“Get. Your hands. Off me,” I say slowly and clearly, trying hard not to show the fear I’m feeling. I try to shake him off, but his grip tightens even more.
“Who do you think you are? Acting like your better than me. You, Maya, are no one,” He stares at me intently, hatred behind his eyes. He blinks a few times, then looks around the car park before releasing me and glaring at me like I was dirt stuck to his shoe. He even has the audacity to laugh as he walks away.
I’m frozen to the spot in fear. I need to get to my car, but I don’t want him to watch me leave. I stay rooted to the spot until I can no longer see his retreating form.
Then I run.
Jumping into the driver’s seat, I peel out of the car park like a race car driver. I manage to drive for only a few minutes before my breathing is so erratic, I struggle to control the wheel. I pull up on a deserted country road, turn off the ignition and break down.
Hot streams of tears run down my face. My chest rises and falls in quick bursts as I try to catch my breathe. What the hell just happened. My brain can’t seem to take it in the fact that I was just assaulted by a man, all because I didn’t want to date him. What the fuck gave him the right to lay a finger on me. How fuckingdarehe.
Anger takes over now, the overwhelming rage I feel making my whole body shake. As if I didn’t have enough going on, now I have another man giving me shit.
I might not recall the person I was before this nightmare, but I know who I am now. The new me will not take shit from a man. Checking the time, I see it’s 1.54pm. I give myself six minutes to rage, then I’m not letting that man affect me. He doesn’t deserve my time.
After the six minutes pass by, I manage to get my breathing back under control and my hands to stop trembling enough to drive home. I listen to My Chemical Romance – I’m not okay, belting out the words with my windows down, the lyrics hitting a nerve, explaining how I feel perfectly. What is it about listening to songs like this. I can feel it lift my mood by the third time Ireplay it.
Luckily, I still love the playlists I had saved from before the accident.
As my cabin comes into view, I realise for the first time in a long time, there are no other cars on the drive. Thank god. Finally, some time on my own. I mentally list off all the things I’m going to do before I see Tommy tonight.
Make a cup of tea.
Have a bath.
Shave every inch of my body from the neck down, so I am like a slippery seal.
Finishing my freedom by reading a book, in complete silence.
