Adrian
“Getyour fucking hands off of her.” A man has his fist raised in the air, moments away from letting it fall on the woman I love. This is the last thing I expected to see when I walked up the stairs to Sophia’s apartment.
“Mind your own business,” he says without even glancing my way.
I don’t think, I only react. The bag holding our late-night pasta dinner and the flowers I picked up on the way over hit the concrete. Rushing toward him, I tackle him to the ground. Scraping my hands as they hit. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Adrian,” Sophia shrieks my name. “He’s not worth it.” She’s pulling at my arms begging me to get off this guy. “Dawson, you need to leave now.”
Thisis that prick she lived with. Son of a bitch, I should have gone to book club with her tonight, or at least been here waiting for her when she got home. That would have prevented this asshole from approaching her. This time it’s my fist in the air, and I swing. His lip is busted and my knuckles are covered in his blood. “What?” Dawson grins, blood coating his teeth. “You don’t want your boy toy to know about me?”
“Don’t you fucking talk to her, asshole.” I punch him again. How dare he act as if she has been hiding him from me. “I know all about your worthless ass. You want to pick on someone and make them feel inadequate? You should do it to someone your own size.”
He frees his arm from under me, and slams his fist into my ribs. “Is that better?” I roll off of him, grabbing my side. “You should have stayed out of this. It’s between me and her,” he points toward Sophia as he stands up, using the wall as support.
As for Sophia, tears are streaming down her face. She’s staring at the scene before her, her hand covering her mouth, unmoving. “No.” I stand up on shaky legs. Fuck my ribs hurt. Hopefully he didn’t break any of them. “That ended when she walked out on you for being an abusive asshole.”
“Is everything okay out here?” Sophia’s neighbor, an older gentleman we’ve never see due to our hours at the shop, steps outside. He looks pointedly at Dawson. “I think you need to get out of here before I call the cops.”
“This isn’t any of your concern,” Dawson sneers. “Besides, if I go… he goes.” He nods his head in my direction.
“That’s not how this is going to work,” her neighbor leans against his door. “I’ve seen him here before. You,” he jabs his fingers in Dawson’s direction, “I’ve never seen you here. And it looks like this young lady doesn’t want you around.”
Dawson is smart enough to know when he needs to back down. “We’ll continue this talk later, Sophia.” He walks down the stairs without another word. Over my dead body. That ass wipe isn’t coming anywhere near my girl ever again.
“I’m Joe,” he says, holding out his hand to me. “Are y’all okay?”
I shake his hand, and pull Sophia into my arms. Her head cheek rests against my chest, and she wraps her arms around my waist. “I’m fine, but I’m not sure what happened before I got here. I’m Adrian, by the way. And this,” I gesture toward the woman in my arms, “is Sophia.”
A sob tears itself from Sophia and her entire body is shaking against mine. Damn it, I should have been here. I pull her closer to me. “Did he hurt you?”
“Not really,” she hiccups. “He squeezed my hand, and it hurts.”
I grab her hand, inspecting it. It’s red and will probably bruise. “We need to go to the cops. This should be enough to get that restraining order put back in place.”
“I hope so,” she breathes loudly, trying to get her crying under control. “Will you stay with me for the rest of the week?”
“Absolutely,” I kiss the top of her head not wanting to push her boundaries after dealing with her ex. I turn the key hanging out of her apartment door. “Can you wait here for a second, Joe? I’m going to get Sophia inside.”
“Sure thing,” he nods at me.
I gently nudge Sophia into her apartment, closing the door behind us. She stumbles and sinks to the floor. She looks so small right now. It kills me seeing her like this and not knowing what to do to make her feel better. To give her the sense of security she once had.
I place my arms underneath her knees and neck, and pick her up. If she can’t carry the weight of her frustration and sadness, I’ll do it for her. She is limp in my arms, all the fight drained out of her. And quite possibly in shock from the encounter. I walk over to the couch and sit down with her in my lap. I don't want to let her go and I need to feel her in my arms probably more than she wants to be in them. She’s okay and that’s what is important.
One of her favorite blankets is sitting on the back of the couch. I pull it down and wrap it around her, trying to put an end to her shaking body. "Sophia, baby, did he hurt you anywhere else besides your hand?"
She shakes her head but doesn't say anything else. Burying her face in my chest she begins sobbing. "Y– you came," the words come out in jagged breaths, "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up at all. I tried to keep him calm and talking until you got here, but it didn't work. All I managed to do was antagonize him to the point he wanted to physically hurt me.”
"I'm so sorry, Sophia. I was picking up things to make tonight special, or I would have been here much earlier. And this never would've happened. None of what happened tonight is your fault.” Her tears leave wet paths down my shirt and I wish she never had a reason to cry. “He’s the one that has problems, and if he was a real man, he wouldn’t have let himself get so out of control.
"You're here," she clutches my shirt in her fist. "And that's all that matters. You are what I need to erase being in his presence.”
"That's good," I chuckle trying to lighten the mood, or at least make her smile. "Because I am now your new accessory. Where you go, I go. I will not let him hurt you again.” The corners of her lips lift up the tiniest fraction, and I know I've done my job. "In all seriousness, though. We need to go to the police station."
Her voice is barely above a whisper, "I know. Maybe this time they will grant me a restraining order."
"That’s the goal." I slide out from under her until her body takes up the entire couch. Bending down until we're face-to-face, I meet her eyes. "I will be right back. I’m going to clean up our dinner off the patio, and ask your neighbor a few things. Are you going to be okay by yourself for a few minutes?"