I'd been shocked the first time I saw him come out of the building and enter the cafe, but that had soon melted into excitement at the chance to do something to gain his forgiveness. I'd made sure that he got the slice of cake with the biggest strawberry on it, popping a few extra onto the top when my coworker wasn't looking before taking it to his table along with his coffee.
When he left, I felt both crushed and elated at the statement he made. "The other cake was better."
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After the second time he came in, I started bringing slices of cake from home to give him in case he showed up, happy to see him finally smiling a bit when he took a bite of his treat. The downside came when my boss saw the cake he was eating one day, noticing it was not one of the slices from the case. It was rather easy to tell, since the cakes the cafe made never had more than once strawberry per slice and had far less frosting on top.
They also tended not to have the a flower made of spun sugar resting upon the top, something I had started adding regularly when I noticed how the young man's eyes had lit up the first time I'd brought one in. I'd been mostly fooling around making candies to send home to my family as a treat but had decided to bring one in to show him. I'd never seen him look more awake than when he held it cupped in his hands.
But today, with my boss standing before me telling me I was not allowed to do such things as bring in my own cakes from home to sell. I tried to explain why I was bringing a slice in and that it was only for this one customer, but he didn't care and just yelled more. I tried one last time to explain but was frozen in shock when he told me he didn't need an employee who argued so much and I could pick up my final paycheck on Friday.
I didn't even notice the cold look that entered the eyes of the young man I still didn't know the name of. Heading to the back room, I grabbed my belongings and changed out of the uniform, leaving it hanging in my otherwise empty locker. I could only pray that I found a new job soon. I only had enough in savings to last me two or three months, money I had been planning to use to visit my family at the end of the year for the holidays.
Walking back out, I stumbled a bit as I exited the building, not once looking towards the now empty table my 'friend' had been sitting at. I also failed to notice the slightly frightened look on the owners face as I left, his skin pale and his hands shaking.
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I didn't understand what was going on. Everyplace I called, everyone I talked to, although they had signs or adds saying they were hiring seemed to all be reluctant to even speak with me, let alone offer me so much as an interview. The one time I had managed to talk them into seeing me, they had nearly forced me out of the building after receiving a single phone call that had barely lasted for half a minute, leaving one question going through my mind over and over.
"Who is stopping me from getting a job?"
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It was during the third week of looking for work that the worst thing possible happened. My account was frozen and I couldn't do anything about it. The reason given to me? It was under inspection by the government, suspicions of the mass murderer Kira possibly having used it to transfer money between accounts causing them to need to stop all activities with the account until further notice.
The only hope I had was a simple card given to me with a date, time and address, saying that I could go there and meet someone who would help make sure I would be taken care of until everything was cleared up.
So with little other choice I found myself heading to the address provided, a very familiar building that I had been to a few times already. The room, however, was not one I had seen before, being on a different floor entirely from the one the young man was staying in all these weeks.
Lifting my hand up to knock, I was unprepared for the sharp pain from behind as the world suddenly went black, barely feeling the arms catching me as I lost conciousness.
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"I'll keep you safe."
"I'll never let you go."
"I'm addicted to you."
"I need you so much."
"I love you."
Every day it was a new sentence whispered in my ear. A new reason added to why he kept me here. A new phrase to try to break down the wall I had built in my mind. The wall I had built to keep out the man who had stolen me away, giving the excuse at first that it was to keep me safe from Kira.
"I'll show you that we belong together." I turned my head away from the young man beside me, his dark eyes staring at me like he could learn everything just by looking at me long enough.
Hearing the chains clink as I shifted my arms, my wrists slightly bruised from having pulled against them earlier, I closed my eyes and refused to look back at him. The mysterious L who was supposed to save people from the insane Kira, was far more dangerous to me than someone who likely would never have targeted me.
Opening my eyes once again, I looked at the bars of the cell he kept me in, having heard him leave the room after locking me away in my 'new home' where he could keep me 'safe' from the world. But who would keep me safe from him?
As the days turned into weeks and the weeks began turning into months, part of me could only hope that somehow Kira would win and I would gain my freedom, be it in L's death or my own.