The Mechanic.

Chapter 25

   They sat in silence and continued watching the movie which was playing on the television. The feeling of his fingers playing in her hair was soothing and it was exactly what she needed after the day she had had. Just being here with the man she loved. She was almost falling asleep when he said her name.

She lifted her head to look at him. Somewhere in the past thirty minutes, they had shifted into a lying position on the couch. It wasn't big enough for the both of them, so she was almost laying on top of him listening to the steady beat of his heart.

"Hmm," she responded.

"Will you ever tell me about the incident with Caleb?" he asked softly.

She frowned at him. "You want to hear about it?"

"I mean, yeah." Then he shook his head. "But you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

She considered it for a while. He just watched her patiently and continued to stroke her hair. Ella didn't know why but her heart was full of love for him in that very moment so she leaned down and placed a quick kiss on his lips before she settled against his chest and started to tell him the same story she had told her parents.

"...At that point, the party was in full swing and I had gotten tired of dancing and having sweaty bodies all around me. I had a headache and I decided to go out to the garden for some fresh air. There was a huge swing in the garden so I sat there trying to catch my breath."

Tears started to form in her eyes as she was transported back to that very moment.

Ella rubbed her hand against her forehead as she looked down at the green grass under her flat sandals. It had been a really long night and she was ready to leave but she couldn't because she hadn't come with her car and her friends were still partying it out.

She looked up when she saw footsteps coming towards her. She groaned when she saw that it was Caleb, her annoying stalker. What did he want now?

"Hello, Ella," he said with a smug smile.

"Caleb, I really don't have the energy to deal with you right now."

"Oh, that's fine. That's better for me."

She frowned. What did he mean by that? "What do you want?"

"I told you that you wouldn't get away with looking down on me. And now, look. I have the upper hand," he said, gesturing to the garden around them. "I have you all to myself. I can do whatever I want to you and nobody will hear your screams."

A sense of horror gripped her at the dangerous glint in his eyes. He was talking crazy right now and Ella was afraid. So she got up from the swing and started running towards the house.

She hadn't gone far when his hands gripped her upper arms and she fell face first on the grass she had just been admiring. Her circulation was suddenly cut off as he landed on her back. However, before she could recover from that, she found herself being spun around and slapped across the face.

"You little bitch." He grinned and being so close to him and inhaling his vodka breath made her sick to her stomach. "Where are you running to?"

Ella recovered and started to struggle. She tried to use her hands to push at his chest, but he just grabbed them and held them above her head.

"Get off me," she shouted. "Leave me alone."

"I don't want to."

Tears started streaming down her cheek and she tried twisting her body to shake him off. It didn't work. He was far too strong for her. Her ears rang as another slap landed on her face.