Page 44 of The Sound of Silence

As I approached my apartment, I passed by the door of another tenant. There was box laying in front of their door—a delivery from a well-known online retailer. The sight of it caused my steps to slow as an idea slowly percolated in my mind.

That’s it!

I finally figured out a way to contact Nat. I didn’t just need to buy a pre-paid phone for me, I would need to get one for her as well. Newfound excitement overwhelmed me, and I ran the rest of the way to my apartment. Once inside, I quickly dumped my gym bag, grabbed my purse and headed back out the door. Splurging on a cab, I directed the cabbie to take me to the nearest telecommunications store.

Of course, as luck would have it, the store turned out to be only four blocks away.

I really need to get to know the area better.

I tossed a five-dollar bill at the driver, tried to ignore my irritation over the waste of cab fare, hurried out of the car, and anxiously went inside in search of a sales rep.

“Hello, can I help you, miss?” asked a pretty brunette with dark, almond-shaped eyes.

“Yes, actually, you can. I’d like to purchase two pre-paid cell phones please. One of them is for me, and the other is for a friend who lives out of town. Do you handle shipping here, or do I need to go to the post office?”

“We can do that for you here for a small fee,” she replied. “All of our pre-paid phones are along that wall. Just pick out what you want and I can get it set up for you.”

The world suddenly felt brighter. If all went well, I’d finally get to speak to my best friend again in just a matter of days.

I smiled broadly.

“Perfect.”

19

Val (Gianna)

5 Weeks Later

Itook a long swig from my water bottle, then tossed it in my gym bag. I had just completed my fifth week of self-defense classes with Derek and Hana and things were going relatively well—at least I thought they were. Any day where I didn’t have flashbacks of the past was always a good one in my book. Today was one of those days. It took a few hard lessons, but I no longer had to watch Derek and Hana demonstrate before I felt comfortable trying something new. I took it head-on, listening to Hana’s encouraging female voice and Derek’s reassurances to master every defensive maneuver they threw at me. I felt good—stronger—both mentally and physically in ways I never had before.

As I was slipping my arms into the sleeves of a zip front sweatshirt, I glanced over at Derek. Hana had already left the room to go meet one of her other clients, so it was just him and me. Sweat made small strands of hair stick to his forehead. With his face still flushed from the effort put into my lesson, he grabbed a towel by the door and wiped the moisture from his face and neck.

When he stripped out of his t-shirt to pull on a hooded sweatshirt, I cast my eyes down and peered at him through lowered lashes, pretending like I didn’t see the sculpted landscape of his chest and abdomen, the bronze color of his skin, or the lines of sinewy muscle in his arms. And his hands—hands that had touched me in more ways than one while he showed me different techniques during our training sessions. Although his touches were never inappropriate, he had awakened something inside me. If I wasn’t aware of him before, I was now. With every passing lesson, I found myself way too cognizant of how mouthwatering, drop-dead gorgeous Derek Mills really was.

When he began to walk toward me, I busied myself with gathering my belongings, giving no indication he stirred feelings I didn’t want to explore. I slung my bag over my shoulder and began to move past him.

“Leaving so soon, Sparky?”

I glanced up at him. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the nickname he bestowed on me a few weeks prior. I only knew I felt little wings fluttering around my insides every time he said it.

“Shouldn’t I be?”

“I guess so,” he said with a shrug. “I just wanted to tell you something before you took off.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” He paused and eyed me in the most peculiar way. “Your determination to take instruction and learn is inspiring. You’ve come a long way in a very short time. You did really good today.”

“Thanks.”

He shifted his weight and cocked his head to one side.

“I’ve got to shoot over to the supplement supply shop to replenish the protein powder for the smoothies. Want to come with me? It’s only about a ten-minute walk.”

Going outside still put me on edge and I only went out when absolutely necessary, and then only to places I was familiar with. I wondered if I’d ever get rid of the feeling of having to constantly look over my shoulder. I turned to look out the large floor-to-ceiling glass windows near the main entrance to the gym. It was broad daylight out and the streets were crowded with people. Knowing those things gave me a sense of security. Combined with my newfound confidence from the self-defense classes, I found myself smiling and nodding.

“Sure, why not?”

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