The Door (On Hold)

Chapter 2

Dream....

A cobra slithers through the grass, camouflage it's best friend.

Coming into view is a woman. A woman who looks like...me? She is just standing there.

The cobra comes out of hiding. The woman looks right at it and smiles. "No! What are you doing? Get out of there! Run!" I scream. She's completely oblivious.

Then I notice what she is wearing. A dress. An ivory dress with lace. A dress that has a train that follows her.  Her hair is perfectly placed. Every strand held together by pins. A veil behind her head.

This woman is here on purpose. I begin to connect the dots. The dress, the train, the veil, the hair, and the smile. It's her wedding day...my wedding day.

The snake comes back into the picture. It seems to be getting larger and growing limbs? A man in a tuxedo comes into form. The jungle scenery changes to that of a church.

No! It's a trap! No! Get away from him!" I yell my loudest. "No!"

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I bolt upright in bed covered in sweat. I begin to panic and keep seeing the woman who looked like me in a wedding dress.

I know exactly what this nightmare means, but I refuse to believe that it would be a prophecy. I can't, and won't, marry Chris, the snake.

I move to get up and get a stab of pain in my side. Sadly, my prayers were not answered. Chris remembered my sarcasm and because he was absolutely hammered, it was 10x worse. He slapped me and when I was on the floor, he kicked me when I tried to get up. He kept kicking until I was unconscious. After that, I don't remember anything. I'm pretty sure I have a cracked rib or two and I definitely have  fat lip.

I look over at sleeping Chris and scowl. As if he knows that I'm looking at him, he turns over. I hold my breath. When I see that he's still asleep, I exhale.

I need out, and fast. I get up and change my clothes carefully noticing the red and purple bruises on my sides. I grab my keys and shut the door quietly to go to the coffeehouse.

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"I'd like a straight black coffee with two sugars and a blueberry scone. Thanks." I pay the barista and find a table.

I look around the cafe and see only one customer. He must be new, I'v never seen him around.

The barista calls my name and the guy looks at me and smiles, catching me staring. I can't help it, he's extremely attractive. I smile back and quickly walk to the counter.

When I turn back around, he's still looking at me. I walk toward him and sit across from him in the booth.

He takes a drink and looks around, but his attention ends back on me. He looks at my mouth. I almost forgot about my fat lip. He looks back at my eyes and smiles like he didn't see anything. "Why do you keep staring at me? Take a picture, it lasts longer." I ask the stranger.

"Well,I think you were looking at me first. I'm just returning the favor. And to answer your question, you look like a movie star, but I can't figure which one. So, I'm going to keep smiling and looking until I figure it out." He finishes and I blush and smile.

We just sit there for a while just looking at each other. It's a comfortable silence. Not awkward at all.

"Aha! I've got it! You look like Anne Hathaway." We both laugh and my stomach flutters.

"So since you know my name, what's yours kind stranger? I've never seen you around here before. Just passing through?" I ask extremely curious.

"My name is Maxwell Johnson, but pretty much everyone calls me Max. Everyone except my parents. I'm coming back from visiting them in New Jersey." I can't help but stare at him as he talks. Max has great bone structure, dark curly hair, and just enough facial hair to make him look older. His clothes give off a rich guy look, but his small gold nose ring contradicts that completely, as if to say 'I don't care about anything.'

I break out of my trance when I get to his lips. "Okay Maxwell," he grins and my stomach flutters. 'Why am I so affected by him?' "I'd better get going. I have a disaster of a house to clean." I say standing up and grabbing my things.

"Hey, wait a minute. Before you go, are you free Saturday? Because I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner. I mean, you don't have to if you don't--" I hold my hand up to stop him. A trick I learned babysitting Chris's cousins.

"I'm totally free. I would love to go to dinner with you Maxwell. Where would we go?" Max sits and thinks for a moment. "There's a, Italian restaurant next to the hotel I'm staying at. How about there?"

Gladly, that's a new spot and hopefully no one is friends with Chris there. "Okay, it's a date." I smile and his eyes light up. "It's a date." He repeats.

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Hello my lovelies! Here's a new chapter! I figured that because this is a new story and all, that I would be posting a little bit more often than when I had my other books out.

Just let me know if there is anything that you have questions about and I will gladly clear anything up!

I love y'all!

~Alyssa