Page 7 of Shattered Hope
“I was looking for shelter…” I admitted. “The snowfall is turning to a blizzard, and I have nowhere to sleep tonight.”
“The city has a lot of homeless shelters. I’m sure you can find a place in one of them,” he retorted, clearly indifferent to my problems.
“I tried… but they’re all packed,” I assured him, shuddering. Even in a place like this one, the temperatures were dropping quite fast, which meant it would be worse outside. “Would you let me stay here for the night? I promise I’ll be out of here first thing in the morning,” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
The man didn’t strike me as generous or compassionate, and I was right.
“If I did that, I would have hundreds of homeless people trying to do the same tomorrow,” he stated, in a cold tone. “I’ll walk you to the door.”
“Sir, please… I really have no place to go… I’ll freeze to death if I spend the night outside. Couldn’t you make an exception? Please?” I begged.
“I’m sure that’s an exaggeration. There’s a church not far from here. Go there. I’m sure they will find a place for you to spend the night,” he said unmoved.
I had been to the church, and it was closed. They could use the place to shelter a few homeless, but they didn’t. I knew they ran a homeless shelter next to the church, but they could do more.
“I went there before I came here. They aren’t taking anyone else in,” I explained, but I could tell he wasn’t about to change his mind.
“It’s really not my problem. Follow me, and I’ll open the door for you,” he insisted, turning around and walking to the exit, sure I would follow him.
“Please, sir… there must be something I can do to make you change your mind…” I begged though I had no idea where those words had come from.
I knew how he would take what I said, and it would only make things worse for me. A man like him didn’t need to pay to get the services implied in my offer. And he certainly wouldn’t want them from someone like me. One of Daniel's complaints had always been my poor performance in bed.
He stopped and slowly turned around to face me. “Seriously? What could you possibly offer me that might be worthy of my time?” he asked, in a scornful tone. “Do I look like the kind of man that needs to pay for whatever you’re offering?”
Yeah… I had just made things worse for myself. Now, he was insulted. No matter what I said, it wouldn’t change things in my favor. But then, something Daniel once told me jumped to my mind. I was so desperate; I didn’t think things through.
“All men have special needs… the kind they wouldn’t dare ask of their wives and girlfriends…” I pointed out and immediately regretted words coming out of my mouth. “You could satisfy them with me.”
Was I out of my mind? Why the hell did I suggest that to a man I had never seen before? One that wasn’t exactly friendly and that could have the worst kind of sexual fantasies, which probably included violence.
“And you think I do too? Is that it? You’ve assumed that after talking with me for like five seconds?” he asked in a harsh tone.
He was mad. I could tell that, and my self-protection instinct warned me to back down and get the hell out of there. Facing the elements was my safest option right now.
“I’m sorry… I clearly misjudged you. I just wanted a warm place to spend the night, that’s all,” I mumbled as I walked by him, towards the exit door.
I didn’t get very far. He stretched out his arm and grabbed me by the elbow, pulling me towards him.
My heart stopped for a moment, and I almost let out a loud shout. He took me by surprise and scared the hell out of me, especially when he towered over me and pierced me with his incredibly gray eyes.
“Do you think I have unfulfilled special needs?” he asked me again, his tone so hard it made me shudder and wish I was somewhere else.
“I said I’m sorry…” I mumbled, tugging at my arm to no avail. His grip felt like a damn iron band around my arm, and no matter what I did, it didn’t budge. “What else do you want from me?” my last question came out in tone slightly pitched, but I was on the verge of tears.
4
“I want you to answer my question,” he insisted.
“I don’t know the answer. I don’t know you well enough. I shouldn’t have said anything. Now, please, let me go,” I begged.
There was no way in hell I was answering that question. I knew he wouldn’t like my answer, no matter what I said.
“Make a wild guess. You seem good at it,” he demanded, not even close to dropping the subject and letting me go.
Damn… my mouth always got me into trouble. Daniel had punished me more times than I can count for spurting the ugly truths to his face. I guess I never learned to shut up.
I gulped but decided to embrace my future… what else could I do? Taking a good look at the man’s face, with his perfectly chiseled features, I knew I couldn’t be more wrong about him. He was the kind of man who had everything his heart desired. And when it came to sex, I was sure women threw themselves at his feet, waiting to serve him as he saw fit.
