Apartment 17B ◈

Fourteen

EMMA

For the most part, work is pretty shitty. There are certain nights that are fun and some aren't  as bad as others, but tonight... Tonight was particularly awful. I had  to work from six to question mark, meaning until close, probably. That was usually around one or two in the morning. I was responsible for kicking all of the drunken fools out of the bar, if there were any left. It wasn't my favorite part of the job, but I had to deal with it if I wanted to keep working there.

The nights I have to close, there's usually barely anyone left so I don't ever have to deal with drunken idiots, but tonight I was not as lucky as I usually am. It was getting close to two in the morning and this one older guy just would not leave. All I wanted to do was lock up the bar and walk home so I could sleep, but he had other plans. He wanted a round of shots and I wasn't giving it to him.

I walked out from behind the bar and walked over to his table to tell him he had to leave. It  was only us two in the bar, which kind of made me nervous, but I wouldn't let him see my nervousness. He was at least forty-five years  old, scruffy, fat, and well, rude. "Excuse me? I really need you to leave so I can lock up and go home."

"Princess, I'm not going anywhere until I get my shots I so politely asked for."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't serve them to you. You're already drunk and the bar is closed. So, please leave."

"And what if I don't leave?"

"Then I'll have to call the police. I've done it before and I'll do it again." Lie. That was a  huge lie, but I had to make it seem believable.

"Call the cops?" He  laughed loudly and shot up from his chair, knocking over his glass in  the process. It fell to the floor, shattering and leaving a mess. "I'm sure you wouldn't dare call the cops on me."

He inched closer to me and grabbed onto my arm, yanking my body towards his own. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to push him away from me, but he was too fat and I was way too weak. I had no chance against him. This brings back bad memories from high school and I didn't think I could handle it again. "P-Please let me go."

"Aw. You scared, little girl?" His hands trailed down my back and landed on my butt, squeezing it and letting out a throaty groan. His lips went to my neck and I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing there would be tears forming soon. "You should be scared. I would fuck you even if you said no."

"Get the fuck off of her," I heard an all too familiar voice and opened my eyes to see Luke glaring at the man. I sighed in slight relief, happy that Luke showed up (out of nowhere) and I wasn't completely alone with this scary drunk man anymore. The mans grip tightened on my arm and he drunkenly growled at Luke. "I said, get the fuck off of her!"

"Fine," The man shoved me away from him with all of his might and I stumbled into Luke's chest. He caught me and steadied me, holding me close to his body. "Take her. She's not worth going to jail for anyway."

He drunkenly stumbled out of the bar and I felt my shoulders drop out of relief. I rested my  forehead on Luke's chest and sniffled. I didn't want to cry, but who knows what would have happened if Luke didn't show up? Nothing good would have happened, that's for sure. And it would have been a repeat of my senior year of high school. Nothing I wanted to relive. I felt Luke's hand rubbing soothing circles on my back. "Hey," He took my face in between his hands and forced me to look at him. "Are you okay?"

I nodded my head frantically. "I am now."

"Let's get you out of here." Luke's hands dropped from my face and he placed one on my lower back to guide me to the bar so I could turn the lights off and lock the back doors. I grabbed my purse and jacket before  motioning for Luke to follow me out of the doors. I turned around and  tried to lock the main entrance of the bar, but my hands were shaking too hard. I couldn't wipe the images of what happened out of my head and I hated myself for it. I told myself I wouldn't let what happened to me when I was eighteen affect the rest of my life, but I can't help it. The man triggered thoughts I didn't want to think about and now I can't get them out of my head.

"Are  you sure you're okay?" Luke's voice startled me, causing me to drop the keys into a puddle of water that was left from the rain that was pouring down on the city earlier. I cursed and bent down to pick them up, drying them off on my jeans. I tried to lock the door once more, succeeding and shoving the keys into my purse.

"I'm fine," I mumbled. As we walked in silence, I wondered why Luke even showed up to the bar in the first place. Was he just walking by and decided to stop in to see if I was still there? If so, where the hell was he coming from at one in the morning? "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Why were you at the bar? Like, why did you just show up?"

"I remember you telling me earlier that you worked until close tonight and that you would probably end up having to walk home. I didn't want you to walk home by yourself because who the hell knows who could be walking the streets at that time of night. So, I uh, I thought I would stop by and walk you home so you wouldn't be alone. And I'm really glad I did  because who knows what would have happened if I didn't show up when I did."

"Oh. Well, thank you," I smiled up at him. We were now entering our building and walking towards the elevator. I couldn't be happier to be home and not outside surrounded by drunk idiots.

"Of course," Luke smiled back. "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if something bad like that happened to you."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to live through that again," I mumbled under my breath, but Luke heard. I was really hoping he would drop the subject, but Luke is stubborn, so obviously he wouldn't.

"Again? What do you mean again?"

"I  uh," I was saved by the bell when the elevator dinged and let us out on our floor. I rushed out quickly, hoping that Luke would let me go. "It's nothing."

He lightly grabbed my arm and stopped my from walking any further. His face looked sad and his eyebrows were creased. "Emma..." He started. "Did something like this happen to you at the bar before?"

"N-Not  at the bar," I shook my head. I felt my eyes weld up with tears and I hated myself for crying at that moment. I felt weak and pathetic for crying over something that happened to me nearly three years ago. I know I should be over it by now, but I'm not. I don't think I ever will be.

"Do you want to come over?" Luke asked. I silently nodded and he led me into his apartment. He shut and locked the door behind him and I went straight to his couch, plopping down and making myself right at home. I've been hanging out at Luke's apartment a lot lately and it was nice. It was nice to finally have a person that will listen to me talk and  actually seem interested in what I have to say. Michael was never really like that.

Moments later, Luke was sitting down next to me and pulling my body closer to his. My legs were draped over his lap, my head on his  shoulder, and his arm around me. This position felt so natural and comfortable. Like I've known Luke for ages now when it's only been over a month.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"I've never told anyone this," I mumbled into his shoulder. "Uh, when I was eighteen I was at this party that one of my really good friends was throwing. It was an end of the year party and it was one weekend before graduation. It was your average high school party; drugs, alcohol, sex. It was really fun in the beginning. Towards the end of the night, I was drunk and accepting drinks from anyone who was offering them. Some guy I've never met before handed me a drink and I drank it quickly. I started to feel light headed and my vision was  blurred and I couldn't really control anything that was happening to me. I remember bits and pieces of it. I remember being taken into a room and being stripped of my clothes. I remember what the guy smelled like. It... he smelled like cinnamon and pumpkins which was weird since it was May. I remember waking up naked in a random bed with a pounding headache and no memory of the night before. I went to the doctor and they said that I was roofied and..."

I couldn't seem to get the word out of my mouth. It was a gross word and it made me cringe  every time I heard it or it was mentioned in anything. Movies, TV shows, the news... Anything. So hearing Luke say it made goosebumps rise on my skin. "Raped?" I silently nodded my head and swallowed the lump in the throat. "Shit. I'm so sorry, Emma. I'm so so sorry. I'm so glad I found you when I did."

"Me too," I whispered and rested my head on  Luke's shoulder. I closed my eyes and felt my eyelids getting heavier and heavier as the moments passed by and as Luke ran his fingers through my hair. It was then that I knew that Luke was good for me. Luke being 
in my life meant that I was going to be okay after all the years of not being okay.