Diluted

~12~

Ember rests her head against her arms as she stared out into the empty record store.
It was a rainy day and not many people where out.
There had only been one or two customers so far.

Ember sighs as she looks at her watch. Only two more hours until she can leave.

She sighs as she changes the music in the store to something more heavy and pleasing.

Ember grabs a chocolate bar out of her bag and pills the wrapper off.

She takes a bite of it and scrolls through an Alternative press magazine.
Motionless in white is on the front cover of the magazine.

Ember flips through it, reading bits of the bands she likes. When she gets to the Motionless in White page she reads through the whole thing.

She smiles when she sees a picture of Chris Motionless and Ricky "horror" Olson standing beside each other.

Suddenly the door bell rings and a man walks inside.

Ember looks up briefly and her whole face falls.

"What is he doing here?" Ember wonders.

She gets up quickly and rushes to the back.

She grabs her stuff and starts packing them up as quickly as possible.

Suddenly the door is thrown open.

"Hi Ember," the man says.

Ember stares at him in horror as he walks closer to her.

"Stay away from me you dirty bastard!" Ember yells at him as she backs away towards the door.

The man walks closer to her.

Ember flips out her keys and points them at him.

"I said stay away from me Matthew!" Ember yells as she opens the door.

Matt stares at her as she walks out the door.

Ember runs to her car and quickly unlocks it.

She starts up the engine and pulls away.

She sees Matthew wave at her.

She can feel herself becoming nauseous as she speeds home.

When her apartment comes into view she parks quickly and then dashes up the stairs to her apartment.

She slams the door and sinks down to the floor.

She feels Blackbeard rub against her leg and she rubs his stomach.

"Hey babe you're home early," Jim's voice booms through the apartment causing Ember to Jump.

Jim comes out of the living room and comes face to face with her.

"Oh gosh, what's wrong?" Jim asks as he sees how scared Ember looks.

"He was there," Ember shivers as she bites back tears.

"Who was where?" Jim asks.

"Matthew was at my work," Ember cries.

"Who's Matthew?" Jim asks as he pulls Ember into his arms.

"The first guy who sexually harassed me," Ember sobs.

She feels Jim tense up as she buries her head into his chest.

"He was at your work?" Jim asks.

Ember nods.

"I don't know how he found me. He was supposed to be in London," Ember sobs.