Y/N POV
Another day, another bundle of hundred's in my pocket. Not literally in my pocket, but you get what I mean. I was blessed to have a very great job on Wall Street working for a friend's company. I was only 26 years old, so I was probably one of the youngest to work in such a place, but I knew that as long as the business kept running I'd be financially stable for the rest of my life. And so, with a slight grin on my face from another great day at work, I left the building and began my walk home.
Tonight was a slightly longer night than usual. Meetings kept me occupied for most of the work day, so I had to stay back 2 hours to catch up on paper work. The sun was already setting, almost completely out of the sky. Walking along the streets of New York City later at night was slightly risky, given that there's been robberies, shootings, and other sorts of horror stories that happen all too much. But I've learned that as long as you walk with confidence, and keep a steady pace, most of the weirdos in the city will leave you alone.
I walked my normal route home which was about a 30 minute walk. I loved walking these streets so I never minded the walk to and from work everyday. Stopping at a crosswalk while waiting until I could cross the street, I grabbed my phone from my purse to check up on emails and texts I had missed during the day. Once I could cross the street, I stayed focused on both my phone as well as my walking on the sidewalk. While walking, I heard the most disgusting sound of someone clearing their throat and it made me wanna hurl. It turned out to be the man walking slightly behind me because when I turned my head towards him, he apologized. Reaching another street corner, I had to stop again to wait to cross. The man who had cleared his throat before was still walking near me, this time coughing like crazy along with disgusting phlegm stuck in his throat.
"Hey, I don't care what your excuse is, you're not allowed to park your car here for even a second, alright?"
I looked up to watch a conversation between a policeman and a pedestrian just across the street. Seems like a newbie to the city didn't realize you can't exactly park in front of a fire hydrant.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever I'll take the ticket" the guy shook his head in defeat and held his hand out waiting for the policeman to write up and give him his ticket.
I gotta admit, this policeman was very sexy. I'm not one to fall in love with people you see passing by, but wow. Good genes, and good jeans on that guy. He was fairly tall, muscular, short brown hair, and had an arm covered in tattoos. Now how does a guy like that become a policeman and not a male model?
I found myself staring at him still, even though people had been walking in front of my view for a few seconds. I felt a bump on my right shoulder and realized that the light indicated that I could cross the street but I hadn't moved yet because I was staring at this man. I said a quick sorry to see that it was the man that had been walking behind me for most of my walk so far. And then, I realized that not only did he bump my right shoulder, but he took my bag that was dangling on my arm too! And to make things worse, he snatched my phone!
"Hey! You piece of shit! Get back here!" I yelled getting the attention of many people on the streets as I started to try to run after the guy, but it wasn't exactly easy to do so in a pair of 4 inch heels.
I continued yelling at the guy, hoping that maybe one of the few people on the streets at this time would catch him, but it seemed like NYC was being a bitch tonight, because only one person tried to stop him, but he got away from them.
"Hey! Stop!" I looked ahead to see that the beautiful officer I saw before had sprinted across the street and grabbed the man who stole my things. He temporarily cuffed the man up and searched for the owner of the stolen items. Which happened to be me still struggling to catch up.
"Are these your things?" the officer said once I arrived to him.
"Yeah," I said catching my breath, "this guy snatched it out of my hands while I was looking at someone."
He ripped my purse and phone from the man's hands and gently gave them back to me. I thanked him, but didn't leave right away. He said he had to record the man's street robbery under his name so he had to get his information. I figured I'd stay around for a few minutes so I could properly thank the officer, so I leaned against a building wall while he did his job.
He uncuffed the man and let him go, then noticed me leaning against the wall with a slight smile on my face. He grinned back and slowly walked towards me. "Are you alright? It seems like that guy really caught you off guard."
"Thankfully you were in the area to stop him. I don't think I could have caught him in my heels" I gave a small chuckle.
"Yeah but they make your legs look great" he grinned again, and I couldn't help but blush a little, "sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Anyways, how exactly did that guy take your stuff again?"
"Oh I was staring at yo- uh, someone, and he just walked right past me and I noticed that he took my stuff clean out of my arm and hand" Damn, I almost said that I was staring at him. Oops.
"Staring at who?" he said curiously. I had a feeling that he knew what I was going to say.
So I was honest, "um, you" I nervously laughed.
"Well I'm glad I could help out a beautiful woman like you" he smiled widely, flashing his teeth this time. What a smile. "You have yourself a good night, Miss" he said and turned in the other direction, ready to walk away.
It had gotten darker now than when I had first left work. And now that I was robbed on the street, I almost felt more vulnerable.
I quickly turned in the direction he had walked in, "hey! Um, can I ask you something?" He turned around and walked back to me.
"No problem"
"Um, I don't know if officers regularly do this but..that kinda freaked me out and I was wondering if you could maybe walk me home? I'm only a few blocks away and there's something about being around you made me feel safe...other than the fact that you keep the bad guys off the street" I admitted, kicking a rock around with my foot.
"You're right, officers don't do that" he started.
"Oh, I guess that answers my question"
"We don't do that, but I will for you" he finished.
My eyes perked up and I felt at ease "really? Oh thank you....um...I don't know your name"
"It's Zack. Or officer Merrick if you prefer. But for you, you can stick with Zack."
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A little bit later, Zack and I had reached my condo and it was almost pitch black. Not to mention that the street lights were all out on my road for maintenance so it was even darker than usual. Zack and I had a lovely walk though. We talked about our jobs, things we liked, and the city we both lived in. I felt extremely comfortable around this guy. And when he put one of his strong arms around me when I got scared, I felt even better. It might be just wishful thinking, but I think he had just as good of a time as I did getting to know him.
"Thanks again Zack for walking me home. I felt so much better having company" I thanked him then grabbed my keys to unlock my door.
"No problem, Y/N. By the way, beautiful name for a beautiful lady."
"Another compliment from you? Are you hitting on me?" I laughed a little but sincerely wanted to know.
"Would it be so bad if I was?"
I stood there a bit dumbfounded at him being so straightforward. But I liked it, and him. I wanted to get to know him better. "It wouldn't be bad at all."
"So how about we go out this Sunday? Maybe out for dinner in the city? I really want to see you more."
"It's a date, see you then Zack" I went to give him a hug and he snuck a kiss on my cheek, getting the corner of my mouth as well. Oh yeah, I'm glad I'll be seeing him again.
