Love In A Strange Place

Who To Trust

It feels like its been hours since I've moved. My mind just couldn't function correctly right now. That moment was on replay, and the stop button was broke. I hadn't noticed, but I drifted asleep. My eyes opened to be greeted with a blinding light. I reached for my blanket to shield my eyes, but realized I spent the night on the floor. Groaning, I lazily sat up and stretched. After collecting myself, I remembered why I was on the floor, and that brought an instant crimson to my cheeks. With a full grin on now, I jumped up and ran to my room. Instead of my boring casual jeans and a t-shirt, I pulled out a floral skirt that met just above my knees, and a solid coral tank top that corresponded with the bits of coral on my skirt. After clothing myself, I checked the time. It was only 7:00 a.m. I ran into my bathroom to do my hair and make-up, but I only owned dollar tree make-up, sadly. This wouldn't do. I threw my hair in a quick bun, and grabbed my purse. We stayed up till 3:00, maybe 3:30, so he should still be sleeping.

I was bouncing on my heels waiting for the elevator to hurry up. They should increase its speed. Finally the doors opened, and I practically shoved the man in a suit out, nearly spilling his lobby coffee. I routinely clicked floor one, and bit my lip. Its a nervous habit I've had since I was a kid. My anticipation grew with each ding notifying me that we passed a floor. When the doors opened to level one, I bolted straight through the lobby, and to my car. I was in such a hurry, I didn't get to say hello to Thomas.

I sped to the mall, managing to not get pulled over, and headed to Sephora, the most high tail make-up paradise that puts women around the world in debt. Once I get there, I was immediately greeted by a worker asking if I needed help. I did, so I told her that I don't own any other make-up other than dollar stuff. She looked mortified, but her face brightened up like she was going to end world hunger or something. She wasted no time to drag me to a concealer table, and found my skin tone. She then showed me how to apply it, and applied it for me. Just this process was taking a lot of time, so I politely told her I needed to be quick. She simply nodded and dragged me to another stand which held eye shadows. She picked up an Urban Decay palette, and again showed me how to apply it. I figured since I only had two items, I could get mascara too. She seemed to grab one at random, assuming any choice was a good one, and applied it, adding it to my stash. I headed over to the register, and when she rang it up, I nearly fainted. $58 for the palette alone. $15 for the concealer. And another $30 for 3D fiber mascara. I couldn't deny it after she just did my face with it all, so I shakily handed over $110 and accepted my change. Well, at least my make-up's done.

I tried to hurry back to my car, but was stopped by a guy in a kiosk. He pointed out that I hardly did anything with my hair, and I could do so much more, and I looked like a model, and why didn't I buy his stupid product earlier. These people are irritating. I tried to brush him off, but he grabbed my arm and sat me in his chair. I was going to start yelling at him about what "no" means, but he took out my bun and started curling it with his wand. Not gonna lie, I was impressed

. Once my hair was done, he asked me how I felt about it, and I honestly told him I loved it... So there goes another $150.

By the time I finally got into the car, I was sick. My bank is absolutely empty. And It's all because of Dalton. On the bright side, I'm completely ready. I wanted to get home so I could make us breakfast, but I'm exhausted from staying up so late, so I grabbed a couple donuts and called it good.

I pulled up to the apartments, and said hello to Thomas like I intended to the first time. He questioned my appearance, but I brushed it off.

When I reached my door, I unlocked it, and dropped everything on the kitchen table. I wanted to feed Dalton, so I put my new gadgets away in my room, and made myself a cup of tea. I wasn't sure if he was awake yet. It's 9:00 now, so he should. I lightly tapped on the door, and waited for a response. Nothing. I crawled onto the floor and opened the food door, and there he was on his bed I gave him. He was just staring at the roof completely zoned out. I laughed to myself because I did that too. I guess I laughed loud enough for him to hear me, because he sat up quickly and breathlessly said "hey". "Did I interrupt something?" I teased. "What? No. I was just daydreaming, that's all." "Well, I have food-" I didn't get to finish, because he cut me off, "you've said enough. Let me out."

I didn't hesitate. I unlocked the door and cracked it so he could get out, while I walked to my kitchen island. I pulled a chair around the other side so we could face each other, because side by side is weird.

Once he took his seat, and studied my appearance. We locked eyes, and insecurity wash over me, forcing me to break his gaze. I guess he noticed, and turned his attention to the breakfast I had to offer. "I'm assuming you don't cook," he said while picking up the donut, "it's not a bad thing, I love donuts." I rolled my eyes, because I can in fact cook, I just had a busy morning. "I didn't have time to make anything, so I thought this would do." He scanned my body with his eyes, and raised his eyebrows, "I wonder what made you so busy." I didn't know whether or not to be mad. He was clearly jabbing at my look. "I went to the mall to get stuff for my dad, and was stopped by people at the kiosk, " I said as convincingly as I could. This only made him laugh. "What could your dad possibly want from the mall? Like I said, you suck at lying." He continued to giggle, but I managed to hold a straight face. "Okay, so I got stuff for myself. Big deal," I said slightly letting my posture deplete. He didn't press further, we just ate our donuts silently.

I prayed he wouldn't bring up last night, because I was sort of out of line. We just met, and I also kind of stole him. But of course the issue was brought up. "So, about last night..." He trailed off. "I told you I wanted you to shut up, so I did it my self," I choked out while trying to keep my face from turning red. He seemed to be wanting a different answer. "Well, what if it was under different circumstances?" Under different circumstances? I'm going to sell you soon, and you want to talk relationship? "Then it wouldn't have happened." I knew I said it with venom, but I can't think like that. He seemed hurt, too. He just shook it off, and abruptly left to his room. Jeez, someone's sensitive. he doesn't even know me, and he's mad I don't want to make things work? .

I silently followed him, and locked the door behind him. If he's upset, he may try to leave. I didn't bother to pick up our breakfast. Dalton didn't even touch his donut. I just flopped on the couch and flipped on the tv with low volume. The low hums of the television lulled me to sleep. It wasn't until I heard a knock that I woke up. I frantically jumped up, and ran to the door. Breathlessly, I opened the door to reveal my dad and two men. "Dad?" "Hello, sweetheart. We're here to pick up the boy." What? No. He's safer here. He can't. I may or may not like him. "What, why? He's fine here. He hasn't been a bother, really." My dad seemed confused. "Lets talk about things, okay dear?" he motioned me to my living room. Great. This can't be good. We passed the kitchen on out way, and he pointed out the breakfast for two. "Oh, that. Uh, it's for me and you! I thought you might come, so I set it out." The one good thing about my dad is that he's naive. "Awe, baby. That's so sweet, but I already ate." He hugged me, and I wanted to pull away. If he really did kill Dalton's parents, I wanted his hands far away from me.

We redirected our attention to the couch, that we awkwardly sat down on. He quickly cut to the chase. "Have you talked to him?" Whoa. How do I answer this. "I fed him last night, and we exchanged a few words. That's it, why?" I made it sound like it wasn't a big deal. "I want you to put yourself in his shoes. What extent would you go to, to escape? Whatever he may have said to make you want to keep him here, I want you to forget about it, because it's all lies." My shoulders slumped, and what he said made sense. It's all a ploy. He played me, and I let him in with that kiss. Of course he wants to use me to escape, I mean, who wouldn't? "Yeah, dad, I know. I'm really tired, I think you should leave," I said staring at the carpet. He rubbed my shoulder and said, "good talk."

I never moved, I just waited for them to take him. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard my dad scream out curse words. He whipped into the living room and took me by the arm and dragged me to where the guest room was. It was empty. "You let him go!" he threw me on the ground. Trying to figure things out, I kept repeating "What," which made my father more angry. "Cheree, why! You knew that this was huge! He's on his way to the police now!" This isn't good. He used my middle name, and it finally clicked that he escaped. "I didn't do anything! He must have picked the lock. I don't think he'll tell, dad. He said he wouldn't, he-" I knew I was spewing word vomit, and every word I said was the wrong one. For the first time in forever, my dad snapped. A man that treated me like a princess was now monster that wanted blood. My blood. He Grabbed me by the hair and dragged me away my from corner. My head was on fire, but I didn't have time to think about it because a kick to my stomach knocked the wind out of me. Two more followed, and the world seemed to be spinning. Black crept around the edges of my vision, and I awaited another blow.

The last thing I saw was my dad being tackled by a figure. I tried to fight to stay awake, so I could see what was happening, but It was too late. The world disappeared into darkness.