Endless Love

Cold, angry emerald green eyes stared at the older balding man in front of me. “Sir, either pay or leave.” My tone was polite, despite the fact that I wanted to strangle the man.

“I refuse to pay until you tell me how my order came up to seven dollars!” Behind the man, several people groaned, obviously displeased. “Shut ya’ traps!”

“Sir, that is no way to talk to other customers.” I glanced down at his order, tallying up the total in my mind before saying, “You ordered two cheeseburgers, which adds up to four dollars, plus a large fry and Coke, adding up to three dollars. Four plus three equals seven. Now, please pay or leave.”

When he threw down a ten dollar bill, I grabbed it, placing it in the register. Once he had his change, his food and was leaving, I sighed in relief. “What can I get for you?”



I tossed my uniform on the hook in the back and then proceeded to rub my aching neck. It’d been stiff since I had woken up this morning, only growing worse as the days stress came upon me. “What a long day,” I muttered under my breath, throwing my long scarlet red hair over my shoulder.

“Autumn,” my boss, David, called out, “can I have a word with you?”

I glanced over at him, giving a short, polite nod as I walked over to him. By his facial expression, I expected the worst. “Yes, David?”

His hands folded themselves together in front of his body, resting against his stomach. He was an attractive older man, I would give him that. With a lean, skinny body, short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, he could have any lady at the snap of a finger. He was in his mid-twenties, and was happily engaged to a beautiful lady a year younger than him. “You handled yourself well out there today.”

“Thank you.” I tilted my head to the side, waiting for the rest of his speech. A lock of hair fell into my eye and I brushed it away with a flick of my wrist.

“Not many employees are able to stay so calm, along with polite, when they are being yelled at by a customer. I would have expected anybody else to request my help, but you were able to stay out there and calmly handle it on your own.” The upward tilt of his lips showed the beginning of a smile. “I am rewarding you with a two dollar raise.”

My eyes flew wide, a hand reaching up to cover my mouth as a shocked gasp escaped from my lips. “Wow, thank you so much! In all honesty, I was expecting the worst.”

“If that were the case, Autumn, I would have fired you right away.”



I threw my purse over my shoulder, allowing an annoyed sigh when my hair got caught in the strap. While pulling it out, I walked out of the restaurant, turning so I could lock up behind myself. As the lock clicked shut, the alarm activated, and glowed red in the now-darkened establishment.

I twirled the keys around my index finger before placing them in the smaller pocket in my purse. The streetlamps gave an eerie glow to the darkened streets as I started walking on the sidewalk, wondering where everyone was. Usually there were at least three cars going by every five minutes, but for once, the street was completely deserted. I should really get a car, I thought to myself as I started the five block walk to my house.

My steps were light, my combat boots clicking on the cement, sounding all too loud in the deafening silence. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a person clad in all black leaning against the side of the sign to Gale Elementary School. His eyes met mine, appearing to glow menacingly in the light. A slow smile curved onto his lips and he pushed away from the sign, stepping into my path.

“May I help you?” I asked, stopping a few feet away, wary of his presence alone.

“You just might be able to,” he replied, taking a step closer. When his smile grew wider, showing his teeth, they gleamed in a creepy sort of way. Like the clown on Stephen King’s “It”.

“Excuse me, but I have somewhere I need to be. If you need help, I suggest calling the police.” Appearing unfazed, I went to step around him, only to feel a hand close around my upper arm.

“How about you and I go ahead into that alley over there and have some sex, hmm?” he whispered in my ear, his breath hot and wet.

“No, thank you,” I growled, wrenching out of his grasp. “You grab me again and I might have to put my fist down your throat.” Once again, I went to move away from him, only to be grabbed. When I shoved away, the heel of my boot caught on the sidewalk.

The scream that left my lips was loud, piercing. My hands scraped against the road as I landed on it, blood leaking almost immediately. My cry of pain sounded more like a whimper than anything. A car took that moment to come speeding around the corner, its headlights blinding me. Tires screeched as the brakes were pressed, the car coming to a sudden halt a few inches before me. My purse lay next to my body, luckily still closed.

“Are you insane?” a deep, annoyed voice called out once the car door was slammed shut. “Who the Hell sits in the middle of the road, especially at night?”

My eyes moved to his face, where an angry scowl rested. I stood up slowly, snatching the purse from the ground. “Well, excuse me for stopping your speedy escape. Would it have been better had you just run me over? I was attacked, thank you very much, and fell into the road. So before you accuse me of just sitting in the road, get your damn facts straight!” The wind whipped violently, blowing my hair around my face. His headlights still blinded me, so I turned away from them, starting back toward the sidewalk.

“Attacked, huh? By what, a ghost?” His tone was condescending, only angering me further.

I whirled around, throwing my purse back onto the road, not caring when I stalked up to him. I stopped when I was a few inches away, glaring into his eyes. “Just so you know, the attacker ran away. The guy was very real, or maybe the bruise on my arm in the shape of a handprint is just my imagination,” I snapped.

As his eyes blatantly roamed down my body, his mouth tilted into a smirk. He stepped closer, running his fingers up my arm, light as a feather. “I can see why you were attacked; you’re gorgeous.”

I took a step back, slapping his hand away from my body. “Do not touch me. In fact, get in your damn car and get away from me.” The phone in my purse took that moment to start blaring “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne. I walked quickly toward my purse, snatched it up and then grabbed my phone, placing it against my ear. “Hello?”

“Autumn, where are you? You got off of work twenty minutes ago,” the soft, worried voice of my mother said.

“Sorry, Mom. I was attacked by some asshole looking for sex. Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Without looking back at the guy, I began the walk home once again, this time taking out my pocket knife, holding it tightly in the palm of my hand. “Um, I am on my way home now. It should be about ten minutes. I am sorry I worried you.”

“Oh, Autumn,” she whispered. “Do you know what he looked like?”

“It was too dark, plus he was wearing all black. I’m sorry, I’ll be home soon.”

“Honey, don’t apologize. It is not your fault that you were attacked. Just … please get home as soon as possible. Next week, we will look into buying you a car, okay?” Music sounded in the background, cutting off her next words. “Austin, turn that music down! I am on the phone with your sister!”

I rolled my eyes, unable to fight the smile that came onto my face. “Hey, I’m going to go, okay? I’ve got my pocket knife out in case something happens again. And if Austin doesn’t listen, tell him that his twin is on her way and is going to kick his ass when I get there.”

Her laugh sounded. “Okay, Honey. I love you!”

“I love you too, Mom.” I hung up the phone, placing it back in my purse.

“Hey!” the guy who had irritated me called out. His headlights illuminated the street as his car came up next to me. “Want a ride home?”

“To allow you to know where I live? Right, like that’s going to ever happen. No, thank you, whatever your name is.” When he pulled his car into the driveway right in front of me, I stopped, glaring at the car.

“Come on,” he said. “Why should I let a pretty girl like you get raped on the streets? Besides, it isn’t like I’m a rapist.”

I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. The pocket knife was slipped into my pocket for easy access as I opened the door to his pretty sports car, sliding easily into the dark leather seats.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?” he asked after he pulled out of the driveway. I huffed in response, refusing to answer. “So where do you live?”

Once I had given him my address, he smirked, but didn’t say anything. I watched him from the corner of my eye, suddenly curious as to why I hadn’t ever seen him around here before. Not that I would ask that. That last thing I wanted was to start a conversation with him. I just wanted out of his car and into my bed. Although, I’m sure that’s where he’d rather be as well; not in his own, but in mine. With me.

“You are pretty, you know. Very pretty,” he muttered, finally making some sort of conversation.

“That is the third time you have said that. How many times are you going to repeat it?” I asked him, fighting off the smile that wanted to appear on my face. My eyes scanned in front of me, taking in the expensive looking CD player, GPS and iPod dock. “So what kind of car is this?”

“You actually care to know? That’s an odd thing for a girl to say, especially to someone like me.”

“What?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Do you think you are some sort of sex magnet, attracting girls everywhere? You are hot, I will give you that, but your arrogance is annoying. So blow all of that air out of the balloon that you refer to as an ego.” When he didn’t respond, I sat back in the seat, turning my head toward the open window. The warm breeze blew my hair away from my face. The car slowed suddenly, turning onto my street. I opened my mouth to tell him which house, when he pulled into the driveway next to mine. “My house is over there,” I said, pointing at the white two story house.

“I know.”

“Then, why…”

“I live here.”

“You have got to be kidding me?” I muttered to myself, opening the door and stepping out. “Thanks for the ride, but it won’t be happening again anytime soon.” I glanced over at his house, fighting off a grimace. “Welcome to the neighborhood, I suppose.”

His smirk was enough of a response for me to slam the door and walk angrily toward my house.

Once upon a time, I had dated his type. The cocky badass type who can get any type of girl he wants. I found that boy, whose name was Tristian, in the back of my ex best friend’s car, screwing her to death. Actually, I had wished that he was really screwing her to death. It would have been a nice funeral to go to as long as I got to spit on her grave. Needless to say, I knocked on the window to her car, watched as they both looked up and then smiled. I had opened the back door and stuck my head in, ignoring the fact that they were both naked.

While he was apologizing, I took one of his testicles in my hand and squeezed. When he grunted in pain, I twisted it, enjoying the look of pure horror on his face. “If we had dated longer, Tristian,” I had said, “I would just take this and pull it off, very slowly. Enjoy screwing her, she’ll move on to the next guy tomorrow.” I gave one last hard squeeze and pulled away, slamming the car door shut.

The next day, he walked around with a limp and she was labeled a slut. Girls stayed away from Tristian, while telling me how awesome I was for doing what I did. Apparently I hadn’t been the only one who had been screwed over by him. I had just been the only one who did anything about it.

The door to my house was pulled open before I could even put my hand on the knob. Next thing I know, arms envelop me in a bone crushing hug. “Mom, I’m okay, I swear! Our new neighbor gave me a ride home.”

When she pulled back, she gasped. “Oh my goodness, Honey, you’re hurt!”

I glanced down, suddenly remembering that my hands had been scraped to Hell. Luckily, the blood had dried and was an easy fix. As for the scrape, that would heal with time. “Don’t worry, I’m fine, honestly. For right now, I’m going to go up to bed, okay? I ate earlier today, so I’m not hungry. I love you.”

“I love you too.”