"Do you have any aspirin?" The guy asked. Laura pointed towards the kitchen cabinet. He got out some aspirin.
"I'm fine" Laura argued.
"Yeah. No doubt" he replied sarcastically. He gave her the aspirin and water. "You took a bad fall. You need this" he told her. She took the pills without argument.
"I'm fine now. You don't have to do anything" she told him.
"You're stubborn. I know when I leave you're gonna go back to fixing the roof. I'll help you do it" he responded.
"Ok then. What do I give you in exchange?" She asked. She couldn't let him do it without payment. She didn't want to owe anybody.
"Fix me a drink" he replied as he picked up the tools needed.
"What kind of drink?" She asked.
"Coffee is just fine" he replied. Without turning back he arranged the ladder, got up and started working.
Proud much, she thought.
She went ahead to boil some water for the coffee. She didn't have a coffee maker so she proceeded to doing it the old fashioned way. The banging in the roof made her head pound. He was right, she took a bad fall. She was lucky nothing bad happened. She had him to thank for that. By the time she was done making the coffee, he walked into the room. As soon as he stepped into the room he took his shirt off because he was sweaty. Her eyes nearly came out of the socket when he took his shirt off. His body wasn't bad at all.
"What?" He asked. She mentally kicked herself for letting him catch her staring at him like that.
"You look like shit" she replied. He laughed.
Wow, even his laugher sounds nice, she thought.
"Do you do that always?" He asked.
"What?"
"Use foul words?"
"I don't see it as foul words"
"Doesn't mean it's not"
"Here's your coffee" she walked up to him and handed it to him.
"Thanks" he replied.
"Thanks for the roof" she told him.
"You're welcome. At least you can get some rest" he replied. She nodded in agreement. "Why didn't you go to church?" He asked as he took a sip of the coffee.
"None of your business" she replied.
"The coffee taste's nice by the way" he complimented.
"Are you always like this?" She asked.
"Like what?"
"So unpredictable"
"I try. Do you want me to be predictable?" He smirked. She shook her head and laughed.
"I don't even know your name" She said in awe.
"I don't know yours too yet I helped you. It's called being nice"
"I know what it's called" she retorted.
"Thanks for the coffee" he said and dropped the cup on the counter. "Do you need my help for any other thing?" He asked although he seemed to be in a hurry.
"I don't. I didn't even need your help before" she replied. He smiled.
"Toughie" he told her.
"Don't call me that. I'm not a kid" she reacted. She stood face to face with him, both hands on her hips.
"Stop me" he returned.
"You're unbelievable" she told him as he walked out.
"Funny cos you are too". As she was about to slam the door behind him he used his foot to stop the door from closing. "What's your name?" He asked slowly leaning towards her.
"You haven't told me yours"
"Scott Colby"
"L... Suzanne... Suzanne Burndy"
"Alright then. See you around Suzanne" he told her and walked away.
"I hope not" she called after him and slammed the door.
***
THE PAST
"What the f^ck is wrong with you?" Don fumed. Laura sat at the corner shaking. She had made a mistake and she was going to pay for it.
"I'm sorry" she whispered. She was weak so she couldn't speak up.
"How dare you do that. Why did you do that?" He growled.
"I'm sorry" she said again. She tried her best to amplify.
"What did you think would happen. Were you trying to save him. Did you think you could save him. You rascal" he yelled.
"No no. I didn't. I swear" she wept.
"Come here" he ordered. She stood shakily and walked up to him. She knew what was coming but when it came she still hadn't expected it. She felt a blow on her cheek and she landed on the floor. She felt faint.
"Stand up" he ordered again. She tried standing but she fell right back on the ground. "Get up" he yelled. She scurried to her feet.
"Get me that knife on the counter"
She went to get the knife. She knew what he would do. He had already done it before. Tears dropped from her eyes. When she gave him the knife he held her firm against him.
"This'll teach you never to snitch" he growled. Just as he was about to lash, Diane walked in.
"Don...Don what are you doing? What did she do this time?" She yelled at him while trying to draw Laura away from him.
"Don't you dare meddle Diane" he responded.
"What happened?" Diane asked like she didn't hear what he said.
"She tried to tell him. Our last guest, she tried to tell him what we were about to do. One of my boys caught her while she was at it" Don explained.
"What?" Diane asked in shock.
"She had already started giving him ideas. I was able to stop him before he could get away. Do you know what I would have lost. Do you know what would have happened if he got away?" Don fumed.
"Laura.....how dare you?" Diane shrieked and pushed her away.
"I'm sorry. Please I really am" Laura begged.
"What are you going to do?" Diane asked Don.
"Teach her a lesson she won't forget in a hurry" he replied.
"Don't you dare kill her Don. I swear if you do..." She started to say but Don caught her short.
"I won't. I just want to punish her. If we don't she would continue to disobey and you don't want that now do you? Any shit from her and we would all go down. All of us"
"Just don't kill her Don. She's my daughter. I don't want her dead" Diane complained.
"Fine....you know what, I won't touch her again. I'll send in my boys to deal with her" Don told her. "Come on" he dragged Diane out of the room with him. Laura heard the door lock. She was really scared. She didn't know if she preferred Don dealing with her or his boys. His boys could do anything to her but Don could treat her better because of her mother. She thought she had everything under control. She had called the guest aside and tried telling him what would happen next. She didn't know Rafael, one of Don's boys was around the corner. She wasn't smart enough. She cried bitterly as she waited for her punishment. After a long while the door opened and someone walked in. It was Dave. She breathe a sigh of relief. If Dave was coming in alone then she was safe. Dave was nice to her.
"Laura" he called as he ran towards her. He bent to feel her skin. "You temperature seems high. Come on" he said as he lifted her up.
"Dave.... I'm sorry....tell Don I'm sorry" she whispered crying.
"You'll be fine" he replied. With that she fell into unconsciousness.