*Unedited*
Jake had to suddenly return back to Connecticut early next morning but he promised that he would be back soon and that they would stay in touch until he gets back.
However, before he left, she updated him about the phone call that she had received from her father. It had drawn a very angry reaction from Jake, to say the least.
“What the hell does he want now?” He had asked angrily.
“I don’t know. We’ll see what the lawyer suggests we should do. I’m going to meet him later today.” Dana said. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out soon.”
Jake took a minute to think about it and calm down before he nodded. “Just let me know whatever you guys discuss. Keep me in the loop.”
“Of course. Thank you for being here.”
“How could I not?” He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked at her. “You mean a lot to me, Dana.” He pulled her to him and hugged her.
Dana immediately hoped that he meant that in a friendly way. She thought about the night before when Ethan had dropped her off and that kiss that he’s placed on her cheek. She didn’t feel anything romantically for Jake, she was sure of that.
“Thanks again.” She said as she pulled away. “I’ll stay in touch.”
Now, Ethan and Dana sat in the lawyer’s office. Dana explained everything that had happened.
"Has your father every called you like that before?" Mr. Smith, their lawyer, asked.
"No. I was a little surprised that he did." Dana admitted.
"And he said he needed your help?"
Dana nodded.
"She thinks he just called her because he was intoxicated and didn't know what he was doing." Ethan said. "I don't think that's the case."
"You both could be right. We can't jump to conclusions though. Ms. Johnson, please let me know if this happens again. It could be possible that this has nothing to do with the matter on hand or it could have everything to do with it. Either way, we can't take it lightly." He said.
"I think you're right." Dana glanced in Ethan's direction briefly to see what he thought.
"I feel the same." He said giving her an assuring nod. "I-" He was interrupted by his phone ringing. "Excuse me." He held up a finger, asking for a moment as he got up and left the lawyer's office to take the call.
"There is one more thing." Mr. Smith said after a few seconds, making Dana look at him questioningly. "I suggest that you stay away from crowded public places."
"Mr. Smith, this is New York. I use the subway every day. My work requires me to be in places that are usually heavily crowded. It's not a very convenient option."
"I understand that. But safety should be your first priority. Anyways, I don't think you should cut down on it drastically. Just start gradually."
Dana nodded even though she didn't know how that was going to be possible. It was true that it's important for her to protect herself, but in the process, she couldn't ignore the fact that it was also necessary for her to earn a decent living.
"Sorry. I had to take that call." Ethan said as he re-entered the lawyer's office. "Where were we?"
"I was just saying Ms. Johnson here that she should consider avoiding public places as much as she can as a safety measure."
Ethan looked in Dana's direction. "If that's necessary then she should. Yes?"
Dana nodded and sighed. "Yeah."
~1 month later~
Dana collected the mail from her mailbox before walking to her apartment door. She switched the lights on as she entered and threw her bag on the couch before sitting on it herself. After spending a few moments relaxing with her eyes closed, she sighed and grabbed the mail and started to go through them.
She exhaled loudly when she saw that one of them was a notice from her landlord, asking her to pay up.
In the past few weeks, she had declined a few assignments which required her to be around news reporters with cameras or the ones that needed her to be in crowded places. Unfortunately for her, New York City was a crowded place as it is. This meant that she didn't have many options left. She did sneak in a couple of assignments even though it went against her lawyer's advice, only because she needed the money.
However, turning down all those other assignments meant that she had turned down the money that she needed to pay her bills.
"How do I pay this off?" She threw the paper on the coffee table and rested her back on the couch, her eyes staring at the ceiling.
She knew this would be a problem and hence she had been thinking of one thing all week. Maybe it was time for her to move out to a more affordable place. She didn’t want to do this but the way things were going, she didn’t think she had a better option.
She would have to dent her savings account a little to pay this month’s rent. Though, this would only be a one-time thing. There was no way she could continue doing that, she promised herself.
Having been left with no other option, she dialed Miriam’s number and asked her if she could crash at her place for a few days until she finds a new place for herself.
“Of course you can. But the way you were turning those assignments down, I thought you won a lottery or something.” She joked.
“Yeah well, it’s complicated.” Dana sighed. She wasn’t about to involve Miriam in this mess. It was better if she was kept at arm’s length from the situation that Dana was in.
“I understand. You can live with me for as long as you need to.”
“Thanks, Miriam. I really appreciate your help.” Dana said gratefully. They spoke for a few more minutes before Dana hung up.
She continued going through the rest of her mail before fixing herself a meal and settling back on the couch to watch some TV. Simultaneously, she browsed Amazon on her phone. If she couldn’t make enough money from her current job, she had to find a new way to earn some money. It was a good thing that she knew how to knit. She had been thinking of knitting a few things and selling them online to earn a few extra bucks. All she had to do was make a small investment of some yarn, needles and her time.
She ended up buying enough yarn to make a sweater and a scarf before putting her phone away and continuing to eat her meal.
About an hour later, she finished up cleaning the dishes and walked to her bedroom. She changed into her night dress, washed her face and brushed her teeth before turning the lights off and settling down on her bed. She closed her eyes as her back hit the mattress and sighed.
She didn’t remember how long she lay there in peace before her phone beeped, indicating that she had received a new message.
‘Everything well?’ Ethan texted.
‘Yeah. I was just about to fall asleep.’ She replied with her eyes half closed.
‘I’m coming over in a few minutes.’
Dana’s eyes widened, all traces of sleep vanished. That was sudden.
‘Now?’ She wrote.
‘Yes. Just don’t leave your apartment.’
Why would I leave my apartment? She thought. It was almost midnight on a weekday.
‘Is everything OK?’ She texted and waited for him to reply. Something didn’t seem right. There was this bad feeling that she had in her gut.
A couple of minutes later she heard her buzzer sound. She quickly got out of her bed and power walked to her front door.
She pressed the ‘talk’ button on the intercom.
“Yes?”
“Dana.”
“Yes. Hold on.” She let Ethan in after hearing his voice and unlocked her apartment door.
Suddenly the lights in the hallway went out, making everything go pitch black. She tried turning the lights on in her apartment but they didn’t work either.
“Ethan?” She called out. He should have reached her apartment door by now. “Ethan?”
When she got no reply she shut her front door, frowning in confusion.
“There you are.” A voice whispered in her ear before a hand wrapped around her waist.
She jumped in terror and her heartbeat quickened.
What was going on?
“Who is it?” She asked nervously while trying to get away.
“Shh. It’s me.”
“Ethan? How did…How did you get in?” She whispered and placed a hand over her heart while trying to calm down her rapid breathing.
“You let me in.” She felt his lips on her neck.
She inhaled sharply and gulped.
“You made me wait too long, honey.”
As she felt the butterflies in her stomach, she tried to force her brain to break free from the daze and think straight.
“What?” Without even realizing it, she tilted her neck, silently asking him to continue.
He turned her around and she wrapped her arms around him, resting the side of her face on his chest.
Suddenly, the lights turned on and she took a moment to adjust to the sudden brightness. When she reopened her eyes she saw Ethan bleeding profusely on the floor just a few feet away from her.
She immediately broke away from the person she was hugging and looked at his face.
“William?”
“Welcome back, baby.” He smirked.
Dana’s eyes snapped open before she sat up straight. It took her a moment to realize that she was still in her bed and that it was only a dream.
She checked her phone and saw that Ethan had indeed messaged her, asking if everything was okay but she had never replied back to him.
I probably read that in my sleep and dozed off right back, she thought. It was 2 in the morning. He had texted her almost 2 hours ago.
She got out of her bed and walked to her front door just to make sure that her door was locked properly. She checked the lights to make sure they were working. As she walked back to her bedroom, her feet halted at the place where she saw Ethan unconscious in her dream. She took a moment to let her mind race with a billion thoughts before shaking her head slightly in an attempt to get that image out of her head.
Just a dream,she reminded herself.
She got back into her bed and grabbed her phone.
‘Yes.’ She replied back to Ethan’s text.
‘Up so late?’ He wrote back a few minutes later.
‘I was sleeping. I just happened to wake up.’ She replied.
He texted back a few minutes later. ‘I see. Talk to you tomorrow then. Good night.’
‘Good night.’ She wrote before putting her phone away and pulling the comforter closer to her chest.
After a few failed attempts of trying to fall back asleep, she finally dozed off without any bad dreams bothering her for the remainder of the night.
The next day after work, Ethan offered to drop her home. However, they ended up stopping at a café on their way. She didn’t really feel like hanging out but agreed anyway. Now she sat there stirring her smoothie absentmindedly.
“Do you plan on drinking that or will you just sit there and admire it?” Ethan asked casually but his eyes held a hint of humor.
Dana looked at him and gave a small smile before sipping it.
“What time did you get home last night?” He asked.
“Around 10 PM.” She answered.
“Hmm.” He lifted his cup of coffee and took a sip. “How was work? Busy?”
“Not really.”
“How come?” He questioned.
“Thanks to Mr. Smith’s advice. I had to let go of a couple of assignments because they required me to be in crowded public places.” She sounded a bit irritated, even to herself.
“It’s okay.” He said. “Your safety comes first, Dana.”
“I get that. But I might not be able to keep this up for long. We haven’t heard anything from anyone in the past one month. It could be possible that he isn’t even interested anymore. We could be taking this precaution for nothing.” She reasoned, trying to convince herself and Ethan that resuming her normal activities was a good idea.
“Not here,” was all he said, looking at her to make sure she got the point.
And she did. Don’t talk about it until we are sure we don’t have anyone eavesdropping.
She simply nodded. She had no idea why she felt so irritated. Maybe it was the fact that she now had to leave the house that she called her own, the house that she was comfortable and happy in because she couldn’t afford it anymore. Sometimes, when she thought about it, she felt like her decision to follow through with Mr. Smith’s advice was downright ridiculous. He was a lawyer for Pete’s sake. He didn’t have to worry about not working for a few days with the solid bank account that he might have.
Ethan had agreed with Mr. Smith’s advice as well. Of course he did, she thought. He wouldn’t be able to understand how tough it was getting for me to make the two ends meet.
“I’ll just take this to go.” She pointed at her glass of smoothie when she noticed that his cup of coffee was empty.
A few minutes later they were in his car.
“So what were you saying back then?” He asked.
“Nothing. It’s just that I’m thinking that I won’t be turning down any assignments just because they require me to be in crowded places. Nor am I going to avoid travelling in the subway trains or take a cab. I’m tired of asking Miriam to drop me to places or having you play my chauffeur.”
Ethan gave a small laugh. “I don’t have any issues playing your chauffeur. I’m not even the one driving the car half of the time anyway. It’s my chauffeur. It’s cool.”
“It’s not cool, Ethan. I hate being dependent like that.” She placed her smoothie in the cup holder in Ethan’s car and folded her hands on her chest.
“This isn’t called being dependent. It’s called accepting a little help from the people close to you in the times of need.” He stated as he turned the car on and pressed down on the gas pedal.
“That’s the thing. Ethan,” she turned to look at him, “we’re not even sure if he is interested in me anymore. It’s been a month since anything happened. Maybe he’s forgotten and moved on or something.”
“Exactly, Dana. We’re not sure if he is interested or not. That is exactly why we need to take precautions.” He glanced at her before looking back on the road. “See, I think this is necessary. Just…avoid being in crowded places, especially alone or with someone you don’t know very well.”
She didn’t say anything so he gave her a quick glance again. “Look. I don’t mind it. Just let me help.”
“Okay. Wait for me when we get to my place. I just need to grab my stuff. Then drop me off at Miriam’s.” She said.
“You girls having a sleepover?” He asked.
“Something like that.”
When they reached her place, Ethan did just what she’d asked him to. About 15 minutes later, Dana emerged from her building, carrying a huge bag on one shoulder while dragging a rather large suitcase with her other hand.
“Is she going for a sleepover or a freaking world tour?” He muttered before getting out of the car to help her carry her bags.
“Give that to me.” He said, taking the bag from her shoulders. “What are you, carrying bricks in there or something?”
“Why? Is it too heavy for you?” She teased.
“Should I show off my muscles to you here or in the car?” He replied with a slight smirk, making her laugh.
“Seriously though. Why do you need all this for a sleepover?” He asked curiously once they were on their way to Miriam’s place.
“Well. I’m going to be staying at Miriam’s until I find another place to live.” She said, trying to be as nonchalant and casual as possible.
“What? Why?” He questioned immediately, looking at her in confusion.
“I can’t afford that place anymore. I mean I could use up my savings but that won’t be a very wise option.”
“No wait hold on. You never mentioned anything about this to me before.” Where was this coming from? He thought.
“There was nothing to say. It’s just something that was bound to happen.” She shrugged.
“Dana, you don’t have to do this.”
“Then do what?”
“Stay in your apartment.” He found a spot where he parked the car to make sure he was paying full attention to their conversation.
“I can’t afford it!” She repeated again, with a little more force this time.
“I’ll pay for it until you can.” She opened her mouth, ready to tell him that he was making her feel like a charity case. “Listen to me before you say anything. I’ll loan you the money. Pay me back whenever you can.”
“I’m not doing that, Ethan. You’re paying the lawyer anyway. I don’t want to drown in your favors.”
“Is it your hobby to always be dramatic or is today a special day?”
“I’m serious.” She threw him a dirty look.
“I was asking you a serious question too. Anyway. You’re asking Miriam for a favor by staying at her place for a few days. It’s either that or I could loan you some money and you could just stay right where you are.” He offered.
Dana thought about it for a few minutes.
“It’s a loan. Not a charity.” She stated firmly.
“That’s right.” Ethan tried to hide his amusement. He couldn’t help but admire how she wanted to be as independent as possible. Watching her contemplate and weigh her options only made him like her a little more.
“I’ll be paying you right back and you’ll accept the money without giving me a headache?” She confirmed.
“No headaches. I promise.”
“I can’t deny. This is a tempting offer.” She admitted.
“So? What’s the verdict, your honor?” He joked.
“Okay.” She rolled her eyes and agreed.
_______________________________________________
Hey all! I tried to write a slightly longer chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed!
Thank you for your support.
-Ruchika