Before I can think it through, I turn and run around the building. Desperation makes it feel like emotion is tearing my lungs out through the gaps in my ribs.
I push through the front doors, pretending like I’m supposed to be there lest anyone think to question me. The youth on the desk barely even looks up.
Good.
There’s a fire alarm mounted on the wall outside the corridor where the rooms are located.
Break glass in case of emergency.
My girl being railed by some twat definitely qualifies as a fucking emergency.
I slam my fist into it.
Hard.
Glass cracks under the impact, followed swiftly by the wail of the alarm. It splits the skin across the knuckles, and I grimace. Another scar to add to the others.
At least this one will remind me of her.
I slip out amongst the growing crowd of people, rubbing my bloodied hand against my trousers as I make for the trees, losing myself in the shadows. Men grumble as they trip over untied laces, while robes are gathered hastily around midriffs.
I wait.
It doesn’t take long for them to appear, cheeks red with fluster at their interrupted lovemaking. I have no right to deny Kat an orgasm, but the idea of her seeking pleasure with that schmuck makes me see red. Beyond ripping his spine out of his backside, this would have to do.
Kat comes out first, her lips pursed in annoyance. The guy follows, wiping his mouth on his sleeve before attempting to wrap it around Kat’s waist. My muscles tighten until she shrugs him off. A tiny surge of victory dances through me.
He laughs it off before attempting anotherhug, but she steps away this time and says something that has his smile faltering. The urge to sneak closer to hear what they say is hard to resist.
Minutes pass, him trying harder to keep some semblance of intimacy going, while she appears frostier by the second, and not just from the chill in the air. I can’t help but delight in his discomfort.
The fire engine arrives in a flash of blue lights, and it’s at that point that Kat turns from the guy, shouldering her handbag and walks away.
The guy lets her leave before turning and kicking a discarded can across the car park. Hisfuckis loud enough to hear despite the wail of sirens.
I can’t help but grin as a filthy streak of satisfaction rises.
But I can’t stay and revel in it for long. I need to walk my girl home.
From half a street behind her.
SIX
KAT
By the timemy afternoon lecture lets out, my head is throbbing like the professor squashed my brain through a mincer. Good god, there has to be more to life than this nonsense. If I have to go into work with my father and do this forever, they may as well just bury me now and cut out the years of boredom.
The corridor fills with the same stream of people as ever, all in their own worlds, all likely far more excited about their futures than I am.
I’m halfway down the stairwell when that familiar, unsettling feeling washes over me. I spin, trying to locate someone staring at me. Prickles steal up my spine as I stare from one face to another, before settling on a dark spot at the bottom of the stairs, past the ground floor level and to the depths below. There’s no physicalsign of someone being there, but that one spot in the dark snags me.
Rubbing my eyes, I stare again.
Nothing. It’s nothing, Kat. Your imagination is playing tricks on you.
Ever since the note, I’ve been in an almost hyper-vigilant state while out and about. Only feeling safe when I’m in the flat with the door locked behind me. What if the note writer is serious? If someone is following me, and it’s not a one-off prank?
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and while I’m fishing it out, someone bumps into me from behind, knocking me right out of my focus on the dark space below.
