Turned Down
“Get the hell away from me!” I hollered at the men that were surrounding me. I’d just closed up the bar that I was working at and had left through the back door just like every other night. But tonight, there were guys back here. I saw a wine bottle on the ground and grabbed it, smashing it against the side of the building. “I have no problems cutting every one of your dicks off! Back the fuck up!” They stalled, and I bolted towards my car. One of them caught me around the waist and flung me back towards the others, but I still had the busted bottle in my hand so I turned, swinging it at them.
“What’s with all the noise? Can’t a fella get some sleep?” came a holler from by the dumpster.
“Help me!” I screamed towards the voice. The shadow moved from the dumpster, but it looked like he was just an old homeless guy that wouldn’t be able to do much. Someone behind me grabbed my butt and I spun, swinging the bottle at his face and catching his cheek just enough to see a satisfyingly dark red line appear.
“You little bitch!” A gunshot went off and the guy crumpled to the ground as red splashed on the rest of the guys that were near him. The crowd scattered, and I turned around, holding the bottle up for protection.
“Taking a broken bottle to a gun fight? Sure way to get killed, girly. Put it down; I ain’t gonna hurt ya,” came a rough voice from the shadow that’d moved by the dumpster moments ago.
“Who are you?” I said, my voice quivering in fear that he was armed with a gun and homeless.
“Someone ya don’t mess with. Put the bottle down, Rosie.” The busted bottle fell from my hand and shattered at my feet as he unfolded himself from his spot in the shadows.
“H-How do you know me?” I whispered out, backing towards my car.
“I know more than just your name. Anyway, I was after this guy.” He moved a giant hand to his ear. “Come get him and bring a bag.” He hadn’t taken his eyes off me and even though I was terrified that he towered over me and had a gun, something about his gaze made me feel safe. “So what do I get for saving ya?”
“A thank you,” I said softly. “And a free bottle tomorrow night when I leave the bar.” A smirk tugged up one corner of his mouth and all function left my brain for a second.
“How about a date?”
“You pick up all your dates like this?” I asked, a half-smirk twitching up the left side of my mouth.
“Never really needed to bargain for one. Let alone save a girl to get her attention.”
“You’ve seen me before?” Footsteps behind me made me spin as I tugged my keys from my purse.
“You’re safe. They’re my guys,” the guy said. I still backed up to be closer to him, wanting to feel safer, and he chuckled. “I’ll prove you’re safe from all harm right now.” He shoved me towards them, and I lost my footing. One of them reached out and caught me, stood me up and let go of me, then went back to helping the others stuff the dead body in the bag. “See? Ya won’t get hurt when me or my guys are around.”
“Who the hell are you?” I growled out, trying to sound as dangerous as I could. He simply laughed and walked to my car, reaching out and taking my keys from my hand on his way past.
“I already answered that, Rosie. Hop in,” he said, opening my door and dangling my keys over the top of it.
“The answer you gave me isn’t the answer I want,” I shot back, not moving to my car. He stalked towards me and I backed as quick as I could but ran into the back of the bar. A palm slapped the building on either side of my face, making me jump and suck in a breath in fear.
“I’m the guy that wins every fight. The guy that always gets the girl. The guy that gets what and who he wants for however long he wants. No one takes anything from me and lives. No one touches what’s mine without my permission.”
“Does that explain you shooting that guy? He took something from you?” I whispered out.
“No. He was already my target. Plus, he touched what’s mine. You.” My anger boiled over and I shoved the guy back. Saving me from being another rape statistic in Orlando didn’t make me his and he needed to learn that.
“I’m not yours, asshole. Just because you saved me from being another damn statistic means nothing. Thanks for saving me, but I’ll be leaving now.”
“Not without telling me where to meet ya for my date,” he said as he pushed me back into the wall, being gentle enough so I didn’t hit my head.
“How about in hell, Devil?” I growled out, snatching my keys from him. I ran to my car and got in, locking the doors as I pulled mine shut behind me.
Mark’s POV
“Told you not to be aggressive with this one,” Carl said as she peeled out of the lot. “You’ll never get her now.”
“Yes, I will. I want her, and I get what I want. Rosie’s mine. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Mark, I’ve looked at her history. You can’t be aggressive with her.”
“Why not? Every woman loves the aggressive, I get what I want kind of guy.”
“Not when they’re raised in an abusive home by one,” he said, looking at me like I was an idiot.
“What?” None of the guys assigned by my temporary employers to clean up my hits ever gave me attitude or argued with me, but Carl had jumped on board with me 5 years ago and hadn’t left yet. He got the intel on my next hit, figured out the best time to go after the target, and I saw him as more of a partner and friend than a clean-up man.
“Yep. Physical abuse on her from 12 to 17 when she ran away. Father used to beat her ass with a belt. Not just a spanking, but an actual beating. One guy in her community says that her father was even raping her, but there’s no proof of it anywhere. Get it through your head. You can’t be aggressive with her and get her. Seeing how quick she moved getting away from you, I doubt you’ll ever get her.” I walked over to the wall that I’d pinned her on and punched it a few times. Some paint chips flew off the bricks, but my hand let some bloody streaks on it.
Rosie’s POV
Holy shit. Did that really just happen? I almost got raped, then got hit on by the guy that saved me? What the hell kind of night is this? I thought as I pulled into my garage. Even though I worked in downtown Orlando at a bar, I lived in College Park – a small sub-section of Orlando that was nicer and a bit more upscale. I closed the garage door and went inside, stripping on my way to the bathroom and crawling into a nice hot shower. I stood there letting the hot water wash away my stress and relax my muscles until the water turned cold. I shut off the water, dried and went to the bedroom, tugging on my favorite night shirt and a pair of panties. I went to the kitchen and heated up some left over pizza from my lunch, pulling out the bag of cat food while my dinner heated up.
A crash coming from the only spare room in my house made me jerk around. I opened a drawer inch by agonizing inch until I could reach my hand in and pull out a gun. I wasn’t licensed to carry, but law said I didn’t need a license to have them for home defense. I had a gun hidden in every room of my house. There was even one in my bathroom just on the off chance that someone broke in while I was in there. I tugged the gun from the drawer and tiptoed towards the spare room where the crash came from.
Yanking the door open, I shrieked as my cat rushed by me. “Smokey! God damn, you scared the hell outta me! How did you even get in there?” I yelled at him. He stopped at the end of the hall, stretched out and sharpened his claws on the carpet. “Of course. I’m 5 minutes late serving you dinner, so you’re gonna throw a tantrum, huh? Never mind the fact that Mommy almost got raped after work; you’re just worried about your damn stomach. Rotten cat. Maybe I should get a dog.” He looked back at me and yowled, making me laugh. “Alright. Come on.” I fed him and joined him with my pizza after putting the gun back in the drawer, then picked him up and went to bed.
“No, Daddy. I don’t want a spanking. I’m sorry. I’ll never forget a dish again.” My 15-year-old voice said as I backed towards a wall.
“You wanna make Daddy happy?” My head nodded. “Then drop your panties, Rosie. You know the spanking that’ll make me happy.”
My eyes jerked open as I screamed in terror and bolted up in bed, scaring Smokey in the process. He fuzzed and jumped off the bed, but I tugged my knees to my chest and made sure I was still in all the clothes I’d been wearing when I went to bed, then let my head fall on my knees and cried for what felt like the next couple hours, passing out from emotional exhaustion. Something soft and fuzzy rubbed against my face, making me breathe in fur and jerk up, gagging and coughing. “Payback for scaring you earlier, huh?” I asked Smokey when he sat on my bed and looked at me. “You’re an ass. You couldn’t just cuddle me awake like a good cat?” He started purring and rubbed against my arm, so I rolled my eyes and crawled out of bed. “God, that was one hell of a nightmare. Had to be the crap from last night that stirred that one up.” I said to myself as I tugged on my shorts. My doorbell went off and I headed out to open it. “Coming!”
I looked through the peephole but opened the door without reaching for a gun. “Hey, Rosie. You ok? I heard a scream come from here about 20 minutes ago. I heard the one last night, but heard you yell at Smokey a minute later.” I chuckled and let my neighbor, Mrs. Spears, come in.”
“Yeah, I’m good. Had a nightmare is all. I’m sorry if it woke you up.”
“Honey, I get up at 5. Now what do you want for breakfast, sweetie?” she asked, patting my cheek.
“I’m 27 years old, Mrs. Spears. I can make my own breakfast,” I chuckled out. “Thank you for the offer though.”
“Nonsense. You need to talk about that nightmare. There’s my handsome boy!” she cried, scooping Smokey up into her arms and making him yowl. “Your Mommy hasn’t fed you? Oh, how dare she! Look at you. You’re all skin and bones, baby! Come on, Smokey. I’ll give you some breakfast.”
“No!” I said before she could take a step. “He’s on a diet. Vet’s orders. Said he’s getting too fat. I’m tempted to put a leash on him and tie him onto the treadmill.” She chuckled and set him down, then came back over to me and wrapped her arms around me.
“Rosie, honey. When are you gonna find a man? Some handsome, strong young man in your life will help keep those nightmares away.”
“No, it won’t, Mrs. Spears. Men only cause problems. I wish it was that easy though.” I murmured in her ear.
“You’ll find one that won’t cause trouble someday,” she said as a knock came on the door. I looked through the peephole, then made sure she was in the kitchen and grabbed the gun from the table by the door.
“Can I help you?” I asked, looking at the gorgeous man that was on my doorstep. He was a good 5 foot 10, had arms that looked like they could tow a tank, dark grey eyes, blonde hair, and a tan so rich in bronze color that it gave him an exotic look. I was trying not to let my eyes drop below his chest, but they were slowly dropping down and flirting with the waistband of his jeans.
“Ya can let me apologize for last night, Rosie,” said the rough voice that’d saved me from the group of guys behind the bar last night, making my gaze jerk back up to his. Before I could say anything, he was talking again. “I’m sorry if I seemed forward about a date, but I’ve been keeping an eye on ya for months. Ya caught my eye the first time I went in that bar for a drink after work back in March. I know that somewhat counts as an apology, but will ya let me apologize properly and take ya to diner?”
“She’d love to,” came Mrs. Spears voice from beside me before I could think of an answer. I pushed the gun between me and the wall, so she wouldn’t see it, but spoke up as he opened his mouth.
“No, I wouldn’t. Mrs. Spears, you know I work every night. I don’t have time or energy for any kind of dating. Sorry, sir, but your answer’s no. I do appreciate you saving me last night, though.”
