HIGHWAY

12

I was back in my passenger seat shaking with all whatever had happened whereas he sat there in his driving seat unperturbed like nothing unusual happened between us.

This day was hard to digest.

All my bruises and all the pain I was feeling were killing me more and more as the time passed by and the only thing I wanted to do was to kiss him more. When did I turn that way? Who was he to me?

A fucking criminal.

We have started our usual travelling towards a destination I was still unaware about neither that I was sure to ask. I wanted to ask some other questions just not right now. That imperishable silence descended in the car and we kept moving like we never stopped. The only difference was that now we were hardly making a stop. We travelled at night, we travelled during the day. Only stopping for a while just to eat or to make ourselves clean.

Condition of motels where we use to stop was hardly an issue to me. The issue was having one room for both of us. I stood in front of the mirror in bathroom staring at my face. All the bruises and dirt had hardly left me as me anymore and the dry blood looked like the dry drops of regrets. It was from this moment that I started to think again about my decision, the decision to leave a perfect life behind and land in a front of a mirror which hardly represented me. I looked like a girl who has been living in rugs and dust for her entire life with tattered clothing, dusty hair, cuts and bruises on skin which was hardly ever washed properly. A bang so loud that it almost broke the fragile door shook me out of my contemplations.

"Why are you taking so long?" Jon asked from the other side sounding much like a kidnapper.

Merciless.

I didn't reply instead continued looking at myself in the mirror. I kept looking until the door burst open. My body shuddered and I turned towards him. He didn't look towards me directly but averted his eyes towards the mirror. His unreadable face kept staring at me and mine at him.

Slowly, he opened the door and walked towards me. Now, his eyes looking directly at me he took a step forward I took one back until I had nowhere to go. He stood in front of me reading my face with those dangerous eyes. I could feel his breath on my skin travelling placed where I wanted him to touch with those lips. Then slowly, his eyes travelled to my neck then to my chest then towards my abdomen and continued till my toes.

Meeting my gaze again with something unreadable in his eyes, his fingers touched my swollen lips where my blood dried at the corner.

"come on", Taking hold of me by my arm, he commanded as he dragged me outside the bathroom and then our room.

"Where are we goin?"

"You'll see" he replied curtly.

Without stopping he threw the keys to the caretaker and walked towards the car. Pushing me on my seat he closed the door, in no time he was in his seat driving again.

Thinking it was best to stay quiet (like I had a choice), I asked no question until he came to a stop outside a local shop. Frowning, I stared at the small isolated building, I didn't even realise when I spoke those words "what are we doing here"

He didn't bother to spare me a look and took a while to answer.

"We are getting you cleaned up"

Then he turned his face to face me. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"At a local store with canned food" peaking a little through the window I continued "maybe a little of clothing, supplies, and..?"

He kept staring and then I realised. 'a little of clothing'. He took me for shopping?

"I don't get it" cause I really didn't. From when did gangsters take a stranger to shopping?