Rick's POV
I'm smiling like an idiot when I hear a car door open quickly. Since I'm on edge, I turn around. And I'm met with one of the scariest things I've ever seen. An older man, the older man, is halfway inside Annaliese's door, doing I don't know what. But it doesn't take me long before I start sprinting to the car. I only get a few seconds in before a scream pierces through my ears and what feels like my whole body, making me stagger. I look up just in time to see the man stagger back out of the car, obviously from the impact of her scream. She has lungs. It sounded like she was being murdered. There was no place in the air that wasn't overwhelmed by that scream. I recover before he does and start sprinting again. I'm almost back to the car when he starts to move again, right back into the car. I'm trying to yell for her, but my tongue is stuck in my throat and I can't speak. I'm almost there when I see Annaliese reach up and slap him across the face. He staggers out just far enough for me to grab him by the back of his shirt collar and pull him back, right off of Annaliese and onto the ground. I quickly set my knee on top of him, so he can't try and run. I look back over at Annaliese and watch as her eyes glaze over, then close and she falls back onto her seat.
'She just totally passed out.' I think to myself. 'What am I supposed to do now?'
I pull out my phone and dial the number for David, the manager. I feel the man move slightly under me and give him a little kick and he immediately stops.
"Hey! Are you all good? You've been gone for awhile," David answers the phone with.
"No. I need you and another guy to come out here, right now," I tell him, not letting go of my grip of the man.
David walks out a minute later with... Andrew... the director of the store. The boss of everyone. 'Wellllll sh*t.'
"What's going on?" David shouts when he's near enough. I'm standing on the side facing away from the store, so they can't see the guy.
I give them the "come over here and you'll see" motion and wait for them to make their way over.
"Oh my god! What's going on? Who is that?" Andrew asks, bewildered.
"This," I point to the man, "is the man who has been staring and following around her," I point to Annaliese, still passed out in the drivers seat, "and ended up attacking her when I had started walking away. He opened her door and was forcing his way in. She screamed, stunned him and then when he tried to grab her again, she slapped him, which gave me the perfect amount of time for me to be able to get him off of her," I tell them, ending with a little kick. They both just stare at me, not quite believing me. "If you don't think that it's true, then look at your employee. She passed out right after I pulled him off of her," I tell Andrew, gesturing at Annaliese.
"Oh my god! She works here!?" I could see the shift in him. His motto is about protecting those who work here, always. But he didn't do that great of a job on that one today.
"Yes, and she's been out for at least five minutes now, so I believe he belongs to you right now," I stand up, pulling the man up with me and handing him off to the two still confused and scared men.
"What are you doing?" They both ask.
"She can't drive home now," I try to explain, pointing to Annaliese. They nod and start to walk off. "Here we go, Annaliese," I whisper to myself. I quickly grab her car keys, her bag, her phone and throw her pull string backpack, thank goodness it's not a purse, onto my back. I take one of my hands and put them under her neck and the other under her knees and then lift her out of her car. I close the door with a thud with my leg, and walk away with her in my arms, since I already locked the car. I look down at her. Even though I knew she was scared, she was also freakishly brave. She wasn't afraid to make noise, alerting people and she totally slapped him, without a second thought. I can't help but admire her and wonder why "Lowvee" didn't hire her sooner. She was truly incredible. I make my way back into the store, through the front doors, right into the line of sight of the cashiers and baggers.
"Oh my gosh! What happened?"
"Is she alright?"
"Is she hurt?"
"Is everything okay?" I'm surrounded by people and their questions.
"Annaliese is fine. She just had a scare of an experience and didn't take it well," I tell them, picking through them to get back to where David and Andrew brought the man.
He was not getting away with what he just did. Especially to someone as sweet and caring as Annaliese. There is no doubt that that man will pay.
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I am so sorry that this chapter is so short, but I wanted to get an extra POV in there, just for a little bonus. Since it was so short, I might publish the next chapter tomorrow, just to make up for this one being short... (if you guys tell me you want it) maybe. Love you guys and hope you're liking the story!