Blood moon

As soon as she hung up the call with her mother, she felt tears streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably. eviction? The words still made no sense in her head, when a gentle hand rested on her arm, drawing her back to her reality. —Andrea, the boss is asking for you— he nodded without turning to look at her, not wanting her to see his scene, she wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She checked her makeup in a glare before heading to the office. Tall, always dressed in a suit...and with a dog-like attitude, that was his boss, Harley Halland. The primogenitor of the financial tycoon and current president of the company, although at first people thought it was a case of nepotism, Harley showed that he was made of the same hard wood needed to keep the company afloat. —You're on the job, Ms. Smith— I commented in a monotone voice, "Don't mix your personal business with work matters. —I beg your pardon. —When Andrea saw the size of the file she gasped, it would take her forever, the blue — eyed man saw her through the black frame of his glasses —Is there a problem? -—He knew that tone of voice that indicated that the reply would only make the situation worse. —No, I will have it ready as soon as possible. —Is this job a joke to you? — the girl understood the subtlety of his words and gritted her teeth, feeling that her day could not get any worse —Are you also deaf or mute? —No sir, neither — think of the money, he reminded himself. —The job is for tonight. I want it on my desk before you leave— those crystalline eyes seemed to be the look of the devil himself, she wanted to curse him, but he behaved himself. He only nodded. When he was going to the door, her voice interrupted him —Next time you cry, remove your makeup. You are in an office, not a grocery store, have some class — she closed the door wishing the earth would swallow her up. The evening went on forever, but it was finally time to leave. The night was too cold to be even November. Andrea thought as she left the office building where she had been doing her internship for six months, the salary was enough to live in Santa Clarita and send some money to her mother. It is a growing city in Los Angeles County in the state of California, far away from her hometown of New York. A man's arm slipped over her shoulders, startling her for a moment. Although the crime rate was one of the lowest in the country, as a good capital she still feared the worst when a person approached her. She recognized immediately the crystalline eyes of her boy. Only then she could sigh with some tranquility. She put her hand to her heart, accelerated by the surprise. —You almost scared me to death — the man let out a laugh, pulling her closer to his chest. He was very conscious of the way she looked and lewd ideas ran through his head. —Come on, Andrea! You're not in New York anymore, you have to trust people a little more— she held back the urge to say that this is how things start to go wrong in low-budget horror movies. The smell of his lotion caused a strong itch in her nose, irritating her. She hated that he used that citrus scent that made her want to faint, but the man did not know when it was enough to apply, his orange corduroy jacket that characterized him did not leave him on this occasion either, He cursed himself internally for not having chosen a T-shirt with sleeves for that day,  instead of the transparent sleeveless garment he took that morning in the middle of his rush to get up late. —How was your work day? —Mr. Harley is the devil, he thinks we are some kind of robot— the man rubbed her shoulder with his free hand and gave her a sympathetic smile. — It is normal for him, he is an ass to test you. If you manage to survive, he will offer you a big contract next year —those words were his consolation during many days when he wished to quit and go back home. When she studied administration she didn't think she would be kept on the go taking notes and making coffee. So far, she had become a master at the espresso machine, which sucked, but the man with the crystalline eyes made her days more bearable, he walked her home almost from day one and was always too kind for his own good. —Chris, since you mentioned that, I wanted to ask you something — the girl was looking to gather some courage within herself, to bring up the subject mentioned. She knew it would be awkward and that maybe she could get defensive, but she had no idea what was coming her way. —Sure, whatever, darling— she hated that word, but she knew it wasn't the time to bring it up, she needed him to be relaxed. —My mother, she called me today at lunch.... —as soon as the words left her mouth, she knew it was a mistake, although she could no longer go back in time, the man's back became completely erect, he was in alert mode, his arm released her to walk  beside her, since she told him that her mother had a degenerative disease, the man became reluctant to the subject, as if he thought he was about to ask for money at the first mention of the woman —she is having a little hard time in the apartment alone, and... — he interrupted her. —Darling, I know it's hard for you, but you got the position on the other side of the country and you work for a big company —she recognized that he was right, even though she was not in a capital city, she was in a transnational with multiple offices in every state, even if she had been assigned a small subsidiary, she could take a big position if they offered her a contract and get her transferred to another city when the time came, plus she was doing all this for the wonderful health insurance they offered. —I know what you're saying, but... —The pain prevented him from continuing to speak. —Your mother is a grown woman; she can't depend on you for everything —her words were like knives sticking in his heart. —Not her, that's not what I'm trying to say— Before he could continue, a call came into Chris's phone, as soon as he took out his cell phone, he saw that it was his mother by the caller ID. The man immediately answered the call. —Yes? Hello mother— he made a brief pause, giving her a sorry look for being interrupted in the middle of their conversation. He raised his hand to ask her for a minute, while he listened to his mother ranting on the phone because he had not yet arrived home —Calm down, mother, we were just walking to Andrea's house. I will be there in half an hour and I will write to you as soon as I get to our house. He took a few steps away from his girl, so she would not hear how he was apologizing to his mother for not having warned him that he would arrive out of his schedule. The woman hated her daughter-in-law, she did not like the idea that her beloved son had to work so hard for a girl who had nothing much to offer him. On several occasions, she mentioned to both that they had no future and the most prudent thing to do was to finish, but both young men turned a deaf ear to her words, irritating her even more. Andrea used her arms to cross them in front of her body and give herself some warmth. She felt her heart was getting cold, She looked up at the sky to see the full moon was rising to a high point. She thought it looked really beautiful. A cold breeze made a shiver run down her back, she was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice that there were two men on a motorcycle watching them a few meters away. Both had a beer in their hands. —Are you all, right? —she heard as they were moving her arm to get her attention. —Yes, I was just thinking... about other things —she was salivated and decided to take the bull by the horns, —How serious is our relationship? I've been turning that idea over in my head and I... —she didn't let her finish talking when the boy was already hugging her. —Was that it? You scared the f**k out of me— he nudged her shoulder a little harder than necessary, making her feel a little smaller and uncomfortable. —I'm glad you think so, because I was thinking we should move in together— the boy's face became disfigured as he listened to her words, in his mind he kept repeating the word "harpy". His mother had warned him about women like that. They looked cute on the surface, when in reality she was only looking for his money at all costs. —Move?! Are you crazy? I live with my mother—her voice was beginning to border on hysteria, the man felt a rush of adrenaline running through his veins that was turning into an anger that heated his skin. He hated what that woman was doing, ruining his relationship completely with her words. He thought about the first time he had seen her arriving at the office with her pretentious designer clothes, although she was no fool, as she soon adapted to the style of people wearing more modest and less flashy clothes. As soon as he heard her asking for directions in the lobby, he decided she would be easy prey. Besides, he should take advantage before the other men in the building found out she was single. Now he regretted that fateful decision, he only wanted s*x and this woman was imagining herself living out of his pocket. —Lower your voice, you don't have to shout — I replied, mortified by the embarrassing situation. —I'll yell whatever I want! — the man raised his voice a little higher in the desolate street by the hour —nobody gives a s**t and rest assured that I will not leave my mother, she could not even like you, so you can move in with us — tears threatened to come out of Andrea's eyes, but she did not want to give that i***t the satisfaction of affecting her. —I'm not f*****g begging you! — he shouted in response, his voice cracking near the end. —How are you talking to me, b***h? Do you want to die? Who do you think you are yelling at me? — Chris's face had turned completely red, as if it were a mask. On his forehead there was a prominent throbbing vein that threatened to implode because of the man's fury. He raised his right hand in anger, he was ready to make it clear who was in charge of the relationship if necessary. —Are you going to hit me, you son of a b***h? — Andrea replied with all the confidence her indignation could muster, when in reality she felt anxious about what might happen. She had never been in a situation like that before. —Who do you think you are, b***h? Do you think anyone would look at you if it wasn't for me? A b***h like you who can't even support herself— Chris's hand came dangerously close to the face of the girl in front of him, she just closed her eyes preparing for the impact. Hunter Hallen had heard enough from where he was with his friend, he was a complete bastard who was with that girl, he deserved a good hiding. He thought about the gun he had in his waistband and an idea came to him. He took his cell phone to make a call. —Record what I'm going to do, I want to see it in 4K— he hung up. Colson, standing next to him, feared that a crazy idea was going through his friend's mind. They had known each other since kindergarten and he could recognize the tremulous look that rose in his eyes. He thought that whatever came to his mind had to do with the poor girl who was about to be beaten by that bastard. Only one thing he feared inwardly; the moon was dangerously high tonight. —I want to give the son of a b***h a scare, park right next to him— Hunter ordered in a growling voice. Unaware of what was about to happen, Andrea tried to keep it together, because she was sure that after tonight, she would not have any sentimental relationship, which could turn into chaos in her work for tomorrow, in a small town that is big. Then, as if God was hearing that he was not lucky enough, a motorcycle accelerated at high speed to stop suddenly in front of both of them. Men with black polarized helmets were looking at them. His breathing stopped at that moment, but his body was alert when he saw one of them getting off and pulling out a gun. Chris seemed to realize at the same time she did that the situation had gone sour, so like the man he was, he positioned himself behind his beloved. —Rob her— the man shouted before pushing her towards the armed motorcyclist and fleeing down the street without even looking back. Andrea let out the air she didn't know she was holding, indignant, but kept both hands raised. She felt terrified by the possibility of being shot. She had heard that only about a hundred assaults a year were presented in this small town. She never thought of being part of the statistics. With her bad luck, it would surely be the last one of the year. Hunter could smell the woman's concern mixed with anger about having been discarded. He put his gun back in his waistband. He could feel that she was very uncomfortable. He hurried to take off his helmet, revealing a big smile that showed all his teeth. —It's a joke! —- she commented playfully and signaled for one of the bodyguards assigned to her by her family to emerge from the shadows with a cell phone in hand. The woman's face changed from an expression of panic to rage. —It's a lousy joke, you i***t— Andrea replied, hitting him with her purse two or three times, then proceeded to start laughing as if it would release all the stress she was feeling, —Don't tell me you're one of those influencers, you idiots? You know what? Never mind, you saved me from a big one. Hunter still heard her laughter echoing in his head. He thought he had a sound he liked. Now that he saw her auburn hair cover her white skin that had tiny freckles, he wanted to find out where else those little dots marked her skin. Excitement began to grow inside him. —I didn't mean to scare you, I apologize — he extended his hand towards her, wanting to feel her skin on his — My name is Hunter and these guys are my friends, I promise we won't hurt you —he tried to look as meek as possible. —Andrea— she shook his hand, but she was convinced that Hunter lived up to his name in every way, she felt a tugging at her gut telling her that he was the kind of guy she should go to bed with at least once in her life. He could smell the desire coursing through her veins and it did nothing but ignite it to a point of no return. —Listen, I'm sorry I put you through all this, do you want a beer to make up for it? — he pointed to a tavern on the corner. Andrea knew it very well, she had been there several times when she was having a bad day with some coworkers. She bit her lip, thinking if she should accept that invitation. He stood for a moment considering the options, and the idea of what could go wrong? He knew that, if something bad happened, he could talk to the staff about getting a cab home. —Hunter, right? — the man nodded, waiting for the girl's answer. She took a step forward, decreasing the distance between the two of them —You must be in luck, because I need one urgently—  she didn't wait for the boy to answer something, she started walking towards the direction of the bar.