Chapter 3
Chapter Three
ARIEL
As I’m sitting here, lonely at the bar, listening to the happy yells coming from Noah, I can’t help but wonder how I’ve made it this far.
Too many nights wasted away from sitting in the house and being treated like shit.
The nights when he came home drunk, not caring about how my body would be used.
Just too much shit that I can’t deal with anymore.
I can keep putting myself in this black hole with my mind, or I can try to find a way out of it.
I finish my drink, and I can see the bartender's eyes narrow to the bruises that are peeking out slightly under my shirt.
Fuck, she’s not supposed to see those.
I quickly pull the sleeve down so she can’t see the marks again. It would be better if she acted as if that hadn’t just happened at all.
“Can I get you anything else?”
I remember one of the girls I ran into before mentioning something called an angel shot that's supposed to help me get out of unwanted situations.
I'm not sure if that's something that all the bartenders know about, or if it really doesn't have any meaning at all behind it.
I glance back over to where Noah is, and he seems pretty comfortable with the guys he's playing with, so he doesn't notice me talking to her.
“Angel shot,” I say in a quiet tone.
If anyone hears me say that suspicions may get raised, or it can get back to Noah.
My fear of whether that phrase really works or not is answered when I see her nod her head and leave from behind the bar.
I can't tell where she's going at first, but I thought that using those words she would stay near to protect me. Maybe she doesn’t know what it means after all.
Panic is starting to rise within me again because I have this feeling that Noah will be done soon, and I'll be stuck with him forever at this point.
I lie my head on my hands with my elbows touching the bar as I try to take a few deep breaths.
Research online says doing some deep breathing techniques will help bring you back to center and get rid of some of the panic attack symptoms that pop up.
It takes a couple of deep breaths before I hear a deep voice come up from behind me.
“Ma’am, can you come with me?”
I don't move a muscle. I've never heard that voice before, and I'm afraid to look to see who it can be. I really hope Noah didn't get into some shit where someone is coming after me all of a sudden. In this bar full of bikers, I’m sure it will mean there’s bad coming for me. I try to work up the courage to look to see who it is, but I just can’t.
“You’re going to be okay, just trust him,” the familiar voice of the bartender says.
After taking another moment to gather my thoughts, I turn around and see a muscular man who's about 6'5, with a full beard and short hair. This man is absolutely stunning. Before I can take in too much of his appearance, I look back over to the pool table and see that Noah is no longer there.
Where the hell did he go?
He can't see me talking to some other man, or I'm going to get punished.
I can’t fuck up again.
Tears start to fall down my face with the fear of what Noah will do to me if he sees me talking to this man.
He’s so much taller than Noah, so maybe I have nothing to worry about, but the fact that something can still happen is what's bothering me so much about the whole situation.
I want to ask this man for his name so I can feel a little more comfortable, but there's no time for that right now.
I stand from the barstool, and I follow him to the backroom of the bar.
My hands are shaking because I don’t know where I’m going, who I’m with, or if I can even trust this guy before me.
I’m sure, by using the two simple words to get me away from Noah, that this man won't hurt me, but I can only hope and wish that's not the case.
I guess I need to do what he says and not disobey, or I might be next to be taken.
At least that's what I'm assuming, since Noah wasn’t where he was supposed to be after I spoke those words.
What if this is a trap? There’s no way I could get out of it now.
I’m stuck, alone, and nervous. I shouldn’t have said anything.
Instead, I should’ve just gone back home with Noah and lived out my days in the same ways that I have been recently.
I’m not sure how to feel at this point, but this man in front of me appears big and bad in ways that I’m not sure I want to know.