Strange Encounters

1

CW: domestic violence/abuse

"Bullshit" I yelled at my stepfather, "you don't get to talk to me like that" he exclaimed; his voice cracked and I chuckled lowly. "What the fuck are you laughing at?" he asked me while glaring in my direction. Him and my mom had been arguing and I decided to speak up.

I was tired of hearing it and I've always disliked him anyway. "What are you gonna do about it?" I asked challengingly, "Danielle, go to your room" my mom said. "Fuck that, I'm not going anywhere" I said walking closer. "You put a hand on her and I'll beat your ass" I said as he got in my mom's face.

I don't particularly like my mom but, she's not the worst. And she's certainly better than him and although we have our issues, I would never let someone hurt her. "Beat who's ass?" he asked turning away from my mom and pivoting to look at me. "I'm packing my shit and I'm packing yours too. Do with that what you want to" I said ignoring him and looking at my mom.

She gave me a look before I turned away to go up the stairs. I heard quick footsteps behind me and I turned around and ducked as he threw the punch. My mom rushed over and tried to grab him but he pushed her out the way. I quickly pulled my knife out my pocket and put it to his throat. "One more fucking step and I slit your throat" I said in his ear.

I was behind him and I had to go on my tippy toes to even reach him. He always thinks he has one over on me cause he's tall but, I'm not scared of him. Maybe he'll learn that today. "You're crazy but you're not that crazy" he says as he tries to turn around. I press the knife harder and he stops immediately.

"You really wanna test that theory right now?" I ask rhetorically and it's dead silent in the house. My mom is on the floor, looking up at me in shock and I can only imagine the look on his face. "When I remove it, you get the fuck out. I'm not giving you any more chances" I say.

I remove the knife and push him towards the door. He turns around to look at my mom "don't look at her" I say. He scoffs and speedily walks to the door and throws it open. "I'll be back" he says, "we'll see about that" I reply coming right behind him. I slam the door in his face and then lock it, going up the stairs without a second thought.

"Dani!" My mom yelled rubbing up behind me and to my room door. "Don't speak to me right now. The only thing you should be saying is thank you" I say packing my shit as planned. I have most of my stuff already in a suitcase because I knew this would happen soon enough. "Thank you" she says quietly and I roll my eyes as I finish packing.

"You better hope he doesn't come back, I'm not coming to save you again. Not from yourself" I say walking past her, I've done this too many times; defending her to the men she dates. It's exhausting and I'm so tired of dealing with her shit in addition to my own. "W-where are you going?" she says coming behind me, I open the door before answering.

"Anywhere but here" I say and close the door getting into my car after putting the bags in. I drive to a hotel for the night and decide to just sleep before figuring everything out tomorrow.

*next morning*

I wake up, rolling out of bed to get dressed and ready for work. I get there and open up the little flower shop, turning on all the lights. I put out the fresh flowers and just wait at the counter for someone to come in. While I'm waiting I browse ads for jobs, if I'm going to get my own place I need to find something. Either a second job or one that pays way more than this one.

I only got this job so I'd have something to do and a little pocket money. It's not enough to pay bills and buy everything I would need. The little bell on the door dings and I put down my phone to give the customer all my attention. A pretty woman walks in and browses through the flowers.

After she looks for a while I decide to speak up in case she needs anything. "Anything I can help you with?" I ask politely with a smile, it pains me but it's a part of customer service apparently. "No thank you" she says shortly and I just wait for her to decide. She picks an assorted bouquet and brings it up to the counter.

I ring it up and once I bag it, she asks me to write a card. The shop I work at does personal cards for bouquets if customers ask for it. We even do special fonts and they're all handwritten. She asks me to do it in a calligraphy style and tells me what to write.

'Would you be my girlfriend? xoxo Ashley'

Seems easy enough. I write the card and place it on a little holder putting it carefully into the bouquet. "Thank you so much" she says happily, "good luck" I say. "Oh, I don't need luck, I'm pretty sure she'll say yes. But thanks for the sentiment" she says strutting out the shop. She's one of those people that make confidence borderline arrogant.

I brush it off and just finish my shift. My coworker Marcus comes in and I give him the call-in orders I didn't finish. He thanks me and I clock out before leaving to head to the hotel. Before I get there, I stop at a convenience store to grab some frozen foods. It's easy to heat up in the microwave and I don't need to add anything either.

It's not my preferred option but I don't really have much of a choice at the moment. As I'm walking down the hall to my hotel room I see a beautiful blonde coming towards me. My first instinct is to look away because I don't want to seem creepy. But she's staring right back at me so, I force myself to keep eye contact.

"Hi" she says and as I think she's passing by she stops next to me. "Hey" I say stopping as well not really having a reason to rush. "I just wanted to say your gorgeous" she coos.
"Same to you" I say, trying not to be awkward but I probably am honestly.

"Here's my number, call me sometime" she says handing me a paper. Why she just had that on hand, I have no idea but I took it and smiled before she walked off. I got into my room setting my things down and looking at the paper. 'Billie 453-772-6964' it read. Billie? What a lovely name...