Through The Dark

by Jae

  “You look great!” Ella exclaims when I walk out of my closet and shove the main necessities into my mini black crossbody purse.

  My head snaps up and my eyes widen in panic when I hear the doorbell ring.

  “Wow,” Ella says as she looks at her watch. “He’s right on time!”

  We both quickly make our way downstairs and I pull open the front door to reveal a very heartbreakingly sexy looking Liam. He’s wearing a plain white v-neck t-shirt that hugs his arms and chest perfectly and black jeans with a pair of all black high-top Chuck Taylor All Star Converse shoes tucked underneath them. I hold my breath while his eyes scan my body, also taking in my appearance. I’m happy to see that my heels give me a few more inches. It makes me feel a little more comfortable knowing I come up to just above his shoulders instead of his chest.

  “Hi, I’m Ella.” Ella introduces as she pulls the door open wider so she can get a better look at Liam. “I’m Daisy’s best friend.”

  “It’s nice to meet you Ella.” Liam says with a charming smile and they shake hands. “I’m Liam.”

  “Great! Well, it was nice to meet you also and you two have fun!” Ella exclaims, squeezing my arms before sliding out the door. “Don’t stay out too late.”

  Before I can say anything, Ella is out of sight and Liam is looking at me expectantly.

  “You ready to go?”

  “Uhh… Yeah, I guess so.” I mumble, shutting my front door behind me and then follow Liam to his car.

  He opens the door for me and I climb in. Once he’s sure I’m completely inside and all situated, he shuts the door and jogs around the front of the car to get in on his side. Neither of us talks during the entire car ride, the music playing softly on the radio filling the silence. I can’t help but watch Liam while he drives. I take in the way his left hand is on the steering wheel and his right arm is propped up on the armrest. I notice the way his brow crinkles a little bit in the middle while his eyes focus on the road. Every now and then he glances over and catches me staring, then he looks away without saying a word; but I can see the corners of his lips curl up just the tiniest bit. During this car ride, when Liam’s height isn’t towering over me and his eyes aren’t piercing into mine, he doesn’t seem so scary. He just seems like a laid back college student who is too damn handsome for his own good.

  When we pull into the parking lot of a well-known Italian restaurant, I’m happy to see it’s packed with cars. Meaning, if Liam tries to do anything to me, there won’t be a shortage of people to witness it. Liam turns off the car and gets out before I even have a chance to take off my seatbelt. When I reach to open the door, my hand swims in the air for a second before I realize Liam has already opened it for me.

  “You look beautiful.” Liam compliments me as he reaches out and takes my hand in his; lacing our fingers together while we walk through the parking lot to the entrance of the restaurant.

  I resist the urge to roll my eyes and pull my hand away while I politely thank him.

  When we enter the restaurant, the hostess immediately seats us after Liam gives her his name. I slide into my seat directly across from Liam and take in the atmosphere of the restaurant. There are beautiful pictures of Italy hanging on the walls and cute little plants set around here and there. After our waitress, who introduces herself as Wendy, takes our drink orders, Liam opens his menu and starts scanning the choices.

  “Have you been here before?” Liam asks me after a few minutes, his face scrunching up in confusion.

  “No.”

  “Then why aren’t you looking at the menu?”

  “I’m not very hungry.” I shrug my shoulders. I know I’m being difficult, but I don’t care. This is the last place I want to be right now.

  I watch Liam’s eyes grow a tad dark with annoyance as they pierce into mine. “Pick something. Or I’ll pick for you.”

  A shiver runs down my spine at his words, causing me to quickly open my menu and burry my face in it.

  After Wendy comes back with our drinks and we order, I hastily announce to Liam that I have to pee. When I enter the restroom I firmly wrap my hands around the edge of the first sink in a row of many. I squeeze my eyes shut while I try to think of things to calm me down. I stare at my reflection for a while before making the final decision that I have to get out of this restaurant and as far away from Liam as possible. I jump when I hear the door to the bathroom swing open. I sigh in relief when I recognize the person to be Wendy, the waitress, and not Liam through the mirror.

  “Hey, are you okay?” She asks softly and walks closer to me.

  I stare at her through the mirror for a moment before spinning around, trying to put together some sort of plan with the little amount of time I know I have left.

  “The guy you’re with asked me to come check on you.” She tells me when I don’t answer her. “He said you’ve been in here for a while.”

  “Can you help me?” I question suddenly, surprising us both.

  “Yes.” She responds quickly, panic growing in her eyes. “Of course.”

  “Okay, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’m really scared of the guy I’m with and he pretty much forced me to come here with him.” I inform her quickly, knowing I’m running out of time. “So I need you to help me sneak out of here. Can you do that?”

  “Oh my God!” She exclaims, grabbing a hold of my hands and giving them a reassuring squeeze. “Yes, I’ll definitely help you!”

  “Thank you so much!” I respond as another sigh of relief escapes my mouth. “Okay, I need you to look out the door and check to see if the guy I came here with is anywhere in sight. If you don’t see him, wave me over and I’m going to hurry out the front doors. Once I’m outside, I want you to count to five and then go tell him you couldn’t find me in the bathroom. That should give me enough time to get away from here.”

  Wendy nods her head in understanding before rushing over to the door and poking her head out. When she’s sure she doesn’t see Liam, she waves me over and we both exit the bathroom. I immediately make a beeline for the front doors, giving Wendy a thankful glance. Once I’m outside I start to run through the parking lot until I get to the busy street that the restaurant is located by.

  “Daisy!” I hear Liam yell as he bursts through the front doors of the restaurant and starts running towards me. “Daisy, stop!”

  I immediately regret telling Wendy to count to five instead of ten or maybe even twenty. I quickly turn and run down the sidewalk as fast as I can, easily blending in with the groups of young people around me. A few moments later I dip into the first crowded place I see and rush into the bathroom.

  Fumbling with my purse, I pull out my phone and call Ella.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” She asks as soon as she picks up the phone, alarm evident in her voice. “Are you okay?”

  “Ella, I couldn’t do it. I felt like I was suffocating.” I ramble into the phone.

  “Wait, what?” She responds, her voice now sounding like a mix between shock and confusion. “Where are you?”

  “The bathroom of some sports bar.”

  “Oh my God.” She says in disbelief. “You ditched him?”

  “Yes.” I admit, quickly beginning to grow annoyed. “Will you just come pick me up, please?”

  “Yes, of course.” She chuckles. “I’m leaving my house right now; text me the address.”

  I say okay before hanging up and opening the bathroom door. I glance around first, searching for any sight of Liam. When I don’t see him, I slide into a booth in the back of the room and text Ella. I order a glass of ice water when a young busty waitress walks over and asks me if I want anything, and then watch the front doors of the bar; praying Liam doesn’t walk through them. About twenty minutes later I see Ella walk into the bar, Zoie and Taylor following closely behind her. I wave them over and then let out a sigh of relief when they slide into the booth with me.

  “Tell us everything!” Taylor says with too much excitement in her voice.<
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  “I don’t even know what to say.” I sigh, leaning my head on Ella’s shoulder. “He seriously just scares the hell out of me.”

  “That’s understandable.” Zoie says, reaching across the table and squeezing my hand.

  “Well, hopefully he’ll get the hint and leave you alone now.” Ella offers.

  “I hope so.”

  “At least you look totally hot.” Taylor says, scanning my outfit after we stand from the booth and make our way out of the bar.

  “Thanks, Taylor.” I laugh, shaking my head at the fact that this is the only upside she can think to offer me.

  Once we get in the car, Ella informs me that they had just finished getting ready to go to a party when I called and want to know if I would like to go or if she should take me home.

  “Oh, so that’s why you guys look all done up?” I question jokingly. “I thought that was just for me.”

  “You wish!” Zoie exclaims causing all of us to erupt in fits of laughter.

  “Of course I do!” I smile, giving her a flirty wink. “But yes, I would love to tag along. I think some partying would do me a great deal of good right about now.”

  “Well here’s a head start.” Zoie says before she hands me a bottle with some type of dark red liquid in it.

  “What is this?” I question after I twist the lid off and smell it.

  “It’s cranberry juice, Red Bull, and vodka.” Zoie explains and motions for me to take a drink. “It’s great! You’ll love it!”

  Shrugging my shoulders, I take a small sip to get a taste. It’s a little strong, but good nonetheless, so I take two big gulps.

  “Where’s the party at?” I ask after I hand the bottle back to Zoie.

  “You remember our cousin Clair?” Taylor asks me from the front passenger seat.

  “Yes, the desperate slutty one that’s jealous I have Liam’s number.” I chuckle. “I remember.”

  “Well, when Zoie talked to her on the phone yesterday, she informed her that she’s joined a sorority and they’re throwing a party tonight.”

  I nod my head in understanding as the car fills with an upbeat song and we all start to scream along with it until we get to the party.

  “Shots!” I yell, already a little tipsy when we walk in the door and make a beeline for the kitchen.

  There is a cute guy with short brown hair standing at the counter who decides to play ‘bartender’ for us by lining up shot glasses and handing each of us limes. I watch as he pours the gold colored liquid into the small glasses and then shouts ‘GO!’ over the loud music, causing us each to tip back the shots. I smile as the warm liquid burns down my throat and then bite into the lime. After about an hour and I don’t know how many shots, I’m grinding with some random guy in the crowded living room. I’m having a really good time until I hear Ella shout my name and then suddenly the guy I’m dancing with disappears from behind me. I turn around and my eyes instantly grow wide when I see the guy get punched square in the face, causing him to fall to the ground.

  “Oh my God!” I yell, moving to bend down next to him to make sure he’s okay, and then stop dead in my tracks when the person who punched him turns around.

  It takes nearly no time at all for me to realize it’s Liam. I stay completely frozen in my spot while Liam stares me down, anger flaming in his eyes.

  “What the hell, Liam?” Ella shouts once she appears next to me and shoves his chest.

  “Not so fast.” Liam growls while grabbing a hold of my arm when Ella starts pulling me out of the room.

  Before I can fully comprehend what’s going on through my drunken haze, I’m being picked up and thrown over Liam’s shoulder. I hear Ella shout at Liam some more and Liam shouting something back at her, but I can’t make out what either of them are saying. Then Liam starts walking through the crowds of staring people and out the front door.

  “Put me down, Liam!” I yell while beating on his back with my fists, but it doesn’t seem to faze him and just keeps walking.

  When we get to his car, he plops me down in the passenger seat and slams the door shut. My eyes grow wide when I try to open the door – he’s locked me in. I face forward to see him walking around the front of the car. Once he gets inside, he starts the car and takes off down the street.

  “Put on your seatbelt.” He nearly growls.

  I do what he says; feeling absolutely terrified now.

  We both are completely silent the entire car ride and it doesn’t help that there’s no music playing on the radio to fill the silence this time. I stare at Liam with wide eyes, waiting for him to say or do something. I take in that this time he’s driving with his right hand on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white from holding on so tight, and his left arm is perched up on the windowsill. Every now and then, like when we’re sitting at a red light, Liam runs his hands through his hair, pushing it messily off his forehead. The crease between his eyebrows is a lot deeper this time while he stares out the windshield; never once glancing at me. I know it’s mostly out of anger and a part of me can’t help but wonder if he’s plotting how he’s going to murder me.

  “Are you going to hurt me?” I ask, my eyes widening at the question that accidently falls out of my mouth, but the only response I get is Liam glancing at me like I have two heads.

  I’m surprised when I start to recognize the scenery around us; we’re in my neighborhood. When we pull into my driveway, Liam puts the car in park and hops out. I let out what feelings like my hundredth sigh of relief when he opens the door. I quickly climb out and rush up to my front door. Before I have the chance to pull my keys out of my bag though, Liam spins me around and forces me up against the wooden door. He presses his lips firmly to mine while one hand catches hold of the back of my neck and the other is planted firmly beside my head.

  Being drunk, scared, and tired doesn’t leave me with much energy to fight him off, but I weakly push his chest with my hands to get some distance between us anyway. When Liam finally pulls away, I wipe my mouth off with the back of my hand.

  “Oh, come on, it’s wasn’t that bad.” He chuckles.

  I flinch when his fingertips brush my cheek.

  “I can promise you we’ll definitely be doing this again.” He informs me as the smirk I’m growing to hate appears on his face.

  I’m not sure if he means the kissing or the date, but the thought of either happening again makes me shudder. Glancing up at his face, I notice one of his curls is slightly out of place and even though it makes him look extremely adorable, I suppress the urge to fix it.

  “Goodnight, Little Miss Daisy.” Liam says softly.

  I squeeze my eyes shut when he dips his head a final time and gently places a kiss to my forehead before walking back to his car. While I watch Liam pull out of my drive way, the realization that there’s probably nothing I can possibly do to get him to leave me alone, especially not after a night like tonight, washes over me.

  Chapter Four

  I let out a grown when I hear my phone start ringing. I reach over and grab it off my nightstand to see Ella’s face on the screen.

  “Hello?” I snap, still half asleep.

  “Good morning to you too, crabby pants.” She chuckles on the other end of the phone.

  “What do you want, Ella?”

  “I just thought I would be a good friend and remind you that it’s Monday, meaning we have to work today.”

  “What time is it?”

  “It’s 9:00. We have to open the store at 11:00 and I told Zoie and Taylor last night that we would pick them up on the way.”

  “Why?” I whine, throwing a pillow over my head.

  “Oh stop!” She chuckles some more. “Now get up so we can get something to eat on the way.”

  I mumble a few choice words that would probably make my Grandma blush before hanging up my phone and putting it back on my nightstand. I stare at my ceiling while making a mental note to never drink the night before I have work ever again. This thought causes
last night’s events to flood my memory, but I quickly push them away. The last thing I want to think about right now is Liam.

  I slowly get up and make my way into my connecting bathroom. After I finish brushing my teeth, I step into the shower. The hot steamy water feels amazing on my aching body and helps reduce my pounding headache. Once I’m finished, I dry off and wrap a towel tightly around myself.

  Forty minutes later I’m ready and checking over myself in the mirror one more time. I’m wearing a white tank top with the letters “LA” in black bones on the front and a black and white checkered flannel button up over it, black jean shorts with studs embroidering the back pockets, and a pair of black Canvas Cordones Toms shoes. My hair is up in a messy bun and my makeup consists of a soft smoky eye and bright pink lips.

  “You ready to go?” Ella asks me after she walks into my closet.

  I nod my head while I roll the sleeves of my flannel up to my elbows and slide a pair of black Wayfarer Ray Ban sunglasses over my eyes.

  “Here, take these.” Ella says as she hands me a few Tylenol pills and a bottle of water.

  I thank her after I swallow the pills and we walk into my room. I stuff my phone into the purse I used last night since it still has everything I need in it before we make our way out to my car. “You look cute by the way.”

  “Oh, thanks!” Ella smiles while glancing down at her outfit. She’s wearing a white t-shirt with a large black cross on the front, black leather leggings, and a pair of black Jeffrey Campbell wedges. Her hair is curled and her makeup consists of a thin line of eyeliner that swoops out in the outer corners of her eyelids and bright red lips.

  After we pick up Zoie and Taylor, I realize we still have an hour to kill before we have to open Red; the trendy fashion retail store we all work at. I drive through a Krispy Kreme and order us a dozen glazed doughnuts and then I go across the street and drive through a Starbucks and order us each large vanilla iced coffees.