(Hi peeps just a short story for you that I have entered in a competition. Let me know what you think and enjoy xx )
ONE DARK NIGHT
Jillian sucked in a sharp breath, the bitter, icy air burning it’s way down her throat and freezing her from the inside out. Her lips were numb. Almost frozen as the harsh December winds worked their way through the many layers of supposed warm winter clothing she’d dressed herself in this morning before work.
Work, now that was an understatement. She hated her job, having to spend the day serving truck drivers their breakfasts. Overweight middle aged men their lunches, and the police their coffee and donuts. The worst part having to smile her way through the day as the truck drivers groped her ass and the overweight middle aged men tried to flirt with her. The police - oblivious to the goings on in the café would always smile sweetly her way… Jillian knew deep down that they didn’t give a damn.
If she could find a better job then she would be off like a shot. But alas job’s were very scarce in this day and age and none were available. So she put up with the greasy spoon café and everything that came with it.
Besides she needed the money and a job was a job.
Shuddering, she pulled her coat tighter around her body and let out the breath she’d drawn in a moment a go. The whooshing sound of the air leaving her body mingled with the echo of her two inch stiletto’s as she made her way across the dark lonely street towards her apartment block.
She hated walking alone at night, especially in the neighbourhood that she’d been forced to move into.
“Cheap and cheerful,” The estate agent said over the phone when she rang to enquire about the property.
Cheap yes … But cheerful? … The apartment was run down and filled with cockroaches, the stairways littered with used syringes, drug users and drunks.
Beggars couldn’t afford to be choosers though and she had no other choice than to take the offer. It was all that she could afford at the time, and still was.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if she’d had someone to share her woe’s with but
Jillian had never known the love of a man. Her parents died when she was a baby so she’d been brought up in an orphanage, and the amount of friends she had could be counted on the fingers of one hand. They weren’t close friends either, more like acquaintances … a few girls from her work place.
To say that she lived a bleak existence would be an understatement.
Footsteps echoed behind her, bringing her from her sombre thoughts. The sound dull and heavy caused her heart to pound faster beneath her ribcage. She’d never had anyone follow her before; the stretch of road she always took was barren and desolate. No one dared to enter the rough back streets of London after dark, for fear of being mugged, stabbed or even worse murdered. ‘No one except for an idiot like myself’ she thought - That notion alarming her enough to make her hasten her pace.
“Excuse me miss?” A deep husky voice asked, his footsteps matching hers as she tried to sprint away from the man following her.
A small sob left her lips, her breath coming out in gasps as she heard her pursuer gaining on her.
Why the hell didn’t she listened to Becca earlier? It was only this morning that her work colleague had warned her again about the dangers that lurked around every dark crevice and corner at this time of night.
But Jillian shrugged it off, she’d been working at the greasy spoon for three months now and always walked home after her shift. The buses didn’t run at one in the morning and her wages didn’t stretch far enough to give her the luxury of getting a taxi ride… They barely paid the rent, let alone transport.
