She remembered him kissing her good-bye, insisting that she stay in bed. She had fallen back to sleep until her alarm sounded. She opened her eyes to the single rose he’d left on his pillow. A slow smile spread across her face. She put the rose up to her nose, not really sniffing it, but thinking of him. He was the most incredible person she’d ever known. She never thought she’d be so lucky. She showered and dressed for work with a glow that she hadn’t ever remembered having.
The university had been bustling with people that morning. It was near the end of term and students were clamoring to get to class to make up for the one’s they’d missed earlier in the semester. It was always like this. Sophie was a Teacher’s Assistant for an English Literature professor. She mostly did paperwork, graded papers and gave tutoring help to students who stopped by to plead with the professor. She managed his schedule with the students, trying to fit all into his conference hour. She had a line of students trying to get in to see him before their final project was due. After playing catch up on the work she missed yesterday, and rearranging the professor’s schedule, fielding phone calls and talking with one or two students who were interested in the class for next term, her busy day was finally coming to an end. She chatted with the professor while she gathered her things. Exhaling the stress of the day in one long breath, she walked out of the office. The long, stark hall was empty enough for her to hear her shoes echo as she walked across the tile floor. There were only three or four students lingering around one corner, discussing study group plans. Sophie made her way to the front of the building and felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. She turned her head in time to see Dave coming up fast. Before she could break into a run, he had her shoulders pinned to the wall. His hand was over her mouth so she couldn’t scream. She struggled against him.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, Sophie,” he sneered. “Be still now. You’ll only make it worse.”
Her eyes were wide with fear, but she stopped struggling. She struggled to calm down, knowing this was a public place and he would not do anything drastic here. Her mind understood that, her body, however, was stuck in that fight or flight mode.
“That’s better. I’ve been waiting for a chance to talk to you. But you’re never around anymore. It wasn’t nice of you to go to the police like that. I only wanted to talk. Your neighborhood doesn’t seem so safe lately. I have noticed a black sports car hanging around. It’s a really hot car, very expensive. Have you seen it?” he leered at her and the look in his eyes filled her with dread.
“Funny, some guy got in it early this morning and drove off. You know where he came from, that guy? He came out of your house, Sophie.” He was seething with anger, his grip on her mouth tightened. She whimpered behind his hand.
“Can you imagine my … surprise?” He was talking through clenched teeth now. “Who was he, Sophie?”
“Hey! What’s going on here?” One of the young men who attended her professor’s class called from down the hall.
Dave slammed Sophie’s head back against the wall and took off. Sophie slid down the wall to the floor, instinctively raising her hand to the back of her head. The student hurried to her side.
“Call security Matthew. I … I’m okay. Tell security to call 911. That man is wanted by the Baltimore Police.”
Matthew rushed back toward the office. Sophie sat there and caught her breath. She was trying to control her panic. She felt the back of her head. She had a big knot rising there, but she was not bleeding. Her mouth was sore where he had squeezed her. She brought a shaking hand to her forehead and took a deep breath. It was okay. She was okay. He was gone, she tried to tell herself. But it was not okay. He had seen Alex. It was definitely not okay.
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