We arrived at the Harrison Hotel and there were already a lot of cars lined up ahead. Xavier said that the driver will drop us off at the front that way our pictures can be taken. He said that almost every celebrity prefers to be dropped near the entrance because it's a shorter walk, even though the paparazzi are everywhere, even at the entrance. I was beginning to feel a bit nervous because there would be a lot of wealthy people at this party and it's the first big event Xavier and I will be attending.
"Don't worry about this Skylar. I'll be with you the entire time." Xavier reassured me. I felt a little bit better knowing that he said he'll be with me the entire night and I just had to trust him. When the driver pulled up front, swarms of cameras and flashing lights blocked our view. The lights were starting to hurt my eyes. Xavier grabbed my hand and led me through all the cameras. When we finally entered the hotel, I felt as if I could actually breathe. Xavier had told me to ignore any questions the paparazzi would ask and just keep my head down. At the entrance, there was a professional cameraman with an entire setup. He told Xavier and me to pose and snapped a few pictures. This was so it could go on the website and he also said he could send us a copy. I gave him my number and he instantly sent the picture to me. Xavier and I looked really good in the picture. You couldn't even tell that we barely knew each. As we walked further into the party hall, people greeted Xavier and he would introduce me to them. So many of the women would stare at Xavier, and honestly who could blame them, he looked gorgeous. But Xavier didn't even glance their way. I know he was being polite to me but these women were so beautiful and elegant, even I stared at them. We mingled a bit more before heading over to grab some snacks. There was a table reserved for us, so we sat there once we grabbed some food.
When the waiters were collecting all the dishes from the tables and clearing out the food, an older gentleman walked to the stage. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. First and foremost, I would like to thank you all for attending the Brockton Family's Young Entrepreneurs Event. I'm Edward Brockton, the founder of this event. This is the second annual event and I'm happy to announce that last year's event was so successful that we had to have it again. Last year, with the help from all of you, we raised $3.5 million for young adult entrepreneurs who live in underdeveloped countries. These young minds have a passion for making the world a better place and with their creative inventions and ideas, I genuinely believe the world will be better. They only need the help and resources to actually put forth these ideas and by donating they are able to fulfill their dreams while also helping millions of lives. So please, if you haven't had a chance yet, you can give your donations to the table on my right. Now, I would like to invite some of the biggest donors to the stage to give a few words on their experience with directly working with some of the brilliant, young minds."
With that, everyone clapped as three men and one woman walked on stage. They were sharing their experiences with visiting some of the teens in those underdeveloped countries and helping them expand their ideas. When one of the other men was speaking, I noticed the chair to my left moving and I saw Mark pulling out the chair and taking the seat.
"You look beautiful Skylar! And you too Xavier! Looking hot!"
"Shut up Mark! Don't embarrass me tonight." Xavier said with a frown.
"Thank you, Mark, that's sweet of you! You look wonderful too! Are you here by yourself?" I asked.
"Unfortunately, yes. Xavier already asked the most attractive girl to accompany him so I'm left solo." Mark responded, faking a hurt expression.
"Aww it's okay Mark, there's enough of me for you two to share. I can spend the first half with Xavier and the second with you." I joked. Xavier didn't look too pleased with my suggestion even though I was only joking. I smiled at Xavier to let him know I was kidding while Mark laughed and put his arm around me.
"I would love that Skylar!" Mark said, getting on Xavier's nerves.
Just then, Edward Brockton returned to the stage to announce that dinner will be served soon and in the meantime, we were free to mingle and enjoy the live music. I wasn't sure if Xavier had to meet more people but he remained in his chair looking at his phone. I sighed and turned to look at Mark only to find him also looking at his phone.
"So are you two just going to stare at your phones for the rest of the night or are we actually going to talk to one another?" I asked.
"Sorry Skylar, what kind of half boyfriend would I be if I ignored the prettiest half girlfriend here?" Mark joked.
"Mark.... back off." Xavier warned.
Mark raised his hands in surrender. "I'm only kidding man. Relax!"
"He's just kidding Xavier. I'm sorry Mark." I interjected. I knew they were close friends but I didn't know Xavier could get so jealous. Before anyone could say something, an older woman approached our table and began talking to Mark. A minute later, she looked at Xavier and me and acknowledged us. Then she told Mark and Xavier that her husband was looking for them and wanted to talk to them. Before they left, Xavier asked me if I'll be okay by myself for a few minutes. He promised to return soon. I told him that it was fine and that he should go and talk to people. I didn't want to be the reason why he wasn't talking to colleagues. I informed him that I'll be at the bar to grab a drink and then return back to the table. He seemed hesitant but I assured him that I'll be fine and that he should go talk to people.
I walked to the bar and ordered a glass of cucumber water with no ice. The bartender handed me my drink and as I was turning around I heard a familiar voice. "Hey, there stranger."
It was Luke. He looked great in his grey suit and his hair gelled back.
"Hi Luke! What are you doing here?" I asked as I gave him a hug.
"My uncle donates to the Brockton's event so I joined him and my aunt this year. What are you doing here?"
"I'm here with my boyfriend Xavier. I'm glad I actually know someone here. Besides Xavier, his friend Mark and you are the only ones I know."
"Your boyfriend is Xavier? How come you never mentioned that?"
"It never came up. I would feel weird just telling you that I was dating Xavier Diamond when we first met, that's not exactly how I would imagine making friends go." I said as I laughed.
He laughed as well but looked a bit hurt. But he quickly covered it up. "Well, you look gorgeous Skylar. I mean you always do," he said while tucking in my hair behind my ear. I felt uneasy at his touch. I mean it was weird for him to do that, so I took a small step back. Hopefully, that gives him the message that I had to go. Before I could say that I should go back to Xavier, I felt hands pull my waist. I looked to the side to see Xavier with a furious look on his face.
"What are you doing Skylar?" he asked.
"When I was about to go to the table I ran into Luke! Remember I was telling you how I met him at the club a few weeks ago? Luke this is Xavier, my boyfriend."
"Hi Xavier, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." He put his hand out for a handshake.
"Likewise" Xavier said while shaking his hand firmly. "I'm sorry but can I take my girlfriend back? We were about to eat."
"Of course. It was nice seeing you again Skylar, maybe we can plan to hang out soon."
"Yeah I would love that!" I was about to go for a hug but Xavier quickly diverted me away, tightly holding my waist. He then let go and grabbed my arm, dragging me to a corner towards the back of the hall. His hold tightened and it was starting to hurt.
"Xavier, what's wrong? You're hurting me." I said.
"What the fuck was that Skylar? Why was he flirting with you and why were you letting it happen?"
"What do you mean? We weren't flirting! We were just talking."
"Yeah right! I saw how he was close to you and touched your hair! You think I didn't notice! We had an agreement, Skylar! You aren't allowed to be in any other relationships!"
"Xavier, calm down! You're misunderstanding the entire situation! Can you let me explain, please? And can you let go of my arm, it's hurting!"
"No! I don't need you to tell me any more lies!"
"Xavier people are staring! Let me go!" I tried to shake my arm away but his hold was just too strong. I slightly pushed him away from me and his grip loosened. I took that chance to remove my arm from his hands and walked away. I quickly walked out of the door, thankful that there weren't any more paparazzi outside. When I was on the sidewalk I clutched my purse closer to myself. I heard Xavier calling after me. I knew he wasn't following me because his voice was sounding further away the more I walked away from the hotel.
"Skylar, come back here!"
"No! Just leave me alone!" I yelled back.
"Fine! But you'll be back, I know it! You don't even know your way from here!" I ignored him because I didn't need to know my way back, I had my phone with me and I'll just call an Uber. It was really dark outside and I looked at the time to see that it was already 10 pm. I saw a Starbucks a few yards up so I decided to walk there and then I'll call an Uber. I just needed to be away from Xavier. I couldn't believe he got so mad at me for something that I didn't even do. And he didn't even care that he was hurting my arm! My eyes began to get watery just thinking about the way he treated me.
The Starbucks looked even farther away now that I was getting a bit cold and my heels were killing me. There were a couple of empty lots in between the buildings on this street. It brought back bad memories but I had to push them aside so I can go inside somewhere safe. I had to ignore the scary feeling inside of me. I didn't even pack my pepper spray! So much for thinking Xavier was going to be with me the entire night! As I was about to pull out my phone from my purse to distract myself from thinking about the empty, dark lots, I felt a pair of hands cover my mouth and pull me into one of the lots. I tried to scream but the person pressed their hand tighter around my mouth. They kicked me from behind my legs and I lost my balance. There was a small light flickering and through my tears, I saw that it was a cigarette. I didn't know who the man was but he had broad shoulders and was towering over me.
"Hey there princess. What are you doing walking alone at night? You look beautiful, where did you just come from? That necklace of yours is really pretty too, mind if I take a closer look at it?" he said. I tried to get up from the floor but he slapped me and kicked me in the stomach, bringing me down again. Then I saw him pull out a knife from his pocket.
"Don't you dare move. Don't even make a sound or this knife will go straight into your neck." He ripped the necklace from my neck and put it in his back pocket.
"Please, let me go! I won't say anything to anyone! And that necklace isn't even real gold, it's fake! I bought it for like $10. Trust me, whatever you're about to do is not worth it, I don't have anything expensive on me!" I cried.
"Shhh baby girl... it's okay. I just wanna have some fun. It'd be a shame if I let a girl like you slip away from me. When am I ever gonna get a chance to be this close to a beauty like you?" He threw his cigarette to the side and bent down to my level. I was still on the ground, afraid that if I'll move he'll hurt me. He then moved his knife to my right shoulder and then above my right breast. He slowly pressed the knife into my skin and I felt it go through. I tried pushing him away but he got on top of me and I couldn't move his body off. Tears started flowing down my face like a river and I couldn't even get any words out, let alone a scream. Then he moved the knife to my stomach and slowly pressed it in. It hurt so bad but I couldn't even scream! I felt so weak and helpless! Why do I let this happen to me? He took the knife out and started saying something but I couldn't even hear him. My thoughts of trying to get away but not being able to were overtaking my brain. I felt him rip my dress from the bottom and shove the dress up to my stomach. I knew what was going to happen and I tried my best to continue pushing him off but every time I moved he slapped me or pushed on the stab wounds. He hurriedly ripped the shorts I was wearing under my dress, along with my underwear, and pushed his penis inside me. I yelped in pain, scratching his face, hitting his body to move away from me. I think he got frustrated with me hitting him so he pulled himself out and zipped up his pants. He brought out his knife again and was going to stab me again but a car drove by and he quickly ran away. I tried to call for help but it seemed that no one was there, it was only that car that drove past. The man ran the other way and I tried to stand up to find my purse but my stomach hurt terribly, and not to mention the pain between my legs. I had been raped before but I wasn't stabbed like this. I couldn't believe I let this happen to me again. I tried crawling to my purse and when I saw the shininess from it, I reached for it and grabbed my phone. My eyes were becoming blurry and my head was spinning but I needed to call the police fast! My brain wasn't even processing anything and I just pressed the first number I saw. When the person answered I heard Xavier's voice.
"Skylar! Where are you? You didn't come back to the hotel! I tried to go in the direction you were going but you were gone! Where-"
"I need... need help Xavier. Please... I'm... dizzy... I'm... I'm... in the... alley. I need to get help... I'm calling the police... please... help."
"Skylar! What's going on? What alley? Hang on a second, don't hang up. Skylar! Skylar!" I had to hang up so I could call the police. Would Xavier help me anyway? I really did wish he was here but I needed the police to come too. I tried to keep my eyes open so I could dial 911. When the operator answered, I tried to explain where I was and that I was raped. She told me to stay on the line and continue speaking but I just couldn't anymore. I would doze in and out, forcing myself to stay awake but it was getting hard.
The operator continued to talk to me to keep me conscious and I tried to think about things that would help me stay awake. I thought about how I should apologize to Xavier for walking away from him and if the media found out about what happened to me, his reputation might get ruined. It would all be my fault. I saw blue and red lights flashing, forcing my eyes to close even more. Then I heard Xavier's voice. He came into view and held my head in his lap. I could only hear a few of his words since they were muffled by the sirens.
"Skylar... I'm so sorry... this is all my fault! I never should have left you... I'm sorry"
"Xavier... I'm sorry... my head... it hurts... please... sorry" was all I got to muster out before completely losing consciousness.