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B onnie forced herself to keep her eyes on her notebook and her clenched hand under the table, not just after Phillip had walked away, but until after he’d left the restaurant. Only then did she allow herself to take a deep breath and look around. She could only hope no one had noticed.
But she knew better than that. At least one person noticed. The waitress had stepped in and asked if Phillip had wanted a table. And made a point of asking if he wanted one of his own. Bonnie was grateful, but at the moment she’d also been terrified.
She forced herself to relax. To unclench the hand resting in her lap and to stop holding herself so stiff.
“Are you all right, honey?” The waitress came back with a coffee pot to top off the mug Bonnie had barely touched.
“I’m fine. Thank you for stepping in.” She tried to smile but was afraid it came across as more of a grimace. “He would have left eventually, but you made him realize we weren’t alone, and that made his leaving happen faster.”
“You need to shake yourself free of him, honey.” The older woman patted Bonnie’s shoulder. “He’s not good for you.”
“I know. I thought I had, but he just won’t shake.” Bonnie smiled at the older woman as she tried not to let how much Phillip’s showing up here, in public, had shaken her. She watched the older woman walk away and go back to work. If he would try this here, what would he do at her apartment, if he figured out where it was? There would be no one to see. What if he took that as a license to do whatever he wanted? She fought back the shiver of fear that threatened to overtake her body and instead took another deep breath, this time forcing some of the tension from her body as well as thoughts of Phillip from her head.
She’d left him, now if only she could get him to leave her alone.
A few minutes later the waitress was back with her meal. Bonnie set her notebook aside and turned her attention to the food. She’d been looking forward to this all week and she wasn’t going to let the asshole she’d left ruin it for her. He didn’t deserve another moment of her attention, much less an entire evening.
She turned her thoughts back to the painting she’d spent most of the last day working on, remembering the details she wasn’t quite happy with and thinking about how to fix them as she dug into the chicken fried steak that was her favorite. It was so good but not something she needed to eat every day, so she saved it for special occasions.
Today’s occasion? She’d closed the deal for a commissioned mural. It was bigger than anything she’d done before, but the store owner had only the vaguest idea of what he wanted and had given her complete creative license within that. She’ been thrilled when he’d chosen her and nervous he would decide he wanted someone other than her the whole time they’d been negotiating price and how long she had to finish the work.
Now that the deal was done, and he’d paid the advance, she’d begun working on the design. It was only starting to make it to paper, but she had a couple of ideas already.
As she cut another piece and took a bite, she thought a little more about the piece. The store owner wanted a full wall piece, his entire vision was motorcycle riders on the road with a Wyoming landscape in the back. That would be easy enough, but she needed to add more, something to make it unique.
She would need to research Harley motorcycles. She didn’t know much about them other than they’d been around a long time, and they were loud. But since this was a Harley dealership, the bikes needed to be what was sold there. Or did they? Didn’t a lot of motorcycle riders go for custom bikes? She’d also have to look into the legalities and copywrite infringement. Maybe she could get away with painting bikes that looked similar and not putting logos on them.
She tilted her head and stared off into space as she thought about it for a moment. Then realized her dinner was getting cold and pushed thoughts of this project out of her mind long enough to finish eating.
Once done, she packed up her things to leave, determined to make it home before she let herself get distracted again. She paid her ticket and dug out her keys and had them in her hand as she walked out of the diner, pausing for a moment at the door as she scanned the parking spaces and tried to remember where she’d parked.
It only took her a second to spot the bright blue vehicle that was part of why she’d chosen the car. It was easy to see. Which worked in her favor both on the road and in parking lots, where she tended to forget where she’d parked, even a few minutes before.
She headed toward where she’d parked the car, only vaguely aware that the restaurant door opened behind her and someone else had come out, it made her glad she hadn’t lingered longer in front of the door.
Bonnie had just stepped past the edge of the building, intent on getting to her car, when a hand clamped around her upper arm and jerked her to a stop.
“Who the hell do you think you are to embarrass me like that?”
The voice that snarled in her ear told her who had grabbed her. Phillip. She thought he’d given up and gone home when he’d left. Apparently not.
A quick glance around told her there was no one there to see what he was doing. Trying to appeal to his need to not make a scene wouldn’t work this time. Now she had to figure out how to get away without that.
“Answer me!” The tight band around her arm tightened as he shook her.
What could she say that wouldn’t make things worse? How could she make him see reason so she could go home, and he wouldn’t follow her? Again. Her mind spun but she came up with nothing.
“Let me go, Phillip. You don’t want to do this.” It wouldn’t work, she knew from experience, but she had to try.
“What I don’t want to do is let what’s mine walk away. Let what’s mine treat me like I’m nothing.” He kept his voice low and from the way his words were spoken, she could tell he’d clenched his teeth together. He was more than a little angry.
Bonnie took a deep breath and searched the area around them again, hoping to spot someone she could call out to for help. The only thing she saw were a few trees fluttering in the slight breeze. Not even a single car moved on the road.
Why was it that when she needed someone, no one was around?
She took a deep breath and tried to force her mind to slow. To come up with something she could say to make him see reason. Who was she fooling? He would never see reason, what she needed was to get away.
“Excuse me?” a deep voice she didn’t recognize came from somewhere behind her. Her whole body flashed cold then hot as she hoped this little interruption would be enough to get Phillip to let her go.
“Ignore him. Let’s go to your car,” Phillip snarled in her ear.
Bonnie took a step, her mind spinning for some way to make this end.
“Excuse me.” This time the unfamiliar voice was more demand than question.
“What do you want?” Phillp said as he spun to see the man who’d spoken, spinning Bonnie around as he kept a bruising grip on her arm.
“I believe the lady asked you to leave her alone,” the stranger, a man in a t-shirt and a leather vest said.
“Mind your own business.”
“I’d like to. I really would. But I have a thing about people being forced to do things they don’t want to. And I know I heard the lady tell you she was through with you.”
“She’s changed her mind.” Phillip’s tone made it clear he thought the man in front of them was butting into something he shouldn’t.
Bonnie couldn’t help but stare at the man with wide, pleading eyes, hoping he would see she didn’t want to go with Phillip.
“Somehow I don’t believe it, but I’d rather hear it from her, if you don’t mind.”
“Tell him.” Phillip shook her, his hand on her arm like a vice. “Tell him you want to come home with me.”
“No. I told you I didn’t want anything else to do with you and I’m not going to lie just to make you happy. Let me go.” She tried to wrench her arm free, but his grip was too tight.
Before she knew what was happening, pain bloomed across her cheek and Phillip continued to shake her. “Stupid bitch. You’ll never learn, will you? You’re mine.”
Before she could figure out what had happened, much less how to react, she was free. She stumbled and fell to the ground. What had felt like a steel band around her arm was suddenly gone. She scrambled to get away, crab walking along the sidewalk until she could regain her wits enough to get to her feet. By then she was several feet away from where Phillip was now pinned to the exterior of the building, the man who had confronted them holding him there with one hand wrapped around his throat. The new guy was saying something, but his voice was so low, and she was far enough away she couldn’t make out the words, just the menacing tone. A tone she couldn’t help but be glad wasn’t aimed at her.
She stood, wondering if she should go home or if she should stay. Somehow, she didn’t doubt this stranger would make Phillip leave without her, but how would that keep him from finding her again later?