Chapter 16
16
PAIGE
"What’s his name?”
I smiled while listening to Lanie grill me while I had her on speaker. “Michael.”
“What does he do?”
“I think he works in construction, but I don’t know much about him, considering it’s a blind date.” I paused before adding, “Mom.”
She laughed softly. “Sorry. I know I ask a lot of questions, but I don’t like blind dates. He could be a weirdo.”
Laughing, I leaned in closer to the mirror while putting in my earrings. “He could be. Or,” I stressed, “he could be a great guy.”
“I guess so.”
“Look, if he’s a creep, I’ll nicely end the date and go home.”
“You’re meeting him at the restaurant, right?”
“Yes, Lanie.”
I knew she could hear the smile in my tone, but she giggled. “I really do hope you have fun.”
“Thank you.” I took a step back from the mirror and studied my reflection. I’d chosen to wear a dress, but it wasn't a dress I’d wear to the club. I didn’t want to come off as a party girl because that wasn’t who I was. I liked to have a good time, and I loved wearing those dresses to go to Crush, but deep down, I wanted something more. I wanted what Lanie had. I was tired of going to the clubs on the weekends and hoping I’d meet someone I could actually have a conversation with. That was why I agreed to this date when one of the regular customers at the parts store asked me if I’d be interested. All I knew about the guy was that he worked in construction and his name was Michael, but it was enough to get me out of the funk I’d been in lately.
“One more question and then I’ll stop.”
I laughed. “What?”
“What about Cole?”
“Cole and I haven’t seen or spoken to each other since your New Year’s Eve party, which was a week ago. I think it’s fair to say we’ve decided we’re better off ignoring each other.” What I didn’t say was that I hated how we left things, and I was mostly to blame. I asked Landon to come with me because I needed a safety net, someone who was there for me, someone who could get me the hell out of there before I did or said anything stupid. Landon knew what I was doing. He even tried giving me some advice when we left the party and headed to Crush, but I wasn’t in the mood to hear it.
Needing to stop thinking about Cole, or at least trying to, I continued, “I gotta go.”
“Call me tomorrow?”
“You bet.”
We said our goodbyes, and I ended the call. With one final look in the mirror, I grabbed my purse and headed downstairs, excited to be going out on a date. My first date since ending things with Landon.
I was in my car and heading across town in no time. We’d agreed to meet at a popular steakhouse in New Hope, and it made me smile when he suggested it. I’d only talked to him one time on the phone, but he sounded like a steak kind of guy. He was a little different from who I’d been dating recently, but that was a good thing, considering my luck over the past year.
I pulled into the parking lot, and my eyes landed on a man waiting near the front door of the restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised that he was on time. After dating Landon, I didn’t expect a date to be on time, so this was a nice change.
After pushing open the door, I got out and headed across the parking lot toward the entrance, smiling when the man by the door looked up, and his stare met mine. His eyes roamed slowly down my body, but I didn’t mind. Sadly, it didn’t give me the same feelings it did when Cole's eyes lingered on me, but that was okay. I needed to push aside those feelings and focus on someone new.
Tonight was about Michael.
Stopping in front of him, he spoke first. “Paige?”
“That’s right.” I smiled and held out my hand. “I’m assuming you’re Michael.”
“I am.” He shook my hand, his grin widening. “Wow, Mark wasn’t wrong about you.”
I thought that was an odd statement and tilted my head. “And what did Mark tell you?”
“That you’re gorgeous.”
I smiled and relaxed my shoulders. I'd gotten into the habit lately of assuming everyone was saying negative things about me. I didn’t know when I started thinking that way, but I needed to change it. I needed to shake off these feelings of inadequacy and get back to who I’d always been. “Thank you.”
He pulled open the door, and I walked in ahead of him. We were seated immediately, and after we ordered drinks, I leaned my elbows on the table. “So tell me about yourself. All Mark said is you work in construction.”
“I do.” He nodded. “I’m working with a construction company in Hastings.”
I’d heard of Hastings, but I’d never been there. All I knew was that it was a small town about an hour away from Cranberry.
“How long have you worked there?” I asked just as the server brought our drinks to the table.
“A while now.” He took a drink of whiskey from his glass. “I left my last job wanting a fresh start, and I like small-town living, so I landed in Hastings.” He gestured toward me with his glass. “What about you? All I know is you work at the parts store in Cranberry, and you live in New Hope.”
I didn’t want to say there wasn’t much more to know, but when a sadness at that realization passed over me, I shook it off. “Well, that’s all true. I’m kind of between jobs, still trying to figure out what I love to do.”
He grinned. “Working in a parts store isn’t the dream, huh?”
I found his grin charming and smiled. “Maybe for someone else, but not for me.”
“Why live in New Hope? Why not just get a place in Cranberry?”
“My best friend lives in New Hope with her husband. We’re more like sisters, so I wanted to live near her. It’s not too bad of a drive anyway since my place is right on the border between Cranberry and New Hope.”
“She’s lucky to have a friend like you.”
The server approached our table, and we ordered, continuing to make small talk. He seemed nice. He wasn’t exactly my type, and I found myself comparing his looks to someone else who seemed to have all my attention lately. Staring into his brown eyes, I made every effort to wish they weren’t summer-sky blue, but I was failing. I didn’t want to be on this date, and sadly, the man I wanted to be with wasn’t an option.
But for some reason, that didn’t matter. I couldn’t convince myself to stop thinking about him, and that wasn’t fair to Michael.
When we were done eating, he suggested going to a nearby bar for a drink, and because I felt badly that I planned to tell him I didn't see this working out, I agreed. But I was honestly ready to go home, put on my pajamas, and drink a glass of wine while watching a movie.
I followed him to a bar he was familiar with called Hawk’s Run, and we went inside. It was busy, but nowhere near as busy as Crush would be even on a Saturday night. Still, it would be nice to have the distraction of people around.
Once again, we sat down, but before ordering drinks, I decided to go to the restroom. Smiling, I gestured toward the back of the room. “I’m going to the restroom. I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll order us some drinks.”
I almost said don’t bother, but smiled instead. I could have another drink with him and then call it a night. I closed the door to the restroom behind me and pulled my phone from my purse, immediately seeing a text from Lanie.
Lanie: How’s it going?
I noticed she sent that about two hours ago, probably not expecting an answer, but I wanted to answer her and hopefully avoid the conversation tomorrow where I would be forced to try to explain why it just wasn’t going to work out. Even though I had absolutely no reason to feel the way I did.
Me: He’s nice. Just not my type.
Almost immediately, she replied.
Lanie: Sorry. I was hoping you’d want to at least see him again.
Me: Nah, but that’s okay. Gotta get back. We’re finishing a drink, and then I'm going home.
Lanie: Call me tomorrow?
Me: You got it.
Shoving my phone back into my purse, I washed my hands in the sink and once again stared at my reflection. I no longer felt excited, and it was evident in my expression. Pasting a very fake smile on my face, I headed back to the bar and slid onto the barstool beside Michael.
“Got you a glass of wine.”
That was considerate of him, so I smiled before taking a drink. “Thank you.” I gestured around the room. “I’ve never heard of this place. Do you come here a lot?”
“Not a lot.” He shook his head. “Just stop in if I'm in town. It’s better than those places filled with skanks.”
I’d thankfully swallowed before he finished his sentence. Slowly putting my glass down, I raised my eyebrows. “Skanks?”
“Yeah, you know the type.” He smirked. “Short fucking dresses, so damn tight they look like second skin. They want you to look, but the second you do, they bitch about it.”
I settled into my seat, my blood pressure rising, and encouraged him to continue. “I take it that’s not your type.”
He snorted. “Fuck, no.” He took a longer drink of what looked like another whiskey, and I recognized his loose lips were probably because of the alcohol. There wasn’t a chance he’d be saying this stuff if he wasn’t drinking. At least not on a first date. “They’re the first to scream if you touch them too. Even though it’s exactly what they want. Just want attention any way they can get it.”
My eyebrows rose almost to my hairline. “Really?”
“Yep.”
“You seem to know a lot about women.” I goaded him, wondering just how much of his true colors he was willing to show.
“I’ve been around, honey.” He leaned his elbow on the bar, and that damn annoying smirk never left his lips. “You got two types of women.” He held up a finger that I immediately wanted to grab and break, but somehow restrained myself. “The type who think they know everything and think it’s okay to boss a man around.” He held up a second finger. “And the type who know their place.” He dropped his hand and laid it on my thigh. “Now, lucky for me, I can teach a woman how to treat her man if she’s the first type.”
I brushed his hand off my thigh and stood. I’d heard enough. “Well, honey , lucky for me, I’ve been around and know an asshole when I meet one.” I waved my hand over my shoulder as I walked toward the door.
I pushed open the door and walked outside, wishing my asshole radar had been a little better and I could’ve avoided the date altogether, but unfortunately, he’d been a good liar, and I had to get to the end of the date to figure him out.
I threw my purse into my car, got in, and headed home. I was tired. Tired of men, tired of my life, and tired of feeling bad about myself. I needed to make some better choices, change things up. I’d been in this rut far too long, and it was starting to affect everything about my life.
When I heard a ding, I looked down and noticed I was almost out of gas and sighed in frustration. I had a bad habit of not paying attention to the fuel level. I knew of a gas station pretty close to where I was, but unfortunately, it wasn’t in the best part of town. However, it was only a block from one of the main streets, so at least there was traffic. Deciding to just get it now rather than running out of gas while I drove home, I pulled in next to the pump. I saw a kid, no older than eighteen, in the station, but his head was down. He was probably playing on his phone.
Getting out, I put my card in the machine and waited until it told me I was good to go. I grabbed the handle of the gas nozzle and shoved it into my car while going over the events of the night in my mind. That was officially my last blind date. I’d never had one work out, and the knowledge that I could be set up with another Michael made me sick to my stomach.
I finished pumping my gas and walked around to my side of the car, more than ready to go home, but I wasn’t paying close enough attention to who pulled in because I didn’t see him until he was standing in front of me.
I jolted back a few steps and laid my hand on my chest. “Michael. Geez, you scared me.”
“Should always pay attention to your surroundings.”
The way he was watching me sent a chill along my spine, and I glanced at the gas station, disappointed when I saw the young kid was still looking down and turned slightly away from the window.
“I’d like to get into my car now.” I pointed at the door he was intentionally blocking.
He took a step closer. “Is that right?”
“Yes,” I answered, forcing my tone to sound stronger than I felt.
“You know what I’d like?”
I stared into his dark eyes, which seemed darker than before, and shuddered. I needed to somehow convince him to move and go home. “Listen, we kind of ended things in a bad way. Can we just say it was nice to meet and go our separate ways?”
I glanced at the gas station when I saw lights flicker and realized the kid had shut off the light. I knew from experience that most gas stations around us closed sometime after midnight for a few hours, but the pumps stayed open since people could pay right at the pump. Just knowing that meant that I’d gotten gas way too many times late at night, and I should know better, but like always, I didn’t give it much thought. When I noticed Michael looking at the station, I attempted to walk around him, but he reached out and wrapped his hand around my arm. I swallowed hard when I watched a car pull out from behind the store and drive in the opposite direction. The only other person who’d been around was gone, and I was left alone with Michael.
I was in the middle of a dark parking lot with a guy I just rejected.
Trying to defuse the situation, I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Maybe...”
“Maybe you should shut your mouth, bitch.”
My eyes widened. “Look, I’ve been nice, but...”
He wrapped his hand around my throat and began shoving me backward. Opening my mouth, I attempted to scream, but he put his other hand over my mouth. He kept pushing me, and no matter how many times I kicked at his shins or hit him, he never stopped moving. It was as if he couldn’t feel it. He pushed me into the alley along the side of the building and slammed me against the side, surrounding us in darkness. There was absolutely no way someone would see us back here. My eyes adjusted, and I could make out his face when he glanced toward the road, thanks to the streetlight near the pumps. I took a deep breath through my nose and called on my common sense to get me out of this alive.
Leaning close, he put his lips next to my ear. “I want you to know who I really am.” Confused, I listened while he spoke, but my eyes darted around, looking for any way out of this. “My name’s Paul Lewis.”
Dread filled me immediately. I knew that name. We all knew the name of the man who attacked Bailey. I wondered if he planned to do to me what he never had the chance to do to her.
Dropping his hand, he crushed his lips to mine and forced his tongue inside, but I immediately bit him. He pulled his mouth from mine, yanked me away from the wall, and then slammed my head against it. “You’re gonna learn your lesson, bitch.” He leaned in close until his nose practically touched mine. “No one walks out on me. I tell a woman when I’m tired of her, not the other way around.”
Black spots danced in front of my eyes while he spoke, so it was hard to concentrate on his words, but his tone conveyed everything. I blinked a few times to try to clear the spots, but before I could even think of a way to fight back, he slammed my head against the wall again. I didn’t know how many times he did it, but eventually, my knees buckled, and dizziness overwhelmed me. I started to slide down the wall, so he pulled me toward him and then pushed me to the ground. Knowing it was all over if I was on the ground, I reached up and dug my fingernails into his cheek.
“Fuck.” He jerked back, which caused my hand to fall, and he threw me to the ground.
He straddled my legs, and I attempted to lift my knee, but he shoved his thigh between my legs, and I couldn’t move. Swinging out, I slapped him in the face and head, anywhere I could just to get him off me. Panic overwhelmed me with the realization that he could do whatever he wanted and no one would hear or see us. I watched him pull back his fist and braced when the first blow slammed into my temple. He followed that up with another one, and I closed my eyes in an effort to stop the spots I saw every time I tried to focus. I forced them open when I heard the recognizable sound of his zipper. He grabbed my wrists in one hand and held them over my head while he attempted to reach under my skirt. My mind was foggy, but I knew enough to be thankful that I’d worn a long skirt because he struggled to get underneath.
Fight .
The thought pushed through the fog and blackness threatening to force me unconscious.
Lifting my leg, I slammed my knee up as quickly as I could and relished in the sound of him cursing.
“You stupid bitch.” I continued to kick my legs, determined to make it as difficult as I could for him to get under my skirt. Lights flashed, and I strained to see around his body, praying someone had pulled into the gas station. He glanced behind him and swore under his breath. Snapping his head around, he lifted his hand and wrapped it around my throat. I didn’t hear a car, and the lights were gone, but he leaned over and applied pressure to my neck. My common sense told me to close my eyes. They were heavy, and I didn’t want to see what else he had planned, but my instincts were screaming at me to stop fighting.
That was exactly what I did.
The crunch of gravel sounded seconds before he released his hand, and the pressure on my neck disappeared. I felt him push off me, and I took a few slow breaths while he stood over me. I steadied my breathing as best I could, but I barely held back the vomit threatening when he whispered, “Never as good as the first time.”
I lay as still as possible when he leaned over me one more time. I heard another vehicle, this one closer, and listened to the noise from his boots hitting the pavement getting farther away.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened my eyes and looked around, but I didn’t move until I heard a vehicle start and pull out of the gas station. Rolling to my side, I whimpered when pain tore through my head, but I ignored it. I needed to get the hell out of here before he came back to finish what he’d started.
Crawling across the pavement, I finally got to my car, grabbed the door handle, and yanked it open. Some of the worst pain I ever felt was when I had to pull myself to standing and slide into the driver's seat. Once inside, I locked the doors and grabbed my keys from the cupholder where I’d left them. I started the car, and as soon as I turned out of the parking lot, I began to cry. It wasn’t a gentle cry; it was a fear-based cry that tore through my body while I drove. I knew there was a hospital not even a mile from here, and once again, I breathed a sigh of relief when I pulled up to the emergency department. I didn’t know how I got to the hospital without crashing my car into something because I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I stopped the car, shoved open the door, and rolled out, falling to the pavement. Holding the door, I pulled myself up and stumbled to the sliding doors, but I never made it inside.
I heard someone shout as I fell to the ground, darkness finally pulling me under.