Love’n’Lust

Weeks passed, and no one who knew Nathan heard anything from him, neither where they any lead brought to the media’s notice from the police.

Belle had to deal with listening to her workmates discuss about Nathan every time she went to work, and didn’t know how to stop the guilty feeling that kept on recurring so one night, she made a big decision.

She packed some of her clothes, together with some cash she had withdrawn earlier, and she decided to leave City S. No words to her sister, Brie, not even Ben, she just left first thing in the morning as the sunset.

Leaving her phone behind so no one could reach her, she headed to a small town not so close and not so far from City S.

****

“Heyy!” Someone tapped her on the shoulder after she got off a bus that just reached its final destination. She turned around and saw a girl about her age, at least that was what she assumed.

“You dropped this,” the girl handed her purse which she had put all the money she had at the moment into back to her.

“Thanks a lot,” she was really grateful because she would have been stranded if she lost that purse. She screened the girl from head to toe and quickly found out that she was a tomboy from the way she was dressed.

“Yeah, you’re welcome.” The girl was about to walk away but Belle felt that it was the last time she might have a chance to ask someone nice for directions as she already returned her fallen purse.

“Uhm, don’t be mad, may I ask if you know the way to a hotel, any hotel at all,” Belle asked her. It was getting later into the night and she didn’t want to be on the streets late at night at a place she didn’t know well enough yet.

“Any hotel? You sound like you could pay for a mansion if I recommend it to you.” The girl joked but didn’t get a laugh from Belle so she stopped laughing.

“You are new here?” She asked Belle.

“Uhm…” Belle knew not to answer that question directly, hence she could led off wrongly.

“Chill, I’m not about to kidnap you or some shit like that,” the girl laughed again but like before Belle didn’t laugh.”Well, here? Hotels are pretty expensive, that’s because only the rich guys here can go there, People like me just spend the night at a motel, but that isn’t very safe.”

“You could just direct me to the hotel,” Belle wasn’t going to consider the motel an option now that she was just informed that they weren’t safe to stay at.

“Orrrr…” The girl grinned widely as Belle wondered why.

“Or what?”

“Or you could spend the night at my place tonight.” Belle raised an eyebrow when she suggested that.”Look, the hotel is quite far from here and it’s expensive like I said before. Stay at my place and tomorrow, we can go searching for the cheapest among the hotels and of course, the safest.”

“I don’t even know you.”

“Well, to make you feel safer, I’m not staying at my place tonight, I’ve got to be at work but you could stay there alone tonight.” She watched the girl explain while she still had second thoughts.

“Here’s my key,” she threw it at Belle even if they weren’t so far apart from each other. Belle managed to catch it but had a rethink of why she did so a few seconds later.

“Ask for Teddy Street, and when you get there, you will see a tall building, It’s actually the tallest in the street so it’s easy to recognize, my apartment’s room thirty-seven. And yes, it’s not very far from here, just keep going straight. I was about to go get some things from home, but I’ve spent all my time talking with you and if I don’t leave now, I will be late, so yeah. Sleep tight tonight.”

Belle barely managed to grasp all of what she was just told.

“Hold on, I…” Belle wanted to reject her offer but the girl waved off her question and jumped on a moving bus before she could say anything more.

‘Teddy Street, tallest building, room thirty-seven,’ Belle began to memorize after quickly having a change of mind.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

****

Belle found the building, and it was surprisingly easy to find like the girl said it would be. While she walked up the stairs, she checked the numbers on the doors, looking for room thirty-seven. After finding it was on the top floor, she slid the key into the keyhole, and with two turns it opened.

Belle looked around her before entering, it was awfully quiet since she arrived. She kicked off her boots as soon as she slumped on one of the two couches in the small living room. It was then she let her eyes wander through the place. There were no walls differentiating the rooms in the apartment. The kitchen was as open as it could get, with two tall stools in front of the counter. She turned her neck right and saw a beaded curtain covering the only doorway apart from the entrance. She just assumed it was the bedroom.

She got up and picked up her boots before heading towards there with her bag also. She later returned to the living room to make sure she locked the front door before resigning to bed.

****

Morning.

Belle wanted to turn in the average-sized bed when she felt a leg over hers. She panicked and jumped out of bed. She saw a girl lying like she was lifeless on the bed, she had blue long hair which covered her face as she slept.

Confused and scared, Belle paced around the room quietly and almost endlessly, trying to think of what to do.

“Hey, you.” Her heart jumped out of her throat when the girl suddenly woke up but she calmed down when she saw that it was the girl from yesterday.

“You… yesterday your hair was brown?” Belle pointed out to her.

“Yeah. It was costume day at my workplace yesterday, and for some reason, my manager thinks that it shouldn’t just be the club dancers with coloured hair. Apparently, we bouncers have to dye our hair from now on, whenever it’s costume day. Did I scare you?”

“Yesss,” Belle was still trying to breathe less heavily. She heard the girl chuckle.

“So you get scared easily, huh?”

“You work as a bouncer?” They both asked at the same time.

“Yes, I work as a bouncer at night.” The girl chose to answer Belle’s question.”Is that all you care to know? Don’t you wanna know what my name is?”

“No.” The girl was surprised by Belle’s answer.”Thanks for last night but I should be leaving now. Maybe you can direct me to that hotel now?”

“Wait, so you’re just gonna leave?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, we are down to one-word answers. Aren’t you gonna shower, you can stay longer, I don’t mind.”

“No, it’s fine, I don’t want to be of any disturbance. Thank you again for yesterday but I will just change real quick in the bathroom and you can show me to the hotel now.”

“I’m not showing you nowhere,” Belle saw the girl lay back down and pull the disheveled blanket over herself.

“What?”

“I’m tired as you can see, You will have to wait till I’m done sleeping.” The girl turned away from facing Belle, leaving her annoyed.

“Fine, I’ll just dress up and ask someone else outside to lead me there.” Belle took some clothes from her bag, ready to do like she said she would but the girl stopped her.

“No one’s gonna help you. People here don’t have time to help strangers but you can try.” She told Belle who just hissed without heeding anything she said.

She dressed up, repacked her bag, and headed downstairs. She soon approached a man to ask him to show her to a hotel but he just looked at her like she was garbage and then continued to do what he was doing before she came.

Belle didn’t give up on him, she tried other persons passing by to buy they all did the same thing; they all ignored her.

Frustrated and having no other choice, she went back up the stairs of the tall building and walked in on the girl making pancakes.

“How did it turn out?” She asked Belle without looking away from what she was making.

“I thought you said you were tired?” Belle asked her and dropped her bag on the couch because it was a little heavy to stand with.

“I was. I mean I still am, but I’m more hungry than tired so I decided to come whip myself something. Are you hungry too?”

“No.” Belle’s reply was immediate.”When will you take me to the hotel?”

“In the evening.”

“What? You said it would be when you were done sleeping, it’s what you said earlier.”

“Yeah, once I’m done eating these, and I get on that bed it’s still evening. Are you sure you are not hungry?” She flipped a pancake in the pan and winked at Belle who wasn’t very happy with her.