Love and Food Go Hand-in-hand

Escape?

With that she hikes up her bag, and grabs Izzy's wrist, and runs out of there. Behind her, she can hear Izzy start to huff and puff. She turns sharply, startling Izzy, "Do you have a car?" Izzie nods. She can still hear the men coming out of the bar. She doesn't want Izzy to panic, so she asks as calmly as she can,"Where is it?" Izzy holds up a finger, takes a big gulp of air, and leads her into the parking lot. They stop in front of a red Toyota. Izzy unlock the doors and climbs into the driver's seat. Natalia hops into the passenger side. She looks out the window, sees the men still coming,and turns to Izzy. "Are you okay to drive?" In answer, Izzy steps on the gas pedal, headed anywhere but that bar.

The drive along in silence until Izzy can't take it anymore, so she turns on the radio. They listen in peace for awhile. Until Izzy hears a gasp from her right side, she turns and sees tears dripping off of Natalia's face. She quickly pulls over,and faces Natalia, "Are you okay?" Natalia doesn't answer right away. When she does, she speaks so softly that Izzy can't hear her. She asks her to speak up and Natalia shakes her head. She clears her throat a little,and says, "You don't have to take me to coffee any more."

Natalia clears her throat, and tries again, " I'll be fine. Ummm....can you drop me off at my apartment so I can freshen up?" Izzy nodded and asked for directions.

The directions lead them back to the local LGBTQ+ shelter. Natalia gets out of the car, and starts up the stairs. She startles a little when Izzy gets out too, "You don't have to walk me up, I'll be fine."

Izzy glances at her, "I live here too, I was going to get some extra money. Ummm, I could walk you to your door though." she adds, blushing furiously. Natalia smiles, and just continues walking.

She stops at apartment number 221B, and steps inside, closing the door behind her after watching Izzy walk to another apartment three doors down. She sighs, and sprints to the bathroom. She tears out the scrunchy holding up her hair, runs a brush through it, and arranges it to fall down her back. She pops in her contacts, and puts on some mascara and another layer of deodorant. When done she grabs forty dollars from her stash.

She stops at the front door, It's been a long time, she thinks to herself, I don't know if I can do this... She stops and imagines Izzy's face. Her bravery, her adorable blush, her obvious social awkwardness. She takes a deep breath, Here I go! She steps out the door to meet Izzy, hopefully this will go well.