There’s a gasp that comes from Brenda’s station and I lift my gaze to hers only to see her staring at me in horror. Mark immediately marches toward me and stands way too close to me, his eyes narrowed on me and staring at my neck.
Immediately, I lift my hand to cover the bruising as it becomes clear this is what’s caused Brenda to gasp. I’d forgotten. In my love induced haze, I’d forgotten how other people would see this mark and question me.
“I need you to come to the back room,” Mark grinds out, his nostrils flaring as he takes in my neck. I can’t quite read the expression on his face, but it doesn’t strike me as angry, and I’m a little confused.
Nodding my head, I don’t finish getting my cash register ready. Turning toward him, I follow him back to the empty employee breakroom. Fear washes over me, not only because I’m alone with Mark back here, but also because I’m afraid that he’s going to fire me.
“I can’t have you working the register like that. Did he hurt you?” he snaps, his pupils dilated as he looks at my neck and licks his lips.
Shaking my head, I decide to tell him the truth. It’s not his business, but as my boss, I can’t have him thinking that Louis is abusing me.
“He had a nightmare, I tried to wake him up, but I shouldn’t have.”
Pity crosses his face for just a moment and I know that he doesn’t believe me. Narrowing my eyes, I wait to see what he’s going to say next.
I honestly don’t care if he believes me or not, but I can’t lose my job over this. I need this paycheck for school. I need this to show myself that I can do something with my life. That I can be good enough for Louis.
“I’m not going to ask you anything else. Apparently, you like this kind of thing,” he says, taking a step closer toward me, his breath hitching as he lets out a small groan. “I’m here for you, Tulip.”
His words are probably meant to be supportive, but the way his pupils dilate, I get a completely different feeling from him, as if he likes seeing these marks.
His voice is a bit huskier and I have a feeling that the undertone of his voice is not something that I want to know the meaning of. Taking a step back, I keep my gaze on his and nod once.
“That being said,” he says, clearing his throat. “I can’t have you out on the floor at all today. You’ll have to stay in the back and stock product and organize the produce.”
Nodding, I tell him that I understand. His gaze lingers on mine for a moment, and then thankfully he walks away from me. I let out the breath that I’d been holding and bite the corner of my bottom lip.
I can hang out in the back. There’s plenty to do to keep me busy. It’s not creepy at all. That last thing that I tell myself is a complete lie. It is creepy back there, especially since today isn’t a day where we have extra people unloading, organizing and stocking things.
This is one of the days of the week where hardly anyone is back here. It’s going to be completely silent unless someone happens to pop in.
Making my way into the back of the store, I find my Spotify playlist and turn up my volume. I can’t work in silence, not alone back here. The morning ends up going a lot quicker than I anticipate.
Eventually, I’m dancing, shaking my booty all over the back of the store as I organize, stock milk and do anything that I notice needs doing. Glancing at my phone activity tracker, I notice that I close a ring and have earned all of my steps by the time lunch rolls around.
Lifting my arms with a stretch, I make my way toward a crate to sit down for a few minutes before I attempt to figure out what to grab to eat.
I’m not even sure if I should be heading out to get food or not. I don’t want to upset people, since apparently that’s what my neck would do according to Brenda and Mark’s reactions.
I hear a noise and look over my shoulder, but nothing is there. With a small shiver, I decide to skip lunch and just slip outside and take in some sunshine.
Closing my eyes, I lean against the wall and feel the stucco of the building against my back as the sun beats down on me.
It’s hot, but it’s not unbearable, thankfully, especially since there’s no air conditioning in most of the back stockroom.
Even with my eyes closed, I can sense the dark shadow that blocks the sun from my body after a little while. Slowly, I open my eyes when it doesn’t move and I gasp at the sight in front of me.
“What are you doing? You scared me,” I hiss.
He tilts his head to the side, his eyes roaming over me and passing over my neck before he smiles. When he does, it’s a slow, sinister, evil grin.
“You know,” he begins. “I’ve been watching you, watching every single move that you’ve been making. Watching everything. You were always meant to be mine and now I’m taking what’s owed to me.”
“What?” I breathe.
He dips his chin, his hot breath washing over my face. My nose wrinkles at the stench. Booze and stale cigarette stench is the only thing that I can smell, mixed with some serious body odor.
“You’re mine now, Tulip. All mine.”
He lifts his hand and covers my mouth and my nose with it before he drags me away from my spot against the wall. I scratch at his arm, try to pry his grip off of me, but he’s too strong. There’s a car waiting just a few feet away with the trunk open. I didn’t notice it, not until now.
I let out a muffled scream as he shoves me inside and I try to stand up, to scream and fight, but before a sound escapes my lips, his fist comes hurling toward me and pain radiates throughout my head a second before everything goes black.
LOUIS
My workout is fucking fantastic. My body is beat to shit, and although I still feel like a complete fucking asshole for what I did to Tulip, I’ve been beating myself up so much that I know it will do nothing but push me to be better, in and out of the ring.
“Done for the day, go get some dinner and do an ice soak, you’re gonna need it,” Aaron announces before he just walks out of the room.
Looking over to Shawn, he smirks toward me and shakes his head a couple of times. “That guy is all fuckin’ business,” he mutters.
“No shit,” I snort.
But then I think about the little things that Aaron has said and done. I realize that it’s not true, he’s not solely business. He sees and does things, but isn’t loud about it and if you try to bring it up, he’ll get red in the face and pissed the fuck off.
Using a towel, I wipe the sweat from my face, head, and chest before I toss it into the basket by the door and start to make my way toward the kitchen. I frown when I look around and realize that Tulip isn’t here.
Glancing at the clock, my frown deepens. I’m a little late, which means she should be here. We had a date, and she’s not one to miss plans when we make them.
Deciding to check our bedroom, I flip on the light to see that it’s exactly how I left it earlier. There’s no sign of her anywhere.
Jogging toward the front door, I wrench it open and somehow expect to see her car parked in its spot, but it isn’t. The space that she’s deemed as hers is empty.
Digging my phone out of my pocket, I check to see if I have any notifications from her. There’s nothing, not a missed text, fucking nothing. Finding her name in my contacts, I call her.