He scared the hell out of her, but in the split second she looked back at him, she couldn’t deny how handsome he was. Nothing about his strong face was unattractive. Amara bet women found ways to be in the horrible man’s company instead of Griffin’s who was as equally good-looking but seemed a hell of a lot nicer.
Griffin tried more than once to talk Dante out of calling the cops and pressing charges over something she hadn’t done. Why would she steal motorcycle parts when she wanted food? Yet, as her mother used to say when she was growing up, Dante allowed the words to go in one ear and out the other.
She wasn’t about to test her luck again by crossing paths with him for a second time. She would try everything in her power to stay away from that part of town.
Why couldn’t he have understood all she wanted was something to eat? He’d probably never gone a day in his life without eating something.
He wouldn’t know how it felt to wake up during the middle of the night with hunger twinges so severe it truly felt like you were going to die right then and there without anyone you cared about around to watch you take your final breath.
Sudden tears pooled in Amara’s eyes and she brushed them away with the back of her hands. She noticed how dirty her fingers and nails were. It had been almost three weeks since she had gotten to wash up some place safe.
Living on the streets had taken a toll on her mind and once happy soul. Nothing out here was meant for a single, young African American woman to experience. Trying to stay away from pimps wanting to force you into selling your body was hard enough, but fighting off the other homeless men who wanted to share more than a sandwich and a liquor bottle was ten times worse.
Only once had she gotten caught in a situation that she almost wasn’t able to get out of. Luckily for her that particular day, her best friend Liam had come looking for her through the park tunnel underneath the bridge and scared her attacker away before he could do more than rip the sleeve on her shirt.
After that incident, Amara worked on making herself less feminine and as unattractive as possible. She dressed in discarded oversize clothes found inside dumpsters or by going through bags of clothing left at the back doors of clothing drive centers.
Every time she took something, Amara experienced another pang of guilt that she had lost another piece of the outstanding values her loving parents had raised her to cherish.
Blinking past fresh tears at what she had lost through no fault of her own, she snuggled deeper into the sleeping bag praying sleep would come soon. She tried blocking out the noises lurking around her because it would be another distraction to keep her from catching a few hours of much needed sleep.
All of her senses were now in overdrive making her jump at every unexpected thud. Amara was amazed at how much louder things sounded around her since she started sleeping on the streets.
Suddenly, off in the distance; she heard the shuffle of feet making their way closer and closer to her perfect hiding place. Holding her breath, she slowly inched her hand towards the yellow baseball bat that she kept hidden away in her sleeping bag for protection. She wrapped her fingers around it.
She would put up one hell of a fight against any assailant hopefully making the character think twice before putting his hands on her again. Amara slowly pulled the weapon against her chest ready for battle when a familiar voice called out to her.
“Amara, are you underneath there?” Mr. Lee asked, moving right next to the side of the sleeping bag. “I have something for you.”
Amara breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God, it was him and not anyone else.
“Yes, I’m here,” she answered, placing the baseball bat back where it belonged, pushing the garbage bags and cardboard boxes off her body.
Amara poked her head out. Instantly, her gaze zoomed in on the two bags of food Mr. Lee was holding in his hand not ten feet from her growling stomach.
Food!!!
Was that for her? God, she hoped so! Amara prayed that it was as she wiggled out of the sleeping bag and stood in front of Mr. Lee.
“I brought you something to eat. I was worried about you finding something edible out here in all of the rain,” he said, handing her the two white bags that smelled like fried chicken and hamburgers.
Amara could barely stop herself from snatching the aroma-filled bags out of Mr. Lee’s outstretched hand. She couldn’t believe it after everything that had happened tonight. She was still actually going to have a warm meal tonight and maybe even something for tomorrow morning.
“Why are you doing all of this for me?” she asked glancing away from the bags up at Mr. Lee’s face. “Is there a reason you’re being so nice? I’m not going to have sex with you. So, if you think that then you can take your food and leave me the hell alone. I can find another place to sleep at night.”
Surprised by her outburst, Mr. Lee took a step back from her. “Amara, I don’t want to have sex with you. I can’t believe you think that about me,” he told her. “I only wanted to give you something to eat and a restful place to sleep for the night.”
She sensed, for some odd reason, that Mr. Lee worried about her, but it wasn’t something for him to lose any sleep over. She was more than capable of taking care of herself. She had been out here long enough to know the ins and outs of how this kind of survival worked.
“Mr. Lee, you don’t have to worry about me. I swear I won’t let anything happen to me.” She swore wanting to ease some of his anxiety.
“Will you at least do me a favor,” Mr. Lee asked, “so, I don’t have to worry about you out in this weather tonight?”
Amara almost told Mr. Lee no instantly, but he didn’t deserve her disrespect. He had helped her out way too much in the past for her not to at least listen to what he had to tell her.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Follow me. It’s getting damper out here,” he said.
Amara held her dinner against her chest and thought about it for a few second before she answered. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“Come with me. I know the rain has finally stopped, but it could start back up at any minute. You can eat your food inside of my car. I parked it at the side of the cleaners and while you are eating I want to run an idea I have by you.”
Spinning around, Mr. Lee headed for the black Lexus she noticed parked a few feet away from them. Amara didn’t doubt that Mr. Lee expected her to listen to him which is the only reason she followed him. There might have been a time that she would have turned around and gone back to her sleeping bag, but not tonight. She wouldn’t let her dignity stand in the way of her having a nice, warm place to eat her food.
Waiting for her by the side of the passenger door, Mr. Lee opened it when she got next to him. “Thank you for following me. I hope you agree with what I want you to do.”
“I’ll listen to what you have to tell me, but I’m not agreeing to anything you might have running around in that head of yours,” Amara answered honestly before she got into the car and waited while Mr. Lee closed the door behind her.
Opening the bag of food, she pulled out the container of French fries shoving two inside of her mouth savoring the salty taste of fried food. They weren’t super-hot, but they were still lukewarm enough to make her usually dead taste buds sit up and take notice.
From the corner of her eye, Amara watched as Mr. Lee got into the car and closed the driver’s door behind him. She knew it would be only a matter of minutes before he got right into what he wanted her to do.
“I hope you will give this some thought before you blow me off,” Mr. Lee said, turning on the heat inside of the car and directing it towards her.
The warm air blew through the vent against her damp skin warming her body as she reached into the bag and pulled out a thick, juicy double cheeseburger. The sight of the food made her mouth water even more for a taste. The urge to rip it open and dive right in ate at her, but Amara tried to have some kind of manners despite the fact she was starving!
> “I’m listening.” Peeling back the shiny wrapper, she took a nice sized bite moaning when the first delicious morsel danced across her tongue. God! She loved how good this tasted. It had been way too long.
“Amara, I want to help you get off the streets. You’re a beautiful young woman and I worry about you being out here night after night on your own.”
Taking another bite of the burger, Amara peeked at Mr. Lee from the corner of her eye before swallowing. Minutes past by while she ate more of the hamburger and fries while Mr. Lee sat there watching her every move.
“Do you have anything for me to drink?” Amara inquired, wiping her mouth with a napkin she found inside of the paper bag.
“Sorry, I forgot to bring it to you,” he apologized, reaching into the backseat. He dug inside of a grocery bag and pulled out a soda and handed it to her.
“Thank you.” Opening the soda, Amara took a drink and then placed it in the console between them. “Can I ask you something?”
Mr. Lee looked at her for a few minutes and then nodded his head. “Go ahead.”
“Why have you taken such an interest in me? I mean there are a lot of homeless females living out here on the streets,” she pointed out. “What about me made you go the extra mile to seek me out?”
Amara’s body slowly started to relax as the food filled her empty stomach and the heat in the car dried her wet clothing. She hoped Mr. Lee would finally let her know why he decided to devote so much of his personal time into her.
****
Sighing, Mr. Lee moved away from Amara running his hands down his face like he didn’t want to or have the words to answer her simple question. She could tell that he was hiding something from her and she would find out what it was.
“I’m not ready to talk about it with you or anyone else quite yet,” he confessed finally looking at her. “All I want you to know is there are some good people left out here more than willing to give you a helping hand without wanting anything in return for their kindness.”
What was Mr. Lee keeping from her? She believed they were friends, so he could tell her anything.
“Why won’t you tell me anything about yourself?” Amara pushed. She balled up the food wrapper tossing it back inside the bag and then reached for her drink again.
Taking a sip, she continued to study Mr. Lee as he stared off into the distance through the windshield. After a few minutes had passed, he glanced back in her direction. She immediately noticed the faraway look in his light blue eyes. Something was wrong, but she seriously doubted he would tell her what was going on.
“You remind of someone I knew. She was just like you--full of life. Jennifer believed she had the world in the palm of her hands, but she didn’t understand what her future held. I tried my best to help her but she ignored me and then it was too late to save her.”
Shock coursed throughout Amara’s body at Mr. Lee finally opening up this much to her, but all she could do was stare at him. What else could she get him to tell her? She wouldn’t know unless she asked him.
“Who was Jennifer?” she questioned placing the half-full drink back inside the holder. “Why was she so important to you?” Amara heard the door being slammed and the key being tossed away as she questioned Mr. Lee.
“I’m done,” he said after a minute. “I can’t say anything else about her right now. Like I said, I wasn’t able to save her; but at least let me try to help you out of this life. I know I can do it if you would only let me.”
Dropping her head, Amara ran her hand across her forehead. Why couldn’t anyone understand there wasn’t any way to help her now? Being out on the streets was such a huge part of her life nowadays that she wasn’t sure if she would be able to handle anything different.
“No, I don’t think I can,” she finally answered.
“Would you please listen to me?” Mr. Lee pleaded with her.
“Fine, I’m listening. Tell me what you want me to do,” she sighed.
“I can see you are more than this. I know of this warming center...” Placing his hand on top of hers, he gave it a light squeeze.
Mr. Lee was out of his mind if he thought she would ever lay her head down in one of those ‘so-called’ shelters. Those places were just as bad, or worse, than a homeless shelter cops constantly tried to shove her and her friends into when they were arrested on the streets trying to get money.
“No, I won’t go,” Amara shouted snatching her hand away. She grabbed the bag of food and reached for her drink. As Amara’s hand reached for the car door Mr. Lee’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm preventing her from leaving.
She glared at him over her shoulder. What in the hell did he want with her now?
“Amara, please wait a minute,” he pleaded with her. “I swear this warming center is better than those other places you have been to in the city. It’s at a shelter on Twentieth Street. I’ve been friends with the man over it for more than ten years. Pastor Allen isn’t like the rest of them. I swear to you. He’ll help you get out of the cold then if everything goes well, he might even be able to help you find a steady job.”
“I don’t know. I still think all of those places are the same, but just in different wrapping paper.”
“Why don’t you give it a try for me? I told him about you this morning and he promised to hold a bed for you, but you can’t wait too long to accept it,” Mr. Lee begged her. “I know how independent you are, but I’m really getting scared for you out here.”
Her mind was already made up before all of the words were even out of his mouth. She didn’t even give his suggestion a second thought. She wasn’t going to ask the Pastor Allen for any kind of help.
“I don’t think so. How can I leave my friends out here? We are a family and need each other. They are the only protection that I need.”
Sighing, Mr. Lee let go of her arm. “If you don’t want to see Pastor Allen about the room, will you at least try to work things out with your family and go back home? I know they are probably going crazy with worry. Don’t do this to them.”
She wished it was that easy, but it wasn’t. He didn’t know half the story and tonight wasn’t the night she was going to confess it to him. She would go back home if she could but Amara knew that day had passed a very long time ago.
“I’m sorry and going back home isn’t an option for me anymore. So, please don’t bring it up again. I’ve got to go because I need to get some sleep. It has already been a long night for me.”
Opening the car door, she hurried out before Mr. Lee would find another way to stop her. Running away, she made her way back to her hiding place. All she wanted to do was crawl back underneath the boxes, garbage bags and get some sleep. Since the rain had finally stopped, she wanted to get herself covered back up before it started back up again.
Stopping by the cleaners’ back door, Amara spun back around and found Mr. Lee still watching her through the windshield of his car. She waved at him and then smiled when he waved back at her.
She knew he wanted to help her and she wished she could take it but she couldn’t. Not after everything she had already been through in her life. It just wouldn’t be fair to either one of them to give him false hope that her situation would change.
Amara took one last look at Mr. Lee before turning back around and going to her sleeping bag. At least talking with him tonight had temporarily got her mind off the incident at the club with the gorgeous Dante. She didn’t want to wonder about him anymore, but she couldn’t help it.
He was unlike any other man she had ever seen before in her life. A part of her might not want to see him again, but another side of her hoped she might see him again even if it was just from a distance.
Chapter Three
The row of numbers on the accounting report kept running together the more Dante stared at the screen in front of him. He hadn’t been to bed yet, because he couldn’t get his mind off the run-in with the homeless girl. He’d spent a better part of the night searching for her and
found nothing. He knew he probably wouldn’t find her, but he had to give it a shot.
The terrified look on her face right before she broke free of his grip and ran from him was burned into his memory forever. He shouldn’t have manhandled her so roughly, but he never gave one thought to the thief being a girl instead of a boy.
Why would he?
After he realized his mistake he ran after her hoping to apologize and then give the poor girl something to eat. Yet, when he made it around the corner of his building, she was nowhere in sight. Finding her was at the top of his list because it wasn’t safe for someone as young as her to be out on the streets.
Usually he was more understanding and sadly he hadn’t acted with compassion and offered her his help. His anger had taken over his common sense making him act out more than he usually would in a situation like what happened with her.
Closing his eyes, Dante laid his head against the headrest of his leather chair. He hoped to get a few minutes to himself before anyone else showed up at the bar and wanted him to do something for them. The weekends were always the craziest and he definitely needed time to recharge even if it was only for a few minutes.
All of the other wayward thoughts were cleared from his mind as Dante felt his body begin to relax after sitting and thinking about nothing else as the minutes gradually ticked by. His tension along with some of his guilt eased away as the much needed sleep he missed out on last night started taking over his exhausted body.
Just as Dante was about to get a visit from the sandman, he got interrupted by the unexpected sound of his office door being flung open crashing against the wall.
His eyes flew open as he jumped up from his chair glaring at the intruder standing in his office. “What in the fuck is your problem?” Dante demanded, wishing he had thought about locking his office door before deciding to take a quick catnap. “Why are you barging into my office like it’s yours?”
“How in the hell are any of your employees supposed to get anything done if their boss is back here asleep?” Caleb Dash teased, stared at him and then frowned. “God man, you look horrible. Have you hooked back up with Bambi again and not told me about it?”
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