"Donni, I..I need you," Jack cried against her neck.
Why was she still here with him? She should go before it was too late. What if she was next?
"Don't ever leave me! You're all I have left." His pleading voice cut to her heart.
And she held him c...
Dedicated to my best friend and sister,firecracker_tfk :) Happy Birthday!!! I hope you like this story and enjoy it as much as I did writing it ❤❤ ———
"Brennan, I want that report on my desk in 20 minutes. Julie, how is the article going about the stock crash? I need it finalised ASAP! and Carmen? Lose the large typeset on the cover. It looks cheesy like my kid's comic magazines."
"Yes, sir," the voices chorused as they responded to their boss, the editor Mr Travis Hartley. A balding, tubby man in his thirties, he was always snapping out orders left, right, and center, but Donni didn't mind. The more noise that clattered in her ears, the less she had to listen to the voices of fear in her head. The voices that had her peering behind every street corner and parked car for the shadows that insisted on lurking in her memories—
"—iss Landon Bradley! Do you even want your job here?"
"Huh? Sorry, are you talking to me?"
"Yes, I'm talking to you! Now are you going to get my soy double decaf mocha latte with caramel syrup or are you going to stand there and pray it fetches itself?"
"No, I'm getting it, sir. Sorry, Mr. Hartley," Donni scurried off to do his bidding, realising she zoned out...again. How long until she would be a normal functioning human again?
"Hey girl, so I got tickets to tonight's big concert," Carmen sing-songed as she fell into step beside Donni.
"I'm not going."
"But it'll be fun," she pleaded. "And I even hooked up a h—"
"Hot date? How many times do I need to remind you, I'm not dating for another—"
"3 years. I know, I know, but that's nuts, and you know it," Carmen rounded the corner and entered the copyroom while Donni headed to the elevators. "I'll see you at seven thirty!"
"You wish!" Donni called back as she hit the down button. While waiting, she absently tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. It used to be chocolate brown, but she'd needed a fresh start. So platinum blonde it was. She took a deep breath and went over the list of orders in her mind. Fetching the morning coffee was oh so boring, but she had to start somewhere if she ever wanted to make it to the top. Her index finger traced the scar on her cheekbone.
She used to have a flawless complexion, but that had all been before—no. No, she would not let her mind go there.
The doors opened, and she hurried forward, smacking into something hard.
"Oh I'm sorry," a deep voice rumbled in her ear.
"No, I'm so-sorry," she stuttered as she stared up into sparkling brown eyes.
He was gone and the doors were shutting before she remembered to breathe. Who was he?
She didn't care, she realised with a snap from her reverie. She would not care, and history wouldn't be able to repeat itself. She fought off a familiar shiver as she remembered back to when she had met him.
She had been a real reporter then, given assignments that took her all over the city and even beyond. She was at the top of her game, until it all came crashing down because of him. Now, after a mental breakdown and 3 months rehabilitation, she was slowly climbing her way back up. Slowly taking even breaths and putting one foot in front of the other, ignoring the screams in her head that plagued her nightmares and swallowed her daydreams. She could focus. She had this, just as long as she didn't let the memories and feelings suck her down in a spiralling whirlpool of fear and anxiety.
At least that's what she kept telling herself as she waited for the coffee, watching the large tv screen on the wall. The reporter, someone she knew back in the day, was describing the scene outside the police watchhouse where a convicted would-be murderer was being held. He briefly recounted the details of the crime scene and how the accused nearly killed a man, before being stopped by another man. Something about the details didn't sit right in Donni's mind, and on the way back to the office she stopped by the scene.
A dirty alley with dumpsters lined up on one side and decrepit buildings on the other, it was a place she'd rather not be. She pushed back the images of another crime scene, one that was much too personal, and looked around with an objective eye. Scanning the rooftops and scrape marks on the asphalt, she took a few photos with her camera before heading back. Ever the reporter, she tapped some notes into her iPhone.
"What took you so long? Did you get lost between here and the first floor?" the editor grouched, but Donni brushed it off.
"I'm not feeling too well, can I have the afternoon off?" she asked in her sweetest voice. She knew her excuse wasn't entirely true, and she hated lying so promised herself to never do it again.
"Fine. I guess Carmen will have to fetch my lunch."
"You owe me, Bradley," Carmen whined as expected.
"Sorry, I'll make it up to you. But I have a hunch and I have to follow it through," Donni whispered hurriedly as she once more exited the 14 story building. Maybe this was what she needed to make her comeback. Maybe if she figured out the truth and wrote a dramatic exposé, Hartley would take her seriously. She just needed the facts.
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