𝐈𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐈𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 ✔️

5

I drive along the road, my rolled-down windows blowing my hair back. I'm thankful it doesn't blow across my face and get stuck in my lipstick.

I brake at the red light, singing along to the song that plays on the radio. I look in my rearview mirror while I wait for the light to turn green, and my eyebrows pull together seeing the same car behind me that I noticed shortly after leaving my house.

The light turns green and I go faster than usual. The road is bumpy but I don't care. While I drive and zip through the traffic, I continue to glance in the mirror, and I see that the car is still following me.

"What the hell?" I whisper to myself. I turn the radio off and feel for the knife that I knew was in my pocket.

I abruptly pull my car over to the side of the road, parking it in a spot in the shade. I look over my shoulder and watch the car behind me do the exact same thing. 

I jump out of my car and storm over to the other car. The city is loud around me, as usual, as my heels hit the ground.

I swing open the car door once I reach it and grab the driver by the collar of their shirt. I pull them out of the car and push them against the car, my body pressed against them also while I held my pocketknife to their throat.

My eyebrows tug together as I see the face of the driver. I whisper, "Shaw?"

"Hey, princess," he smiles even though I have a knife to his throat. "A little early to be this kinky, but I'm not complaining." 

I roll my eyes and remove the knife. He adjusts his shirt and stands to his full height before I shove him and question, "Jesus, Shaw! Why the hell are you following me?"

He looks completely unphased by the push. He just states, "Valerio's orders. You drive insane, by the way. Whoever gave you your license must've been deaf and blind."

"You're about to be deaf and blind if you don't stop following me," I sound serious, but Shaw doesn't react like I am. He just holds his hand over his heart and goes 'ouch.' "Tell Valerio that I don't need you to follow me."

I turn around and take one step back toward my car when Shaw calls out, "You know he's not gonna listen to that."

I stop walking. I let out an irritated sigh, knowing that he was right. 

"Where are you going, anyway?" he asks as I turn back around. 

"To buy a dress, for that party," I tell him. He nods.

Valerio is hosting some sort of party tomorrow night. He left me a message telling me to be in attendance. 

"Alright," Shaw smiles. "Let's go, then."

He followed me all the way to the dress shop, despite my trying to get him to crash multiple times. He now follows me as I walk up and down the store, looking for a dress that I think would be good enough for the occasion.

"So, how long have you been working for Valerio?" I ask while I feel the different materials of the dresses. I try and keep my voice even, but the truth was, I wanted to know more about both of them. 

Shaw replies, "Three years."

"And how old are you?" I ask, already knowing that Valerio is 25. 

"24," he replies while I grab a dress off of the rack and hold it up.

It was red. Short. Silk. I thought that it was beautiful, but I never buy something without trying it on. I walk toward the changing room, and Shaw follows me. He takes a seat outside while I enter to change into it.