30- My Breath Away

“Get the fuck out of here right this fucking minute!” the shout from John, my boss, made everyone turn to look at us . “I can’t even believe how you can still be here.” 

“But…” I wanted to retort but another angry shout broke through the two of us.” 

“No buts will do, get out of my sight, I don’t want to see you on my premises again!”

His shout made me jump in my place as I turned to look at the man sitting on the floor, covering his nose which was bleeding, with one of the waiter’s cloths.

Maybe I hit him too hard. But he deserved it, for trying to touch under my skirt.

“He wanted to touch me!” I tried to defend myself, feeling the tears stinging in my eyes.

It was all so unfair, it wasn’t possible that he was firing me just for defending me from a drunk man who wanted to touch me without my consent.

“If you don’t have money to support yourself and you make a living working in a bar, the least you can do is accept the offer and let them touch a little” he sneered and I clenched my hands into fists, wanting to punch him.

People were swirling around us again and already several of the patrons had helped the drunk man with the broken nose.

“That’s not fair, and if it was your daughter are you going to let them touch her?”

“What do you say, stupid girl?” he roared with his hand raised, ready to slap me and all I did was close my eyes, waiting for the blow to come.

Funny thing, the punch never came.

I opened one eye and then the other, with my arms on either side of my body feeling me small and what I saw in front of me made me frown in confusion.

“What..?” I stammered.

“It’s not okay to hit your employee” a tall man with brown hair and a black suit was holding my boss’s hand in the air.

No, he was no longer my boss, he was a ruthless person, who was willing to hit me just for defend my body.

John looked at him dumbfounded before pulling his hand back with a jerk and baring his teeth angrily.

“What do you care? Ah?” he shouted, but backed up a step, noticeably intimidated by the tall pale man standing between us. 

I couldn’t see my defender’s face and at the same time could see little of John 

“That silly girl hit one of my clients. She’s rude” he pointed at me, like someone scolding a child who only knows how to get into trouble and as he seemed to remember more of his anger, he tried to approach me and hit me again.

And once again the tall man in front of me stopped him, pushing him away from my reach.

“The next time I see him treat her like that, her or  any other woman, I’ll have this filthy place shut down” the man threatened, his voice was deep and thick, as if he had just woken up. 

And I felt the desire to know what it would be like to hear such a voice in the morning. But this was a serious situation, I had just been fired and a tall, well-dressed man was defending me. 

So I pushed the fleeting and inappropriate thought away from me and fixed my gaze straight ahead, though I could only see my defender’s back.

“What?! And who do you think you are, you stupid brat…”

“Boss!” the voice of Luis, the waiter who had given his handkerchief to the man I hit, tugged on John’s shoulder, shushing his nasty insult.

The boy leaned close to his ear and seemed to say something important to him, as Jonh opened his eyes so wide I thought they would pop out of their sockets.

“It can’t be, it’s… it’s…” I scowled at him as he bowed to the man who stood between us and who had also defended me, as if he had seen a policeman… Or his wife. In awe.

“I hope someday he learns that you don’t just have to be nice to a customer. I’ll have an inspection come,” was the last thing the tall man said before pulling my hand and starting to walk to the exit.

“No, please, sir… No, wait” I heard Jonh stammer, looking in our direction with a horrified expression. 

What had just happened?

. . .

We left the bar and the cold night greeted me as it began to cool my panties.

God, what was I supposed to do now? Jesus, I was so fired. 

I brought both hands to my arms, my uniform was a skirt and a button down shirt with short sleeves, so it didn’t cover anything in the freezing night.

“What’s your name?” a male voice asked softly and I spun, almost fearfully, on my feet to face the man behind me, only to be dumbfounded. 

God, what modeling magazine had this man come from? 

“Ah, I…” I began and he arched an eyebrow, waiting for my awkward response. 

His eyes were a light brown, almost honey color and his long hair fell on either side of his forehead. He looked soft and the scent he was giving off from his body was messing with my brain cells. 

God, where had she come from? I had never, in my short nineteen years, seen anyone as handsome as him.

Maybe I was hallucinating from the sudden shock of John wanting to hit me… And this man had defended me.

I sighed and clutched my arms tighter.

When he had taken me off the premises I couldn’t even take my coat, luckily that was the only thing I was carrying. I won’t miss that coat, I guess, because I won’t come for it.

So what.

Maybe if he hadn’t intervened, maybe, just maybe, I would still have my job.

No! Who wants that stupid job, with a macho boss who thinks women are men’s playthings?

I exhaled deeply and the steam came out of my mouth, as a reminder that I no longer had a source of income and that I wouldn’t even be able to afford heat at home.

“Thank you” I spoke for the first time and he gave me a serious look. Now that I thought about it, he was intimidating, with his erect posture and serious look.

In addition to his clothes, he was dressed in a suit and that gave him a certain magnanimous air… Someone important.

That’s why he had pushed John back, who could beat him in muscle mass, since he is fat….

But the man in front of me is muscular without being exorbitant. And he doesn’t look that much older… About twenty-something? 

Although it didn’t go unnoticed that Luis said something in John’s ear and John seemed to come to his senses as he looked at my defender.

Who is this man?

“You must not allow anyone to touch you without your consent” he said and his voice was like a hint of warmth in this freezing night. “You were right to defend yourself” he continued.

“All right” I replied and bowed to curtsy by way of thanks. “I thank you very much…”

“What’s your name” he asked a second time and I lifted my face to look at him, meeting those pretty brown eyes.

“Hazel, sir. But my friends call me Hal” I add as an unnecessary tidbit of information.

“My name is Lee Rang Do” he introduces himself, politely and I gawk at him once again. He’s Korean, I wasn’t sure where his features were from. “It’s nice to meet you and I’m sorry about what happened in there.”

“Oh, no, no, I’m sorry too” I laughed nervously. This was embarrassing, more so because I was sure that if he had come to my defense he must have also seen what had happened with that man. “I feel ashamed for everything that happened” and I bowed again by way of bowing, I once read that in Korea or Asian countries they did this as a thank you, greeting, farewell or in my case, apology. “Excuse me…”

But a hand under my chin shushed me and slowly his fingertips began to lift my face. 

The touch of his hands was delicate and above all, respectful.

“Don’t put your head down, ever. It’s not wrong to take care of your personal space, please stop apologizing.”

And he did the unthinkable. He accompanied his words with a short smile that took my breath away.