The Meeting

Chapter 7 - Red-Stained Reflections

“Thanks for coming to get me Aria.” I slide into the passenger seat of her car and give her a hug, tears running down my cheeks silently. 

“Anytime. What happened? And don’t tell me ‘nothing’ again because I won’t believe you. I’ll question you all night until you tell me!” She stares me down without blinking, not giving in as usual. I take a deep breath and click my seatbelt into position, composing myself for a couple of seconds before revealing anything.

“It was fine at first. We had sex and it was good… well fantastic, just like before.”

“But?” She prompted.

“But, afterwards he got all clingy and said he wanted to kill the man from the club and that he has feelings for me,” I try to explain. She raises an eyebrow at me and pulls away to make our way home.

“You should have seen his face at the club Zoe. If looks could kill… So, it doesn’t really surprise me to know that was what he was thinking. If you didn’t realize, men can be very protective of what they have. Add in the fact that he’s intense in nature already and a dominative personality, I’d say that the jerk from last night is lucky to be alive.”

“I suppose you're right.”

“However, is that such a bad thing? Having a man who cares enough to fight for you?”

“I just didn’t want to get into a relationship. You were the one reminding me to protect my career and to watch out for him. Now you’re defending him?” I cross my arms and turn my head away to watch the houses go past in a blur. Aria always has a habit of changing her mind too often and sometimes I just can’t seem to keep up with her. It can be more than a little annoying. 

“Well, after him saving you at the club, I think he deserves a chance. Your career isn’t the only thing holding you back and you know it.” I turn back, open mouthed at her forwardness, yet I know she’s right. “You haven’t been willing to have a relationship since Leo. Just because one guy fucked with you, doesn’t mean that every other man will.”

“Pretty darn close, I think,” I turn to look out the window again and see the clouds swirling in the sky, tinted grey and looking angry. A raindrop lands on the window and traces it’s’ way down the glass, leaving a streak of water behind.

“Okay, a few men have fucked you over, but you have a habit of picking the bad guys. I still think that Hunt has a dark side and he’s hiding something, but I also think that he would do anything to protect you. Maybe he’s what you need right now; someone who will rock your world!”

“Yea I dunno. I’ll talk to him tomorrow. I still have to work with him after all. That is if he still wants me to.” I mumble and bite at my fingernails- something I only do when I’m stressed. “God I’m such a cliché, wanting the bad boy.”

We pull up next to our building and I glance up at the impressive glass sides, the swaying trees reflected in it. We walk into the front entrance together and wait by the elevator, not saying anything. Glancing over at Aria, I can see her blond hair doesn’t have the usual shine and is pulled back from her pale face. Dark circles are starting to show through the makeup under her eyes and a deep yawn overcomes her.

“I'll make you some tea and maybe you should go back to bed Aria?” All that traveling and the partying have taken their toll, it seems. I sure wouldn’t mind sleeping as well. She grumbles a response and the elevator doors open. A tall man pushes past us, knocking me into the wall. He glances at me, his dark eyes flashing through the darkness underneath his hood. He sneers at me and dashes out the front door into the daylight.

“Jerk,” I mutter before getting in the elevator and stabbing at our floor number. I lean my head backwards against the wooden panelled sides of the car and close my eyes, letting the motion of our ascent rock me slowly. The car jolts and stops abruptly, awakening me from my trance. Dragging my feet, I make my way down the too long hallway, feeling my lids growing heavy.

As I round the corner, I notice the door standing ajar to our apartment.

“Aria, did you forget to shut the door or what?” I sigh and shoot her an annoyed look.

“Uhh, no. I locked it and everything Zoe, I swear!”

As I creep nearer, I can see the frame is damaged and splinters of wood lie on the mat. I stoop dead in my tracks. Someone must have broken in.

“Oh my god Zoe, what do we do?” Aria pulls me back away from the door and whispering violently in my ear. “Don’t go in!”

“I’m sure that they're long gone, whoever it was!” I yank my arm free and push into the apartment, flicking on the light switch, the wood crunching under my feet.

As my eyes adjust to the dramatic change in lighting, I notice my clothes are strewn across the whole main living space. I walk through the ocean of dresses and shirts, picking up my favourites and slinging them over my arm. Why would someone do this? I turn to Aria and see her hovering in the doorframe, her face even more pale now.

“What the fuck Zoe?”

“I don’t know.” I continue picking up the clothes. Something catches my eye in the kitchen and I find the black dress I wore the other night ripped to shreds in a pile on the tiled floor. My red shoes lay next to it covered in black marker.

“What is it Zo?” Aria comes into the kitchen behind me and I quickly throw my shoes into the trash, along with the dress, so she doesn’t see it.  She doesn’t need to be worrying about this right now.

“Nothing! Look, you should go get some rest. You look like a dead person walking. I’ll clean up this mess since it’s all my stuff anyway, okay?”

“Are you sure? I can stay up and help, I don’t mind Zo.” She stoops to pick up one of my shirts, her eyes half closed. “We should really report this!”

“I’m sure, and I don’t think that will do much since I already touched everything.  It was probably just some punk who got bored. It doesn’t look like anything is missing. ” I take the shirt out of her hands and give her a soft push towards her bedroom. She mumbles something in response that I don’t hear and leaves the room, dragging her feet.  

When her door closes with a soft click, I pull one of my shoes out of the trash to examine them more closely. The words “slut” and “whore” are written in bold along the sides of them in thick marker. I don’t recognise the handwriting. With a sigh, I throw them back in and pick up the rest of my clothes. This was obviously directed at me and whoever it was knew what I was wearing the other night when I had dinner with Hunt.

I throw the clothes on my bed and plug in my phone and collapse next to the heap. My phone vibrates as it turns on again and the loud beep alerts me to a text message.

Hunt:

I’m sorry.

I don’t know what to say in response so I throw the phone back down onto the covers before laying down and covering my face with my arm. I feel so drained and I can’t deal with all of this right now. Would Hunt do this? No, he was with me the whole time and there’s no way he could have beaten me here. Who then? A jealous ex, maybe? I make a mental note to ask him about it tomorrow.

I pull myself off my bed, remembering that I need to take off my makeup and wash before bed. I round the corner into the en-suite bathroom and see writing on the mirror. I flick on the light to reveal the red lettering dripping down the glass.

YOU’RE DEAD BITCH..