"Mpfh..." I groaned as my eyes opened. My head seriously hurt. Then my brain registered the people around me. Especially one person: Rick.
I tried to sit up to fast and winced as my head throbbed and everything flickered.
"Get- get him away!" I exclaimed, lying down on the... what was I lying down on? I checked and saw it was a bench, no wonder it was uncomfortable.
"Whoa, whoa!" one of the people around me, a guy with mocha-brown hair and brown eyes, put his hands on my shoulders. "You ain't in any state to get up."
I recognized his voice. It took a while for my lagging brain to catch up but then I realized it was him. The man who saved me from the two men who mugged me.
"Uh..." and I was about to ask him questions when I really noticed the people around me. They were all talking amongst one another and I realized I looked like a mess.
The man, the hero, saw my uncertainty at all those people and turned around to shoo them off until it was only him and Rick.
"Get lost you dick !" I spat with pure spite, and watched his shoulders slump as his expression turned crest-fallen. Why was he trying to act like he was the victim? He honestly deserves it.
"Whoa, you two know each other?" the man, who's name I hadn't caught yet, asked in confusion.
"Yeah, she's my fiancée," Rick immediately said, and the anger that flooded my body was unexplainable.
I sat up and although my body was feeling all kinds of raw pain and bruises, nothing hurt more than that anger that was squeezing my chest together, making it difficult for me to breathe. I had to gasp to not burst out crying and hated him for doing this to me. Well, and myself for letting him.
"Oh..." the guy took a step back and the passionate look that was on his face before, disappeared. "Well I'm sure you've got hold of this situation, I'd best be off. Take care okay?"
"Don't worry, I'll handle it," Rick cut in before I could even say a word.
"WAIT! " I yelled as they both started to converse about God-knows-what and forget my presence.
They both looked at me and I smiled at the guy, who's name I really needed to figure out, and didn't even look at Rick even though he was staring at me.
"Don't go. This little bastard here, his name's Rick, and he's definitely not my fiancé. In fact I hate him."
The guy looked stunned and watched us both as he processed the information I just fed him.
"Ignore her, she's just had a bump on the head. I'll take her to the hospital and you go do your own business." Rick matter-of-factly stated with a blank look.
"Shut up. You know what you did and it's disgusting. We're over okay? No more wedding, no more partner. You screwed all that up and what is even more disgusting is you keep trying to act like nothing happened. You apologized like, what, once? And you think I'll forgive you. Well I'm so sorry to burst your bubble but I'm not the pushover you thought I was. So don't you even dare think that what we once had can be brought back again, because newsflash Rick, sorry, I meant newsflash dick, you screwed it up. And I'm never going to forgive you for that. Ever. So I suggest you move out of the way and go crawl back under the cave you came from, because next time my brother sees you, he won't hesitate to batter you, and you can just taste a little of what you did to me felt like."
Rick and the guy stared at me stunned, again. They literally didn't move for like a whole 30 seconds and then thankfully, the guy who saved me, blinked a few times and returned to his normal state.
"Uh, sorry man but I suggest you go. The damn woman said it herself and I'm not gonna leave if she's not happy with you here," the guy intervened on my behalf and I gave him a silent thank you.
Rick got angry when the guy interrupted though. "What? Who are you even? Don't tell me to move from my fiancé okay? Stick your damn nose out of our private business, what the hell?!"
"Hold up, your fiancé? We just heard her give a damn speech about how you shut move the hell away okay? I'm respecting her wishes, and maybe you should too."
I don't know what the guy said that was so wrong but Rick turned seriously angry and he shoved the guy whilst saying, "shut the hell up. I don't know who you think you are but I suggest you leave now with all your body pieces intact or you stay and you leave with a black eye and a bloody nose."
The guy fell backward but found his balance and stood back up, and held his hands up as though to surrender. "Okay, for her ex, you are 50 shades of damn crazy."
I laughed.
And then Rick punched him. I screamed. I heard a loud, sickening crack and couldn't breathe.
Then the guy stepped back, held his bleeding nose and grabbed hold of Rick's arms and punched him in the stomach thrice.
Rick winced and anger fuelling him, tackled the guy to the ground and punched him in the face. He wouldn't stop, and I screamed. I didn't know what to do and a female passer-by glanced at me with pity, and said "just ring the police, love," and quickly hurried past from the fight, so I did.
I quickly gave the details of where we were and the operator said not to worry, the police were on their way.
Then suddenly, the fight changed. The guy grabbed Rick's ankle and pushed so that Rick landed on the floor with a loud thud and he loomed over Rick's defeated body. I braced myself for the several punches that would be landed on my ex-lover's face but I didn't need to because Rick stepped back.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ray," he laughed, his bloody teeth showing as blood from his nose dripped into his mouth.
I stood near Rick and watched him; he was almost unconscious and I felt nothing. Did that make me a bad girlfriend? Probably not, he provoked Ray in the first place.
"Why didn't you hurt him?" I asked in fascination as Ray and I sat on a bench waiting for the police to arrive. "Oh, and I'm Aria. We didn't exactly meet in the best of situations."
"He's not worth it and if I did, then he most likely would've been unconscious and that would've looked bad? My story that he provoked me would've gone down the drain and I ain't doing time for a crime I didn't exactly commit." Ray explained and I was almost awe-struck by his intelligence and bravery.
"That's... Wow, that's something," was all I could say without embarrassing myself.
Then we had to deal with the people passing by as they glanced at Rick and then at us and it was hard work but it was something killed time as we still waited for the police. Eventually the sirens were distinct and were becoming louder and louder as each second pass and before I knew it two cops, one woman who was called Inspector Jones and one man called Inspector Pearce, and were questioning us. After I'd explained everything including our history and why I broke up and why I was in such a state, they nodded and thanked us.
"We're taking him in now for questioning but if you don't want to press charges just say the word, now thanks Ray and Aria." Inspector Pearce shook our hands and smiled warmly before handcuffing Rick and putting him in the car.
I looked at Ray and he looked back at me. I don't know what he was thinking but he looked deep in thought and quite tense.
"Wait!" he suddenly shouted to Inspector Jones who tapped Inspector Pearce. They both came to us.
"I've decided I don't want to press charges but I want that thing... er, where he has to stay away from me and Aria. Like, he can never be within 10 yards of us or something." Ray shuffled his feet, and looked down.
"Oh, restraining order?" Inspector Jones replied, looking at Inspector Pearce who nodded.
"Yeah, that's the name. So, can you do it?"
"Well, we can but are you sure you don't want to press charges? By the looks of it he's broken your nose and some of your teeth even... and you'll have 2 black eyes by tomorrow. I've noticed you wincing as you walk so maybe when he punched your stomach he broke your ribs?" Inspector Pearce pointed out.
I looked at him, really looked at him as in I viewed all his features and right now, I couldn't see any. His eyes were gone a soft purple which would clearly worsen into an angry blue-black in a few days; his nose was dry with blood and it looked out of place and when he smiled, one of his teeth was dangerously wobbling. I touched his hand and lifted his shirt up and there it was, a bruise on his ribs and when I gently pressed my palm against it, he flinched.
"Is my hand cold or does it hurt?" although I knew the answer was the latter.
"Your hand's cold," he whispered, chuckling and I lifted his shirt back down.
Then Inspector Pearce coughed and Ray and I looked at him.
"Er, no I don't want to press charges but I definitely want a restraining order." Ray demanded, politely of course.
Inspector Jones nodded and she handed him a business card, the official police department of London, the CLPD (City of London Police Department) and said, "contact us if you change your mind. We'll ring you in a few days to come in for questioning to finalize the restraining order and if anything happens, you know who to call."
"Thanks," Ray and I smiled at the same time.
"Bye! Stay safe," they waved with warm smiles as they entered the car and I shivered when I couldn't help but notice the death glare Rick was giving me through the back seat of the police car.
Sirens wailed as the car crunched against gravel, did a U-turn and sped off.
"Ray, you need to get checked out," I, concerned, told him.
"And what, lose a hundred bucks I don't have?" he changed his accent to an American one and I couldn't help but laugh.
"We're not in America mate, we have the NHS. Now get off the kerb and on the sidewalk," I copied his accent and we both cracked up laughing. We walked on the pavement, arms linked now.
"No but yeah, I do have to go," he said, with a look of regret I think it was.
"I'll come with!" I jumped at the chance but he shook his head.
I stuck my bottom lip out and pouted, and made my puppy dog face with the big eyes.
"Aw, how can I resist?" he ruffled my hair.
"You can't." I playfully punched him and he winced and I immediately regretted it because it was right where his bruised ribs were.
"Oh, crap!" I breathed, and lifted his shirt again to press my palm gentle against the bruise. This time he didn't flinch though, instead he closed his eyes and smiled as though it was a massage. I watched his face for a bit and I don't know what it was but he was so fascinating and then he opened his eyes and looked at me. Instead of any of us feeling the slight bit embarrassed, we felt at peace.
And then he stepped away and placed his arms on my shoulders. It felt so wrong, but oh, it felt so right. Before I knew it, we'd both knelt forwards and suddenly his mouth was on mine and it was so light and butterflies were fluttering in my stomach. It felt so new and so unusual. I tasted the copper flavor blood had but passing the blood, it was all him and God, was he amazing. His hands were tight around my waist and I felt our bodies getting closer. It was soft and slow, but then he pressed his body against mine and I felt something which I hoped was not what I thought it was, but truthfully, it was sexy. From soft and slow, it became intense and fast and suddenly we were a mix of tongues, hands, hair and bodies. He tasted so good... so good. Imagine what he actually tasted like...
Eventually, we stepped back and I probably looked the same as I felt: exhilarated but content. I licked my lips and he did his and he had a wild look in his eyes that made me think about all the other possibilities if we went home but the wild fire in his eyes died down as he glanced at the weather, which was darkening up with deep, grey clouds.
It was going to rain.
--