Girl on the Bench [Completed]

Will I see you again?

Dominic

Who the fuck am I?

I looked at Rosa, her dark hair falling in front of her face. She looked up at me and I felt a stab of sadness as I looked at the bruising that man had left on her face.

Who the fuck am I?

She said nothing. Her lips were pushed together tightly in a firm line.

Who the fuck am I?

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and swore, it was Paul. I glanced back at Rosa and then stepped away.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you?" Paul's voice was harsh and icy cold. He always sounded like this so it was difficult to tell whether he was in a good mood or not.

"Out, do you need me?" I replied, kicking the gravel with the toe of my boot.

"Yeah. Something has gone on at the house of the last guy you saw to and I think one of the other gangs is trying to nose in."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." I ended the call and turned back towards Rosa.

She was gone.

Shit.

                                         ***

Rosa

I walked blindly through the streets, stumbling over kerbs and bumping into people. The cold wind blew and nipped at my hands and face. I didn't know where I was going. I didn't know what I was doing. I heard a car pull alongside me as I walked and slow to a crawl.

"Rosa!"

I turned my head and saw Dominic leaning out the window. I shook my head and continued on my way.

"Rosa!"

I heard the car stop and the door open and close. Dominic grabbed my hand and I spun around into his chest.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted and pushed myself away from him. He held onto my arms and brought me closer to him.

"Rosa...please.." he said softly.

"Let me go," I said.

Dominic paused then took his hands off my arms. He stepped back. I could feel his eyes boring into me.

"Rosa, please get in the car. We don't have to go to the hospital, I can take you home or is there someone I can take you to?"

I looked at the cracks in the path and felt a hard lump press in my throat. Tears pricked my eyes and I struggled to stop them falling.

"Rosa?"

I looked up at him and was surprised to see the look of concern and worry that was etched in his face. He must have been around my age but he looked so old and weary of the world.

"Coffee."

He blinked and then nodded, "Sure. We can get coffee."

I walked to the car and sat in the passenger seat. Dominic climbed in beside me and we pulled out into the road.

                                    ***
Dominic

She didn't speak. I was glad. I didn't know what to say. I couldn't tell her what I did. She would hate me. Everyone did. The people I got money from, their families and the people who worked with Paul hated that I was the golden boy. The only person who saw me for me was Lola and she spends most of her life dedicated to a needle.

I stopped the car outside a small coffee shop and we walked in. I ordered us a couple of coffees and we sat down on a couple of sofas. She fiddled with a strand of hair. I watched her, opened my mouth to speak and then shut it again.

Our coffees arrived and she took a sip. Her phone rang and she looked at it then put it back in her pocket.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

She shrugged and took another sip.

"I don't know. I feel like I don't know what to do. I should have been there for him and I wasn't."

Rose's bottom lip trembled then she took a deep breath and looked at me.

"You aren't going to tell me what you were doing at the house, are you?" She said bluntly.

"I saw you walking into the house and heard you scream, I ran in and stopped the guy from hurting you."

Rose gently touched the swollen, bruised area around her eye.

"Thank you. Why were you at the house?"

I took a deep breath in, " I was walking past and I saw you. I didn't want you to think I was following you especially after this morning so I stayed back."

She raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "You just happened to be on the street and saw me?"

I shrugged lamely, " We seem to keep bumping into each other."

She scoffed and sipped her drink. "Ok."

"Ok?"

"Yeah, if that's the story you're going to tell me then that's what I'll believe."

I smiled slightly at her. She smiled awkwardly back, her lips straining against the cuts over them.

"Can I take you somewhere?" I asked.

She nodded, " I need to go home."

                                        ***

We stopped outside the house. It was dark and there was yellow police tape across the front door. Rosa opened her door and walked up the path then around the side of the house. I followed her.

She stopped outside a small house and turned around with her key in the lock.

"Do you want to come in?"

I paused, aware that I needed to see Paul but I really wanted to go in.

"Sure."

Rosa walked in and I followed her. It was like a small studio flat with a kitchen in the corner, tv and her bed underneath the window. It smelled of vanilla and coffee beans. There was pictures over the walls of Rosa smiling with friends and a women who looked like her but older. It was cosy and it felt like a home.

She padded to the kitchen, grabbed a couple of beers and offered one to me. I took it and took a swig.

"Do you need to go?" She asked.

I nodded.

Rosa took a big swig and I saw her eyes fill with tears again.

"Ok, well thanks for bringing me here."

There was a thick air of awkwardness as she looked at me. I put my bottle down on the table and walked to the door.

"Dominic?"

"Yup?"

"Will I see you again?" She looked at me, full of vulnerability.

Ever since I met Rosa, I had started doing things that always left me wondering why I'd done it. Not this time.

I walked quickly over to her, pushed the hair back from her face and kissed her gently. Her lips were soft against mine. She held onto my arms tightly. She kissed me back with more pressure and I held her close. I pulled away and looked at her.

"You'll definitely see me again."