“You’re not working today.”
“I really can’t go, Aunt Gifta,” Dianne did not dare to face the landlady as she sat on her bed. She heard her coming closer and sitting next to her.
“That wasn’t a question, darling. I know,” Gifta smiled. “You know your manager isn’t really happy about it. He trusted you. He trusted me.”
“I’m—I’m so sorry,” Dianne sighed. “I’m just so… scared—“
“The workers there will do anything to keep you safe. Have my word for it,” Gifta circled Dianne’s shoulders with her arm. “You’ll be fine.”
“I don’t take risks, Aunt Gifta,” Dianne stood up and walked around her room hastily. “Please—I’ll be fine if they just fire me. I can find another job.”
“You can’t. It’s a harsh world out there. I thought you knew better,” Aunt Gifta stared into Dianne’s green eyes. “Can I ask you a question, Dianne?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why are you afraid of coming back to him?”
Dianne laughed bitterly.
“He was the only person that protected me when I first came here,” Dianne reminisced those days, that felt a million years away. “He—he was loving, and kind, and warm… He made me feel at home.”
Aunt Gifta stood up and hugged her. “And you’re afraid of that kind of person? Dear—I’d feel lucky if I just had five minutes with anyone who would spend their whole time looking for me all over town.”
-
Dianne stared at the number on her phone long enough before deciding to press dial.
“Hello? Dianne? Wow, I never thought you would call! I—“
“Nate? Could you—maybe… come over? I’m alone. And I’m scared.”
“Come there? Where? I didn’t see you at the café today. Are you okay?”
Dianne felt the tears rushing down her face as she realized how easy it was to get to him.
That he actually cared.
YOU ARE READING
Tearing Paper
عاطفيةThere's this girl. She spends every day tearing paper, as if nothing she writes ever makes sense. There's this guy. He spends every day watching her, although he knows he isn't ready to love again. When he finally dares himself to make a move, they...
