I got You

Chapter 1

Marinela

Present day, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, 2:15 AM.

A baseball bat in one hand, gasoline in the other and a lighter in my hoodie pocket. “This is it” I thought. I am going to erase his existence from the face of planet Earth. He erased my reason for existing, now I’ve got nothing left,  but a fire inside me. A fire he ignited.

“You wanted my attention sweetheart, you sure as hell got it now!” I shouted as I walked fast. I shouted again, “Don’t you dare back out now”.

A plan? In moments like this, one might want to think of a plan, but not me, not now. All I want right now is death, for him… and then for me.

Jaw clenched, brows knitted together, anger radiating from my body, I am doing this. Nothing will stop me.

My feet hurt, my legs hurt, I must have walked for an hour now. I live east but my destination is west. I am walking fast to reach my target. Walking is an understatement, I feel like my speed matches the speed of Flash, the comic book character.

I am burning, and my fire is soon going to burn him.  Yes, him, the rich bastard that believes he is above all - the one who never gets NO for an answer. My target.

They say there is always a first time for everything, and they are right.

He got his first NO.

I was his first NO.

* * *

Two weeks earlier, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, 9:45AM

I was running late for a job interview and I needed to ask someone for directions. I knew the company’s  office I was supposed to have my interview with was in my vicinity. I was near, I knew it, but Google Maps  failed me once again. This is Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, not New York. Google Maps doesn’t always work the best here. This was one of those times when I was shamelessly betrayed by Google, so I had to rely on more conservative methods, like asking someone for directions.

That is what I did. I entered the first coffee shop I spotted, and I politely asked the person leaning over the bar that looked like he was the manager of the shop to help me find the company’s office. Except he was not the manager, he was the owner of the shop. But I didn’t know that, didn’t know anything about him back then.

Like what he really was? A ruthless and evil bastard who steps on everyone to get what he wants, hiding behind his perfect smile and expensive suit. And little did I know meeting him was going to change my life… change it for good.

He seemed happy to help and I felt relieved to finally get to the company’s office. He offered to show me to the office himself, which I immediately agreed to. I had to get to the damn office as soon as possible.

We stopped walking once we got in front of the company’s building, and before I entered it, I turned and said, “Thank you! I don’t know what I would have done without you.” He smiled and said, “Don’t thank me yet.”

 I raised my eyebrows in confusion to that but before I could say anything, he said, “Just try not to cry, okay? What I’ve got in store for you is much better than anything they can offer to you.” Once he said that his expression went serious and he looked me right in the eyes. He suddenly felt intimidating. He was tall and big, and he wore a perfectly tailored suit that made him look gorgeous. And I was the quite opposite.

I blinked a few times, and he grabbed my face in his hand. That made me breathe heavily and I immediately backed away from him as panic kicked in. I then turned, opened the door of the building and ran up the stairs.

What made him say those words? How did he dare to touch me? I was running up the stairs and thinking, trying to process what just happened and to calm myself down. All I did was make it worse. I was probably over exaggerating everything in my head.

I stopped and leaned on a nearby wall to take a breath. I closed my eyes for a second and when I opened them, I noticed the wall I was leaning on was facing a door. I managed to read “Marketing Solutions Corp.” on the door and I remembered why I was in that building in the first place. Oh, no. I was super late for my interview. I was standing in front of the company’s office. I was there. Late or not, I decided to enter. I didn’t go all the way there for nothing.

Ten minutes later, as I was exiting the building, I couldn’t believe what I just witnessed. I was told I wasn’t going to fit in their company before I got a chance to introduce myself. Why would they do that?

Then just as I was about to turn around the corner of the coffee shop he was there. The manager of the coffee shop stood in front of me with his arms crossed in front of his chest, his eyes full of pity.

No way, again?

“Why the sad face? Were they mean to you?” he said in a mocking voice. He started laughing and then suddenly stopped to look at me. His expression went serious again. I knitted my eyebrows and narrowed my eyes. I was getting angry. What was his problem?

“Sorry, am I missing something? I appreciate that you helped me, and I thanked you for that, but that is it. I don’t have time for you and your questions. Now, if you would excuse me, I would like to go home.”

“Yes, of course, you are free to go home any time you want after you agree on signing one contract,” he said calmly. “It is not a big deal. It is just a small contract,” he smiled.

“What are you talking about? I am not signing anything,” I said in a panicked voice and I could feel my face turning red. He seemed to notice my anger and in a blink of an eye his hand was on my shoulder when he spoke, “As I said it is nothing to worry about. It is just a working contract” he kept his voice low.

“You seem to have difficulty finding a job. Thus, I am offering you to work for me, and be my personal assistant. That is all. Don’t worry, you will be paid well.”

Ok, I was not getting any of this. Who was this man to walk around offering people jobs? There was something seriously off. He was a manager in a coffee shop; he didn’t need an assistant, or maybe he did? No, something was off, he seemed strange. I was not comfortable with the way he was looking at me, like he owned me. And his hand, what was it doing on my shoulder?

That was it, I had to get out of there. I had no idea why I picked him to help me, but then how could I not? He looked amazing. The moment I entered the coffee shop my eyes were drawn to him. His face could make any woman melt. And his body… Ah. “Snap out of it Marinela!” I told myself. He was weird and scary.

The best thing I could do was to listen to my instinct and get away from there.

I lifted my hand to remove his from my shoulder, but he stopped me. In one swift move he let go of my shoulder and grabbed my wrist. That made me gasp and my other hand flew to his face in an attempt to punch him. But he grabbed my other wrist with his other hand and stopped me again. I felt helpless and wanted to scream.

He noticed the terror on my face and said in a low voice, “Easy. I am not going to do anything to you if you cooperate. I am going to let you go once you stop looking like someone is choking you.” I tried to free my hands from his, but I couldn’t. He was way stronger than me, but I didn’t give up and kept fighting him. I was freaking out.

“Ms. Kostova you might want to stop fighting if you want to live to see the day your sister graduates”. I froze at his words. This man knew my surname and knew I had a sister that was soon to graduate. How could he know this? I felt like this man holding me by my wrists was much more than a coffee shop manager. I stopped rebelling but I couldn’t stop my body from shaking.

“Let go of my wrists and I promise I will listen to you,” I said with a trembling voice as I looked into his eyes that were as blue as the sky was. He didn’t let go. He just kept staring at me with such intensity that made my body go on fire. I was getting angry and I wanted to get away from him as soon as possible. I inhaled deeply and tried to sound casual when I spoke, “Ok, let’s talk. Your job offer is clearly not an offer, you are threatening my life if I don’t sign your small contract, am I right? I don’t want to know who or what you are, I can only assume you are the type of person that no one dares to play around with. So I won’t too. I am saying this clearly, I am not interested in working for you and you can’t make me”. I started feeling my hands getting sweaty and it felt like all my blood was getting drawn from my body.

Nevertheless, I continued speaking, “I don’t owe you anything. You showed me where the place I was looking for was and I appreciate it. I can buy you a drink or pay for your lunch, but I don’t think that would be necessary.” He tilted his head and gave me a wicked smile. Was he amused?

Motherfucker!

I straightened my back, and kept my head up when I continued, “Now, I would like to have my hands free again so I can be out of your sight and on my way home, please.” I tried to keep my voice steady as I spoke, but I could barely manage to stand on my feet. I didn’t do anything to deserve such treatment. I just wanted to get as far away as possible from there and forget about this day.

“You are wrong,” he said as he leaned closer to me. His voice was rough, and he put more pressure on my wrists. “I am not the type of person that no one dares to play with. I like playing games. Instead I am the type of person that no one dares to say NO to. Keep that in mind,” he sneered with a low voice and let go of my wrists. That felt good but, his words didn’t sound good. But I didn’t care, I had enough of him. I turned to leave but his final words stopped me dead in my tracks.

“We are not done here, Ms. Kostova. You go now and rest, but don’t forget to call the number in your contacts list under the name “Sergei Boranovich”. You have one week to do it. If you don’t call, I will take that as a no, and that would be a pity, I enjoy the attention you give me too much. You are so attentive to everything I say and do, you would make a perfect employee.” He looked casual as he spoke, but his voice had an edge to it. Then he winked and left.

He dropped the bomb and left. Call the name under the number with the list of your contacts… wait what? I couldn’t even think straight at that moment. I tried to focus to remember his last words and then it clicked.

I opened my contacts list on my phone and there it was. I had a new contact under the name he mentioned. It was a Serbian name. Was that his name? Or was it someone else’s name? He didn’t even care to introduce himself before bragging about giving this “great job offer”, I should immediately accept.

But, how did he do that? He didn’t have a hold of my phone. I didn’t know what to think. He also knew my surname and he mentioned my sister. He had a way of finding things quickly, that was clear. But this, how did he do that? It didn’t matter, I wasn’t going to call him anyway.

I am attentive, and he was right about one thing - I did give too much attention to him that day. He was never going to get it again, that was for sure. I wasn’t planning on seeing him ever again either.

Or at least that is what I thought.