The Criminal's Rose - 2

Creep

Melisa put the coffee mug on the table, in front of Rose and sat beside her. Rose was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Melisa beside her.

“Rose!” Melisa shook her by her arm. “It’s for you.” She pointed out at the coffee mug.

Rose pressed her palms together, looking so nervous. She spoke, staring at Melisa “I feel like Marcos is telling the truth.”

“What truth?” Melisa knitted her eyebrows.

“He doesn’t know where Michael is. He looks frustrated. He is searching for Michael.” Rose put her palms on her face, rubbing it, nervously. She bit her lower lip while thinking about the possible places, where Michael could go.

Sweat beads formed on her forehead when the anxiety hit her hard with the negative scenarios that framed on her head. She tried convincing herself that she was overthinking but Michael’s criminal background was making her shiver.

“Rose?” Melisa held her shaking hands.

“Something is wrong, Melisa. What if... something bad happened to him?” Rose’s heart thumped.

“Nothing might have happened, Rose. Don’t overthink.”

“Then where is he?” she gulped. “There was no need for him to leave this city. Even if there was a need, he might have informed to any of his friends...”

“What do you mean by this?”

“Michael has been missing.” A chill ran across her spine. “I don’t understand why do people whom I love, always go missing.”

“You are overthinking, Rose. He might be having some works that he couldn’t discuss with anyone. Not even with Marcos.” Melisa’s words felt convincing but a part of her kept flooding with the negative thoughts.

“Melisa...” her voice started to break. “At present, I don’t even want any explanation...” she whimpered. “I only pray for one thing, for Michael’s safety.”

“Trust me, nothing wrong might have happened. I strongly believe it.”

After staying at Melisa’s house for a few hours, Rose left. She was walking on the road, while thinking about Michael. Every street, every place was reminding her of him. All the moments they shared, hit her head and she felt her already broken heart, shattering.

On the way to her home, she saw a man, whose back was facing her. He was talking on cell phone, ignoring the surroundings. She knew who he was. How could she forget someone who haunted her for many years?

“Sam!” she mumbled.

She tried to walk away before his gaze could fall on her but she was not so lucky. He turned around and as soon as he saw her, his expressions turned to slight fear. The fear that Michael inflicted on him.

They both rooted at their positions, looking at eachother. Both were frightened with different reasons but the cause was same; Michael. Rose was scared of the thought Sam would do anything to her as Michael was not with her and Sam was scared Rose would tell about his presence in the city to Michael. Sam left the city the day Michael warned him and he never saw Rose again till then.

Rose tried to stay strong and she pretended as if Sam meant nothing to her. When she was about to walk away, Sam called out her name “Rose!”

Her heart began pacing so fast hearing his voice, after many months. She gulped down all her fear and looked at him, confidently.

Sam spoke “I’m not here for you. I’m here as I have to meet someone regarding my father’s business. I hope you understand.”

A ray of relaxation hit her with his words. Her trembling state faded and her heart began pacing normally. She simply nodded her head to him, without showing any kind of emotion on her face.

“Good to see you again, Rose.” Sam gave a small smile and then he walked to his car without even waiting for her to reply.

Rose resumed her walk and reached her home. She sat on the bed, holding her head. Then she looked at Robin’s picture and recalled the day when she felt excited to meet him. It brought her the memory of that night when she had her first time with Michael. While recalling his promise of staying with her always, her sadness increased. Another person added in her search list that made her laugh at her own fate.

The next morning, she decided to talk to the cops about Robin. Though she got the idea of giving complaint about Michael, she erased her thought as she decided to take Marcos’ opinion, first.

It had been many weeks since she visited the police station. She thought she would never go there again but every situation was against her. As she expected, the cops were more than irritated to see her. After their yells at her and curses behind her back, she walked away.

She decided to go to her office as she hadn’t been there for many days. Although she kept getting mails from her boss, she never cared about them. She was worried how everyone would react after seeing her and scared of the thought if she had lost her job.

While she was walking near to her office, a car suddenly halted beside her that made her stumble and her bag that was in her hands, fell down. Although she wanted to shout till the person come out of the car, she remained silent.

She bent down to take her bag and her gaze fell on the black boots that stopped in front of her. Taking her bag, she raised her head to meet a pair of green eyes. His stare was making her tremble a little but she avoided him.

He mumbled “It’s so good to see you bent down in front of me.”

Rose understood he spoke something but she didn’t care as it was not enough audible to her. Although she wanted to curse him, she had no energy to do anything.  When she was about to walk away, he shouted “I’m Rafael.”

She gazed at him for a second, confused. He gave her bad vibes even without doing anything. She resumed her walk, ignoring him. She began walking as fast as she could to escape from him.

Her ignorance triggered Rafael’s anger and he stepped forward. He dragged her back, holding her by her arm that nearly stopped her heartbeat.

“Learn to not ignore me, little girl. Otherwise things can go worse.” He spoke in a threatening way.

Her heart hammered to her chest with his close proximity. She was so scared to reply anything to him yet she shouted “Who are you? Let me go. I’ll complaint to the cops.”

A random man, who was passing by,  approached them as he understood the situation. “Hey man! Leave her.”

A single kick in the man’s gut by Rafael was enough for him to leave from there that frightened her more.

Rafael stepped so closer to her and whispered in her ear “Remember me, girl. I shouldn’t see this confused face the next time we meet.”

Her body shivered with his creepy behaviour. As soon as he stepped a little away from her, she ran away.

The moment she entered inside the office, she felt safe. Her heart was still pacing fast and when she felt a palm on her shoulder, she let out a scream in fear.

“Rose! It’s me.” Melisa spoke, furrowing her brow.

Rose felt a little calm hearing Melisa’s voice. She sat on the chair, trying to take normal breaths.

“What happened to you?” Melisa asked.

“There... there was a man... he scared the shit out of me. He was so creepy.”

“Now a days, people are really acting like creeps. Forget about him. You should meet the boss now.”

Rose nodded her head and met him. Luckily he hadn’t fired her but it took a lot of time for her to convince him. The entire day, she kept remembering Rafael. For some unknown reason, she was frightened of him and she only wished Michael was there with her to fill her with the strength and bravery that she needed.

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