Cold Truths | H.S.

5

I called in sick the next morning. I felt like I couldn't get out of bed let alone go to work. When I returned home last night I completely panicked. I paced the small space of my room for nearly thirty minutes before sitting at the edge of my bed trying to calm the pounding in my head. When the adrenaline finally subsided, I crashed. My body fell limp and it was an effort to change out of my clothes. Despite how tired I was every time I closed my eyes I saw the man being shot, resulting in me shooting my eyes back open, staring at the ceiling, only to see the same thing when I closed them again. Harry knew where I lived now, what if he decided to change his mind and actually come kill me? He still hadn't even told me the extent of what had happened, which made me that much more curious. All I knew was that this man took something from him.

I spent most of the morning in bed and only finally decided to get up to shower at noon. It had only just hit me when I was soaked in hot water that I hadn't looked at my phone since last night. In fact, I didn't even remember the last time I actually held my phone. I shut the water off and wrapped myself in a towel ignoring the puddles I left on the floor as I scurried out of the bathroom and to my room. I grabbed my bag off of the floor and dug through the contents to find nothing. I cursed to myself letting the bag fall to the floor before grabbing my comforter and ripping it off my bed assuming it had gotten lost in my bed. With no sight of it my stomach sank and that familiar anxious pit in my stomach grew. I tried to trace back in my head where I would have left it and the only two places I knew it would be, I did not want to return to.

My phone was either sitting at Striped Elephant on the dirty bar counter or on the soft leather seat of Harry's car. Both places I would have to interact with him and that was the last thing I wanted to do. I weighed my options, dreading the obvious choice I had to make. I didn't have the money to just say forget it and buy a new phone. I had to go to Striped Elephant.

It took me twenty minutes to get ready and get out the door. The anxious pit in my stomach only grew larger and it was hard to move my feet. I decided to take the subway to the bar instead of having to drag what felt like cement blocks in the shape of my feet. I took a few deep breaths when I approached the decrepit door of the bar. It was 2 pm so the odds of him being here were pretty high. Most bars around here have a few stragglers at this time. But who knows considering the bar was closed at midnight last night. This places schedule is impossible to figure out. I pulled on the door more aggressively than I had planned and when it open toward me I stumbled back a bit.

It was dim inside, only light coming from the pot lights hanging from the ceiling. My eyes darted to the center of the room where there were a group of men sitting at a table playing cards, with all of their eyes now on me standing in the door way. They all looked angry, eyebrows furrowed. They were huge even when sitting down. Not one inch of their skin was uninked. One of the men stood up pushing his chair behind him and puffing out his chest. I swallowed hard knowing that it was too late to turn around and walk out. I stood staring at the men, words evading me. I opened my dry mouth to speak before seeing Harry enter from the back with a black duffle bag slung across his back. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of me in the door way. His face contorted and twisted in anger as he registered my face.

"Who the fuck is this?" The man bellowed out still staring at me.

Harry's jaw twitched as he let the bag slide off his shoulder and hit the ground.

"No one." He ground out. "I'll handle it."

The man shook his head before sitting back down and began dealing out cards to the middle of the table. I stood still as Harry began walking towards me. In one swift motion he caught my wrist in his hand and dragged me behind him out the front door. He let go of my hand forcefully and backed me into the brick wall, only inches from my face.