Beaten, Bruised, and Kissed

Chapter 9

"Life is hard and it gets worse and worse and worse." Cat Power

(unedited)

Tiana's P.O.V

I wake up with my backed slumped against a brick wall. My body is tangled in a way that seems impossible to consciously fall asleep in. Moving to get up, soreness spreads through my muscles. One area in particular hints what Matchitehew did to me last night and the lack of underwear prove my theory to be true. An unpleasant deja vu washes over me.

After I build up my strength to stand, I take in my surroundings. I vaguely recognize it as an alleyway near club "Dragon".

I feel disconnected from the world - from life. Everything I touch, every move I make, doesn't feel real. This can't be my reality. I'm dreaming - I must be. No matter how much I deny this, my conscious knows the truth.

A stunningly beautiful sunrise reveals itself in the distant. If times were different, I would stop and admire this picture perfect image. If times were different, I would take out a camera so I could remember this moment forever. But times aren't different. I'm scared and alone in an alleyway - unaware of the time of day and what I should do next. My hands are empty - holding no pure which contains my phone, keys, and wallet.

With this realization, I decide the first thing I need to do.

Knock, knock, knock. The entrance door rattle's from impact. This once lively building seems dead in the dawn of day. All I hold is hope: that someone is inside, that I can find my belongings, that I can make it back home, that everything will be okay.

The heavenly sound of an opening door reaches my ears, bringing some relief. A buff man appears and has a light smile on his face.

"Can I help you?" Though I'm not usually a good judge of character, I can already tell I like him. He has a kind Ora to him even though I know nothing about that stuff, and he isn't checking me out or anything.

"Umm...yes actually," I shuffle weight between my feet and awkwardly look up at his tall figure. "My purse is somewhere in there..." I trail off and point inside. His smile widens and a small chuckle escapes from his lips.

"Come on in," he welcomes and shifts his position to the side. I nod in appreciation.

By a quick scan of the room, I spot my black purse on the ground near a green liquid that doesn't look like alcohol. My nose scrunches up in disgust as the small fills my nostrils. Needless to say, it wasn't pleasant.

My feet scamper to my purse and after grabbing it, I run as far away from it as possible. "Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew." My whole body shivers in disgust.

This time, the tall stranger doesn't stop himself from laughing at my actions with his muscular arms folded. His chest shook lightly.

I take a second to notice other objects scattered across the floor: phones, wallets, money, and other unique items. "What do you guys do with all of this stuff?" I ask.

He sighs with a smile on his face while looking down at the grotesk floors. "Usually, after noon, I put them in the lost 'n found over there," he points to an overflowing bin in the corner, "and clean this place up for the next night.

"Wait. It's just you? You own this club?" I ask, dumbfounded. He just nods and smiles.

We talk for a little while and I find out I'm one of the only people to come back for my things because people usually just assume their stuff was thrown away. The club owner turns out to be a truly kind single man. If only he wasn't in his late 20's or he would be my ideal mate. But no. I have to have an asshole for a mate. Wonderful.