Life Changes » Marcus Armstrong

Twentyone.

"Than this will be it..." Alessandro Russo closed the laptop and looked compassionately at the young lady across from him at the table. "Who did you say told you to ask for me?"

Jane showed a weak smile and nodded. "Thank you very much. And Cate did."

He nodded. "Tell her I said hi when you see her."

"I will."

"But hey, Jane. It will be alright. You did the right thing to come here. I will try to finish this as soon as possible," he assured her and gave her a trustworthy smile. "I advise you to call your parents first, but most importantly, if you go outside, especially in the dark, make sure you are with someone or find people to walk with. And give a call to victim support."

She nodded. "Thank you for your help and time."

"Anytime. You will find your way out, right?"

Jane got up from the chair and put her backpack on her back. "Yes, I do," she said and stuck out her hand. The police officer shook her hand. "Ciao."

"Buona giornata," he nodded.

The smile on her face began to hurt. Her face was swollen and very sensitive right now. She barely slept last night, it was just a complete disaster. And she was so nervous about going to the police, even to go outside and receive all those judgy looks. Jane left the interrogation room and grabbed her phone. She had to call her family, even though she was anxious about the reactions. Her dad and oldest brother both worked as police officers. However, she wanted her mum and dad.

Jane put in her earphone, and she accidentally touched her cheek. She pressed her jaws on each other and squeezed her nails into her skin. The pain was sharp, and she couldn't let it know because she was in the police building. It hurt like hell. She took a deep breath and blinked away the tears.

After a few minutes, the pain slowly disappeared. Jane deeply inhaled and unlocked her phone, ready to call her mum. She didn't pick up, but then Jane remembered her mum was on a trip to the north of Iceland to work on her new book. And that meant a week without internet, without phones, only her laptop and the writing programme. Jane bit her lip and looked around.

Her face straightened when she saw him. Her heart started to beat faster, and the palms of her hand began to sweat. She swallowed hard and started to speed walk. There was no way he was here on accident; that was impossible. Jane couldn't stand out (more) than the rest, so she had to look like she was in a rush instead of running away from someone. She looked around her, he was following her. "No, no, no," she whispered, and a glossy layer of tears covered her eyes.

Three more blocks.

500 more metres.

Just a couple of minutes.

"Jane!"

Run. She wrapped her hand tightly around the handle of her bag and started to run. 

"Jane, wait!"

The footsteps behind her became louder. Jane looked around her in a panic, how could this happen? Out of everyone, out of every place, he had to be here. There weren't many people out of the street. Fuck.

She felt a tight grip around her wrist, and someone pulled at it. Jane turned around and faced Leonardo. Her eyes widened, and her lips parted. No... She froze, but her heart started to beat faster.

"What the fuck happened to your face?" Leonardo worriedly asked and removed the black sunglasses from his face. "Jesus Christ, who did that to you?" He took off the hood of his hoodie and parted his lips.