Chapter 2 – Falling into You

Mia was a 26-year-old sales representative at the shopping mall. She worked specifically in a jewelry store. She had been dating James for about two years. He was the manager where she worked and he had an eye out for her when she was newly employed, with promises to raise her salary, promises which were fulfilled, but his promises came with a whole lot of unwanted fulfillments. “I really don’t know why you’re making a big deal out of this Mia, it’s just a tape” “James, I’m not having sex with you on camera. I won’t do it” “How about another raise? Huh?” “It’s still a no James. How do you claim to love me, and you want my intimates all in your camera” “It’s for my eyes only. Don’t you get it?” Mia didn’t say anything, her eyes doing the talking as she stared at him in doubt. “Wait, you don’t honestly think I’m going to post it right?” he said, sounding offended, doing his possible to gaslight her into it. “No. I just don’t want to James” Mia and James had been on this quite a number of times, he made her do some things she didn’t want to do, but Mia was basically trying to survive. She needed the job, the money, she had a family to think of, and above all, she loved him. He had his sweet side, and the abusive side. “I get mad at you and do the things I do because I love you, if I didn’t give two shits about you, I won’t do anything” he would always tell her. In as much as she did whatever she could to make him happy, a sex tape was the one thing she would never do. But James was crazy and desperate. He had invited her on a romantic date. She felt happy he was doing something sweet for her, like when they newly met, and their "love" bloomed. He had rose petals scattered all over the floor, a cake set in the middle of the room and wine in a bucket of ice cubes. "You like?" he said as he took her bag off her shoulders and gently kissed her neck. "Oh James, this is beautiful" she gasped as she took it all in. He poured her a glass of wine and handed it over to her and poured a glass for himself as well. They cheered and drank to themselves. He proceeded to have a slice of cake and cut a slice for her as well, watching her body language and every move to know when it would kick in, his camera already set in place for his notion. And just as she stood up, she staggered lightly, he grinned as he dropped the cake and stood up to her, kissing her gently. "Hold on James, I don't feel good" "Let me make you feel good, hmm?" He said as he went on to start undressing her. "James, stop" she said lightly as she held her forehead. He ignored her, as he started taking off his clothes as well. He brought out the camera from where it was and as soon as she realized what was going on, she punched her in the face, dropping her on the bed. He struggled to tear her clothes, but Mia was a fighter, and a good one at that. She fought the drugs, she fought him, and he hit her again, blood dropping from her nose and mouth. She knew she was losing consciousness, she needed to leave there no matter what. She looked to her left and saw the knife with which he cut the cake, she reached for it and stabbed him in the back. He screamed out in pain and smacked her across the face one more time before falling to his side, landing on the floor. With the last ounce of strength and consciousness she had, Mia ran out of the room, she pressed the elevator button, but of course she had to wait, time was a leisure she didn't have at the moment. She went for the stairs and when she tried to take a step down, she rolled down the stairs, she crawled to the other side, and she rolled down again. Just when you needed to see one random person or staff like how they show up in the movies, they all disappear, perhaps because she took the steps. She reached the lobby, everyone looked at her with concern, but nobody came up to help her. Her blurry eyes were able to spot the entrance just before they totally got clouded and as she got out, she blacked out. Bright lights from the ceiling flashed before her eyes, she saw about 8 male figures around her, or no, her eyes seemed to be splitting images, as she kept trying to figure out what was going on, a sudden migraine hit her, and she blacked out again. When she fully regained consciousness, she woke up, stared at the ceiling for a couple of minutes, like her brain was booting. She felt the softness of the bed. "Oh, you're awake. Finally," An old, although not so old man said to her, he said and handed her a glass of water which she slowly accepted. About to take a sip, she had a flashback of the glass of wine James had handed her and immediately, she threw the glass of water to the floor. "Who are you?" She said getting up from the bed and away from Oliver. "Easy now, Lamb, easy" "Who the fuck is lamb?" "Well, I don't know your name or who you are, but he found you in a really bad state and brought you to me for treatment " "He? Who is he?" "Okay. Okay. Why don't we calm down? I'm Oliver, I'm a doctor and my son found you almost lifeless on the street" And then she remembered how she fought for her life, rolling down the stairs, when she couldn't see clearly, she remembered it all and then she broke down in tears. "Hey, hey. It's okay. You're safe now" Oliver gently reassured her. She eventually calmed down and had something to eat. "I'd really like to thank you for helping Dr. Oliver" "Oh please, it's just Oliver" he said gently. "Very well, Oliver. And your son, I would've loved to wait for him and thank him in person, but my family's been looking for me, my friends have called, and I must go now" "I very much understand Lamb" "It's Mia by the way" "What?" Oliver asked, not understanding. "My name is Mia" "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mia. Do stay safe and take care of yourself" "Thank you" she said and out she went. Noah was not around during these courses of events and on a cold Sunday evening, his long-awaited party was due. A chance for everyone to relieve stress one more time before diving into the week’s work, he thought to himself. as he drove to the location of Elijah's party. He got to the door and the bouncers asked his name to crosscheck the list and Elijah showed up and welcomed him inside. "Welcome to the 50 shades of secrets. What happens here, stays here" Elijah said and handed him a mask. "It's a masked party, even better" he said and wore his mask and went into the crowd.