Benevolent Martinet

Chapter 3: The Talk.

"Good evening, sweetheart."

You feel your heart almost leap out of your chest at his voice. His voice... damn... he sounds so... hot. He had a rich, deep baritone, smooth and eloquent. It reminded you of something akin to honey or melted chocolate. You were so caught up with daydreaming about his voice that you forgot you were on the line. Snapping out of your trance, you fumbled over your words.

"He-h-hello...?"

"Hello there, are you feeling alright?"

"Uh- I- Y-yeah..."

You slapped your forehead at your stupidity. You were the one who called him so why were acting like a complete fool! Pull yourself together... You thought aloud.

"Pardon?"

"No- That was- I mean that for- I was just talking to myself, sorry."

God you wanted to crawl into a hole and just die. Then you hear him chuckle, the sound making your knees buckle slightly. You have made a mistake of not checking tending to your wounds carefully, as you yelped when you tried leaning against your right foot.

"What's happened sweetheart?"

You cursed silently, moving to sit on your bed. Checking the injury on your ankle. You must've got it from falling earlier. Earlier... You feel a lump build up on your throat.

"Um... Stephen... I know most people don't usually call for ranting but... I... I've just been overwhelmed by unfortunate events lately and it sucks because I have no idea what brought on all of these series of events, like, what did I do wrong? I'm just a college student trying to survive. My friends have their hands full already and I hate bothering them with my own issues-"

You faltered, only just realizing that you didn't even let him answer before spilling everything out. You idiot, this is why Jeremiah cheated on you, soon, not even your friends want you. You whimpered at your destructive thinking.

"I-I'm sorry for bothering you... You can hang up if you want to..." You whispered breathlessly, trying to hold back another sob.

"Not at all. Tell me everything sweetheart. I'll be right here."

"I-... Are you sure? I'm sorry if you were expecting phone sex or something, I'm not good with those but maybe if I tried hard enough I can-"

"Of course. Be at ease, I have not been expecting anything. I will not, under any circumstances, coerce you into something that you are not comfortable with. Now, as you were saying... You hate bothering your friends with your own issues. Care to elaborate, what exactly are the issues?"

You took a deep breath in, releasing your bottom lip that you had been unconsciously chewing for this whole time.

"E-earlier when I was at work, I clocked in just 4 minutes late but my manager was in a bad mood and started yelling all sorts of belittling words at me. He said that I- I was useless and that I-" You feel yourself choke on your words, "I was undeserving of being in college and-" You swallowed, waiting for him.

"....Go on."

You clutched onto the edge of your shirt nervously. Something about his tone intimidated you. Unlike earlier, he sounded... Mad. You hoped that it wasn't because of you.

"A-after work, when I was about to head home, he had asked me for a minute of his time. He apologized to me and said that he wouldn't shout at me again and that he'll take his anger out somewhere else. He had said this same line multiple times before so I knew better than to trust his words. This time was different... He... He placed his hand on my shoulder. At first I thought it was just a friendly gesture, like he was serious about it. Th-then," You whimper, "H-his hand starting getting lower and lower and I-"