Page 23 of Painting Her Fate

We give each other a look.

I’m not delusional- he heard it too.

My fight instincts going to work and adrenaline kicks in.

Dropping the bags, I run towards the activity, Ford right on my six.

_CHAPTER 5 – LILI_

- “One of the luckiest things that can happen to you in life is, I think, to have a happy childhood.” – Agatha Christie-

Ibreathe the crisp morning air deep into my lungs as I prepare for a well needed trek around the waters’ edge. The rays of sun sparkling on the choppy waves sets me at ease with every step forward, a precursor to a lovely day ahead.

I place an earbud in, excited to listen to the new rom-com audiobook, finding it a great distraction to muddle my thoughts. I knew it would be a fantastic book when the first scene starts off with the female character sending a rather heinous text to a wrong number. Shit is about to go down when the receiver responds.

With warm up stretches complete, I round the corner to the second set of buildings and kick it up, ready to slay this day.

While traveling my usual route along Canalside, I’m entranced by the seagulls as they dance and play above the glittering water and before I know it, I am nearing the spot where I typically turn around. I continue further, wanting to feel my lungs on fire and shed some of the emotional weight holding me down.

I stop long enough to chat with a couple walking their white and black spotted Great Dane, Lucy, who I found is named after the famous local actress; this big lug with her happy-go-lucky affection tugs at my heartstrings and makes me forget my troubles. Lucy reminds me of how much I’ve wanted a dog ever since finding my own place.

I think it’s time. Just not this big of a breed.

With my heart lighter, we give our goodbyes then head in opposite directions. My plan is to go a few blocks further down the way, then turn around.

The audiobook shifted to a scene where the female character stumbled upon her male flat mate coming out of the bathroom freshly showered and stark naked. They proceed to freak out together. Sounds like this might be a love triangle or throuple romance. I approve.

Laughing to myself, I find a spot on the corner near a brick building, a tattered sign says‘Harbor’s Edge Bar and Grill’above its entrance.

Stopping near the edge of an alley I become caught up in the humorous audiobook scene as well as the view of the water in the distance, not noticing what approached until it was too late. A rough soiled hand gripped my shoulder.

I froze, a scream billowing from within and I let it loose.

“NOOO!” I whip my body around, try gathering my bearings and let the self-defense tactics flood my system.

Fight, then flight. Grabbing his hand from my shoulder, I twist his thumb backwards and step on his foot, making him yell a protest. Now that I have a full view of my attacker, I can see what I am up against.

His clothing is soiled, his hair ratted and greasy. His teeth are a mess of broken brown and yellow with more than a few missing, and his face is sunken and marred with sores. There is no doubt in my mind, he’s an addict.

He grunts in pain then swings his other arm around, the strike sending me down to the pavement and my grip on him now gone.

“Damn it!” My forearm burned but I ignored it as best I could, also losing an earbud somewhere in the scuffle. I didn’t care. Instinct and adrenaline drove me to stand my ground. I did the only thing I could think of in that second.

Bringing my leg high, my colorful trainer connected with his bollocks.

I watched as his face conform into pain, shock, and anger then his body falls forward.

*Gritty* “You bitch.”

My foot landed on his chest, trying to push him away.

Brace yourself for whatever is about to come next.

In the next second a blur rushed by; my attacker taken with it. He hit the pavement with a loud thump, a second bigger body landing on the man as a struggle ensued. The man on top connected his fist to the creeps’ face, so hard it rocked his head to the pavement making a noticeable crack, knocking him out cold.

“¡Qué diablos!”A man yelled behind me. “Are you ok, miss?” A gigantic of a man with a deep southern accent loomed over me, assessing the situation before easily scooping me in a cradle hold then righting me back on my feet.

This man was massive; well over six feet, his bulky body barely fit in the black shirt he wore; his hands easily the size of my face. His right arm had a full sleeve of dark mystical ink, and I had the sudden urge to know more.

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