-----
This little romance features tears and laughter, cheating and love, as well as cracked ribs. What else does a romance need?
-----
Sarah could barely see where she was walking due to the tears in her eyes. It had been a very, very bad Friday the thirteenth, which capped off an awful, awful week.
On Monday her boyfriend of eight months broke off their relationship by text. He didn't even have the decency to talk with her in person and, when she tried to call him, ghosted her and blocked her calls. She never knew why he left her. Was it someone new or what?
On Tuesday the program she was working on with her coworker Scott completely crashed. They had a deadline to present the whole thing to their boss on Friday for a potential roll-out the following week. She spent hours, even working until ten p.m. two nights, trying to find out what had happened, but to no avail.
On Friday when she confessed to her boss the program was not working, he blew up and swore at her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scott lean over his computer, tap a few keys and present the repaired program to her boss. Instead of being pleased, he yelled at Sarah and suggested that if she couldn't do the minimum work to keep the business going that she might want to consider a new job. He then formally gave her 'the one and only warning' that her job was on the line.
After he had left, she went to Scott and asked him what had happened. Scott was evasive and didn't answer her question directly. He claimed he had found the problem 'by luck' but she wasn't buying it. She told him she didn't believe him and accused him of sabotaging the project just to ruin her job and make him look better in their boss' eyes. All the while she was talking, he avoided looking at her directly, confirming in her mind he was indeed the cause of her troubles.
It was quite dark when she grabbed her coat, purse and computer bag and rushed out the door. It was very windy and mixed snow and rain were falling on the slick, snow and ice-crusted sidewalks, forcing her to walk gingerly and carefully. At one point she wandered over towards the curb to avoid deep, wet snow only to have a car speed by, drenching her with freezing, slushy water from the gutter. Water seemed to be everywhere and even her computer bag was soaked.
It was at this time that her frustration and anger gave way to a simple melt down. She began to sob as she shivered and stumbled another mile down the street before turning into the quiet alley which led to her apartment. She was not able to see well and walked into an icy patch and suddenly lost her footing. She crashed down flat on her butt and her computer bag went flying. Weeping, she leaned up against a wall as her will to fight deserted her. She became numb to her situation and didn't see the two men approach her. One grabbed the computer bag and the other went up to her.
"What have we here?" he leered at her. She didn't respond and kept crying. "Here little lady, I've got something in my pants that'll make you smile." He reached down and started to fondle her breasts. Unable to muster any response, she rolled over onto her side and kept shivering and crying. She vaguely felt a hand slide up her frigid leg to her panties but was shivering so hard that she was unable to defend herself.
She felt herself get severely lightheaded but became vaguely aware of a sudden snapping sound and loud swearing. With her eyes barely open, she saw a figure looming over her as she heard groaning next to her. Her last conscious thought was a surrendering, 'I might as well just go ahead and die right now.'
-----
Her first awareness as she woke up was how warm and toasty she was. No shivering, no wet clothes. She opened one eye only to see a darkened room with only a bit of light from a towel-covered lamp in the corner. Stretching out, she felt her bare legs rub under a sheet covered with blankets. There was a scent of exotic aftershave or cologne on her pillow. After rolling over, she saw a granola bar and a glass with water on the bedside table.
'Where am I?' she asked herself as she picked up the glass and took a few swallows. Realizing she was famished, she unwrapped the granola bar and finished it in no time at all. With her thirst slaked and hunger eased, her head fell back on the pillow and exhaustion overtook her once again.
Later, the soft rattling of dishes slowly pulled her from sleep. Opening her eyes, she could see faint daylight showing through a curtain. 'It must be morning, but where am I?' she thought. 'And more importantly, where's the toilet?' Looking around she saw an obvious closet door and next to it a door which was slightly open and appeared to lead to a bathroom. With her bladder screaming at her, she jumped up and stumbled through the door. Right as she got there, she realized she was wearing just a long T-shirt and no panties. She sat down and did her business before standing in front of a mirror.
What she saw was frightening. Her long blonde hair, which she normally wore in a simple pony tail or a French twist, was a mass of curls and knots. Her face was streaked with dried tears. Slowly she ran her fingers through her hair and tried to minimize the mess. A quick wipe down of her face with a moistened facial tissue took care of the streaks. Finally, when she felt herself to be presentable, she went back into the bedroom. She looked without success for her clothes and took a blanket from the bed to wrap around herself before she cautiously opened the other door of the bedroom.
There was a tiny hallway which led to a living area. A couch had a rolled-out sleeping bag on it but otherwise the room appeared neat and tidy. Suddenly a man poked his head around the corner and looked at her.
"Oh, Sarah, I assume you go by Sarah, good morning."
"Uh, morning. Where am I and who are you?"
"Yes, well, you are in my apartment where I brought you last night after finding you shivering and being molested. Oh, and I'm J.J. McLain, at your service."
"I remember yesterday up until I was drenched by a passing car. After that, well, not so much. So, you found me...?"
"Yeah, I was walking home from work and looked down an alley and saw two guys molesting you. The one was, well, he was feeling you up and it was clear you were pretty much out of it. I jumped him and I'm afraid he's now dealing with a broken knee. The other one took off with one of your bags."
"Oh, shit, which one?"
"A big one, looked like a laptop bag. Your purse was still wrapped around your arm. That's how I got your name."
"How come I don't remember any of this?"
"Well, I'm no doctor, but it looks like you were very cold and in shock. Since you were still shivering, I knew you couldn't be too cold, you know, too hypothermic, so I decided to bring you here and get you warmed up."
"It seems to have worked," she responded. "I'm toasty warm now."
"Yeah, and you look a whole lot better."
"Uh, I'm a little embarrassed to ask this, but how'd I end up in this big ol' T-shirt?"
"Sarah, you were drenched, cold and not at all following any instructions. I had to, you know, remove the wet clothes."
"My bra and panties?" she asked with a bit of exasperation.
"Both soaked, had to come off. I took you to the bedroom, sat you up on the chair and quickly pulled your clothes off, toweled you dry and pulled the T-shirt on you. Then I put you into the bed, turned on the electric blanket. When your shivering stopped after about forty-five minutes, I turned off the blanket. Left you some water and food. And now, here you are."
"I, uh, I guess I should thank you for saving me. Yesterday was an awful, horrible day which capped off a terrible week. Quite frankly, I think I would have been just as happy to lie down and die in the alley."
"No, don't you start talking like that when I'm around. I spent a rotten night on the couch to help you and so you can't go and give up now. I won't let you," he chuckled. "Breakfast?" he went on.
"Yes please. I'm famished. And thanks for the power bar, by the way."
"I make a mean cup of coffee, if you're interested. I've planned for eggs and toast. OK with you?"
"Sure, sounds great. Uh, my clothes?"
"They should be out of the wash soon and the drier after that. Mind wearing what you've got for another hour or so?"
"No, that'd be great. Now Mr. Chef, where's the coffee you promised?"
Halfway through the coffee, she felt dramatically better. She sat there sipping it as she watched him finish breakfast. He really seemed to be a nice guy as he obviously had rescued her the night before. And he was seriously handsome. She guessed him to be nearly six feet tall and there was a nice body under his shirt. His jeans fit his tight ass like a glove. The face was attractive with a hint of stubble and his eyes were deep blue. He had an unruly mop of thick brown hair which begged to have fingers run through it.
'Stop it,' she scolded herself. 'Sure, he's cute, but you know nothing about him. Eat, get your clothes and get out of here.'
Right then he turned with two plates piled high with toast, cantaloupe slices and scrambled eggs. "Here we are," he said with a smile. "Enjoy!"
"Thank you, looks great."
As they ate, he gently asked her about herself and what had happened leading up to her disastrous evening. When she mentioned being sabotaged by her work partner and how it could cost her job, J.J. clearly became upset.
"How could anyone do that to you?"
"Yeah, well, he's not a great programmer or designer, so I think he wanted to do something to make himself look good to the boss. I've decided that I can't stand him but I don't know what I'm going to do."
J.J. reassured her she had the whole weekend to think about it. As they talked more, she relaxed and began to enjoy the comfort of a simple conversation with a nice guy. After a bit, the doorbell rang, J.J. answered and received a large bouquet of roses.
"Oh, I totally forgot. Today's Valentines," she moaned as tears began to drip from her eyes as she remembered her sudden single status.
J.J. placed the vase on the counter and sat next to her. "Yes, it is, and I'm so sorry that you're having such a rough time," he said as she turned to him and buried her sad face in his chest. He wrapped one arm loosely around her and went on. "I know things might look really bad right now, but soon you'll bounce back. Things are bound to get better, I'm sure..."
"But I'm so lonely, I was dumped just this week and work is such a ..." she sobbed. J.J. held her lightly until her crying eased off and he pulled her away and looked her in the eyes.
"I may not be a doctor," he said, "but I know something about people. You, you need a break. You need time to process all of this. I suggest you take a week off and spend some time on you, just you. Huh?"
"Well, I have the sick leave, but I'm afraid my boss will fire me if I use it so soon after that warning he gave me."
"So, let him. It sounds like a toxic place anyway and maybe you need a new job. Exactly what kind of computer work is it that you do, anyway?"
She spent several minutes describing how she had the challenging job of combining programming and design for her company. Too many times programmers spend their time trying to make things too complex and they sneer at designers and designers don't understand the limits and complexities of programming. Her job was to try and combine both areas into functional products.
"Sounds challenging. I don't know how you do it."
"It is, and I enjoy it, just not that jerk boss and now that asshole Scott."
"Come on, don't hold back, tell me what you really think," he joked, bringing a small grin to her face.
"Thank you, you're so sweet," she replied as she gave him a hug and pulled back. "Who are the flowers for?"
