The Beast

Chapter 3

I woke up in an absolute daze trying to remember why I was sleeping in a dress when everything that happened yesterday came rushing back. That dread that had filled me last night creeping back up in my stomach but I pushed it back down. It was better to treat the incident more robotically, I didn't have much time to worry over it. I fell back into my pillows feeling mentally exhausted. How ever had that man brought me back here? I distinctly remembered passing out.

I peeled the dress off of my body, getting rid of my undergarments and throwing them all into the hamper, after what had happened while I was wearing that dress, I doubted I was ever going to wear it again. I didn't really care if my laundry machine ruined it. I took about as quick a shower as I could after thoroughly brushing my teeth, grimacing when I saw some bruises and handprints on my skin.

A shiver shot through me as I remembered the way his hand had felt on my face, dirty dry skin against my own. I would have to use some concealer to cover the marks up, I really didn't want people asking unnecessary questions. I didn't know the first thing about makeup so usually I relied on Sophie or my mom to both get me my supply and apply it, but today I would have to make do myself. Makeup could be really beautiful if you knew how to apply it properly, I'd always envied people who could. I just didn't have the patience firstly to learn how to put it on or to apply it regularly, so there was no point of me learning it.

I rushed around getting ready for work trying to put socks on while eating a muffin was a lot more trouble than it may have seemed at first. I went to grab my purse and saw my phone that I had dropped last night sitting right under it. A small crack was visible in the corner of the screen, and I made a face remembering why I had dropped it. I promised myself I would talk to Jay and Sophie about this because keeping all this in was horrible for my probably already a little wankered mental state.

I had always been a weird person when it came to trauma, I was either very nonchalant or just loosing it completely. There was no inbetween with me. When I had been 17 and learning how to drive, some idiot had veered out of their lane while texting and hit me head on. The driving instructor had to yank me out of the car, I was completely fine but just unresponsive. He had to call an ambulance to take me to the hospital. I had only recovered when my parents had gotten to the hospital and slowly coaxed me out of shock.

Strangely after last night I just felt a little numb, like I was going through my daily routine but nothing was registering. Surely that was better than being upset over what had happened, but it was just very frustrating to go about life so robotically, feeling so faint and being unable to knock myself out of it.

I rushed into work five minutes late sending a quick wave to Maggie, while tying up an apron. I loved this cafe, but honestly the place opened up much too early and that definitely clashed with my love for sleep. If it just started more in the afternoon then I'd have absolutely nothing to complain about, not that this was ever going to hinder me from loving the place.

The bell rung signaling the day's first customers had come in, I turned to greet them only to find a rambunctious group of boys tumbling in instead of our usual elderly customers this early in the morning. I tended to them ignoring their snarky comments which made me want to tip the hot coffee pot over their heads. But of course I had to hold my violent thoughts in as I would quite probably get arrested for doing so. More frighteningly Maggie would yell at me. She barely ever got mad, but when she did it was terrifying, it was the reason no one dared to misbehave in the cafe. Everyone knew better than to trigger Maggie's wrath.

By the time lunch rolled around I was starved, after just having a muffin for breakfast and running around serving customers I was basically salivating over the baked goods I was bagging for customers. As usual right around lunch, in came Sophie and Jay bickering over something small once again. They fought more than they spoke civilly to each other, and yet they were best friends.