me to back up into the concrete wall of the building next to us. He put both his hands next to my head, caging me. He was merely a few centimeters away from me, and any movement would bring our faces together. My hands were glued to my sides, and I couldn't push him away. The man looked into my eyes, and I refused to back down even though he was intimidating. "Look, darling. You don't want to know my name." He said with no emotion on his face. I gulped down the lump forming in the back of my throat. The man stared at me for a few more seconds before pushing himself off the wall and walking away, disappearing after turning a corner.

It was as if I was stuck to the wall for a few seconds before I could finally muster up the strength to get off. As I started walking back to my apartment, I realized I hadn't bought groceries. I groaned and trudged my way back in the direction of the store. In my mind, I was still thinking about what had just happened. Some random guy had just saved my life. Nearly twice now that I think about it. And then pushed me against the wall and called me...darling. Darling. I didn't know how to feel about the nickname. The man seemed...interesting though. I wasn't sure, but there was something about him that caught my attention. The way he held almost no emotion in his face the whole time I was with him. I quickly brushed the thoughts away, realizing it was a waste of time because I would never see him again. No need to waste time thinking about someone you'll never meet again. I entered the store and quickly finished shopping.