Bounty Hunter

Zinnia

I walked hand in hand with Alex, skipping like seven-year-old best friends walking to their favourite candy shop. Alex and I met at the park at ten a. m., and at once, we began wisely spending my tip.

After going through Alex’s question and answer session, to which most of her questions remained unanswered, we first walked into my favourite coffee shop. We grabbed some Krispy Kreme and chocolate-covered doughnuts, accompanied with coffee, there after, we sat in Alex’s car.

I listened as she told me more about herself and her background. When she’d finished, she gave me an it’s-your-turn-to-talk-look, to which I shrugged it off.

The truth is, nothing was interesting about my life. Not like Alex’s though. She’d willingly run from home at the age of Seventeen when her religious parents forced her to marry the son of another religious family in a bid to hide her sexuality. She didn’t want to live a life of misery like her parents, so she chose to run.

Me? I left from foster home to foster home, every home being worse than the last. Until I decided I couldn’t take it anymore and ran from my last home at sixteen and changed cities.

I couldn’t tell Alex about that. Even though we both worked in a club, her life was different from mine. She had parents she could run to. I had no one.

“Oh, this is the one. Look at those shades, I need it.” Alex hurled me into a fashion boutique, a place I’d only ever admired from afar.

The woman at the counter gave us condescending stares and for a split second, I wanted to walk out, but Alex snatched the card out of my hand and waved it in her face. At once, she flashed us the fake welcoming smile she’d spent years practising.

“This way.” She led us towards an aisle that had the latest trends in dresses. Whilst she tended to Alex, I walked toward the mannequins on display at the window frame, gawking at a two-piece lingerie.

I trail my hands through the fabric, imagining its silkiness on my skin after a nice hot bath. My phone vibrated, tearing me off my mental daydream.

I looked at the notification bar and frowned at the name ‘unknown’ written in bold. I tapped on it and read the message.

‘Red looks good on you. I can’t wait to peel it off that smooth olive skin of yours’

Terror spread through my veins, my heart pounding in my chest as I took in my surroundings, trying to catch anyone in sight who might be stalking me. But I was met with passers-by carrying on with their day-to-day life. I looked around again, and when nothing suspicious came up, I dished out the message to be nothing but a prank or a wrong number.

I met Alex at the counter, a broad smile on her face as she happily went through everything she’d chosen. Everything paid for, I helped Alex carry what she’d bought and we headed for her car.

“Are you sure nothing seemed appealing to you at the shop? I saw you staring at the lingerie set on display.” Alex broke the silence in the after she’d turned her car on and put on her seatbelt.

“Yeah. I don’t want to abuse it considering I’ve already used his card to stock my fridge and I still have to pay for my rent with it.” I replied and Alex nodded.

“Seems fair.”

I looked at Alex and smiled. She was a beautiful woman with thick strands of honey-blonde hair cascading in beach waves over her shoulders. The freckles scattered over her face made her look angelic, but her generic brown eyes and petite, yet sexy figurine told me that she was anything but angelic.

As we rode, the message I’d received kept replaying in my head. What if someone had been stalking me? What if it was that creep from the club yesterday? It would make total sense. But there was no way he could have gotten my number, and I realised I was being paranoid over nothing. Surely, whoever sent that message missed numbers.

The sun was slowly setting behind the clouds and darkness began to journey in. I insisted that Alex drop me off at the park where we’d met. I didn’t want her knowing where I lived. Sure, I’d spent the entire day with her, and while I enjoyed her company, I wasn’t ready to fully let her into my life.

Thursdays were my day off at the club, so I bid Alex farewell and began to walk down the path to my apartment. It was over three blocks away, however, by the time I reached the building, the sun was nowhere in sight.

With a sigh, I walked into the building, readying myself for the steep stairs that awaited me. After what seemed like an eternity, I made it to my floor and soon, my keys pierced into the doorknob.

I stepped into my apartment and relinquished the smell of honey and vanilla. I dropped my bag on the kitchen counter before plunging my tired and achy body into the couch.

After I’d rested enough from the stairs, I got up and headed for my fridge. I took out the leftover pizza and allowed it to cool off, in hopes to slot it in the microwave after I’d showered up.

Then I grabbed my phone and headed for my bedroom. I walked in and a scream left my lips at the sight of what lay on my bed. It was the red lingerie I admired on the display mannequin from the shop earlier. Next to it, was a bouquet and a bag. I stood still, afraid to approach my bed.

After taking in several breaths, I tiptoed towards my bed. I grabbed the bag and took out everything it contained. More lingerie, only in different colours.

My phone vibrated on me, making me gasp out in fear. I took out my phone and saw I had another message from an unknown number. With shaky hands and strained breath, I tapped on it.

‘I noticed you didn’t get anything from the shop. So, I got you the lingerie you were staring at and I made sure to get one in every color. I hope you were them for me soon, my little flower’

I threw my phone aside as though it suddenly had some deadly disease implanted in it. It finally sank in.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

I was being stalked.

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