Chapter 273: Numb
Emily did not remember much about the ride back to the city. Just snippets here and there. Like somebody had been standing behind her, with their hands over her eyes. Covering them so that she could not see, and then uncovering them so that she could once again see everything around her. She remembered the same man who had grabbed her off the street, leading her back to the car that she had come in. But she did not remember getting in. Emily remembered the bright lights of the city off in the distance. But try as she might, she could not recall the exact moment when they had entered the city.
She did not even remember when they had reached her neighbourhood. But she did remember the car coming to a stop, and somebody helping her out of the vehicle.
"Are you all right?" A voice had asked. Emily had no idea what she had said in reply, but somehow she had blinked, and both the car and the owner of the voice had been gone, and Emily had been standing in front of her apartment building, feeling as though she were made of lead. She had no idea how long she had stood there. Just staring at the building. But at some point, she’d had the bright idea to leave.
No fixed destination in mind, no path to follow.
Emily had just picked a random direction and had begun walking. What she had done had been reckless. It had not been safe at all. In fact, with that move she had put herself in so much danger. Anything and everything could have happened to her.
Anyone walking the streets alone late at night was painting a huge target on their back, and being a woman, Emily knew that that target was especially interesting to a lot of ill-meaning people. But somehow in that moment it had felt like the most obvious thing in the world to do. Her world had literally just been torn apart. It was either keep moving, or lay down and never stop crying.
So Emily had walked, and walked. By some miracle she had been left alone. No one had bothered her. There had been cat calls and wolf whistles, but no one had approached, so Emily had just kept on walking, not really sure where it was that she was going.
After what had felt like an eternity of walking, Emily had startled when she had blinked, and recognised some of the buildings where she was. She had not visited the particular area that she’d come to in a while. But she had still known it like the back of her hand. She had worked there for a while after all.
Bee’s diner had looked just as it had, when Emily had left it all those months ago. Nothing about it had changed. In fact, it had looked so unmoved by time that Emily had panicked for a few seconds. Thinking that she had been caught up in some sort of dream. That she had imagined everything that had happened. From her going back to Haven Group, to her and Derek’s relationship. But then she had felt the gut-wrenching ache in her heart. The awful pain had been enough to assure her that everything, that had happened since she had left the diner had been real. No slaps or pinches had been needed.