Emily's Protectors

Chapter 1: Emily ✔

"Emily!" An irritated voice called for the 3rd time.

"Sorry, what?" 22-year-old Emily looked up from the stack of invoices in front of her. The pencil in her slender hand was still tapping on the counter, feeling slightly irritated about being disturbed.

"Do you want to come out with us or not?" Roberto repeated.

Usually, Emily's had her hair tied up neatly for her shift, but it was hanging loose over her shoulders tonight, and how he itched to pull his fingers through her flaming red hair and to pull her perfect full lips to his. Looking at Roberto, her dark blue eyes blinked a few times as she tried to concentrate on what he was saying.

"No, sorry, Roberto, I need to finish this before I can lock up for the night," indicating to the papers in front of her giving Roberto a small smile. It wasn't just an excuse not to go out with him (and she had given him a couple in the last 12 months). Emily was looking after the Lucky Fish Diner while the owners, Ben and Anna, were away on holiday. Smiling, she thought how stressed they were to leave her alone for the first time in six years. This trip was a wedding anniversary gift that Emily had saved almost two years for. Both had dreamed about going to Zanzibar, and Emily was over the moon when she had enough saved. They were not just her employers but also her unofficial foster parents, and she could not love them more if they were her own blood.

"Leave Little Miss Virgin, Roberto. You know she thinks she is too good for us," a voice spat from behind Roberto. A blond girl looked over his shoulder, making a face at Emily. Sarcastically Emily wondered when being a virgin was considered an insult?

Emily sighed, looking at 19-year-old Britney. Britney had already changed out of her work uniform and was wearing a tight little black dress with heavy makeup, making her look older than she was. In the six weeks that Britney had been employed at the diner, she had made it very clear that she liked Roberto and Britney would do anything in her power to get him. She could see how Roberto looked at Emily and hated her for it.

The fact that Emily did nothing to encourage Roberto or even liked him went above Britney's head. Not that the 23-year-old Roberto didn't try his best in the last 12 months to get into Emily's pants. He knew that he was good-looking, and there was always some girl falling over herself to go out with him. Unfortunately for him, Emily was just not one of them.

"How are you going home?" Roberto asked, "Don't walk alone, ok?"

Irritated, Emily walked from behind the counter, holding open the door for Roberto and Britney, signaling them to go.

"I won't. Good night, have a good evening" Emily slammed the door behind them, locking it, fighting an urge to pull a face at them, giggling about the childish thought.

Thankful to be alone Emily felt relaxed for the first time that day. The diner had been crazy busy, from the moment the doors opened until after the diner rush. Finishing her coffee, she swayed to the music playing on the radio, singing along with the Ed Sheeran song playing. Her perfectly curved body moves to the beat of the song. If Emily had ever thought about anything except work, she would have realized her effect on the opposite sex and even some members of the same sex. Maybe part of her charm was that she really didn't know or care.

Emily swore a long time ago that she would not end up like her birth mother, being so dependent on a man that he could do whatever he wanted and you had no say in anything. The last time Emily saw her mom was the morning before she left home. Her mother was standing in front of the kitchen sink washing her stepfather's clothes by hand. Their washing machine broke down years ago and Jack refused to fix it or buy a new one. Looking up, Emily's Mom tried to smile, but as usual, the smile never moved further than her lips. Her one eye was blue and swollen.

"You are going to school early today," her mom had said with a small voice. Emily remembered wondering if that had always been her voice? Emily had some memories of this woman who loved to laugh and was full of energy. But that was just a memory of times long ago.

"I need to study for a math test, and I forgot my book at school," Emily lied.

She walked up to her mom and gave her a tight hug. "Love you, mom" Emily turned around and walked out the door, trying to wipe away the tears before her mom could see. She knew her mom would suffer because she left, but she couldn't stay. Not after the conversation, she heard Jack had with one of his drinking buddies about what would happen the day she turned 16.

Since she moved to the city, Emily had kept any boy or man she met at arm's length. Except for her Unofficial Foster Dad, not once in the six years had he given her any reason not to trust him. Both Ben and Anna were her safe place.

It didn't matter how long or crazy her day was Emily loved working at the diner and she was forever grateful to Ben and Anna for taking her in just before her 16th birthday and for that, she was willing to work double shifts for the rest of her life to pay them back. Not that they expected it. Both insisted that she finished school and even helped her go to a community college. Where she studied business management and unlike other students who liked to party and have fun, Emily would rather spend all her spare time working at the diner.

Looking at the time, Emily knew if she didn't finish up and go home, she would struggle to get up for the next breakfast shift. Quickly, she downed her now cold coffee, making a turn in the kitchen, double-checking to ensure the backdoor was locked and the equipment was all switched off.

Half an hour later, Emily was ready to leave. Locking up the diner, she started walking home. No busses were running this time of night and for a moment, she considered calling a Uber, but she didn't want to wait for one.

Both Ben and Anna had warned Emily before about walking home. There were rumors of girls going missing, but it was usually homeless or druggie girls, so the police didn't pay much attention. For the rest of the world, a city was a dangerous place, but for Emily, this city of 6million people was the safest place in the world. It was the place she escaped to and had kept her safe.

Halfway home, Emily started having a bad feeling about walking, stopping in front of the clothing shop on the corner to look in the window. She was sure she saw a shadow and seriously considered turning back and waiting at the diner till sunrise or calling a taxi. But just to her left was the alley Emily knew she could take as a shortcut, cutting her walking time in half. Really just wanting to get to her small one-bedroom apartment, longing for a long shower and her soft bed, she decided just to keep walking. 

"Stop being a scaredy-cat and stop being so paranoid!" she scolded herself. Emily started going through her bag, finding the can of pepper spray and gripping it tightly she turned into the dark alley. A cold shudder went through her tiny shoulders, glad she had taken her jacket that morning, closing her zip, pressing her hands still clutching the pepper spray deeper into her pockets. Looking up at the stars through the building, Emily felt stressed again, as if someone somewhere was watching her. Suddenly a loud clang sound came from the shadows next to her. Before Emily could stop herself, a small scream escaped her lips. Turning to the noise, Emily started laughing when she saw the cause of the noise. A big ginger street cat was standing among some cans that he bumped from a dustbin.

"Really, Emily," she smiled at herself, holding her chest to try and control her heartbeat, but her smile slowly died when she realized there were other footsteps except hers in the alley.

Emily started to look up and down in the alley, trying to make out from what side she heard the footsteps. She realized that being frozen wasn't the best policy. She turned around, ready to run, but before she could move, she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head, her knees gave out from under her and the last thing Emily remembered was a shadow of a man standing over to her.