Imperfect Strangers

CHAPTER 1: STRANGER INTO THE NIGHT

I squinted across the dark alley with the heavy pouring rain blocking my vision to see a dark slurry figure coming towards me with a firm pace.
Had somebody found me?'

Had they already started looking for me?

A series of thoughts rushed in my head and I could feel sweat dripping from my body in spite of being drenched wet.

The figure was closing in and somehow I was frozen in my place.Suddenly I saw a hand yank me towards the very side of the pavement. I looked above to find that I was standing under a ledge so the rain had stopped pouring on my face. Suddenly I realized I was standing under the ledge with the hooded person. I cried in panic and turned to run away, but was pulled towards the wall and a palm covered my mouth ;a strong firm hand.
I looked up to find that he had lowered his hood, yes it was a guy and probably one of the best looking guy I had ever seen. Though it was still dark I could make out his features with the faint green light coming from his digital watch. He didn't look like a cliche jock or a really pretty boy but he had a  different kind of beauty about him like his honest eyes-earnest and brooding, so impossible to not trust.For a moment I forgot all about everything-where I was , what I was doing but then I remembered that this guy was just still a stranger -no matter the honesty in his eyes or the familiarity in his smile - who had me cornered in the street on a dark rainy night. The panic started to build in but honestly not as fast as it must have.And I started breathing heavily. Seeing this he suddenly let go and patted me on the back comfortingly.
'What the hell are you doing here?'
I was taken aback. Did he recognize me?
'You are not from this part of the town. I can tell by the panicking and .. uh... the hyperventilating.', he said a smirk now stretched on his face.
I put myself together and said with all the courage I could muster, "Well you should be minding your business, I was just passing by and my employers are not gonna like your little stunt with pushing me against the wall."
Really?Employers? What the hell was I getting at?

"Ohh.... right now I won't wanna get in the middle of that,would I?", he said snickering unabashfully.

I was so bad at this.

He eyed me up from top to bottom , though I wondered how much of me could he see  in the dark. He then tapped on my backpack and said , "Need a place to crash tonight?"

My eyes would have widened way too much because he muttered something intelligible and all I could make out was bug eyes.

"What ?" , I asked abandoning the effort to be calm.

"You heard me."

"But I don't even know you and more importantly you don't know me."

"Does it matter? I got a place and you need a place to stay."

"I never said that I......."

"Listen, we don't ask people for their fucking profile in this kind of a place."

"What kind of a place is this exactly?"

"Oh , your employers didn't tell you?",he said laughing."Not a very bad kind,I guess. Better than many others."

He stretched his hand in front of me and said,"Come on now, don't you trust me?"

The way that he said that almost made me gasp aloud,'Yes.'

What am I doing ?I don't trust him.

My legs quite mechanically started following the direction he was going. Why was I trusting him, I had no idea this guy didn't seem like a handsome knight in armor, nor that I was looking for one. Maybe I was desperate or it was just the fact that he seemed as broken and  lost as I was.

"Wouldn't you keep up now , dear?", he said in the most pretentious British accent ever. 

I started pacing up behind him into the dark rainy night.