Mahogany Desires

Chapter 2

 

            WHY DID SHE just agree to go out with this guy? She didn't even know him! She admits that he was extremely good looking but that wasn't a valid excuse. Or was it? Either way, it wasn't a smart idea on her part. She made a promise to herself to stay away from people like... him. They were all evil in her eyes. She had suffered so much from their hands and the scars ran so deep, they would make the Grand Canyon look about as shallow as a stream.

“But damn, he was cute,” Machayla tried to reason with herself. Walking into her one bedroom apartment, she slammed the door shut, frustrated with herself, and headed into her kitchen for a bottle of water. Passing through the living room, she switched on her bluetooth speaker, placed her phone on the dock and turned on her music app. She needed a shower but also wanted a bath and went straight into the bathroom for both.

As she dipped her body into the lavender scent water, she thought she heard something other than the music playing in the background but chalked it up to it being her noisy neighbors. Her muscles were aching more than usual due to her running an extra mile in the park and the warm water felt good on her worn out and tired body. She felt exhaustion taking over and shortly after, she fell into a deep slumber in the tub.

When Machayla awoke, she realized that she was on her bed wearing her fuzzy pink bathrobe. ‘How the hell did I get here?’ She thought.

She couldn’t remember ever getting out of the tub, much less making it to her bedroom. “Did I sleep walk to the bed? I was pretty tired but… wow… ok,” she said to herself. She suddenly felt hungry and decided on heating the left over lasagna from the night before. Getting up from the bed, she tightened the belt of the robe around her waist and made a bee line to the kitchen. 

As she walked through the living room, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rising. Her heart started to beat a mile per minute and she felt her eyes start to water. There was only one reason why her body would react that way… Mason!

She stopped dead in her tracks and spun around the living room, making sure her eyes landed on every single object in the room. He was there, she felt it. His presence alone would have her cowering in fear for her safety and life.

She made another three-sixty turn around the room and still saw nothing. She suddenly didn’t feel so hungry anymore but instead felt nauseated. Her breathing became shorter and her palms began to sweat. She felt like a mouse placed into a hungry cat’s den. Her mouth went dry and her throat felt like a golf ball was lodged in it. He was in here somewhere. She could just feel him but the fact that she couldn’t see him made it so much worst.

Machayla somehow gathered enough guts to move from her frozen position and search for the bastard. She didn’t want to become a prey in her own home. If he was in her apartment, how did he even find her? She made sure to keep her location private. Until last night, no one knew where she lived...

"Last night!" She said to herself when she realized that she'd let her guard down and went out with her old sorority sisters.

Taking a deep breath, she walked towards the kitchen with a weak but determined resolve. She stopped in front of the swinging kitchen door and shook herself of her nerves. “Here we go,” she muttered. “Be strong Kayla.”

She slowly pushed the door and stuck her head into the kitchen. She looked around for any sign of him but he was nowhere to be found. Taking a deep breath she pushed her whole body through the door and looked around her kitchen. Nothing. He wasn’t there. But she was sure that she'd felt and still could feel him around.

"Maybe I’m just stressing myself out over nothing," she tried to convince herself. "Mother Nature hasn’t visited yet this month." Maybe those were her new welcome signs.