Becca was new to LA. She was running from her past, well an ex-boyfriend to be precise, and she was hoping it would never catch up to her. Her Uncle Pete gave her a job at his cafe and she jumped at the chance. It's not where she expected to be at 2...
It was finally morning, well finally a reasonable time to be awake. Pete had called me at half five to say that I didn't have to come into work due to there being a problem with the cooker. It meant that I had a random day off. Normally I would be up for it but with what happened last night all I wanted to do was get lost in work and not have to think for 10 hours. It also meant that I was going to get paid $100 less this month, which doesn't sound like a lot but it is when you have 2 dogs to feed and bills to pay.
It was now 6:30 and I decided to take the dogs for a walk, hoping the fresh air would do me some good. Plus the dogs needed it. We were just randomly walking around, stopping every now and then so they could mark their territory. I was a nice day, as it always was in LA which helped my mood slightly. There was something about the sun that either makes bad days worse as you have no excuse to hide out in your apartment or they just brighten your day up to the max. I was somewhere in the middle. All I wanted to do was sit in my place and do nothing since I had the day off but the sun made me want to be productive like it always has.
After of walking around for a good hour and we had just made it back to the apartment block. I knew that at this time the mail would be in the mailboxes.
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I opened my little box (2b) up and saw I had a few letter, I smiled at the one on the top as I would recognise my mum's hand writing anywhere. There were a few others from my mates, a few bits of junk, and one letter that looked professional as it had the address printed on a sticker instead of just written.
Just as I was about to turn around there was a hand on my shoulder and I freaked out a little, causing Pongo and Otto to go bonkers.
"Woh it's just me Bea," Shayne said when I faced him. My breath was erratic and so was my heart. I took a few deep breaths but it didn't help so I was now in a full-fledged panic attack. I was shaking and it felt like my heart was going to break the speed of light. It felt like I was burning up and I could barely see due to my now blurred vision. I leaned against the mailboxes trying to calm the shaking.
"Woh, hey. Breath OK. It's just me, your not in any danger OK. It's just a panic attack." He said in a calm voice, but I could bearly hear him over the sound of my heart. That nightmare messed me up good. I slowly slid down till I was sat on the floor with Shayne following so he was no kneeling on the ground. Pongo and Otto had stopped barking and were now sniffing at me trying to figure out what was going on.
"Hey, look at me OK." He said putting his fingers under my chin forcing me to look at him. "Your OK, it's just us and the dogs. Nothing bad is going on. You're fine, you just have to breath nice deep breaths OK" He started breathing deeply n throw the nose and out through the mouth and after a couple times I started to copy.
Ten minutes later everything was back to normal and I was finally back to the right temperature, my heart was going at the right speed and I was no longer shaking. Shayne looked worried, I guess he had a good reason, I mean all he did was put his hand on my shoulder and I had a big old meltdown.
"Hey, you alright?" He asked looking me in the eyes.
"Yeah, just..." I paused not really knowing what to say. "Just had a big old nightmare and it's got me a little jumpy." I smiled.
"You sure?" He asked, probably just trying to make sure, but I really didn't want to tell him that the nightmare was actually a memory. I just nodded my head. He seemed to get the hint about me not wanting to talk about it and opened up his mailbox.
I let curiosity take over me with the printed letter and opened it up not waiting to get back into my apartment. I was now standing leaning against the wall as I wasn't too sure about the strength in my legs. I regretted opening it as soon as I saw the hand writing on the piece of paper.
Hey Babe,
I told you, you couldn't hide from me
Love Jake
I dropped the envelope and just stared at the tiny piece of paper in my hand. Shayne looked at me worried, seems like a look he can't wipe off his face today thanks to me. I didn't want this to be real, no one back home other than my family and closest friends. The friends I could trust. Or at least I thought I could trust them all. I didn't notice that Shayne had read the letter in my hand.
"What does he mean by that." He asked looking at me. I didn't know what to say, my mind was still trying to figure out how he got my address. I didn't tell anyone I didn't trust. No one who doesn't know the truth about the relationship and how bad it was knows where I live now.
"You were right, I can't run from my problems," I said with no hope in my voice. I had no hope left thanks to this. I thought I had a chance to be safe, but with this just proves that with him still alive and ticking I can never be. I didn't say anything else I just went back up to my apartment with Pongo and Otto following. Once I got in I made a bee line for my laptop to call the whole group chat, aka all my mates with my address.
