Delilah flipped her hair over her shoulder as she walked out of her hair salon. She weirdly enjoyed getting hair cuts, as they always made her hair feel lighter.
"Delilah!" a man called.
She looked up to see he ex-husband and narrowed her eyes. "Get away from me."
Without a word, Rick grabbed her wrist and pulled her away.
She tried escaping and ended up falling on the ground. "Stay away from me!"
Rick roughly grabbed her waist and she screamed. She tried punching and kicking, but his hold on her was too strong.
Sebastian, who'd finished a run, heard a woman screaming and went to help her. When he saw it was Delilah and Rick, he immediately pulled Rick away from his wife and pushed him against a wall.
In a venomous tone, he said, "Stay away from my wife. You've been told to three times now. How many more goddamn times does it have to be?!"
He turned to Delilah and asked in a softer tone, "Are you okay?"
Rick scoffed. "If you should be asking anyone, you should be asking me!"
Sebastian turned back to him. "No! You keep fucking harassing her! What the hell is wrong with you?! Why can't you leave her alone?!"
"Because you don't deserve her!"
"You're right. I don't. But she chose me. Get out of here. Now."
Delilah punched Rick and spat, "Stay the fuck away from me! I'm getting a restraining order against your creepy stalker ass! Do you hear me?!"
Rick smiled at her and she narrowed her eyes as she added, "I will kick you and make you cry like a baby."
He stalked away and as though the surge of adrenaline left her, Delilah fell to her knees and began gasping for air.
Sebastian knelt in front of her and exaggerated his breaths, motioning for Delilah to repeat them.
Delilah continued gasping for air as tears fell down her cheeks.
He spoke soothing words to her and she eventually rested her head on his shoulder, feeling incredibly drained.
"Why can't I?" Delilah asked in a shaky tone.
"Why can't you what, printesa?"
"Why can't I- Sebastian, he was horrible."
He wiped away her tears. "I know, sweetheart."
Delilah sniffled. "He manipulated me. Gaslighted me. How did I not see it?"
"Because you wanted to see the good in him, as you do with everyone. And that's one of the things I love most about you, Del."
"No, he manipulated me, hurt me!"
"I know, Delilah."
She stood and looked up at the sky as she yelled, "Stay the fuck away from me, Richard Alexander Martin!"
Delilah picked up her purse. "Let's go home."
"Del, wait. You can't just-"
"I can't what? I want to go home. I don't want to talk about what happened."
"You can't bottle it in, Delilah."
Delilah stared at him with narrowed eyes. "Watch me."
She walked away and Sebastian let out an annoyed groan as he followed her, staring at her worriedly.
Delilah suddenly turned to face him and said, "Thank you. And I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, too."
She took his hand and they walked away.