The heat today is unbearable. I swear I'm being cooked alive. Add the scorching sun, my obnoxious boss and the slobs that come to stay at the Tasty motel and you'll have my perfect description of hell.
I drag the heavy basket of bed sheets and blankets, then head to room ten, where the bald drug addict tried to grab my ass yesterday. I spat in his drink of course, but didn't get the satisfaction I thought I'd get from doing it. The man was high and probably didn't notice. If I tried to report the incident to my boss, he'd just tell me to deal with it. "It's not like he tried to raped you," he'd say, just like the five times I've told him about men grabbing me.
Holding onto the gold handle of the door, I push it open then place the white basket on the floor and move around the place to check for any remaining belongings. Once I'm satisfied that nothing was left behind, I reach into my pocket to grab my phone and put my headsets on. As dancing with a stranger by sam smith starts to play, I remove the old sheets from the king sized bed and replace them with the new ones. Once I'm done with the bed, I dust the room, sweep, mop, then use some air conditioner to remove the smell of cigarettes that stuck to it like a leach.
The clock on the wall reads 5:50pm which means it's almost my time to leave this hellhole. Once I'm satisfied with how the room looks, I take the basket of old sheets and walk to the back of the building to place them into the washing machine. The washing is done within thirty minutes. Once the clock strikes 7pm, I remove the skimpy uniform from my body and put on normal clothes.
"Why don't you let me buy you dinner?"
I turn to face Gabriel, my best friend. He is tall, taller than me anyways. About 5'8 with beautiful hazel eyes and sun kissed brown skin. His mother calls me her daughter in law as a joke because we are always together. I love the woman. She is the closest thing I have to a mother.
"And miss out on a new episode of Steven?" I feign horror with a hand placed above my heart. "That is too much to ask."
Gabriel laughs and I let out a small giggle. I love how dorky his laugh is. He has the ability to make even the worst of people smile. Ever since the first day I met him, which was three years ago, I have never seen him upset. He always has this inviting smile on his face. My ray of sunshine.
"Come on. It's just dinner."
I place my index finger on my bottom lip and tap.
"What are we talking about exactly?"
He moves to wrap his muscular arms around me.
"Why, the finest cuisine. McDonald's," he utters with the worst attempt at a french accent I have ever heard.
I smile.
"Well, how can I resist?" With a small kiss to his cheek, I remove his hands from my waist.
"I'll find you outside. Give me five minutes to pack my things and check out."
He nods.
"Don't take too long. I might find another wife who treats me better than you."
"Why husband, I am one of a kind. You might find another wife but you will always long for me."
♥
After our sophisticated meal at McDonalds, Gabriel suggests that we walk home instead of getting a cab. I hesitantly agree. My feet hurt from standing all day and the heels on my feet don't make it any better.
"How's school?" I ask.
He started his first semester of an economics and finance degree last month and I have yet to ask him about it.
"It's fine," he says. "Hectic, but fine."
I nod then look around the street. It's dark, only street lights offering some light and a poster which says "Go back" moves back and forth due to the force of the wind. I get an unsettling feeling from it, like it's warning us.
"I love you."
Gabriel's words bring me back to the present. I chuckle lightly.
"Everyone loves me," I say with a smug smile.
He huffs out a breath as a look of embarrassment crosses his face.
"I like you, like you. Not in a...as a friend kind of way."
It takes exactly five minutes of awkward silence for me to understand what it is he is saying. He likes me? Relationship with him kind? We stop walking in the middle of the road. I look up to meet his eyes.
I don't see Gabriel in that light and once your brain is made up on only seeing someone as a brother, I don't think it can go back.
"Gabe...I."
"You don't have to love me back. I just want you to know that I love you. I love your smile, your beautiful eyes," he cups my cheek, his thumb brushes my bottom lip. "I love you, Aria. I've loved you for a long time."
I can't bring myself to look into his eyes with the intensity they hold. I look down to glance at the heart shaped necklace he had given me on my birthday.
He lifts my face to meet his eyes and without registering what is happening, I feel his lips on mine. His lips are soft, gentle. They move against my still ones until I start to move mine. I want to feel something for him because I know he is exactly the kind of man I deserve. He is sweet, kind, protective without being overbearing and cares so much for a girl he barely knows. But I can't. I don't feel the passion that I desperately crave to feel.
Before I can push him away, a sharp sound pierces the eerily quiet road. One sets off a series of others. My mind can not keep up with what is going on until Gabriel pushes me against a tree and shields me with his body.
Voices fill the street then cars then men running and rushing towards us. I shake.
"Gabe," it's whispered out.
"Shhh," he sushes.
I'm shaking, terrified of dying this young. I'd heard stories about the mafia's activities in various areas of the city. I just didn't think I'd be here to witness them.
Words are uttered in a language I can not understand and the war goes on for what feels like ages until a man falls right in front of me. He lays sideways, eyes open as blood oozes from his forehead.
The shaking becomes uncontrollable and I scream.
"Shit," I hear Gabe mutter. He pulls me to him and tells me to run. I can't hear him over how hysterical I become. He tries to walk in the other direction but falls to the ground with a thud.
"Gabriel!" I screech and crawl to his body.
Blood. So much blood. His white t-shirt absorbs the colour until it's all I can see. They shot him. They shot him and he is going to die.
"Gabriel please open your eyes," I sob and frantically try to remember what his mother said about keeping someone alive. I press my hand onto his chest and try to stop the bleeding.
"Gabe," I cry. "Please don't leave me."
Tearing off a layer of my dress, I press the cloth on his wound.
Pain erupts from my scalp as I feel myself being lifted up. Fear consumes me. I try to wiggle out of the grip on my head to no avail.
"You're a pretty little thing, aren't you?"
It's spoken with a thick accent. French? Spanish? No, it's Italian.
"It would be a pity to kill you."
The man wraps an arm around my waist and drags me away from Gabe. I kick and scream for him to release me but he doesn't. By the time he drops me on the ground I am a sobbing mess. My knees scrape against the road as I try to lift myself to my feet.
"Cos'è questo?"
(What is this)
I hear a deep baritone voice ask. I realize I'm kneeling before his feet. Despite the darkness that consumes the surroundings I can see that his shoes are impeccably clean, black with an expensive shine.
"Si nascondeva dietro gli alberi con il suo ragazzo."
(She was hiding behind the trees with her boyfriend)
The other man answers.
"È morto?" The scary voice asks.
(Is he dead?)
"Quasi."
(Almost)
I let out a pained wail. It hurts, everything hurts. I can't think or else pain will consume me.
"Può capirmi?" The man behind me asks.
(can she understand me?)
They both laugh.
"Dovrei togliertela dalle mani?"
(Should I take her off your hands?)
I hiss when I'm lifted to my feet by my hair. I realize that I haven't stopped shaking. My chin is forcefully raised to meet the eyes of the man with the shiny black shoes.
I cry while he stares into my soul. His eyes are so dark and evil it doesn't seem humanly possible. A curl of hair falls down his forehead. He looks over my face, my hair, my eyes, my nose, all the while burning me with his gaze.
"Uccidila."
(Kill her)