"Aubrey, love, look up at me," Martin demands. I slowly lift my head to meet his ugly brown eyes. A small smile sets on his lips, causing the short pricks of his mustache to twitch.
"Much better. How are you?"
"Me?" I snort. "You care about how I'm doing?"
"Aubrey, I am being very kind here. Please return the respect," he says coolly.
"Fine, if you really care, then I'm not okay." I stare out of the window, watching the large city before me continue in its never-ending rush.
"Why?"
"My ankle hurts, for one; I forgot to take my pain medication this morning. Also, I'm sick of all this stress on my shoulders," I admit, mainly speaking to myself rather than to Martin.
"Stress?"
"I don't want to talk about it," I sigh, pulling my hair out of my face.
"I asked you a question. What's stressing you out so much? I don't like my little butterfly being stressed," he coos creepily. The tone of his voice sends shivers down my spine.
"I -"
"Hi there, my name is Joan and I'll be your waitress here at Evasé Café. May I get you started with some drinks?"
"Um, no, you just interrupted our conversation," Martin says with an annoyed tone. I ignore his statement and speak over him.
"Yes, some drinks would be really nice, thank you. I'll take a French Vanilla cappuccino drizzled with chocolate syrup. Martin?" I say sweetly. He quietly growls.
"I'll have a cup of English tea, make it quick," he snaps angrily. The waitress scribbles down our orders and scurries away, leaving us secluded in the corner of the restaurant.
"Now," he continues, his mood changing erratically from the previous bubble of anger. "What's stressing you out?"
"You want the truth?" I say politely.
"Yes, always. You will never lie to me, Aubrey. If I ever catch you lying, I will find a way to punish you, even if you aren't under my roof or my protection," he states in a didactic manner.
I mentally roll my eyes. When has he ever protected me, other than from his rapist friends?
"Your threats," I whisper quietly.
"What's that? You need to speak up, my butterfly."
"Your threats stress me out. And my ankle. But mainly your threats, so don't you complain about me being stressed when you -" I pause to stick my finger out at him. "- are the main cause of it."
"Young lady, do not speak to me that way. You will treat me with respect," he says sternly.
God, I have a second father, now?
"Why should I treat you with respect? Just cause you're a few decades older than me, doesn't mean I should." I hush my voice so only he can hear. "The fact that you raped me daily, sometimes multiple times on a daily basis made me lose all respect for you," I hiss at him. "So don't ask me to show respect."
"Aubrey Leanne Caldwell, you will show me respect at all times. You are a woman which means you are worthless compared to me. Women are meant for cleaning, cooking, and for pleasure. I thought I taught you that, but I guess not. There is no such thing as rape; women are required to give themselves to men rather they want it or not."
I roll my eyes.
"So get over it," he adds, annoyed.
"Get over it?!" I snap.
Who the hell does he think he is? Telling me to get over the fact that he thinks women are for pleasure and nothing else?
"I will not get over it! Women are not just for pleasure!" I whisper-yell.
"Aubrey, shut your little mouth before I shut it for you. If it weren't for your broken bone, I would bring you home and teach you a little lesson on respect but I know better than that. But, just because I can't punish you physically doesn't mean I can't punish you. I can hurt you through your friends... Like curly, for instance. What's his name? Henry? Or the one with black hair, Zack?"
"Harry and Zayn," I mutter, knowing he can't hear. "And you'd better not touch them," I add with more volume.
"What are you going to do? You can't do anything; you're crippled." I stay silent as he rambles angrily.
"You know what? I'm done here. And just to let you know, I'll be waiting until your ankle heals and you leave that boy's apartment, so you'd better be careful. I won't be lenient in terms of punishment if I get my hands back on you," he spits, sending a shiver down my spine. He's scaring me, as always.
I stay silent as he throws me a twenty dollar bill and leaves the booth. Pulling out my phone, I check the time to see if it's past the time Josh was supposed to meet me here.
Nope, still half an hour to waste.
The waitress comes by again with the drinks in her hands. She places them on the table but doesn't leave. Instead, she sits down where Martin previous was.
"Are you okay?" She asks, pulling a blonde lock from her face. I don't reply, I simply bring the cappuccino to my lips and take a long sip. It burns my throat but I don't care.
"I can report him to the police if you want."
"No, no! Don't do that, please," I beg. "He's okay, I'm okay," I repeat to myself, hoping I'll eventually believe it. Him coming back was inevitable, I knew that. I really did. I just have to get over with it and accept my future.
"I don't know what he's doing or what his deal is, but I can tell it's taking a huge toll on you. Whatever it is, it needs to stop," she says after a while. "I need to get back to work, but if you ever need anybody to talk to, or if you ever need any help, just text or call me, okay?" She writes her number down on her pad of paper and slips me it across the table. I nod and thank her as she stands up and leaves.
I sit there, simply staring at the wall still scared from the conversation with Martin. I really hope that server doesn't tell anyone; he'll know if anything's up.
A ringing coming from the entrance of the cafe brings me back from my thinking session. I look up after sensing a presence, only to meet an angry Josh.
"What the hell was that?!" He yells as he sits down it the booth.
"I'm sorry?" I say, confused. "And please, quiet down. You're attracting unwanted attention."
"I don't care if people are staring, Aubrey," he says sternly. I stare him down and he releases a sigh, hunching over. "Why are you still contacting Martin? I thought you hated him?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," I blatantly lie. My body cringes, giving me away.
"Oh, hell, you do. Don't bother lying to me. Even if I didn't see the last half hour, I can tell when you're lying to me. You look down and twirl your hair, like you are right now," he says. I immediately become conscious of how I'm twirling my hair and halt my movements.
"It's nothing, Josh," I trail off.
"How is it nothing?" He spits. "He raped and beat you for what, six years before you escaped his wrath?! And now he's back? I'm so done with him, Aubrey. It's unacceptable! He is so disgusting!" He grows angrier by the second.
What is with every male being angry at me today? I swear to God if I get home and one of the boys are mad at me, I'm going to lose my shit. I'm barely keeping it as it is, right now.
"I'm sorry," I whisper. "Wait, you said the past half hour... were you stalking me?" I ask, slightly raising my voice.
"I wasn't stalking you, Aubrey. I came early to see if you'd show up and I saw you with him. So, I eavesdropped. I'm not going to say sorry for that because I'm not," he tells me rudely, raising his voice even louder.
"Why is he here? Is he threatening you again? How did he even find you?" Josh rambles more questions. "Of course he found you here, you're all over the news. 'Close friend of boyband One Direction,' blah blah blah, all that shit."
"It's fine, Josh," I repeat with no emotion in my voice.
"It's not okay. If he's threatening you again, I'm going straight to the police this time. I'm so done with him treating you like you are shit, like you're worthless! You aren't worthless, Aubrey."
"No, no, no. You can't tell the police! He'll kill someone, he'll kill Harry or Louis or anyone, maybe even you!"
"He's not going to kill anyone, Aubrey," he responds coolly.
"I can't take that chance. Would you please drop it?"
"I'm not taking the chance of losing you again," he tells me, his face softening.
"Please drop it..." I repeat.
"Fine. But if I see him again, I will report it to the police."
I ignore him and direct all my thoughts towards drinking my cappuccino. It's nearly finished, with a small layer of whipped cream on the bottom of the cup.
"What is this?" Josh says, pointing to the cup of English tea.
"English tea. Martin ordered it but left before it came out. You can drink it if you want," I mumble, staring into my empty cup.
"Really, I don't like that type of tea," I say.
Josh doesn't reply. Rather, he pulls the cup to him and takes a long sip. He visibly relaxes, his shoulders less tense than when he walked in.
"It's nice to see you," I say after a long moment of silence. I watch as he pulls his hands through his hair and stops at his ear, gently scratching it.
"Yea. I visited you in the hospital, but I couldn't see you since you're staying with... well, them. One Direction," he whispers.
"You can always come over, you know?"
"But the fans..."
"You're a guy, they don't really care unless you're a girl. They already know my face, so if you say you're with me, then you'll be fine," I say. He gives a small smile.
"Why haven't you been responding to my texts, anyway?" I ask.
"I have, Aubrey."
"Well, I haven't been receiving them," I say.
Josh holds his hand out, motioning for me to hand over my phone. I type in my passcode before handing it over.
"Okay, we need to find out who got into your phone and deleted my messages. It's screwing with our friendship, Aubrey," he says after scrolling a bit.
"Someone deleted them again?"
"Yea, and I have no clue why. It's not like the messages were super important or anything, I was just saying hi or whatever."
"Maybe they're trying to get between us?" I suggest.
"I don't know why they would do that..." He trails off.
"Jealousy?"
"Maybe," he shrugs.
We drop the topic after agreeing that it's nothing until it happens a third time.
"Do you want to come back to Harry's apartment with me? They won't mind," I tell Josh as he finishes off his tea.
"Okay," he says simply. He pulls out his wallet and begins to open it when I stop him.
"No, I'm paying," I say.
"No, you aren't."
"It's okay, Martin gave me money to pay," I insist.
"I'm paying," he speaks sternly as he pulls out a twenty and places it in the middle of the table. "Large tip," he says with a shrug. I sigh.
He shifts out from the booth and stands.
"You're going to have to show me the directions back to their apartment," he says as he hands me my crutches. I shuffle out from the booth and nod.
We quickly exit the cafe. A large gust of cool air hits me in the face, completely blowing away any trace of a coffee scent. I stare up at the towering buildings, shivering, admiring how they stand through all the shit weather they have to deal with.
I point directions from time to time as Josh follows me through the crowds of people on the sidewalks. Somehow, I manage to not grab any attention to myself. The constant buzzing in my ear never fades as cars honk and people rant into their phones.
We turn onto the last street and I finally see the crowd of people outside the far-too-familiar apartment.
"What's with the crowd of people?" Josh asks.
"They're famous, remember? They have fans out here nearly 24/7."
"Oh," he replies simply as he pushes me closer.
Eventually, some fans begin to notice me returning. Some yell things at me but I only reply with a few hellos. We manage to make our way through the crowd and reach the entrance before security stops us.
"Miss, you aren't allowed past these doors," a man says. I don't recognize him. Is he new?
"Do you know who I am?" I ask, feeling bad that I have to use the association card.
"Miss, it doesn't matter who you are or what your social status is," he responds in monotone. He's memorized this.
"Why don't you ask Harry who I am then?"
"Miss, you can't fool me to get Harry out here. I'm going to have to ask you to stop attempting to get in or leave."
I roll my eyes and pull out my phone.
"Fine, I'll have to text him and ask him to come out, then." I sigh.
"I hope you liked your job," I mutter, pulling up the texting app.
To Harry: security won't let me in. do you mind coming out, please?
It doesn't take long for Harry to respond.
From Harry: Of course, give me a moment
"He's coming," I tell Josh.
"Alright," he sighs.
The bodyguard simply rolls his eyes.
Soon enough, Harry emerges from the lobby doors. All the fans start screaming their heads off and the bodyguard turns around to see what the commotion is about.
Bad choice, buddy. I told you I knew Harry personally.
The bodyguard looks flabbergasted as soon as Harry walks over to me and kisses me on the cheek. The crowds screams even louder at the small show of affection, and several camera flashes go off. Then, Harry turns to face the bodyguard.
"You'd better memorize this face. Her name is Aubrey and she will be here a lot. If I have to come out and get her again, someone is losing their job," he says sternly. Wow, I've never seen Harry so feisty.
"Yes, sir," he says and faces the ground in shame.
Harry greets Josh before turning around and entering the lobby. I'm glad, to say the least, when the screaming from the fans is left outside.
"Thank you," Josh says politely. Harry simply nods as we make our way down the hallway and stop at the apartment door.
Harry unlocks it with a key and proceeds to walk in, not looking back at us. Why is he acting so strange? No silly remarks or anything.
"Who's this?" An Irish voice says as we follow Harry into the apartment.
"Niall, Zayn, meet Josh," I present, still trying to forgive him after twenty questions.
They both nod.
"Oh, Liam. Hey," I greet, noticing him sitting in one of the barstools at the kitchen.
"You again," he says. I nod.
"Yeah. Me again."
Harry laughs behind me and wraps an arm around my waist.
"How are you?" I ask Liam. He shrugs.
"'M okay. Just a bit tired."
"Me too," I laugh.
I turn to Josh.
"I'm guessing that you already met Harry in the hospital, and Louis and Liam in the club, so..."
Josh nods.
"Someone wanna move me to the couch, please and thanks?" I ask.
"Of course," Harry says as he strides over to me. Josh bends down to remove his shoes as Harry picks me up bridal style and places me on the couch. I give him a smile and a peck on the cheek as he sits beside me.
"Guess what?" Harry says with a smile.
"You're moving here permanently?" I ask excitedly.
"Nope," he says, popping the 'p'. A frown appears on my face.
"Hmm... you bought more pickles?" I suggest, mood brightening.
"No, well, yes, but that's not it."
"Ooh, you have pickles!" Josh exclaims as he skips over to the kitchen. I love how he gets so comfortable easily.
"So, what is it?" I ask Harry. His grin widens.
"We set up a doctors appointment set up tomorrow,' he says simply. I look at him confused.
"What does that mean?" I ask, oblivious to the request I made earlier this morning.
"We're getting you a boot! No more total relying on your crutches!"