Damien saw Violet try to stop a few cans but none stopped and she started walking but all of a sudden, in a darkened doorway, a shadow came out and grabbed her.
She screamed and Damien felt his heat jump into his mouth and he was going to jump out of his car to her rescue or hoot his car horn to scare him off before he did any harm to Violet but the next words he heard stopped him short.
'Violet, come on, it's me Clark', the shadow said.
'Clark? You scared me', Violet said.
'Yes, love. Only me'.
'You are drunk', Violet said, feeling nauseated from the smell of spirits in his breath.
'Yes, drunk with your love'.
Now, Violet was scared but she refused to believe that it was happening again. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. I should not think that everyman who gets close to me wants to take advantage of me, even if he is a drunk flirt, she thought.
'Clark, let's get you coffee to help you calm down or you could go home and sleep it off'.
'No, you have refused to be my girl but I have not stopped loving you', he said, his words slurred. 'You do not pay attention to me anymore but keep seeing that fool, Steve. What he does to you will be child's play to what I can do to you. I am more man than he could ever be. Just that he might be richer than I am at the moment but I know you are not after money or are you?' he staggered against her.
'No, but Steve and I are just friends just like you and I are', Violet said trying to calm him while looking for a way to escape. She should have accepted her boss' offer of a lift home , then she wouldn't be in this situation now.
'Liar!' Clark shouted, 'He is f**king your brains out and you are enjoying it but I assure you, you will enjoy mine more', ripping her shirt and causing the buttons to fly in different directions.
As he did so, he continued, 'I wait on the streets to see you go home each day, if I leave the office before you, but today, you did not come out at your usual time, I went to the office and saw your light still on and wanted to give you a call when I saw the boss' light on too. What were you doing with him?' he slurred and laughed bitterly. ' Could you have been rolling in the hay with him? This time on the floor or a table in his office?', he asked drawing closer to her and grabbing her arms, his nails digging into her flesh. 'I could not bear it and took a few drinks. You're generous to others with your favours except for me. I guess I'll have to take mine forcefully'.
'You are hurting me', Violet said, paralysed with fear. As though she had not spoken or he hadn't heard her, Clark went ahead to pull her straight skirt off, while grabbing her breasts with his hand. Violet felt his rough hands on her breast and her laps. Violet screamed and kept screaming, because she was no longer here with Clark but in the tunnel with Robert.
Sounds of footsteps and then hands came and jerked him away from her and yet she kept screaming, reliving her nightmare.
She did not hear the sound of fighting that ensued as someone kept hitting the other.
Hands shook her out of her trance and she screamed louder, thinking that Robert was back to finish what he had started long ago. She started thrashing wildly. Damien held her hands off and spike gently to her.
'Violet, it's okay now. You are safe' a familiar voice said. 'Stop screaming and pull your clothes together and let us leave'.
She looked at the speaker and saw him in a haze before his face came to focus properly and her scream gradually died down and she hugged him in relief.
She looked down and saw Clark on the floor badly injured.
'Clark?' she asked, afraid he was dead.
'He'll be alright. The police are on their way', Damien said.
'But what happened to him?' she had not been aware of the beating Damien had given him when he dragged Clark off her.
'I got what was coming to him', he said vaguely. She looked at him and nodded with uncertainty.
While they were still speaking, they heard the sound of a siren and gave their statements and Clark was taken away.
Violet had no scruples this time about entering Damien's car as she was still shaken by the events of the evening.
Damien felt that there was more to her fear than just Clark's rape attempt. It was almost as though she was reliving a past experience.
Violet was quiet on the way home and Damien did not want to disturb her but he was scared that she would slip into a shock induced coma. All that had happened that night must have been too much for her but in order to make sure she remained conscious, he spoke.
'You screamed as though you were reliving a nightmare, is it something you want to talk about?'
Violet looked at him with those startling blue eyes of hers, thinking that he was really very perceptive but not tactful enough.
'No, there is nothing I wish to talk about now. I am just shocked. I had not expected this of Clark', she said, her voice was steady and calm to her surprise giving how her insides were trembling.
'You knew he was an incurable flirt, didn't you?'
'I do. But I also thought that his flirting was harmless', she said, looking at him for understanding.
'Well, we have seen how harmless his flirting is'.
'What is going to happen to him now?'
'He will be punished for molestation and maybe spend sometime in prison if you testify against him or register a case against him, in which case, he will remain in police custody', he said matter - of - factly. 'But as for working for me is concerned, he has been relieved of his job'.
'No, Mr. Douglas', she said in panic, 'you couldn't possibly do that to him. Allow him to keep his job. He is very good at what he does. It would be a big loss to the company if we lose him'.
'We do not need people like him', Damien said. 'The female employees will not be safe with him around. What good are his skills if people do not trust him and fear to be around him?'
'It is his means of sustenance', she said still dazed.
'He should have thought of it before misbehaving'.
He drove into her premises and as soon as she saw her house, everything came on her all at once. It was just too much and she felt very dizzy and light headed and fainted, her head slipped from the car seat to the side, her body slumped.