If Tomorrow Never Comes

4 - More in Common

Esme's quivering hands wrapped slowly but extremely quickly around the blind and pulled it quickly down. Something came loose on the wall and the blind tore off the cream dining room wall. Esme jumped back in fear, bashing into the table and landing on her butt. The whole neighbourhood was exposed to the young girl as she struggled in an overwhelmed daze to take everything in. As if on cue, all the memories of last night hit her like a bat. She broke down, she kicked and screamed and broke furniture and threw things. Of course, knowing Esme, throughout this story there are going to hundreds of moments in this adventure where Esme has a mental breakdown but that's just how she was designed, having no parents around to assure her she was going to be okay.

Hours and hours went by, the girl continued to push and shove objects up against the window and the door. She finally grew weaker and more tired, sinking to her knees beside one of the wooden chairs. Her arms snaked onto the cushion and placed her sobbing head down onto them. Silence. Just the tiny mouse whimpers from the girl's mouth. The girl wasn't sure how long she had been slouched on the chair until a forced noise started playing at the door. It sounded as if someone was trying to force open the door with their foot. Then the sound of the door slamming against the wall echoed through the empty house. Esme smacked her hand against her quivering lips and scooted back up in between all the furniture that was pushed up against the window. Footsteps bounced off the walls as they began making their way into the kitchen. Cupboards were being opened and things were being flung. Then the sound got louder as they came back to the front of the house and started up the creaky stairwell. It was silent again once they reached the top. Esme took this as the time to escape the house. She clambered out from between the piled furniture and ... of course the most clichéd accident happened. One of the piled chairs slipped from on top of the other and crashed down onto the floorboards. Esme gasped like she was taking in the last load of air ever. The footsteps started speeding down the stairs. She gasped, retreating back under the furniture. The house fell peaceful again. It didn't last long though. The door started bending inwards as someone started booting in the door. The door flew open and the figure walked in. "Is anybody in here?" ...

That voice. That fucking voice. Esme looked up and made eye contact with Adrian Porter. The girl pushed her way out from under all the furniture and stood in front of the man. It took everything in her tiny, little body not to connect her fist to his jaw. "Hello, Princess." He grinned, throwing a seductive wink her way. "Don't Princess me, dick." Esme's voice came out a lot lower than usual, most probably trying to intimidate the poor man. His smirk remained as he started scanning the room. "You have a nice house for someone who wears dresses with converse. Oh, and goes to a diner." Adrian began wandering around the room, looking in the mirror. "You have a pretty shitty attitude for someone who manipulates women into sleeping with you. Oh, and you have a pretty crappy reputation too for someone who spends time in the same diner that a girl who wears converse and dresses does." Esme remarked folding her arms. "Woah, woah, woah. You have quite a tongue there, Kid. Would be scary to get on your bad side." Adrian traced the side of his finger against Esme's smooth cheek. The teen quickly clutched the man's hand, stopping him from moving anymore. "I find it quite insulting at the amount of knowledge you lack on me. After all, we did meet in a diner, arguing over the poor woman that worked her ass off there." Esme pushed the man's hand into his hard chest, making him stumble slightly backwards. "You have a way of words." The man shrugged.
"And I think it's quite sad at the amount of stuff you think you know about me ... and the waitress." Esme froze, knowing exactly what to say.
"Marie?" That name made Adrian freeze this time. He didn't bother asking, assuming correctly. "What exactly did she tell you?" Adrian walked over to the pile of furniture, plucking a seat from the bunch and setting it down to sit on backwards.
"Everything." Esme frowned, setting herself against the wall. "She was naïve and trusted you, got pregnant, you threatened to cut off her brother's tongue and she got an abortion." Esme rambled, shrugging every now and then.
"Did she mention that her brother threatened my family?" Adrian leant forward on the back of the chair. Esme thought for a moment. "No. But what you did was still a dick move. She trusted you. I don't know how anyone could have trusted you but she was one of the unfortunate women that did." Esme ranted, "you know what, maybe your dad should have done the exact same thing to your mom." Before Esme could even think, she had a knife to her throat. She wasn't surprised at all by the man's actions but she was alerted at the feel of the weapon against her warm skin. "Don't talk to me about my father!" Adrian pushed the blade harder against her neck, drawing small droplets of blood.
"Too bad your dead children can't defend you like that." Esme pushed again ... expecting Adrian to explode and shove the whole knife in her neck, Esme scrunched up her nose and closed her eyes ... Adrian's knife was pulled away from the girl's neck and wiped on his t-shirt. The man slotted his knife in his jeans pocket and he backed away. "Fair play." He applauded, sarcasm tugging at his tone. "You're not wrong." He rose his hands up in defence. "It's easy for you to say, you weren't in my position." He shrugged again and sat back on his chair.
"You were scared. I get it. But that's no excuse for the threats or the lies." Esme nodded, walking back towards the man. "The hell you know about me?" Adrian stood up again and made his way back towards the door. "Because we're exactly the same. We have more in common than you think."