Big, huge shout out to Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' here! Anyone who's seen this movie will know exactly which scene I was wetting myself laughing at when this chapter was being written! Such a great movie.
And obviously a shout out to 'Twilight'!
Enjoy!
CHAPTER 3
The following week passed in a haze of books, phones calls, father and daughter passing like ships in the night and way too many situations to avoid with the walking truck of sexist idiocy and his band of merry morons. Now normally Alice tried to be nice and polite about everything but sometimes there was just no way to make that happen.
Thursday brought her another verbal attack and a headache. Friday the blonde trio threw her scornful looks and verbal snakes after she'd felt like tearing her hair out after a claim that 'Matt's First Motorcycle' was better than anything she'd ever had in her store. Saturday she resorted to painkillers after yet another unwanted visit. Sunday was supposed to be her day of rest. No such luck since she was accosted on a walk in the park. Sammy, her dog, hadn't liked that and had snapped and barked a lot. Good dog! Monday she felt like crying and by Tuesday she'd had enough. She'd thought he'd finally gotten the message and he'd leave her alone. Even he had to realise a million no's meant no!
It had been a gloriously sunny day and she hadn't heard from him or his band of followers all morning. The post had been and gone so she'd decided to close up early and head home to bask in the warmth of the day. She had just sat down and settled into a book while waiting for the kettle to boil when there was a knock on the door. She looked through the peephole, rolled her eyes and groaned before opening it. She jumped back as he barged his way in, oozing confidence and slime.
"Demetri, what a pleasant surprise," she said hesitantly as she backed away, thinking it was anything but and wondering how bad it would be this time.
"Isn't it though!" he replied as he stalked towards her like a predator cornering its prey. "I'm just full of surprises," he added, making her swallow bile.
She was still backing away, trying to get rid of the foul taste in her mouth, when he continued talking, not waiting to let her get a word in, as she found herself moving around the sideboard she'd backed into.
"You know Alice," he began as he leaned down on the sideboard with his meat-cleaver fists, "There isn't a girl in town who wouldn't love to be in your shoes!" His smile made her stomach turn in a very bad way and she gagged. "This is the day..." He stopped when he looked in the mirror and cleaned his teeth with his tongue, 'ah'ing his approval when he'd removed the non-existent blemish. She rolled her eyes again and concentrated on calming breaths when he continued. "This is the day when all your dreams come true!" he announced as he stalked towards her again and she found herself backing around the couch in the living room in a desperate need to be away from him.
"What do you know about my dreams Demetri?" It took an incredible amount of willpower but she somehow managed not to scoff as she replied.
"Plenty! Here, picture this," he began as he collapsed onto the couch and dropped his feet onto the coffee table she loved so much, making her cringe and boil in anger at the blatant disrespect and possible scratches. "A two-storey semi-d with a big garden, my latest awards out on display and my little wife massaging my feet," he continued as he kicked off his shoes and wiggled his toes and eyebrows suggestively, forcing her to cover her mouth with her hand for fear of projectile vomit. And then it got worse..."While the little ones play on the floor with the dogs. We'll have six or seven."
"Dogs?" she asked, really at a loss for what to say.
"No Alice," he almost laughed as he stood up, "Strapping boys like me!"
"Imagine that," she said, cringing at the possible thought of it ever occurring to her to consider imagining it.
"And do you know who that little wife will be?" he asked as his voice lowered, removing himself from the couch and getting closer to her as she busied herself with tidying in an effort to avoid him.
"Let me think," she replied as she placed some books onto a shelf in the corner.
"You Alice!" he announced triumphantly as he attempted to trap her in the corner and began to pucker his lips.
She ducked under his arms before he could get any bright, or stupid, ideas.
"Demetri, I'm...I'm...speechless!" And she was. It was a rarity. How idiotically stupid was he? Infinitely by the looks of it. "I really don't know what to say."
"Say you'll come see a movie with me and sit in the back row! Maybe a burger after and then the back seat of my car!" Wow, he sure knew how to woo a girl! She had gone way beyond her boiling point, having reached it way too many times to count that week already.
"I'm very sorry Demetri but...but...I just don't deserve you!" That was the politest way she could think of to get rid of him.
"Probably...but you're the most beautiful girl around and that makes you the best. And I deserve the best!"
That was it, the final straw. She couldn't possibly take anymore, and she wouldn't. She shouldn't have had to take any of it! He was the vilest excuse for a man she had ever met and his backwards way of thinking made her so angry she literally saw red. There was more to her than looks and an oven in her abdomen. Any time he was in her vicinity he made her skin crawl and he always put her off her lunch.
"That's it!" she yelled, dropping the newspaper angrily to the coffee table. "I have had more than enough of you Demetri Goldens! I am sick to death of you! And the only thing 'golden' about you is your asinine manner!"
He tuned to look behind himself, grinning broadly.
"Yes, I do have a great ass!"
"Asinine Demetri! You're asinine!," she yelled even louder.
She bent to pick up his shoes while he tried to figure out why she was saying 'ass' wrong. Maybe it was something out of her books, silly girl. He'd find out later what she meant.
"Now take your smelly..." she threw a shoe at him, "disgusting..." she threw the other, "filthy shoes out of my house and don't come back!"
"Ouch! Hey! Alice! What is wrong with you?" He'd missed the first shoe, not expecting it, but picked it up quickly as he caught the second. He wouldn't be left with a bruise or anything but it still pissed him off that she threw his shoes at him.
"You!" she yelled louder still, "You are what's wrong with me! I have said no to you way too many times in way too many different ways and enough is enough! You are a vile, nasty, way too rude and disrespectful for words, greedy, sickening, repulsive, vane and egotistical to the point of insanity, stupidly, idiotically, moronic man! Even if there was a nuclear holocaust and we were the last two people left on the planet and the fate of the human race depended on us I would never, NEVER want anything to do with you! Now get OUT and never come back!"
He didn't follow and couldn't understand most of what she'd said, but he knew it wasn't good.
"Get out!" she screamed again when he didn't move.
"Fine Alice Brandon, but you'll regret this!" he yelled back at her. "You'll regret ever turning me down!" he added as he headed towards the door.
The door was slammed behind him, both of them having something to do with it, and he was gone.
She leaned with her back against the door breathing heavily then jumped and bolted it, just in case. She knew he couldn't get in but she wasn't going to risk it. It was a full five minutes before she could calm her anger and breathing down enough to allow herself to move away from the door and into the kitchen where all of the dangerously sharp things were.
