Fred leaned on his car while he looked at Otis, running toward the big house. When he heard Derick walk toward him, Fred asked, "So what's the story?"
Derick looked at the now-closed door of the house. He told Fred the story about the medical certificate and the police involvement with a sigh, then ended it with, "The boy's aunt even visited and threatened me at the clinic. Guess she also visited Otis this morning." Derick chuckled while he shook his head. "Who knew a small woman like her could do that?"
‘Indeed,' Fred silently agreed while he lit up a cigarette. Never did it cross his mind that the woman who was so timid in bed would be that bold.
"Are you joining us for dinner?" Derick asked after a while. When Fred shook his head, Derick shrugged. "See you later then," he said and went inside.
Left alone under the darkening sky, Fred took out his phone and dialed a number.
"Where are you?" He asked when the call got connected. "I'll pick you up."
Fred heard something breaking on the other side of the phone, then the woman's voice came, "Sorry, I can't talk right now. I'll get back to you later."
"Wait, Rebecca —" Fred frowned when the call got disconnected.
Rebecca stood back with Raynor as they silently watched their mother apologizing to the two older women in the middle of her small restaurant.
One of the women broke a glass and shouted at Rebecca's mother, "You must remember to pay your loan this month, Mary, or else your restaurant might just… disappear!"
"I will, of course, I will!"
Rebecca heard Mary answer, and the latter's voice, when she did, was so soft, meek, and distressed that it made her gut wrench in anger. Mary was a tough woman. So tough that she always told Rebecca not to cry for no reason and to know how to fight when needed. It took a while for Rebecca to understand that, but she did, which was why she was the person she is now.
Mary was no perfect mother, sometimes raising her hand at Rebecca when she did something wrong and rarely hugging her when she needed it most. But she was the parent who stuck around and raised Rebecca, so in some way, Rebecca had some love for Mary.
So, when Rebecca saw Mary lowering herself down from the two women, Rebecca knew she wanted to hurt them.
Rebecca started to walk forward when she felt a hand grab her arms. It was Raynor. He shook his head as his way of telling her not to go. With what had happened, Rebecca forgot Raynor was ever there. She smiled to reassure Raynor and signed, [I won't do anything. I'll just check up on mom. Stay here.]
Rebecca didn't wait for Raynor to respond and approached the three people inside the room.
"Mom, what's going on?" Rebecca asked Mary.
Instead of answering her question, Mary hissed at her, "Rebecca! What are you doing here?"
"Is this your daughter, Mary?" The woman who broke the glass asked.
"Yes, I am," Rebecca answered before Mary could. "Did you want something from my mother?"
Rebecca heard what the two women were saying, but she pretended not to know anything.
The woman sneered, "Your mom here ow—"
"That's none of your business, Rebecca. Aren't you supposed to be at home right now?" Mary didn't shout the words, but Rebecca felt her mother's intention to push her away.
"Mom…"
"Benson is waiting for you at home. You should go."
Yet another thing Rebecca and her mother couldn't seem to agree upon. Rebecca had tried to tell Mary that she and Benson were no longer together, but Mary didn't seem to listen.
"Mom, I told you before, Benson and I—"
Mary hissed. "Stop it, Rebecca. We'll talk about this another time. I have guests."
Rebecca could no longer do anything when Mary turned her back on her and faced the two women who looked more like the enemy than Rebecca.
Angry, she turned around and walked out of the restaurant as fast as her legs could. She saw Raynor move to try to stop her from leaving, but she ignored him. Ironic as it might, it was safer for Raynor to stay with their mother.
Rebecca knew this street like the back of her hand, so even without thinking, she knew where she could go to avoid the many people who were scrambling to get home wherever it was.
By her estimate, it must only be around nine in the evening. Yet Rebecca was tired to the bone. Rebecca slowed down when she was far enough from Mary's restaurant to catch her breath.
"Go home and sleep," Rebecca repeatedly mumbled to herself while she walked along the street. It was all she could do at the moment to stop herself from thinking about Mary, Raynor, and Benson. It was too much for her right now to deal with them at the same time.
It was when Rebecca turned another corner that she noticed something was wrong. She was being followed. Rebecca saw the man wearing a black mask five minutes ago but thought he was just another stressed worker trying to get home, so she quickly forgot about him.
But she started noticing how he kept pace with how she walked.
When Rebecca slowed her pace, the man would also slow down, and when Rebecca quickened her pace, the man also followed.
Hands trembling with panic, Rebecca reached inside her pocket and took out her phone. She pretended to dial a number and said loudly, "Hey, babe! I'm very close. I'm around five minutes from Victoria Road. Really?" Rebecca looked around and made sure the man saw what she was doing. "Oh! I see your car."
Rebecca might have missed the black car parked across her had she not looked closely at the street. So, it was a relief to really find a lone car at that time of the night and in this almost secluded area.
Rebecca still had her phone in her ears as she crossed the street and approached the car. She tried not to run so as not to signal her stalker that she had long noticed him.
'Now what?' Rebecca started to get more anxious.
If she was lucky, someone was inside the black car and was willing to help her. But if not, then tough luck.
Rebecca knocked at the passenger seat, and her knees almost buckled in relief when the window slowly pulled down.
Her knees never buckled, though, because the next thing Rebecca felt was shocked upon seeing the man in the driver's seat.
"Get in," Fred urged the woman who didn't seem to have plans on getting inside her car. It had gotten colder these days, and the woman was obviously trembling from the cold.
When Rebecca was safe inside, Fred quickly turned on the heater inside the car. He noticed that Rebecca was distracted by something outside, so he looked in the direction she was looking but saw no one.
"Are you alright?" Fred asked. Now that he had a closer look, Rebecca looked more rattled than cold.
'She's scared.' That made Fred curious. Yet another thing he found surprisingly amusing was the woman who looked as cold as ice.
"Rebecca, are you alright?" Fred couldn't help it. He reached out and caressed the woman's cheek. 'Scared and cold,' Fred changed his assessment. Rebecca might be good at hiding things, but Fred had observed the woman for quite some time to understand if the woman was hiding something from him and herself.
Rebecca looked at her then, dazed but at least a little more herself. "I'm fine," she said in a breath of relief. "What— What are you doing here?"
"You weren't answering my call." Fred pointed at the phone Rebecca held tightly in her hand.
"Oh! I was busy."
"How did you know where to find me?"
Fred heard a suspicious glint in Rebecca's voice, but he just shrugged and asked instead, "Do you have work tomorrow?"
It wasn't the right time for him and Rebecca to discuss such things. 'There's time,' Fred told himself for the nth time.
"N–No," Rebecca shook her head. "But I have to attend an event in the evening."
"I see. Make sure to call me when you're out this late," Fred said, his voice firm but gentle.
He heard Rebecca chuckle. "Why?" Fred was surprised to hear a hint of bitterness in her voice when she continued to ask, "Are you going to come for me if I call you?"
"Call me, and we'll see," Fred answered. He didn't dare give Rebecca an outright answer, fearing that she would dismiss him as a liar. Fred didn't lie.
"Do you want me to take you home?" Fred asked to change the subject.
"No, not yet," Rebecca answered.
"Good!" Fred was right there to reach out and buckle Rebecca's seatbelt. "Let's go somewhere else."
Fred parked the car when they reached the bar. With no words said, Rebecca followed him after he opened the door for her. The blinding colorful lights and upbeat music immediately welcomed them as soon as they entered.
Protective as always, Fred wrapped his arm on Rebecca's shoulder, took her to his side, and fended her off against the already intoxicated guests.
Seeing how stiff Rebecca somehow became, he leaned against her ear and asked, "Is this your first time?"
Before she could even respond, Fred spoke again and answered his question himself. "Well, I guess not. I just remembered we met at the bar last month."
Rebecca had once come to the bar with her roommate in college. However, Benson, who was her boyfriend at that time, never liked crowded places, so she stopped going. If she weren't stressed enough to seek an escape, she wouldn't have gone to the bar last month and met the man.
...
The music was invigorating. It was the kind of music that persuaded people to be the wildest people they could be, to forget that they were nothing but a body made for dancing to the music.
"You sure know a lot of places!" Rebecca shouted at the man to make herself heard.
"Fred!" The man behind the counter greeted the man.
'Is that his name?' Rebecca thought while she watched as Fred greeted the bartender. Fred smiled, shook the other man's hand, and exchanged a joke that made them laugh out loud.
"So, who's the girl?" The man asked Fred.
Fred, however, winked teasingly at Rebecca and answered the man with, "Can you give us two drinks?"
The man nodded with a grin and poured two drinks as Fred requested.
"Put it in my tab, yeah?" Fred said as he took the drinks and gave one to Rebecca. "You can drink, right?"
Rebecca nodded.
"So why did you bring me here?" Rebecca asked when the bartender left them to serve another customer.
Fred shrugged. "I thought you might need to relieve the pressure off you a bit."
"Why made you think that?" Rebecca asked.
Fred stared at Rebecca and simply answered, "Your post."
It took a while for Rebecca to understand what Fred meant. When she did, her face flushed with embarrassment.
Everything that could go wrong went wrong the month Rebecca divorced Benson. Not only did Benson leave Rebecca, but she also got into a fight with Mary about the divorce, and Raynor had a fight with some gangster kids. Out of frustration, she blocked all her friends and posted a short article about it. Seeing that Fred knew about Rebecca's post must mean he was the only one who read her post.
"There's nothing wrong with getting stressed now and then," Fred said. "You know the best way to relieve the pressure?" Rebecca frowned and waited for Fred to answer, "Alcohol and sex."
Rebecca doubted that, but ten minutes later, she found herself in the middle of the dance floor dancing to the song's rhythm.
Fred watched as Rebecca flung her arms upward and swayed her hips to match the music booming inside the bar. He wondered if Rebecca was even aware of what she was doing right now. Fred excused himself a few minutes ago from Rebecca to use the men's bathroom only to find out that the woman had disappeared. He searched for Rebecca, of course, and was relieved that she was only dancing with the bunch of people in the middle of the dance floor.
Fred streamed through the crowd to reach Rebecca, quickly grabbing her arms to face him.
"Hey!" Rebecca laughed in surprise, joy, and probably drunkenness as she wrapped her hands around his neck. "I've been looking for you!"
Fred should have been annoyed and shouted at Rebecca for leaving their seat without telling him, but all the annoyance he felt disappeared when Rebecca suddenly tiptoed and kissed him on his lips.
It gave Fred pleasure to kiss Rebecca wherever and whenever he could, but the growing doubt that the woman might not know who she was kissing dampened that pleasure. So he forced himself to break the kiss and asked Rebecca, "Do you know who I am?"
