Do I Dream Again

Kyra heard her cell phone ring, and she quickly grabbed it out of her bag, picking it up without, as she continued to type on her computer at work. “Hello?” she answered.

“Kyra,” she heard Henrik’s accented voice say. “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t interrupt you at work.”

“No, it’s fine,” Kyra assured him. “I’m just trying to finish up a few things so I can get out of here and pick up Sophia. But, what did you call for?” she asked.

“I was wondering if there was any chance that you could get a babysitter for Sophia tonight,” Henrik told her. “I know it’s late notice, so if you can’t I’ll understand, but I’ve got some plans for just the two of us,” he said, and Kyra could tell just from his voice that he was smiling.

“Um, I can call Sadie and see if she can watch her,” Kyra told him. “Let me give her a quick call and I’ll call you right back,” she said.

“Okay,” he said, hanging up.

Kyra quickly dialed Sadie’s number and asked her if there was any way that she could watch Sophia for the night. Sadie told her that she could, but that Kyra needed to pick her up by six the next morning because Sadie had to be at an interview by seven. “No problem,” Kyra told her. “Thank you so much,” she quickly added.

“Of course,” Sadie told her. “You and Hank deserve some alone time, anyways. I mean, you’ve been going out for what, nearly a month? And, you have had maybe one date without Sophia. I know that he loves her, but I think it’s nice that you two get to spend some quality time together, too.”

“Thanks, Sadie. I’ll drop her off after I pick her up,” Kyra promised. “Bye,” she added before hanging up the phone and dialing Henrik’s number. She told him that Sadie was able to watch Sophia, and Henrik told her he’d pick her up at seven. “Aren’t you even going to give me a hint as to where we’re going?” she asked him.

“Just dress nicely,” he replied. “I’ll see you at seven.”

“Bye,” she said, hanging up the phone. She quickly tried to finish up her work, her mind constantly trying to think of what Henrik had planned. After she had saved the final file on her computer for the evening, she shut it down and grabbed her purse next to her. She glanced at her watch to see how much time she had until she needed to pick Sophia up from her play date at one of her friend’s house. She let out a sigh of relief to see she still had nearly forty-five minutes. She couldn’t even begin to count the number of times she had been late to pick Kyra up because she had been kept late at work.

As she rounded the corner to get to her car, a familiar face bumped right into her, and Kyra inhaled sharply. She tried to get around him without being noticed, but she couldn’t do it. “Kyra Rivers,” she heard Lance say her name, causing shivers to go down her spine.

Kyra attempted to ignore him and continue walking, but she quickly felt a hand go around her upper arm, spinning her around. “You didn’t think you could just ignore me and walk away without even saying hi, did you?” Lance questioned.

“Lance, let go of me,” she said through gritted teeth, looking around, and saw that the closest person was on the other side of the street, already walking in the opposite direction of them.

“Or what?” Lance questioned. “I don’t see that hockey guy anywhere around. Who is he, anyways?”

“He’s my boyfriend,” Kyra answered, her eyes staying fixed on his hand, which was gripping tighter around her arm, causing pain to shoot down it.

“Your boyfriend?” Lance said in disbelief. “There’s no way any guy would ever be stupid enough to get with you,” he scoffed.

“You were with me,” Kyra reminded him.

“Yeah, and look how that turned out,” he muttered. “But, I’m not going to let that happen again,” he told her, pulling her in the opposite direction of her car.

“Let go of me!” she said loudly, hoping to catch someone’s attention, but there was no one around them on the sidewalk.

“There’s no one here to save you this time,” Lance said lowly, dragging her in the opposite direction.

“Where are you taking me?” Kyra asked worriedly. She could already see the bruise forming on her arm, and she shuddered as she realized there was nothing she could do to defend herself against Lance. He was just too much bigger than she was. He continued dragging her further away from her car, even though she was doing everything in her power to get him to stop. He eventually pulled her behind one of the building, pushing her against the side of the building. “What are you doing?” she asked, her voice wavering with fear.

“I’m doing what I never got to finish before,” Lance muttered.

“What?” Kyra asked, confused. Without a word, Lance brought his fist backwards and punched her in the stomach. Kyra crumpled to the ground in pain, as Lance began to kick her in the sides. As she curled up in a fetal position, writhing in pain, she thought she was about to pass out.

Suddenly, Lance stopped kicking her and walked off in the opposite direction, yelling out, “Bitch!”

Kyra continued to lay on the ground, unable to get up. She was in an immense amount of pain, and she was just trying to figure out how she was going to get to her car and pick up Sophia. Knowing she wasn’t going to make it there in time, she grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and called Sadie, asking her if she wouldn’t mind picking Sophia up, which she gladly told her she would.

Kyra finally made her way back to her car and to her apartment. She thought about calling Henrik and asking him to postpone their date, but she knew he’d ask why, and she didn’t want to tell him that Lance had attacked her today. So, instead, she got dressed, and pretended that she wasn’t in a terrible amount of pain.

When her doorbell rang, she gingerly made her way over to it, opening it and seeing Henrik on the other side. “Hi,” she smiled.

“You look amazing,” Henrik told her, putting his arm around her waist and bending down to give her a small kiss. Kyra quickly jumped away as he touched her from the pain it caused. He looked down at her curiously, wondering what he had done wrong. “Kyra?” he asked her.

“I’m fine,” she told him, plastering on a smile. “You ready to go? Where are you taking me?” she asked quickly, hoping he’d let the other subject drop.

“It’s a surprise,” he told her.

“I don’t like surprises,” Kyra countered as she grabbed her purse off of the table and walked out the door, following Henrik. “Can’t you just tell me now?” she begged as she locked her door behind her.

“Can’t you just wait a few minutes until we get there?” Henrik mocked.

“Please?” she begged.

“No,” Henrik said, shaking his head as they headed towards his car. He opened the door for her, and she carefully got inside, trying not to hit any of the spots where Lance had beaten and kicked her. “You’ll find out where we’re going in like ten minutes,” he promised.

“Fine,” Kyra said, crossing her arms over her chest dramatically, but still smiling at him to let him know she was joking.

Ten minutes later, Henrik was leading Kyra into a fancy restaurant. She looked up at him surprisingly, and he smiled at her. “I know you said you didn’t need the fancy restaurants, but I thought I’d surprise you,” he explained.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely as the hostess sat them down at a small, private table in the back room.

Over the next hour, Henrik noticed that Kyra was awfully quiet, and she had barely touched her food. “Kyra, are you okay?” he asked her as he paid the check and they made their way back out to his car. “You seem a little bit off tonight.”

“I’m fine,” she assured him, and Henrik nodded his head, letting the subject drop. He drove her back to her apartment and walked her to the door. She invited him inside, and as she sat down on the couch, he noticed that she was gingerly holding her stomach.

“Kyra, what is going on?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Kyra told him. “What are you even talking about?”

“You’re acting different. Is it me?” he asked. “Did I do something to you?”

“You didn’t do anything to me,” she assured him.

“Then what’s going on?” he persisted.

“Nothing, Hank!” she exclaimed loudly. “Nothing’s wrong!” He raised an eyebrow at her, and she inhaled deeply. “I ran into Lance today,” she admitted quietly.

“Lance? That ex of yours that practically tried to kill you?” he questioned, and Kyra knew that if Lance had been in the vicinity, Henrik would have killed him at the moment. “I told him to stay away from you. What happened?” he asked.

“Nothing, it’s not a big deal,” she told him.

“Kyra, tell me what happened,” he begged.

Tears formed in her eyes as she looked up at Henrik. “Just let it go,” she told him.

“Please tell me.”

“He beat me,” she stated softly. She could tell that Henrik didn’t understand what she was saying, and she carefully moved her shirt up so he could see the large bruises forming on her sides and stomach.

“He did this to you?” Henrik questioned, and Kyra nodded her head. “I am going to kill him,” he promised.

“No, don’t,” she called out, putting a hand on his arm to prevent him from moving off the couch. “Just…just stay with me and let me know that he’s not going to get to me again. Or Sophia. I don’t know what I would have done if Sophia would have been with me and he would have done anything to her,” she said, the tears slipping down her cheeks.

“He’ll never touch you again. And, I promise he’ll never get anywhere near Sophia. I’ll never let anything happen to the two of you,” Henrik promised as he put his arm around her, and she leaned into his side, wincing at the pain.

“Will you stay with me tonight?” she asked him quietly. “Sophia’s staying with Sadie, but I have to pick her up at six tomorrow morning. But, I just need someone here tonight,” she explained.

“Of course I’ll stay with you,” Henrik told her, placing a kiss on her temple.