Chapter 13: Roman
1128 Words
"What are you smiling about?" Sonya asked, breaking Lisa from her daydream. It had been a week since her date with Matt, and things seemed to be going very well. He picked her up every morning to take her to work and made sure she got safely home every night. Lisa feverishly checked her mobile phone for texts from Matt, and she was rarely disappointed.
"What, apart from it being Friday in the last week of the summer term?" Lisa said.
"You know, it is more than that. Is it to do with a certain man who has been dropping you off all this week? " Sonya said with a wicked smile.
"Maybe!"
"Come on, I saw him, and he is hot! Please tell me that you have hit on that! " Sonya said, handing her friend a cup of coffee. Next to glue sticks, coffee was the ultimate currency for a teacher.
"No, I haven’t hit that, as you so elegantly put it," Lisa said, accepting the cup of coffee. She had an afternoon of games planned, and she needed energy.
"Well, dam women. Why haven’t you?"
"It is …complicated."
"Meaning you have not been with anyone for a while? Not that I blame you. Looking after a teenager and a full-time teaching job! It is a mood killer."
"Emily is an amazing teenager. But as always, Sonya, you are right. It has been a while."
"You just need to relax and listen to him. The rest will just happen. " Sonya said with a wink. Lisa chuckled and went back to eating her lunch.
Lisa looked at her classroom. All the chairs were on the table, and it was quiet. Yes, she would be back to prepare for next year, but it was the end of the year. There had been tears. Cuddles and smiles. The class had gotten her a large bunch of flowers, but it was handmade and signed by the children.
"See you next week for coffee!" Sonya said as Lisa left the building. Lisa walked down the street like she normally did, waiting for Matt to pick her up.
"Not like him to be late!" Lisa said to herself.
"Hello, my little Diablo." A voice that sent cold shivers down Lisa’s spine.
"Roman Regison, what are you doing here?" Lisa hissed at the man with long brown hair that was tied into a ponytail. He was six foot one and had a short beard. For all the world, he looked like a businessman in his grey pinstriped suit. But Lisa knew better.
"Still seeing if you are playing house. I am disappointed to see that you are. " Roman said as he snatched the card the children had made from Lisa’s hand. "Oh, how cute!"
"Give it back to me!" Lisa snapped as she tried to grab it. Roman wasted no time as he pinned her by the neck to the school wall.
"How long are you going to keep this charade up? You can’t fight your nature. Stop this silliness and come back and work for me. "
"Never! " Lisa gasped.
"You'd rather live in...abstract poverty…teaching vermin than work for me? " Roman asked.
"You're warning your time! Now, hand me that card back before I make you. "
"Now, there is the Lisa I know! Fight me for it! " Roman challenged.
"Lisa won’t fight you, but I will. Unhand her, or face the consequences. " A male voice said. Lisa turned to see Simon looking murderous at Roman.
"Simon, don’t... It is OK, I can handle him. " Lisa said.
Simon shook his head and said, "No, Lisa. You don’t know how the boss would react if you were harmed. "
"Your boss? Oh, have you found yourself a boyfriend, Lisa? " Roman sneered as he stroked her face with his free hand. "Doesn’t he know you are mine?"
"In your f*****g dreams!" Lisa snarled.
"Always, my little Diablo," Roman said as he released her. He scrunched up the card and threw it on the ground in a puddle. "You know where I am." Roman walked off and disappeared.
"No, no, no!" Lisa said, upset as she grabbed the card out of the puddle and tried to dry it. Tears of anger filled her eyes as she thought about the effort the children made.
"Are you OK, Senhora?" Simon asked to help her up.
"Yes, where is Matt? "
He apologises, but he is held up at a meeting. He sent me to take you to his apartment.
"If…if you don’t mind, I'd rather just go home," Lisa said. Simon saw Lisa was shaken up, even though she tried to hide it. Matt would not be happy, but Simon decided Lisa would be better at home. "It is OK, I can walk.
"Absolutely not, Senhora. Please, come this way. " Simon said, guiding her to his waiting car. He made sure that she was safely belted in before driving off. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really," Lisa said, rubbing her neck.
"He seemed to know you very well."
"We haven’t slept together if that is what you are asking."
"So?"
"He is my ex-boss. I had a job, and he was not pleased when I left. "
"Can I ask what it was? The job, I mean, " Simon said.
"Just bar work." Lisa lied.
"And his name?" Simon pressed.
"Why? Are you going to find him and beat him up? "
"Maybe. Trust me, you don’t want the boss to ask. "
"Let him ask," Lisa said with a shrug.
Simon sighed, and they drove the rest of the way in silence. When they got to Lisa’s home, she said, "Thank you for the lift."
"It is OK, I will check that you are safe until the boss gets here.
"There is no need, I can look after myself," Lisa said.
"I have no doubt, but I have been given orders to protect you, and I always follow orders," Simon said.
"Fine, come in. I will make you some tea while you wait."
Lisa opened the door and showed Simon into the lounge. As soon as she was out of the room, Simon got his phone out and texted Matt. He was not surprised when Matt rang him back within seconds.
"Is she hurt?" Matt asked.
"Bruise around her neck where he pinned her to the wall," Simon reported. There was a long silence before Matt said,
"Is she safe?"
"Yes, I am with her now. I know how important she is to you boss! "
"Thank you, Simon, she didn’t say who it was?"
"Sorry boss, she said she wouldn’t say."
"Well, we will see if we can change that," Matt growled.
"
- Writer
