Ingénue // d.h.

five

Dan's POV
I woke up on my couch, surrounded by paper work from last night, and immediately thought of Maria. It's been 2 weeks since I last saw her. I've been trying to keep myself busy, to distract myself. She hasn't reached out at all, my patience is wearing thin.

I thought that I'd just fuck her and leave. Ive only just met her, and I don't think she's anything special, but something told me I should keep her around. That I should have a little fun with her first. It shouldn't be hard to do. I can tell she's a huge pushover. That's good for me, I always have to be in control.

I get up and walk up the stairs to my bathroom to take a shower. As I pass my bed, I notice a letter with a little red ribbon tied to it. I quickly run back down stairs and check every hiding place in the flat.

She's been here again.

As I walk back into my room, I pick up the letter and open it. I lightly skimmed it, and wrapped it back up. I head down and set the fire place, and threw it in. I sigh as I watch the flames burn every word, every punctuation, into nothing. I start to think about her again, for the first time in a while, but involuntarily, my mind soon goes back to Maria instead.

//

As I step out of the shower, I pick up my phone and see my phone full of notifications, but none from Maria. I put my phone down and quickly get dressed in my black suit. I'd had enough. I grabbed my phone, turned it off, stuffed it into my back pocket, grabbed my keys, and headed to my business meeting. I wasn't going to let something as insignificant as this distract me anymore.

Maria's POV
I was lying down on my bed, eyes heavy and bloodshot, staring at the ceiling. I hadn't eaten or slept in a couple of days. I kept thinking about my current situation. What was I doing? Why am I here? Why couldn't I have been happy with my life? Why am I still not happy? I felt completely lost. My mind was killing me and I had no idea how to stop it.

I got up and hopped in the shower. I shook violently as the water warmed me up. I stared down at the drain, closed my eyes, and began to cry. I thought of my best friend Estelle, my family, my other friends, and everyone else I left behind. I must've stood there for an hour just crying. I finished washing my body and stepped back out into the cold room. I quickly changed into something comfortable, and brushed my hair. I looked into the mirror, and as usual, hated everything I saw. I felt like breaking the mirror, angry at it. Angry for letting me see how disgusting I looked.

I walked to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of milk. I then put a scoop of my protein shake powder into it and drank it, instead of having an actual meal. I put the glass down and looked around. I noticed my phone sitting on the other end of the counter. I hadn't touched it in days. I had no sense of time, as I always kept the blinds and curtains shut. I picked it up and turned it on. It was 11:40 in the morning. I ignored the missed notifications and went straight to my messages. I hesitantly hovered over Dan's contact. It's been at least 2 weeks since the incident.

I was so embarrassed I didn't have the heart to talk to him. I can't even imagine what he must think of me. A part of me was upset that he did those things to me, but an even bigger part of me knows I have no right to be. He had done so much for me in just 2 days, I owed him. And I still do. Plus I could've told him to stop and that I didn't like it. But I didn't, and maybe I kind of liked it?

I shook the thoughts from my head and put my phone in my pocket. I had to get to work. I quickly pulled my hair up, got an Uber, and left.

//

The day was going by pretty slow. Not more than 60 people had stopped by the coffee shop I was working at. And I had been here almost 8 hours.

"Maria, can you close up today? I got a family emergency." Anthony asked. He was the only other barista that worked the late hours.

"Yea no problem. Hope everything's okay." I smiled back.

"You're the best." He said, walking out the door.

I gotta be honest, being the only one left in here was pretty scary. As if my natural paranoia wasn't bad enough, I was stuck here, alone at night, defenseless if someone ever tried to rob this place. I sat behind the counter in the kitchen on my phone, killing time until 9:30 when I had to close. Coincidentally, as soon as it was 15 minutes till closing time, I heard the door open. I sighed and put my phone away. I walked to the front to greet the customer, and met a familiar face I didn't expect to see.

"D-Dan?.." I gulped, feeling my chest tighten.

"Hello Maria." He smiled. I felt like I would've passed out right there.

"Uh, um, w-what would you like?" I stuttered out, trying to not seem as nervous as I was.

"I'll take a large dark roast, black." He smirked, handing me the money. My hands were trembling as I gripped the bill. I hope he didn't notice.

"I'll go make it right now.." I mumbled as he took a seat at one of the tables. I ran to back and began pouring his drink into a cup. Maybe I should've closed early today.

I made my way to his seat, gripping the cup so hard I thought I would've spilled it.

"Here's you're drink.." I said as I placed it down in front of him. He didn't say anything. Instead he just stared at me. I gripped the edge of the other chair to stop myself from possibly falling.

"You know what I think?" He asked as he took a sip of his coffee. I shook my head no.

"I think, this coffee tastes good. But you would taste much better." He said, a dark look in his eyes. I swallowed hard, hoping he was joking.

"w-what?.." I choked out. God I looked so pathetic. I then felt him squeeze my thigh, making me gasp. I could tell he was enjoying this. Making me suffer. He then stood up, towering over me.

"Come back to my place, Maria." He whispered, holding my head in his hands. He then placed a small kiss on my lips. Should I?

"O-Okay." I breathed out heavily. He grinned wide, and began to kiss down my neck.
"Just let me c-close up.." I moaned out, not being able to control myself. I mentally slapped myself in the face for being so embarrassing. He stopped and let me go.

"I'll wait for you." He smiled.

As I finished closing up, he walked me to his car. I said hi to Jack, his driver, and we both climbed into the back seat. On the way to his house, I realized I still didn't know that much about him. It kind of bothered me. He knew more about me than I knew about him. It made me feel vulnerable.

I then felt Dan slip his hand between my thighs, squeezing. I let out a gasp and quickly covered my mouth. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smirking.

What had I gotten myself into?