Silently, I sit in the front seat of the car, where Will opens the door for me. I don't dare say another word. I sniffle again, even though I know he's right.
It's just unpleasant, embarrassing that I've added to his problems. I'm scared for my friend, and I don't know who to turn to now.
Will, retrieving the first aid kit, carefully takes to treating the wound on my shoulder. I still don't dare look at it. I gaze straight ahead at the windshield, but through the moisture in my eyes, I see nothing.
I endure, no longer paying much attention to the pain because other unpleasant thoughts come to the forefront, slightly distracting me from the painful sensations.
I flinch when hot lips brush against my skin next to the bandage. Turning, I look at Will in surprise, and instead of anger, there's pity and… tenderness in his eyes?
“Does it hurt a lot?” he asks sympathetically. “You held up really well, but I know it’s painful. Come here, I’ll comfort you,” he opens his arms, into which I willingly plungeю
I start crying again and can't help it. That is all it takes, to lean against the man and feel his gentle touch on my back.
“I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to shout at you. I just got scared for you, Goldie.”
I freeze at his last word. Goldie. No one has ever called me that before.
“You’re shivering. Wait, I'll get a blanket.”
“No need,” I stop him, gripping him with one hand. “Can we just sit like this for a bit longer?”
“Sure. Just stop crying, everything’s fine, you’re safe now. It’s all behind.” Will pulls me closer.
I crawl up to him and end up on top. This is much more comfortable. And calmer. I quickly stop crying.
Next to him, it really isn’t scary. I feel peaceful, good. But fear soon replaces that, the fear that all this is temporary. What if Mom continues to pressure me? Or what if I become a burden to him…
“Let’s go home,” he suggests when I calm down. Reluctantly, I crawl back to my seat, realizing that staying here really makes no sense. I need to call the police, and Yasmin’s parents too. “By the way, I found your phone. Looks like it’s intact,” he pulls it out of his pocket and hands me the gadget.
And it is indeed intact. Dad gave it to me a year ago, saying I wouldn’t break it like I often did in childhood. It hasn’t cracked…
Unlocking it, I see several missed calls from an unknown number. A wave of fear washes over me again. I turn to Will, subconsciously seeking support, hit the call button, and press the phone to my ear.
And in a few seconds, I hear my friend’s voice, weak, hoarse, but relief washes over me alongside the realization that she’s okay.
“Hi, Aura. It’s Yasmin. Alice told me you were looking for me. Did someone call you from my number? Did they say if they were going to return it?” she laughs hoarsely. “I lost it, can you imagine? And I don’t even know where or how. Are you home? Don’t you want to come over? I feel so bad after yesterday, you can’t imagine. And I don’t understand why. I hardly drank…”
With each of her words, my eyes widen more and more. Plus, it slowly dawns on me that either some crazy person really stole the phone and decided to have fun in such an abnormal way, or…
Yasmin, who doesn't seem the type to get drunk and lose her phone. An unknown person who took advantage of that and lured me into a trap, almost killing me afterward.
Mikey? Could he have done something like that? No, he’s too cowardly for that; he’s good for some petty mischief, but not shoving me into a pit where I could have broken my neck.
“I’m sorry, Yasmin, I can’t come. We’ll talk on Monday.”
“Are you okay?” she sharply changes her tone, immediately realizing that my problems are worse than a hangover and a stolen phone.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry, but I can’t talk right now.”
Ending the call, I place the phone on the dashboard, not tearing my gaze away from Will’s face, which is frozen in an expression of concern.
“Her phone was stolen by some psychos, it’s probably them who sent a message from her number, and then lured me here, shoving me into that pit. We need to report this to the police.”
“Did you see the face of that person? Can you recognize them?”
“No,” I shake my head.
“Then the police won’t help,” Will says confidently and starts driving. “There are no witnesses, no cameras even at the entrance, it’s a dead zone around. You won’t recognize them and most likely, your friend will never find her phone again. The guard, besides you and me, saw no one, and he’s drunk as a skunk. It’s a cold case, Aurelia, and by filing a report, you’ll just attract unnecessary attention to yourself. Give me your friend's number; ask her where and under what circumstances it happened. I’ll try to find out through my contacts. And you, my dear girl, my advice is to use your head and analyze the situation before rushing off to help someone,” he says bitterly.
“Couldn’t you wait for me?” he shoots a quick but extremely displeased glance at me.
“I didn’t think something like that would happen,” I mutter, looking down.
“That’s precisely, you didn’t think. When I left you the keys, I expected you might get bored and go shopping, not that you’d rush off looking for trouble. Are you always this lucky when it comes to trouble, or is this an exception?” Will smiles slightly.
“An exception,” I reply quietly, realizing that he’s right. I acted like a fool.
“Well, that’s enough, don’t sulk,” his smile becomes soft and warm, just like his gaze focused on the road.
Suddenly, his hand rests on my thigh, and I look at it with wide-open eyes.
“The main thing is that everything turned out fine. And I hope you made some conclusions. Right?” he asks pointedly.
His gaze is on me, and I dutifully nod. Of course, I did.
“Good girl. Breathe out. We’ll be home soon. You’ll take a bath, relax, I’ll order dinner, we’ll turn on some movie, and you’ll forget that ever happened,” with a playful wink, Will makes me smile shyly in response.
Evening. Just the two of us. At his place. Together.
From the anticipation inside, butterflies flutter, and what happened really fades into the background. What matters is that everything turned out fine, Yasmin is home safe and sound, and I’m safe too.