just another day

Chapter Five

Stefani had only been home half an hour when she realized it was time to go to work. She got her bag together, and made her way out the door with nothing but Taylor on her mind. She was so in awe at the way he cared for her, but she also didn't know how to respond. She didn't know how to let anything be good. Her brain didn't want to let her believe it was real, and that his intentions were only pure. Her normally long walk to work felt incredibly short, as she let her head go rampant with thoughts of Taylor. She walked inside the gross little building, feel dread fill up inside of her. She hated her job, she hated that this was her life.

It had been a fairly slow night, and she had very few customers, but they were her regulars and they paid her well. About an hour before she was supposed to be off a man walked in and scanned around the place, clearly looking for something. When he saw Stefani he grinned, and briskly made his way over to her. "You, come with me." He said in a low raspy voice. Everyting in Stefani jolted at the way he was looking at her, and when he took hold of her arm as she led him back she felt uneasy. She suddenly missed Taylor's warm touch, and the way he made her feel. She led her client into the small dark room with nothing but Taylor on her brain. The man started rubbing himself against her, and trying to start their business, all the while Stefani was deep in thought. After a few minutes the man got angry at the her lack of attention, and started to yell at her. She snapped out of her trance and looked at him with big eyes. She was unsure of what to do or say, and before she got her head back together he reached over and slapped her harshly across the face. She stared at him in disgust, and swung her legs around the edge of the bed. "You know what, fuck you." She said trying to put her underwear back on. "Where the hell are you going bitch?" He yelled, getting off the bed and following her. She was about to approach the door when the man wrapped his arms around her waste and yanked her back. "Stop, what are you doing?" She yelled, trying to kick away from his grip, but he was significantly stronger than her. He got her back over to the bed, and slammed her body down as if she was nothing but a doll. She tried to cry out but he slapped her again, "Shut the fuck up." She just laid there as he ripped her underwear back off, and shoved himself inside of her. "Stop!" She yelled, but he just quickened his pace, and she laid there helpless. She'd felt dirty many times. She'd felt used many times. This however was by far the worst. She knew what was happening, but she didn't want to face it. Just the mere mention of it from Taylor earlier made her stomach ache, but the thought of it happening, and with somebody other than Luc who she at least felt something for tore her mind up. When the man was finally done with her, he wiped himself off on her stomach, and threw a twenty on the bed next to her shaking body. "Stupid bitch." He mumbled as he left the room.

After nearly an hour of laying on the bed lifelessly Stefani's boss, Amari, came in looking for her. "Stefani? What are you doing, it's after closing time?" The sound of his voice made her jump up, and he looked at her questioningly. "Are you okay?" He asked, taking a step toward her. She backed away from him, and gathered her belongings. "Yeah, I-I'm fine." She responded, running past him out of the room, not giving him a chance to ask any more questions.
She still hadn't really processed what just happened to her, because in some ways it wasn't much different from what happened day to day, but at the same time she knew that something about it was different.

When she finally arrived back at her apartment building she made her way up to the small little apartment, and put the key in the lock. She walked in to see Lüc leaning against the counter drinking a beer, and she walked over to him quickly, and threw her arms around him. He looked down at her surprised, but after a moment wrapped his arms around her. As much as he scared her, he was still the only thing she knew. He was familiar, and in some moments safe, and after what had just happened at work, she needed that. After a little while of holding her, Lüc got bored, and pulled away some. He took her face into his hands and placed gentle kisses on the corners of her lips, making her heart flutter. "I missed you today." She whispered, feeling like maybe everything would be okay. That feeling was quickly interrupted when Lüc moved his kisses down to her neck, and they became more sloppy and aggressive. For a moment she let him do it, as he turned her around, and leaned her against the counter. He was picking up his pace and getting more physical, and suddenly Stefani was back in her head. She sat fighting with herself on whether to let him keep going or not. She had already been taken advantage of once tonight, and didn't in any way feel like having sex. She knew though that trying to stop him would just cause a fight. Then she was reminded of what Taylor had said. She couldn't get the word he'd used out of her head. She knew in the back of her mind it was wrong. She knew she didn't want it. She knew she'd try to say no, but he'd do it anyway. She also knew, though, that she would let it happen most times. She'd convinced herself that it was okay or justifiable because of that, but really it was just because she didn't want to face or admit that her one constant in her life really hurt her in the worst possible way you could hurt someone. It would mean he didn't really love her, and never really had... and that she could not accept.

As she was having this internal fight with herself, Lüc had busied himself trying to take her bag off her shoulder, and get her clothes off. It was then that she put her hands against his chest and shook her head. "Lüc no, I-I can't. Not tonight." He looked at her with an annoyed glare, and set his hands on her shoulder. "We've been through this. You don't really get to say no, baby." "Yes, I do. You having sex with me when I say I don't want to is rape..." She immediately regretted saying that. He grabbed her, and pushed over to the table before slamming her down flat on it. "You don't get to say no to me, stupid bitch. I own you." He whispered harshly into her ear as he rubbed himself against her ass. She shut her eyes tightly, begging herself not to cry. "No you don't. Please, I can't do this tonight, get off of me!" She tried to push against him to get herself free, but all that did was cause his erection to dig into her skin. Without saying another word, he yanked her up and led her into their bedroom. "Get on the bed." He said forcefully. She hesitated, begging him silently to take it easy on her. "Dammit Stefani, if you don't get on that bed right now I'll fucking throw you on it." She shut her eyes tightly, slowing getting on the bed. She wasn't moving fast enough for his liking, so he got himself on the bed, and pushed her down on her back. She looked up at him pitifully, breathing heavily. "Please." She whispered, receiving no reaction from him. He grabbed her waist tightly, causing her to cry out, and flipped her over on her belly. He grabbed a clump of her hair and got down close to her ear. "I fucking own you, I told you that." He said before forcing her legs apart and penetrating her. She laid there lifelessly, as for the second time that night a man took advantage of her, and damaged her body even further.