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Description
Guardian
***

I woke up refreshed at 6 a.m., just when there was a light breeze bringing the smell of roses into my bedroom.  It was a perfect morning.  The baby birds chirped to their parents as a sure sign of hunger.  Baby rabbits sat in the green grass eating under the still-dark sky that still showed the few remaining stars before the sun brightened the day. I put on a sports bra, my running shorts and put my iPod at my side as I put on my running shoes, grabbed a water bottle and started on my run.  As I hit the trails, the sun showed me its perfect sun rise as beautiful colors displayed themselves over the peaks of the mountains, turning them a brilliant mix of pink and purple color.  About a half hour into my run, my legs started that burning sensation.  I felt so alive; I started picking the pace up little by little until I was midway between a jog and a full out run.  After an hour I was out of breath and rested, drinking some water to sooth my crusty throat.  I was home by nine to get ready for my shift at Starbucks.
When I got home, I kicked off my shoes, stripped down and showered.  I stood there and let the refreshing water run down my body and clean the sweat off. When I got out, I put my hair up in a towel, got dressed, did my makeup, and did my hair.  I was ready within an hour.
When I got there I was welcomed by Jay, my boss who was married with two kids who were out of the house.  He was the type of guy that couldn’t have just one girl.  He was kind of perverted, and often slapped my ass.  I couldn’t really do anything about it considering his position and if I quit, I wouldn’t have a good chance at finding another job.  With rent to pay and school to pay for along with taxes, I needed this job.  Mike, on the other hand, was very sexy, sweet, charming, and didn’t know I had major feelings for him.  I wish I was going out with him, but I’m not the type to be hunting for the man. Often, you would think he really likes you and wants to have more than a professional relationship with you and other times, you think he could care less if you were dead.  Some girls think you can easily tell what a guy wants from you, but with him, it’s not easy.
“Hey there,” Mike said giving me a hug. “Your hair smells nice, did you use different shampoo?”
“Yeah, you like it?” I said with a grin on my face.  He just laughed and went back to work.  Mike was being really flirtatious today and even put his hand on my hip when he talked to me.  I liked it a little more than I should have.  I noticed out of the corner of my eye when Mike did that, Jay looked at him with a crazy look in his eye that could be mistaken as about ready to kill him in inhumane ways.
“Hey sexy, on your lunch break, want to go and get some food with me?” Jay asked trying to look irresistible.  He was failing miserably.  Mike looked at me, clearly warning me.
“I’m flattered, but I packed my own lunch today.  Maybe another time,” I lied through my teeth. He didn’t seem to notice though.  He gave a striking look at Mike.
“Mike can I have a word with you?”
“Yeah Jay, let me just finish this latté.” Jay look Mike into the backroom and after a few minutes I heard yelling then Mike stormed through the doors carrying his coat.  I called after him but he didn’t respond.  Once my shift was over I went into the back room to grab my stuff. Jay came up to me and whispered into my ear as he grabbed me around the waist.
“Meet me at the bar across the street tomorrow night at nine.  If you don’t come, you can forget about coming to work.”  He kissed me as I turned to face him.  I left.  I couldn’t do anything without him firing me like he just did to Mike.  I had to go.  Maybe at the bar I will do something, what, I don’t know though. I left and went to the gym in tears.  My boss was slowly ruining my life.  I know I can’t let him do this, but I can’t afford to make him stop.  I would lose my job and then lose everything.
When I got the gym I felt like playing basketball.  When I got there, a game was already in progress.
“Hey, five against six, you guys need an extra player?” I asked the guys.  The tall one, who wasn’t bad looking at all, came up to me.
“You any good?” he asked me with a smirk.
“Well I guess we’ll find out now won’t we?” I replied with raised eyebrows. He checked the ball to me as I went around him, and then did a “reverse lay-up” as I like to call them.
“I’m Andrew.  That short beefy guy over there is Matt.  The scrawny one there is Jake.  That’s Jordan, and Alex.  We are your team.  The other guys are Devin but he goes by “D”.  That’s James, Marcus, Bill but he goes by “Sarg”, Adrianne, and Roger he goes by rookie.” He said pointing to all of them.
“Ok, what’s the score?”
“13 to 10, their lead.  But you know, they did have the extra player.”
“Yes, you just can’t let them have all the credit now can you?”
“Course not,”  I just laughed as we started the game.  About 15 minutes into the game, Jake turned into Mr. Flirt.
“Hey wanna have some one on one action after this?”
“Now why would I want to go with a scrawny little guy like you?”
“WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HIM?” a woman screamed at me. She was blonde, with blue eyes and big boobs.
“Just the truth, do you have a problem with that?”
“How dare you! Who do you think you are? Don’t you dare talk about my boyfriend like that!”
“Oh, so he’s your boyfriend? Well you might want to pay attention to him then because before you know it, he’s going to go after me.”  I turned around to get back to my game.
“HEY!” right when I turned around, a fist knocked against my cheek bone. She swung again but I caught her fist, twisted her arm and got into a position to where I could easily break her arm or kick her in the face with a single movement of the leg.
“DO IT!  TRY IT ONE MORE TIME, JUST ONE MORE TIME!” I screamed at her.
“She’s not worth it,” Andrew said putting his arm around me, pulling me away. She ran off in a huff.
“That was some pretty fancy shit you just did there.” Matt told me, clearly impressed.
“Yeah, well, you never know when a psycho’s going to try to get you.” We played for another two and a half hours.
“Does anyone have the time?”
“Yeah, its 11:30, why?”
“Ah, crap, I better start walking home.”
“Walking? No not at this hour. Jake, take her home-wait! Never mind, I’ll do it.” Andrew told him
“No really, it’s fine, thanks for the concern but I’ll be alright.”
“Two years ago, my brother was walking home about this hour in this neighborhood.  He was attacked by the gangs hanging around and was killed.  If something happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing I wasn’t there to protect you.” He really looked concerned so I gave in.
“Ok, if it really means that much to you, I don’t mind.” I got my stuff together and left.  When we started walking, he noticed something was wrong.
“Is everything ok?”
“Yeah,”
“You know, I don’t know you too well, but I know you well enough to know that there is clearly something wrong.  Now are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to get it out of you?” I turned to face him.  I didn’t expect to see him look so worried.
“I’m just having problems with my boss.  He’s married and his kids already moved out of the house but I can’t get him away from me.  He just fired my co-worker to get rid of the competition and won’t stop touching me.  He told me that if I don’t go to a bar with him tomorrow night, I’ll lose my job.  I have college to pay for, my apartment, taxes, books, all that stuff.  I can’t afford to lose my job and if I do, I won’t be able to find another.  I just don’t know what to do.” He put his hand on my cheek and wiped away my tears.
“Everything will be ok.  Did your boss say what bar he’s taking you to?”
“The one across the street from the Starbucks.  He told me nine.” Andrew nodded his head.
“Are we getting close to your place?”
“Yeah, we’re almost there. Hey, are you going to be ok getting home?  I can give you a ride if you would like.”
“No, it’s ok.  I’m only a few blocks away.” A few minutes later, we got to my place.
“Do you want to come in? Maybe have some coffee?”
“No, maybe next time. I’m working in the morning.  Good night.”
“Good night.” I gave him a hug and he kissed my cheek and left.
I started to think; what is it that I want?  I like Andrew, but then what about Mike?  He flirted but never walked me home or kissed me.  Then again, I have known Mike for over a year and I just met Andrew today.  They are both tall, handsome, but only Andrew told me he couldn’t life with himself if something happened to me.  What do I do?
It was the next day at eight p.m. I just got out of the shower and was getting ready for the bar.  I wore my black clubbing jeans and a red halter top with some Rhinestones on it.  I curled my hair, put some hoop earrings on and left.
Once I got there I was met immediately by Jay. He was wearing a silk shirt with some khakis.  The music hit us at once as we were met by the smell of cigarette smoke, alcohol, and sweat.  We went immediately to the dance floor and I started moving my hips and breaking it down.  Once people started noticing me, I felt a hand on my stomach.  I didn’t have to look behind me to know it was Jay trying to grind with me.  Once he awoke my senses, I looked around and saw Mike.  He was dirty dancing with another girl.  She was beautiful; she had blue eyes and brown hair; she was short but well toned.  She didn’t have much of a bust but made up for it with her ass. Mike was touching and feeling her every curve, she was entrancing him with her movements.
“Hey!” I yelled at him.  He looked at me and looked sorry.  It was then I noticed I was crying.  I dried my tear and walked away.  He followed.
“It’s not what it looks like.” He told me, gently caressing my arm.
“You better get back to your girlfriend, before she gets the wrong idea.”
“She’s not my-”
“Then what is she?  I see the way she looks at you, the way you dance with her, the way you touch her, and you try to tell me she isn’t your girlfriend? No, no, I don’t know why you followed me, but I don’t need this.”
“Would you listen to me?”
“No! There’s nothing to listen to! I don’t see how you expect me to believe you two are not together.”
“Then why are you here with Jay?”
“Why?  If I wouldn’t have come, I would have lost my job.”
“Is there a problem, baby?” the woman said rubbing his torso.  I looked at him
“This is-”
He began to introduce the woman.
“I’m Angel, his girlfriend.”
“How could you not tell me?  After a year of me showing how much I wanted you, how could you not tell me about her?  How could you play me like that?” I asked him through bursts of sobs. I felt hurt, enraged, played, and all those other things.
“What’s she talking about, baby?”
“Nothing, she’s just had too much to drink.” I went back to Jay.  I wanted to make Mike jealous.  I wanted him to feel the heart break I just felt.  Jay kissed me when I got back and I returned it, shoving my tongue in his mouth and rubbing my body against his.  I started unbuttoning the top half of his shirt, slipped my hand in and rubbed my hand against his chest, I made sure I brushed against his groin. He grabbed him self and ran to the bathroom. I looked at Mike and saw hurt, anger, and jealousy in his eyes.  What scared me was that I was satisfied.
Once Jay returned, he got us some drinks and I went to the bathroom hoping to see Andrew in the bar.  I saw Mike with Angel.  They kissed and then he looked at me.  I splashed my face with cold water, letting my mascara run down my cheeks.   I leaned against the cold, wet sink, sobbing.  I just couldn’t believe a man could do something that horrible.  I looked at my reflection in the mirror and stared in disbelief at what I saw.
“I’m not going to go back out there and give him victory.  No matter how much he hurt me, no matter how hard I try, I will not give him the pleasure of knowing that he has the power to control my emotions, or me.”
I redid my makeup and went back out there.  I saw Andrew  out there and we were about to make our way over to each other when the crowd separated us so I went back to Jay to get my drink.
‘I’ve got to save her, Andrew thought.  She told me she would be here and with me not being able to live with myself if something happened to her, I have to save her.  I saw that stuff he put in her drink.’
Right after I drank it, I saw Andrew running in my direction.  I collapsed.  Jay lifted me up and kissed my neck and was just about to leave with me when Andrew punched him.  Jay fell to the ground and hit his head on a stool.  He was unconscious and wouldn’t be awake for a while.  I blacked out just as Andrew picked me up.
Around three in the morning I woke up in my apartment.  Andrew was sitting next to me, blotting a cold wet washcloth to my forehead.
“Hey, are you ok?” he asked me.
“Yeah, what happened?”
“You boss drugged your drink and was about to seduce you.  I took care of him and brought you here.  I couldn’t live with myself if I knew someone hurt you and I could have done something about it.”  There was silence between us and I heard soft music playing on my stereo.  I sat up.
“Want to dance?” he asked holding his hand out.  I grabbed it and stood to dance, but I was unsteady so he grabbed my and held me up so I wouldn’t collapse.
“Do you want to sit down for a minute?” he asked, holding my hand.  I shook my head sideways.  He helped me steady myself, brushed my hair out of my face and held my cheek staring into my eyes.
“You’re so beautiful.” he whispered.  I smiled as I wrapped my arms around him.  We held each other as we danced.   I rested my head against his chest and felt his security.  We danced through five songs.
“Thanks.”
“For the dance?  It was my pleasure.” I laughed at his response
“Well that too, but for what you have done for me.” I looked him in the eye then leaned in and kissed him on the lips. He leaned into me and we let the sensation run through our body trying to hold the moment.
“I had to.”
“Why?”
We pressed our foreheads together, then he looked into my eyes.  I didn’t and couldn’t look away.  It was like he was searching my soul and I watched the light reflect in his eyes.  I was mesmerized by their beauty.  He lifted my chin up then kissed me back.  I put my hand on his cheek and ran my fingers through his hair as we kissed.  He wrapped his arms tightly around my body, pulling me into him.  Then he ran his hands up and down my back, memorizing every curve.  We stumbled into my room and fell on my bed.  We worked each others shirts off then took a brief second to examine each others body.  He clearly worked out as I saw his muscles expand as he breathed.  He had the body of a god, a very muscular god.  He made models look like wimps. We kissed again then he started on my neck then claimed my body with his lips.  My back arched as my nerves sent sensations through out my body. He stopped after a while and looked into my eyes and played with my hair.
“Do you believe in love at first sight?” he asked me.
“I don’t know,” I said as he laid down next to me, he wrapped his arms around me as he gently kissed my shoulder.  We fell asleep like that.  There was no sex, but what we had felt just as good.
I woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee, bacon, hash browns, and pancakes. I walked into my kitchen and wrapped my arms around Andrew’s waist.
“Hey,” I said, then took a moment to take in the aroma.
“Good morning, you have time to take a shower if you want before breakfast is ready.”
“Ok.”  When I got in the shower, I stood there and let the hot water run down my body as I watched the steam rise to the ceiling, taking in the thought that there was a very sexy, sweet, nice, caring, tall, gorgeous man in my kitchen cooking my breakfast.  I washed my hair and then my body and shaved. I got out and dried my self off and went to the table to eat.  The meal was fantastic.
“Do you like it?” he asked.  He didn’t even have to but he just wanted to feed his ego.  I was stuffing my face with food, clearly in heaven. When I was done I was just about to lick the syrup off my finger, but he came over and did it for me.
“You’re looking for something aren’t you?” I asked him very playfully.  He took the bait.  He grabbed my waist as he pulled me into him and kissed me.
“You know,” I said between kisses, “I’d love to continue this, but I need to get into work.” He immediately stopped.
“When’s your lunch break? What time do you get off? Do you need a ride?” He asked me in a very serious tone. “If he makes one move on you, I don’t care if he even gives you the eye, I want you to quit.  You can move in with me and I can find you a job.  I don’t want you working there knowing what happened last night.  If I wouldn’t of been there, who knows what he would of done to you, and if you would have resisted! -  He might have killed you!  I know we haven’t known each other long but I care about you more than anything in the world.  If something happens to you, my life might as well be over.”
“Ok,” I told him then got ready for work.  We talked the whole time in the car.
“Do you have plans for tomorrow night?” he asked me as I opened the car door.
“Um...no.”
“Would you like to go out to dinner?”
“I’d love to.” I gave him a peck on the lips and turned to leave, but he pulled me back into him as our tongues swirled together like a dance.  A car that was trying to back out of the parking lot, honked their horn at us signaling us to get out of the way.  I got out of the car and Andrew left.  When I got into the building, Mike was sitting at a table, drinking coffee and reading the paper.
“Erica, we need to talk,” he told me as he stood up.
“No, we don’t”.
“Erica, please, just listen.  I’m sorry about last night. I’m sorry about Angel.  I promised a friend that I would bring her there since her boyfriend recently dumped her.  There is nothing going on between us.”
“Yeah, that’s why you touched her; grinded her, kissed her, and for all I know, slept with her.”
“It’s not like that.  You’re the only girl for me.” He told me as he touched my cheek.
“You should have thought of that before you went with her, but you know what? It’s too late now, I’ve found someone else.  He was there for me.  When Jay drugged my drink and tried to seduce me, he was there.  He knocked him out and protected me.  He walked me home the other night at 11 when I said I was going to walk home because he was afraid of my safety. You were never there for me when Jay tried something and now you say I’m the only girl for you?  No, you should of thought of that before you went out with Angel.”
“Erica, I love you.” He told me sincerely desperately hoping everything I said about Andrew was a lie. I was stunned but stood my ground.
“You know, I wish I could say the same, but after last night, I just can’t.  Before I met Andrew, I would have married you at the drop of a hat.  But now,” I paused, “I’m in love with Andrew.”
I was shocked that I said that. I thought about it and then knew it was true.  I loved him.  Every time we kissed, it was magical. Even if I barely brushed his skin, I felt the 4th of July in my heart.  I never felt so safe in my life until he held me in his arms. I think he loved me the first time he set eyes on me. I walked to the back room to put my apron on.  Before I could grab it, I was attacked from behind.  It was Jay.  He wrestled me into the wall.  He literally ripped my shirt off and then hand cuffed me to the pole.  Where he got the hand cuffs, I don’t want to know. When he tried to undo my pants, I kicked him.  Then he took a small pocket knife, and carved his initials onto my left breast.  I shrieked in pain.  He used that time to undo my pants and push them down to my knees.  He beat me as I struggled.  When he went inside of me, I started crying, I cried for help and someone answered.
“ERICA,,IS THAT YOU?” It was Andrew.  He came early to check on me (and probably to get a latté).
“ANDREW!  HELP ME!” I cried.
“SHUT UP BITCH!” Jay screamed at me as he beat me some more.  Andrew busted through the door, broke the lock and attacked Jay.  He was on top of him striking him until he laid there barely alive.
“Shit,” he whispered as he slid my pants back up, and searched Jay’s pockets for the keys to the hand cuffs.  He got them off me then held me in his arms as I sobbed on his shoulder. I jumped in fear when Jay groaned.
“Shh…it’s ok, I’m here now, he can’t hurt you again.  I’m sorry, this is all my fault.  If I would have stayed, none of this would have happened.” He stuttered.
“It’s not your fault,” I paused, “I-I love you Andrew.” He started crying then held me tighter.
“I love you so much, I can’t breathe a single breath with out knowing that each time I breathe, I breathe for you.”

Description
Guardian
***

I woke up refreshed at 6 a.m., just when there was a light breeze bringing the smell of roses into my bedroom.  It was a perfect morning.  The baby birds chirped to their parents as a sure sign of hunger.  Baby rabbits sat in the green grass eating under the still-dark sky that still showed the few remaining stars before the sun brightened the day. I put on a sports bra, my running shorts and put my iPod at my side as I put on my running shoes, grabbed a water bottle and started on my run.  As I hit the trails, the sun showed me its perfect sun rise as beautiful colors displayed themselves over the peaks of the mountains, turning them a brilliant mix of pink and purple color.  About a half hour into my run, my legs started that burning sensation.  I felt so alive; I started picking the pace up little by little until I was midway between a jog and a full out run.  After an hour I was out of breath and rested, drinking some water to sooth my crusty throat.  I was home by nine to get ready for my shift at Starbucks.
When I got home, I kicked off my shoes, stripped down and showered.  I stood there and let the refreshing water run down my body and clean the sweat off. When I got out, I put my hair up in a towel, got dressed, did my makeup, and did my hair.  I was ready within an hour.
When I got there I was welcomed by Jay, my boss who was married with two kids who were out of the house.  He was the type of guy that couldn’t have just one girl.  He was kind of perverted, and often slapped my ass.  I couldn’t really do anything about it considering his position and if I quit, I wouldn’t have a good chance at finding another job.  With rent to pay and school to pay for along with taxes, I needed this job.  Mike, on the other hand, was very sexy, sweet, charming, and didn’t know I had major feelings for him.  I wish I was going out with him, but I’m not the type to be hunting for the man. Often, you would think he really likes you and wants to have more than a professional relationship with you and other times, you think he could care less if you were dead.  Some girls think you can easily tell what a guy wants from you, but with him, it’s not easy.
“Hey there,” Mike said giving me a hug. “Your hair smells nice, did you use different shampoo?”
“Yeah, you like it?” I said with a grin on my face.  He just laughed and went back to work.  Mike was being really flirtatious today and even put his hand on my hip when he talked to me.  I liked it a little more than I should have.  I noticed out of the corner of my eye when Mike did that, Jay looked at him with a crazy look in his eye that could be mistaken as about ready to kill him in inhumane ways.
“Hey sexy, on your lunch break, want to go and get some food with me?” Jay asked trying to look irresistible.  He was failing miserably.  Mike looked at me, clearly warning me.
“I’m flattered, but I packed my own lunch today.  Maybe another time,” I lied through my teeth. He didn’t seem to notice though.  He gave a striking look at Mike.
“Mike can I have a word with you?”
“Yeah Jay, let me just finish this latté.” Jay look Mike into the backroom and after a few minutes I heard yelling then Mike stormed through the doors carrying his coat.  I called after him but he didn’t respond.  Once my shift was over I went into the back room to grab my stuff. Jay came up to me and whispered into my ear as he grabbed me around the waist.
“Meet me at the bar across the street tomorrow night at nine.  If you don’t come, you can forget about coming to work.”  He kissed me as I turned to face him.  I left.  I couldn’t do anything without him firing me like he just did to Mike.  I had to go.  Maybe at the bar I will do something, what, I don’t know though. I left and went to the gym in tears.  My boss was slowly ruining my life.  I know I can’t let him do this, but I can’t afford to make him stop.  I would lose my job and then lose everything.
When I got the gym I felt like playing basketball.  When I got there, a game was already in progress.
“Hey, five against six, you guys need an extra player?” I asked the guys.  The tall one, who wasn’t bad looking at all, came up to me.
“You any good?” he asked me with a smirk.
“Well I guess we’ll find out now won’t we?” I replied with raised eyebrows. He checked the ball to me as I went around him, and then did a “reverse lay-up” as I like to call them.
“I’m Andrew.  That short beefy guy over there is Matt.  The scrawny one there is Jake.  That’s Jordan, and Alex.  We are your team.  The other guys are Devin but he goes by “D”.  That’s James, Marcus, Bill but he goes by “Sarg”, Adrianne, and Roger he goes by rookie.” He said pointing to all of them.
“Ok, what’s the score?”
“13 to 10, their lead.  But you know, they did have the extra player.”
“Yes, you just can’t let them have all the credit now can you?”
“Course not,”  I just laughed as we started the game.  About 15 minutes into the game, Jake turned into Mr. Flirt.
“Hey wanna have some one on one action after this?”
“Now why would I want to go with a scrawny little guy like you?”
“WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HIM?” a woman screamed at me. She was blonde, with blue eyes and big boobs.
“Just the truth, do you have a problem with that?”
“How dare you! Who do you think you are? Don’t you dare talk about my boyfriend like that!”
“Oh, so he’s your boyfriend? Well you might want to pay attention to him then because before you know it, he’s going to go after me.”  I turned around to get back to my game.
“HEY!” right when I turned around, a fist knocked against my cheek bone. She swung again but I caught her fist, twisted her arm and got into a position to where I could easily break her arm or kick her in the face with a single movement of the leg.
“DO IT!  TRY IT ONE MORE TIME, JUST ONE MORE TIME!” I screamed at her.
“She’s not worth it,” Andrew said putting his arm around me, pulling me away. She ran off in a huff.
“That was some pretty fancy shit you just did there.” Matt told me, clearly impressed.
“Yeah, well, you never know when a psycho’s going to try to get you.” We played for another two and a half hours.
“Does anyone have the time?”
“Yeah, its 11:30, why?”
“Ah, crap, I better start walking home.”
“Walking? No not at this hour. Jake, take her home-wait! Never mind, I’ll do it.” Andrew told him
“No really, it’s fine, thanks for the concern but I’ll be alright.”
“Two years ago, my brother was walking home about this hour in this neighborhood.  He was attacked by the gangs hanging around and was killed.  If something happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing I wasn’t there to protect you.” He really looked concerned so I gave in.
“Ok, if it really means that much to you, I don’t mind.” I got my stuff together and left.  When we started walking, he noticed something was wrong.
“Is everything ok?”
“Yeah,”
“You know, I don’t know you too well, but I know you well enough to know that there is clearly something wrong.  Now are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to get it out of you?” I turned to face him.  I didn’t expect to see him look so worried.
“I’m just having problems with my boss.  He’s married and his kids already moved out of the house but I can’t get him away from me.  He just fired my co-worker to get rid of the competition and won’t stop touching me.  He told me that if I don’t go to a bar with him tomorrow night, I’ll lose my job.  I have college to pay for, my apartment, taxes, books, all that stuff.  I can’t afford to lose my job and if I do, I won’t be able to find another.  I just don’t know what to do.” He put his hand on my cheek and wiped away my tears.
“Everything will be ok.  Did your boss say what bar he’s taking you to?”
“The one across the street from the Starbucks.  He told me nine.” Andrew nodded his head.
“Are we getting close to your place?”
“Yeah, we’re almost there. Hey, are you going to be ok getting home?  I can give you a ride if you would like.”
“No, it’s ok.  I’m only a few blocks away.” A few minutes later, we got to my place.
“Do you want to come in? Maybe have some coffee?”
“No, maybe next time. I’m working in the morning.  Good night.”
“Good night.” I gave him a hug and he kissed my cheek and left.
I started to think; what is it that I want?  I like Andrew, but then what about Mike?  He flirted but never walked me home or kissed me.  Then again, I have known Mike for over a year and I just met Andrew today.  They are both tall, handsome, but only Andrew told me he couldn’t life with himself if something happened to me.  What do I do?
It was the next day at eight p.m. I just got out of the shower and was getting ready for the bar.  I wore my black clubbing jeans and a red halter top with some Rhinestones on it.  I curled my hair, put some hoop earrings on and left.
Once I got there I was met immediately by Jay. He was wearing a silk shirt with some khakis.  The music hit us at once as we were met by the smell of cigarette smoke, alcohol, and sweat.  We went immediately to the dance floor and I started moving my hips and breaking it down.  Once people started noticing me, I felt a hand on my stomach.  I didn’t have to look behind me to know it was Jay trying to grind with me.  Once he awoke my senses, I looked around and saw Mike.  He was dirty dancing with another girl.  She was beautiful; she had blue eyes and brown hair; she was short but well toned.  She didn’t have much of a bust but made up for it with her ass. Mike was touching and feeling her every curve, she was entrancing him with her movements.
“Hey!” I yelled at him.  He looked at me and looked sorry.  It was then I noticed I was crying.  I dried my tear and walked away.  He followed.
“It’s not what it looks like.” He told me, gently caressing my arm.
“You better get back to your girlfriend, before she gets the wrong idea.”
“She’s not my-”
“Then what is she?  I see the way she looks at you, the way you dance with her, the way you touch her, and you try to tell me she isn’t your girlfriend? No, no, I don’t know why you followed me, but I don’t need this.”
“Would you listen to me?”
“No! There’s nothing to listen to! I don’t see how you expect me to believe you two are not together.”
“Then why are you here with Jay?”
“Why?  If I wouldn’t have come, I would have lost my job.”
“Is there a problem, baby?” the woman said rubbing his torso.  I looked at him
“This is-”
He began to introduce the woman.
“I’m Angel, his girlfriend.”
“How could you not tell me?  After a year of me showing how much I wanted you, how could you not tell me about her?  How could you play me like that?” I asked him through bursts of sobs. I felt hurt, enraged, played, and all those other things.
“What’s she talking about, baby?”
“Nothing, she’s just had too much to drink.” I went back to Jay.  I wanted to make Mike jealous.  I wanted him to feel the heart break I just felt.  Jay kissed me when I got back and I returned it, shoving my tongue in his mouth and rubbing my body against his.  I started unbuttoning the top half of his shirt, slipped my hand in and rubbed my hand against his chest, I made sure I brushed against his groin. He grabbed him self and ran to the bathroom. I looked at Mike and saw hurt, anger, and jealousy in his eyes.  What scared me was that I was satisfied.
Once Jay returned, he got us some drinks and I went to the bathroom hoping to see Andrew in the bar.  I saw Mike with Angel.  They kissed and then he looked at me.  I splashed my face with cold water, letting my mascara run down my cheeks.   I leaned against the cold, wet sink, sobbing.  I just couldn’t believe a man could do something that horrible.  I looked at my reflection in the mirror and stared in disbelief at what I saw.
“I’m not going to go back out there and give him victory.  No matter how much he hurt me, no matter how hard I try, I will not give him the pleasure of knowing that he has the power to control my emotions, or me.”
I redid my makeup and went back out there.  I saw Andrew  out there and we were about to make our way over to each other when the crowd separated us so I went back to Jay to get my drink.
‘I’ve got to save her, Andrew thought.  She told me she would be here and with me not being able to live with myself if something happened to her, I have to save her.  I saw that stuff he put in her drink.’
Right after I drank it, I saw Andrew running in my direction.  I collapsed.  Jay lifted me up and kissed my neck and was just about to leave with me when Andrew punched him.  Jay fell to the ground and hit his head on a stool.  He was unconscious and wouldn’t be awake for a while.  I blacked out just as Andrew picked me up.
Around three in the morning I woke up in my apartment.  Andrew was sitting next to me, blotting a cold wet washcloth to my forehead.
“Hey, are you ok?” he asked me.
“Yeah, what happened?”
“You boss drugged your drink and was about to seduce you.  I took care of him and brought you here.  I couldn’t live with myself if I knew someone hurt you and I could have done something about it.”  There was silence between us and I heard soft music playing on my stereo.  I sat up.
“Want to dance?” he asked holding his hand out.  I grabbed it and stood to dance, but I was unsteady so he grabbed my and held me up so I wouldn’t collapse.
“Do you want to sit down for a minute?” he asked, holding my hand.  I shook my head sideways.  He helped me steady myself, brushed my hair out of my face and held my cheek staring into my eyes.
“You’re so beautiful.” he whispered.  I smiled as I wrapped my arms around him.  We held each other as we danced.   I rested my head against his chest and felt his security.  We danced through five songs.
“Thanks.”
“For the dance?  It was my pleasure.” I laughed at his response
“Well that too, but for what you have done for me.” I looked him in the eye then leaned in and kissed him on the lips. He leaned into me and we let the sensation run through our body trying to hold the moment.
“I had to.”
“Why?”
We pressed our foreheads together, then he looked into my eyes.  I didn’t and couldn’t look away.  It was like he was searching my soul and I watched the light reflect in his eyes.  I was mesmerized by their beauty.  He lifted my chin up then kissed me back.  I put my hand on his cheek and ran my fingers through his hair as we kissed.  He wrapped his arms tightly around my body, pulling me into him.  Then he ran his hands up and down my back, memorizing every curve.  We stumbled into my room and fell on my bed.  We worked each others shirts off then took a brief second to examine each others body.  He clearly worked out as I saw his muscles expand as he breathed.  He had the body of a god, a very muscular god.  He made models look like wimps. We kissed again then he started on my neck then claimed my body with his lips.  My back arched as my nerves sent sensations through out my body. He stopped after a while and looked into my eyes and played with my hair.
“Do you believe in love at first sight?” he asked me.
“I don’t know,” I said as he laid down next to me, he wrapped his arms around me as he gently kissed my shoulder.  We fell asleep like that.  There was no sex, but what we had felt just as good.
I woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee, bacon, hash browns, and pancakes. I walked into my kitchen and wrapped my arms around Andrew’s waist.
“Hey,” I said, then took a moment to take in the aroma.
“Good morning, you have time to take a shower if you want before breakfast is ready.”
“Ok.”  When I got in the shower, I stood there and let the hot water run down my body as I watched the steam rise to the ceiling, taking in the thought that there was a very sexy, sweet, nice, caring, tall, gorgeous man in my kitchen cooking my breakfast.  I washed my hair and then my body and shaved. I got out and dried my self off and went to the table to eat.  The meal was fantastic.
“Do you like it?” he asked.  He didn’t even have to but he just wanted to feed his ego.  I was stuffing my face with food, clearly in heaven. When I was done I was just about to lick the syrup off my finger, but he came over and did it for me.
“You’re looking for something aren’t you?” I asked him very playfully.  He took the bait.  He grabbed my waist as he pulled me into him and kissed me.
“You know,” I said between kisses, “I’d love to continue this, but I need to get into work.” He immediately stopped.
“When’s your lunch break? What time do you get off? Do you need a ride?” He asked me in a very serious tone. “If he makes one move on you, I don’t care if he even gives you the eye, I want you to quit.  You can move in with me and I can find you a job.  I don’t want you working there knowing what happened last night.  If I wouldn’t of been there, who knows what he would of done to you, and if you would have resisted! -  He might have killed you!  I know we haven’t known each other long but I care about you more than anything in the world.  If something happens to you, my life might as well be over.”
“Ok,” I told him then got ready for work.  We talked the whole time in the car.
“Do you have plans for tomorrow night?” he asked me as I opened the car door.
“Um...no.”
“Would you like to go out to dinner?”
“I’d love to.” I gave him a peck on the lips and turned to leave, but he pulled me back into him as our tongues swirled together like a dance.  A car that was trying to back out of the parking lot, honked their horn at us signaling us to get out of the way.  I got out of the car and Andrew left.  When I got into the building, Mike was sitting at a table, drinking coffee and reading the paper.
“Erica, we need to talk,” he told me as he stood up.
“No, we don’t”.
“Erica, please, just listen.  I’m sorry about last night. I’m sorry about Angel.  I promised a friend that I would bring her there since her boyfriend recently dumped her.  There is nothing going on between us.”
“Yeah, that’s why you touched her; grinded her, kissed her, and for all I know, slept with her.”
“It’s not like that.  You’re the only girl for me.” He told me as he touched my cheek.
“You should have thought of that before you went with her, but you know what? It’s too late now, I’ve found someone else.  He was there for me.  When Jay drugged my drink and tried to seduce me, he was there.  He knocked him out and protected me.  He walked me home the other night at 11 when I said I was going to walk home because he was afraid of my safety. You were never there for me when Jay tried something and now you say I’m the only girl for you?  No, you should of thought of that before you went out with Angel.”
“Erica, I love you.” He told me sincerely desperately hoping everything I said about Andrew was a lie. I was stunned but stood my ground.
“You know, I wish I could say the same, but after last night, I just can’t.  Before I met Andrew, I would have married you at the drop of a hat.  But now,” I paused, “I’m in love with Andrew.”
I was shocked that I said that. I thought about it and then knew it was true.  I loved him.  Every time we kissed, it was magical. Even if I barely brushed his skin, I felt the 4th of July in my heart.  I never felt so safe in my life until he held me in his arms. I think he loved me the first time he set eyes on me. I walked to the back room to put my apron on.  Before I could grab it, I was attacked from behind.  It was Jay.  He wrestled me into the wall.  He literally ripped my shirt off and then hand cuffed me to the pole.  Where he got the hand cuffs, I don’t want to know. When he tried to undo my pants, I kicked him.  Then he took a small pocket knife, and carved his initials onto my left breast.  I shrieked in pain.  He used that time to undo my pants and push them down to my knees.  He beat me as I struggled.  When he went inside of me, I started crying, I cried for help and someone answered.
“ERICA,,IS THAT YOU?” It was Andrew.  He came early to check on me (and probably to get a latté).
“ANDREW!  HELP ME!” I cried.
“SHUT UP BITCH!” Jay screamed at me as he beat me some more.  Andrew busted through the door, broke the lock and attacked Jay.  He was on top of him striking him until he laid there barely alive.
“Shit,” he whispered as he slid my pants back up, and searched Jay’s pockets for the keys to the hand cuffs.  He got them off me then held me in his arms as I sobbed on his shoulder. I jumped in fear when Jay groaned.
“Shh…it’s ok, I’m here now, he can’t hurt you again.  I’m sorry, this is all my fault.  If I would have stayed, none of this would have happened.” He stuttered.
“It’s not your fault,” I paused, “I-I love you Andrew.” He started crying then held me tighter.
“I love you so much, I can’t breathe a single breath with out knowing that each time I breathe, I breathe for you.”