Cara's pov
We all have a random thing that we strangely find therapeutic or calming for our nerves.
Something that was our own little substitute for nerve pills. It was usually safer and mostly effective and we depended on it in necessary situations.
Mine was counting, counting numbers, counting things. Just counting. I did it a lot as a child whenever my mother was having one of those maniacal sprees she had. A side she reserved only for me and not any of her sons. I did it when Diego, one of her sons would sexually abuse me. I did it when teachers or students would boldly talk shit about me knowing fully well that I could hear them. I did it when Manuel Salvatore killed my father and disguised it as a car accident.
Anyway, I loved to count and I had readily agreed to the task of counting the hundreds of our new beer supply. A task the other waitresses usually avoided like the plague. Diana herself would groan and lament about how she hated the hours she went at it, repeatedly making mistakes and restarting over and over again.
I had no such problem though, I had been counting all my life and was a total pro at it.
I counted the beer by their brand. 150 Heineken beers, 150 Bundaberg, 210 Budweiser. Adding these numbers would give me their total, but no, I was going to count them all together. My reputation of complicating my own life didn't only precede me, it governed my life.
"508, 509, 510." There, not a bottle less, not a bottle more. Just 510 complete bottles.
My work was done for the day, all that's left is to report to Rico and I'll be allowed to leave for my noon classes. I scribbled down the numbers in the frayed register notebook and left the stuffy supply room.
Rico was leaving his office when I got there, a flip phone pressed to his ear. I wondered if it was the new owner he was talking with. He signaled me to leave the register on his desk and disappeared, his steps quick and hurrying as usual.
I placed the book on top of the messy files and papers on his desk and shook my head. I couldn't figure out why the man insisted on living pre technologically. It was like he had beef with computers. He didn't even own a smartphone. Tracking records was ten times harder but it wouldn't make him get a computer system.
The waitress taking over from me was already on duty when I returned to the bar. Diana was making one of those magical beer mixes she did, something she refused to tell me or anyone the recipe.
"You're leaving?" She asked, not looking at me, her full focus on what she was doing.
I nodded then realized she couldn't see me. "Yeah I am." I pulled off the itchy shirt that was our uniform and straightened my tight fitting crop top.
"Here, try this." Diana said, shoving a glass to me.
I took a long sip of the liquid then paused at the pleasant taste. "Hmmm, this is good."
"Really?"
I gave a thumbs up. "Yeah."
She grinned, pleased with herself.
I stared at my watch. "I really have to leave now."
"Oh, sure. But could you please help me take out the trash. It has been sitting in the corner and Rico's been bitching about the smell."
I remained silent in reluctance.
Diana sighed, "well guess I'll do it. Guess I'll do it all, I always have anyway. Nobody-"
Groaning, I rolled my eyes and gave in to her manipulation. "Okay, okay. I'll take out the trash.
She winked at me, "you're a sweetheart."
The alley behind the building was dark and it reeked of stale beer and rotten food. I dumped the two garbage bags in my hands into one of the large trash bins and dusted my hands.
A gust of chill breeze shot through the air, sending goosebumps down my thinly covered body.
Damn it was cold out here. I didn't bring a coat and I wondered if I could get to school without freezing to death first. Where was the cold before I decided on my outfit?
Deciding to use a shortcut, I walked down the alley and cut into another, the path a convenient and closer journey to my academy.
A tall man in a blue suit burst out from a whorehouse a few feet ahead and my heart lurched in my chest. He staggered on his feet and the excitement I felt died instantly. He was just a random drunk. A woman came out from the same door as he had and pulled his alcohol ridden body back into the building.
A laugh left me. How silly of me to think Luca would be in a place like this. How silly of me to even care. My emotions have been a mess, I was relieved he finally got off my back but was also disappointed that he did. I wasn't going to admit it out loud but I missed him somehow. I missed our fights, I missed making him mad, I missed his demanding kisses, his hard body against me, his rough hands on my body.
Like I said, a mess. It was really a call to experiment how I resented him yet felt an insane attraction for him. An attraction that had me waking up to touching myself at night, his name on my lips.
I wondered if he did more than just conquering my body that time in his father's study and the thought sent a shot of panic through my chest. I couldn't be harboring feelings for Luca. I just couldn't.
Forcing my thoughts to focus on lighter things, I remembered Gina and our girl's day out and smiled at the thought. I was both nervous and excited about it. Half of it courtesy of my disposition to expect the worst of things.
My reverie was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching behind me. I tensed, instinctively quickening mine. The footsteps matched my pace and I didn't think twice, I began to run. My pursuer on my tail.
A hand grabbed my waist and spun me around and I was face to face with a bearded man, leering at me in a way that sent fear crawling up my skin like spiders.
I recognized the man as the same customer who had been making me uncomfortable with his suggestive looks whenever he came to the bar. My heart raced as I instinctively tried to yank off his grip on my body, my hands tightening into fists.
"Hey there, baby," the man slurred, his breath reeking of beer. "How about you and me finally have some fun?
My stomach churned with unease, my eyes flashing with alarm. "Like hell we would. Let me go."
His grip tightened and I winced as his finger dugged into my skin. "Don't fucking pretend like you don't want me when you've been nothing but a fucking tease."
"You're delusional."
He slapped me across the face and I screamed, my cheeks burning from the pain.
"Well I'm going to hit it whether you like it or not." He said, aggressively roving his hands up my belly and down my chest.
I felt sick, so sick I was going to vomit any second.
His body was pressed too tight to mine, his disgusting stench all over me. I couldn't do much while being so caged by him so I waited, counting the seconds as I waited for the perfect moment to strike and when he drew back an inch to unbuckle his pants. I braced myself then swung my knee into his crotch with all my might.
He yowled in pain and I made my escape. I managed to put a total of twenty feet away from us before he recovered and began chasing. I ran like my life depended on it because it did.
Despair turned my legs to lead when I found a truck lodged in my only path of escape. Who the f u c k blocks a public path with their stupid truck?
My assailant was getting closer and I hid behind a few trash bins. My heart thumping in my throat and skull.
I heard his footsteps get to the dead end then his sick laughter. I pulled a boxcutter from my purse.
"Give it up baby, we've played around enough. Come out from wherever the f u c k you are while I'm still being nice."
He was getting closer and closer and I shut my eyes. Dread holding me still.
He was now a foot away from me, the trash bins the only thing separating us. I curled my fingers around my weapon tightly and waited for him, I will cut him in the eye to gain an advantage. I might even kill him.
I was feeling murderous at the moment.
But I never got the chance to because a pained yell came from him and I heard his body drop to the floor with a thud.
I stiffened where I was, reluctant to check the new development of the situation. What the hell happened? Did an even more dangerous person decide to take him out and have me to himself?
A man appeared before me, looking as terrifying as ever. Without thinking I shrieked and charged at him with my boxcutter but was only able to nick him on the arm before he suppressed me.
"Calm down, I'm on your side." He said in a heavy accent but his menacing voice did nothing to calm me.
"Let go!" I screamed, twisting and jerking like a wild animal.
The man cursed in Italian. "Luca, my boss is Luca."
That seemed to get to me. He released me slowly and carefully, obviously wary of the weapon in my hand.
"My boss is Luca," he repeated and I slowly cooled down.
The man's gaze flitted to my right and I saw my assailant being hurled up by two other men and dragged away, his body limp and unmoving.
"Is he- is he dead?" I didn't care, but I wanted to know.
The man shook his thick head. "No."
I nodded because I had nothing else to say. Scratch that, I had a lot to say, a lot to ask with "where is Luca?" being the very first of them.
The man bent to pick my purse from the ground. "I'll walk you to your house." He announced, motioning for me to go before him.
I forced my body to move, half aware of where I was going. It took me a second to realize that I had initially been heading for school and I told him.
He nodded grimly and asked if I still wanted to go to school after that and I considered it for a second then nodded.
The walk to the academy was over in seconds, I was so lost in my head that I didn't even realize when we got there. Luca's soldier gave me my purse and instructed me to wait for him to pick me up when my classes were over. I gave him an absentminded nod and he turned to take his leave.
"Ah," he said as if remembering something else. "Please try not to go through that alley again. We spent minutes trying to find when you wouldn't come out of the bar. My men were going crazy, asking where you went. Things would have been pretty bad if you were hurt. I hope you understand."
I didn't, I was still shaken by all that happened but I nodded anyway. Nodding, it's all I was capable of doing at the moment.
The soldier left and I dragged myself to class. I sat all through my lectures, my mind in a faraway place as I thought of what would have happened if Luca's men didn't find me. I had hated the idea of them following me around and had tried to lose them every chance I got. I thought Luca made them follow me to monitor me and interfere with my daily life but I was wrong. He really had been trying to protect me after all.