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Chapter 3

3

Yesterday was strange. So many things happened and I couldn't forget any of them, instead, they rewinded in my mind like a movie. The moment when I entered the restaurant till the moment Andrea enlightened me he was a mafia leader—a dangerous, pathetic man who loved to kill people for fun—I quote such words for men who're involved in the mafia.

I hated controlling men. They never respected women and always treated them like an object. I still couldn't get over my grandmother's story, her tale of assault. How can humans hurt other humans just to gain pleasure—what was pleasurable in inflicting yourself on a person or torture them by any means? Grandma was brutally gang-raped and abused by a few drunkards in her youth, she explained how they captured her in a tunnel and fucked the life out of her and left her to bleed and die. I never had the courage to imagine her pain, it's something that always caused me anxiety. The thought of rape itself shuddered me till my body would get frozen. It shook my spirit every time a thought of someone doing it with me got in my mind.

Yes, I was afraid to be raped and I prayed to God not to test me this way because I was sure I wouldn't be able to survive with an abused body, I would hate myself and that was the least I ever wanted.

The handprints of that boy were still fresh on my breast as a scar, I couldn't forget the way he touched me in front of everything and no one noticed him doing that. The feeling when my body stiffened when he kneaded my breasts as if he showed he was helping me sit over the horse. I couldn't erase the loath from my mind, I was 10 that time and I still remember till now how I hated my body, how desperately I wanted to remove my body parts.

Before I could continue living the harassed feeling, Andrea stormed open the door of my room, bringing her face only through the door, "Ah-ha, you're awake, come out, breakfast is ready," she said, plastering an annoying smirk on her face, which looked funny to me, I couldn't help myself with a chuckle.

"Coming," I said and roamed a hand on my hair while the other hand covered my yawn. I stood from my bed and went to the bathroom to fresh up, take a warm shower and get ready for college.

Showering was one of my favourite things to do, and while enjoying the view of outer Italy, I guess there was nothing else I ever wanted other than a peaceful therapy session alone. It took me twenty minutes to get out of the water. I didn't plan on getting out too soon but Andrea slammed my door, telling me I was running out of time till my first class.

I covered myself with a teal-blue towel and went to my closet to select an outfit for the day. I swear it was the most difficult thing for me—to select a perfect shirt according to the weather and then match it with the bottoms and shoes. I wasted another five minutes and decided to pick a black turtleneck sweater and navy-blue stretchable jeans with black ankle boots.

Fitting into the attire, I unlocked the room's door and went downstairs to the kitchen. There, I met Rory and Andrea. Oh, I also forgot to mention they were also my housemates, we have an interesting story together, we had been living together for a year now. Andrea was a beautiful-natured lady with strawberry blonde locks and headstrong nature, green-eyed, alined teeth- perfect smile and her flawless face, she looked like a model. She was a student of marketing and sales while Rory studied fashion designing. He was a tall guy with brown curly short hair and cute dimple on both cheeks, his innocent face and lip pulpy stood out prominent.

I sometimes regret that he was gay, he never realised girls threw themselves on him every time he passed by them. His sole focus had always been men.

You might be thinking about how we met?

Well, one day Rory was getting bullied by a few students in the cafeteria and I and Andrea stood up for him and protected him from the bullies. He was a sensitive and defenceless guy and that's what I loved him the most, he was vulnerable like a cute kitten. I treated him like my little brother while Andrea always acted like my elder sister and I thanked her for not letting me feel sister-less anymore.

They were a blessing to me.

"Good morning, latecomer, slept tight?" Rory teased, holding a carton of cereal while pouring milk in the bowl, his eyes towards me while pouring down.

"Good morning and yeah I slept great and try pouring milk with your eyes on it, do not spill it over the counter otherwise you'll be one cleaning it and doing the dishes in ten minutes," I pointed out the bowl and teased him back, he made a cute pout with a frown and over it, I chuckled, enjoying his childish behaviour.

"Hey, Jen, what are you up to with your phone? It looks pretty unrepairable," Andrea dug out a buried topic, pointing butterknife at me. I walked all the way to the fridge and brought out yesterday's leftover and put it in the microwave.

"Yeah, I have the money, I'll visit the store today and buy a local alternative for some time till pop pops sends me money next month," I told them, my grandfather, who was my guardian since childhood cause my parents separated when I was 11, he would send me money every month so that I could bear my expenses. I tapped my fingers on the counter while waiting desperately for food. My stomach hurts.

"Money? You don't have to use your money, you have a golden opportunity to buy any expensive phone you want, go for it, buy an iPhone," Andrea bragged again. Now, there we had a slightly different opinion about life, she always waited for such an opportunity to avail while I avoided them—excuse, that it comes in using another person. Also, she kept hyperbolising it like the card was a platinum credit card and I could even buy an airline through it.

"Andrea, sigh I'll take care of it, don't worry, okay?" I passed her a friendly smile and the microwave chimed, I pressed the microwave button and took out the food. I took a seat and placed my food at the counter and started eating it.

After fifteen minutes, we were done with everything and were ready for college. I locked the main door of our mini-house on the local street of Italy while Andrea started the engine of her car, yeah, only she had a car among us.

We got in the car and reached university in ten minutes. Stepping out of the car, we all shattered in our departments and went to our respective classes. My class started at 9 and it went till 11. I had a total of three classes which made me free at 5 in the evening.

I got out of the class and was walking out of the university building because I had to go to the mall for my phone and Rory and Andrea had their classes going on for two more hours. I reached the bus stop and waited for the bus that came after two minutes. The bus stopped at my stop after eight minutes and I was out walking towards the mall.

I reached the mall and went to the Apple store that was on the second floor. I went inside the store and was welcomed by a lady holding a clipboard, "Hello, miss, how may I help you today?" The Philippine lady asked me with a wide grin, I smiled back, my hands in my pocket and I was roaming my eyes everywhere.

"I was looking for a used phone. Actually, mine got broken yesterday and now I want a normal phone for some time till I'll be able to buy a brand new one," I told her, and she nodded, taking me to the 'used-phone section'

"Here're some phones that you can check," She showed me various devices and I was confused with which one I should be selecting for temporary use. She kept explaining to me their specifications, and I was holding two phones now. At least, I decided to go for an iPhone 7.

"Here, you can pack this one," I handed her the black device and she excused herself to the counter before asking me if I would be checking out something else to which I politely replied a negative.

I watched her walk away and then went to the 'new-released' devices section, where fancy laptops, headphones set and many more gadgets were sitting pridefully that spoke of the large sum of money. I went closer to the brand-new iPhone 12 and started demoing it. While swiping my fingers purposelessly I could hear someone's voice near me, "Excuse me, ma'am, I'm sorry I'm interrupting you but you mind if you could clear your payment at the cash counter, the cashier is waiting," She, the same lady who assisted me asked.

"Oh, of course..." I gave her an optimistic smile, "Can you lead the way towards the cash counter?" I asked her and she started walking after expressing her mistake with an 'Oh'.

We reached the counter and another woman with light blonde hair stood behind the computer to assist me, she was dressed immaculate, her eyes glistening bright in enthusiasm, "Good Evening, Ma'am, I hope you have a great time with us," she greeted in a friendly way. I liked such people who were kind to others—employees or not but I wished this kindness could become a casual trend. I just wished.

"Good evening, friend. Yes, I had an amazing time here, you guys are friendly," I didn't sugarcoat to make her happy, it was true, Apple did hire friendly people. She grinned at my statement, which made me content too.

"Ma'am, you're purchasing a refurbished iPhone 7, would you like to add something else?" The blondie asked me. Do I look in a position of purchasing anything from your store other than a used product? I'm buying it because it is my necessity, not that I have won a lottery ticket.

"No, thank you for asking but that's it for today," I told her and nodded with a mute 'okay,', her fingers were typing something on the desktop.

"Ma'am, can I get your full name?" She enquired.

"Jennifer Miller," I answered and she continued asking me further personal details while her fingers kept moving against the keyboard. At last, she told me the total price and I got distracted fishing out money from my purse. I held the money in my hand for a minute, counted it properly and then extended my hand to give her the money I saved to buy a MacBook, alas, I had to waste it just to fill a blunder of mine.

I tried getting her attention so she could take the money but she was lost gawking at the computer screen like she saw a naked man over it, she looked that entangled. I was blatantly waiting for her to bless me with her attention but she again got busy typing something and eventually picked up the telephone's receiver beside her.

"Yes, sir, I see it... got it... okay, sir... good day," call cut.

"What happened?" I asked her because now, I was concerned about her behaviour, she looked bewildered. "Is everything okay with my payment?" I asked her. Suddenly a pool of daunting thoughts took over my mind. What if that tall man blocked the purchasing procedure in my name? Maybe he did that, that's why she looked amazed or confused.

"Ma'am, we are instructed to hand you a brand new phone in your name. You can select any and many products that you want and you can take it for free," The blonde cleared it for me. See, I was right. How come I didn't look out for that? He was a rich, powerful man who had the power to do anything. He even got my name-checked, horrifying.

"How can you say that? Who...who asked you to do that? I'm willing to make a payment, I don't need anything free," I rasped, frowning upon the fact that I was forced to pick anything for free. It was not my approach, it hurt my self-esteem and ego.

"My instructor ordered me, ma'am. Please let me show you our hot-selling product, you can choose any colour of your liking," The light blondie walked out of the counter, and took me to the new-product section—the same I was dreaming about a few minutes ago.

The Philippine lady walked near me with a glass of juice, "Here, ma'am, please have some refreshments," Blondie offered, she handed me an orange juice, I was internally searching out a suitable excuse to avoid the protocol they were tended to give me for no reason, that man only ringed a call and everyone was trying hard to satisfy me, what was he? A ruler of the country?

He is an influential man, that's all you just need to know.

"You really don't need to do this. Can I just make payment for the used phone and get away with it? I have no problem paying for that," I sounded like I was pleading with them to leave me alone, I was a customer, I shouldn't be sounding too meek.

"Julio, c'è una chiamata per te che aspetta al banco, (Julio, there's a call waiting for you at the counter)," Another employee came to the blondie.

"The same man, Domenico?" Blondie asked Brunette.

"The same man," she nodded during replied and took away blondie with herself while I was left to get catered by the philippine.

"Please, select any product, iPhone, MacBook, AirPods, anything," the lady presented and I mentally huffed. "This is our latest product, take a look, ma'am," she took the phone in her hand and recited the specification as it was her routine job. She informed me of some amazing features of the phone and I got lost in her voice. I took three sips while she continued telling me.

I was focused on the lady when someone reached near me as I felt a presence. but then, my doubts cleared when I heard my name from the blondie's mouth, "Jennifer ma'am, there is someone on call for you," she told me and handed me the phone. Before I could grab the phone I made sure if I heard it right,

"For me?" I said and she nodded. Strange, who would call on someone's phone just to talk to a stranger?

That tall man.

My subconscious answered my stupidly obvious question for me.

I took a deep breath before putting the phone near my ear, I braced myself for a conversation with this man before even starting, "Yes?" I spoke, timidly.

"When I cleared you yesterday your phone was on me, why aren't you taking it?" He growled at me, I separated the phone from my ear because I was deafened by his pitch. He never missed out on scaring me with his rude nature. Tears filled my eyes even when I tried to stay strong.

"And I told you I won't use you," I murmured slowly, swallowing the lump as apprehension washed over me.

"Listen to me, little one, I am warning you one last time, don't piss me off because I can hurt you when I get mad. Go choose anything you like and get it done. And you better not argue with the employees otherwise my men who are keeping eyes on you will deal with you," The tall man rebuked. He tried to control me like I was his puppet. And what did he say? His men were keeping tabs on me? Why? This man was surely insane!

Do not cry, do not cry!

I turned around to face away and tried to control myself not to lose courage in front of the ladies but tears were leaking out of the sockets. I wiped the tears immediately and sighed, "Okay, I'll do as told," I had nothing else to say, if I would go against him, he might fulfil his words and hurt me and I didn't want that.

It was just a matter of phone, I'll buy and I'll all get over with him. I wouldn't need to hear from him again.

I cut the call and turned around to engage myself with the employees. I masked my terrible condition with a smile because it was the only thing I was best at. I handed back the phone to the blondie, "Yeah, I would go for a black iPhone 11," I told her and she nodded.

"Sure," she said and I turned my eyes to the guide lady.

Suddenly, she looked out of place and then my eyes started feeling heavy. I blinked twice to get my sight normal but it kept on overcoming me, my head started spinning but I wiggled to fight with it. I ambled towards her with a hasty mind, "Hey, you're spinning," I told her, struggling massively to stay conscious.

"What?" She said and that's all I heard before giving in to the darkness, I tripped but felt a hand holding me. My sight was gone and I felt paralysed, slowly, I started falling into a hole.

I blacked out.

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