18. "Don't be. They don't deserve to be pitied."
Aiden had been knocking on my door for the past fifteen minutes while I sat quietly on my bed, unmoving, still in my bra and leggings, soaked, as tears flowed down my eyes.
"Aysel, open the door!" He repeated for the nth time.
"Aysel!" He raised his voice. "This is the last time! I swear I will break the door down if you don't open it now!"
His little threat caused me to finally make some movement as I weakly stood up and proceeded to unlock the door.
When he pushed the door open, the annoyed look on his face was replaced with concern when he saw my tear-stained face. I looked to the side, avoiding his gaze.
"Aysel... I'm sorry. I was only joking. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." His voice came out as a gentle timbre of concern and regret.
I sucked in an uneven breath. "It's okay," I croaked, going to sit on the bed again, still avoiding his gaze. "It's not you. It's me."
He cautiously neared me, before kneeling down before me. "What's wrong?"
I shook my head, wiping my tears. "Nothing. I just... I get emotional for no reason sometimes."
He scrunched up his eyebrows. "I refuse to believe that."
"Don't then." My voice came out unintentionally rude.
He lifted himself off the ground and left the room.
As I sat thinking I had offended him, he returned with a towel and t-shirt. I sat, stunned, as he used the towel to dry me off before pulling the t-shirt on me.
"I have to head to work. Will you be okay on your own?" He asked.
I nodded.
"Okay. Call me if you need anything."
I nodded again.
He stared at me for a few seconds, as if making sure that I was alright. Then he left.
———
As I was getting ready for bed that night, a knock sounded at my door. "Yes?" I called, fixing the pillows.
The door opened and Aiden put his head through it. "You doing okay?" He asked, masking whatever his actual emotions were.
I looked him in the eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Need anything?"
"Nope, thank you." I replied.
He nodded. "Okay. Good night then."
"Good night." I replied softly, and then he was gone, closing the door behind me.
Turning the lights off, I laid in bed and sighed, unable to close my eyes.
What was I doing? What kind of turn had my life taken?
I was staying at a man's house that I barely knew anything about.
I couldn't go home. There was someone anonymous out there with an intent to harm me.
And here I was. Comfortably staying at a stranger's house, and somehow, he didn't feel like one.
Each passing day he seemed more normal and human despite his emotionless facade and attempts at hiding his feelings.
It took me quite a while to get used to being around a male alone.
It was a suppressed trauma that I didn't even want to recall.
But here I was. With this potentially dangerous man.
Living in his house. Feeling safe in his presence.
Comfortable enough to hold conversations with him.
Getting into a hot tub with him, half naked.
What the hell was wrong with me?
———
I knocked on Aiden's door after getting dressed.
"Come in." He called.
I pushed the door open and entered, finding him standing in the middle of the room, dressed in a pale blue dress shirt and black pants.
"I wanted to ask if I should call an Uber, or if you'll drop me to the hospital." I said, fiddling with my hands.
"I'll take you." He stated.
I nodded, my gaze wandering off to his nightstand.
What I saw made my eyes widen in fear, as I took an instinctive step backwards.
He followed my gaze curiously, before sighing as he realised the reason for the sudden change in my expressions. "Relax, Aysel."
"W-why do you have a gun?" I asked fearfully.
His lips thinned. "Why do you think?"
I met his eyes, aghast, taking another step backwards.
He sighed. "It's for protection purposes."
"Protection or murder?" I couldn't stop the words from leaving my mouth.
His gaze darkened as he stalked up to me, grabbing my arm and pulling me closer.
He stared right into my soul. "Contrary to popular belief," he began, his voice low and dangerous.
"I am not a murderer. I would never kill an innocent.
But I wouldn't hesitate putting a bullet through anyone's skull who so rightfully deserves it. "
I gulped, squeezing my eyes shut. "A-are... would you shoot me too?"
"Why would I shoot you?" He asked, his tone becoming normal.
"Out of anger," I said matter-of-factly. "I'm your prey, remember?" I repeated his previously-spoken words.
"There are other ways of preying on someone." His voice dropped an octave lower.
I sucked in a breath. "I... you really scare me sometimes. I feel like you're so unpredictable. I wouldn't be surprised if you impulsively shot me one day."
"That's how I am." He stated, letting go of my arm and creating space between us.
"Why are you like this?" I demanded.
He glared at me. "That's enough! Go sit in the car and wait for me."
Great. His mood swings are back. Just when I started believing he might be somewhat normal.
I frowned. "You do realise I know nothing about you, right? I'm staying with a man with the only known things about him being his name, profession and reputation!"
"If it's such a problem, then leave!" He burst out.
I gaped at him, before nodding slowly. "I wasn't staying here by choice anyway!"
Turning on my heels, I stormed out and headed straight to my room to gather my stuff.
"Aysel!" He barged into my room a minute later. "Stop it. Don't do that."
I didn't give him a reply as I continued shoving my stuff into my bag.
"Stop it!" He asserted, grabbing me by the arms and stilling me in place.
My expression morphed from one of shock to that of anger. "Let go of me!"
"No," he asserted. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean it. You're not going anywhere."
I scoffed. "Yeah you always say something and later say you didn't mean it."
"I'm sorry! I'm fucked up, okay? You keep pushing my buttons!" He said agitatedly.
I glared at him. "I don't want to stay here anymore. You can't force me."
"I can and I will." He affirmed.
"I'll... I'll call Andrew and tell him to take me from here!" I blurted.
He laughed humourlessly. "Andrew? Even if the entire world stood in my way, they wouldn't get to take you from me."
My lips parted in surprise as the words left his mouth. He took my bag from my grasp and threw it to the side, his hold on my arm becoming more firm.
"Now come to the car with me. You're late for work and I'm late for a meeting." He asserted, before starting to pull me out of the room.
"Let go! I can walk on my own." I said irritatedly, yanking my arm from his grasp.
He let go, walking ahead of me down the stairs.
We finally made it to his car and he started driving down the road. I was fuming the whole time, keeping my eyes anywhere but at him.
"I apologised, Aysel." He uttered with a sigh, several minutes later.
"You're the rudest man I've ever met." I stated.
"Yes, I am. I told you. This is how I am." He spoke.
"No normal person is like this. Did your parents not teach you manners?" I said angrily, shooting him a glare.
His jaw clenched, his grip on the steering wheel tightening.
"They did," he spoke up after a few minutes. "But there's no use of being nice or kind hearted. If you're not tough, people will crush you and snatch your whole world away from you right in front of your eyes."
I scrunched up my eyebrows. "That's a negative take. The kindness you put out into the world always comes back to you."
He scoffed. "This is life. Not a fairytale. If you want to be the only one standing, you have to be the strongest of them all."
I frowned. "Where are you getting your concepts from?"
"Where are you getting yours from? Baby TV?" He asked sarcastically.
I rubbed my forehead. "You really need to work on your attitude and temperament."
"You haven't even seen half of temperament." He grumbled.
"Well I'm sorry for the people who have." I quipped.
"Don't be. They don't deserve to be pitied."
I sighed. What a weird man. "Okay, whatever. Listen, I don't mean to sound paranoid, but I feel like this car behind us is following us." I said. I had been glancing at the side mirrors and couldn't help but notice how the car was constantly on our tail.
"You're not paranoid, little one. It is following us." He said casually.
"W-what?" I gaped at him. "Who is it?"
"I don't know. Stay calm." He said as he pulled his phone out and called someone.
"I've shared my live location with you. There's a car following me. Number is NX-848. I need tabs on who it is, now." He spoke over the phone, before disconnecting the call.
I couldn't help but shake in fear. "W-what are we going to do now?"
"Just relax, little one." He said calmly.
"Where are you taking us?" I asked him, noticing that we weren't on the route to the hospital anymore.
"Can't have this person follow you to your workplace." He said.
"So where are we going?" I asked as he took a turn, noticing that the car behind behind us turned as well.
He didn't give me an answer. His eyes shifted between the road and the rear view mirror as he pressed the accelerator harder. I gripped the seatbelt, terrified.
Then my heart almost jumped out of my chest as a gunshot sounded behind us.
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