p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"CH 7 /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"AN: em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"hope everyone is doing well! x/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"As fast as her chubby little frame would allow, Christine raced outside and tried to catch a glimpse of her musical benefactor. She saw a hooded figure wearing dark converse scale the fence in a swift movement that Christine thought was only possible in Die Hard movies, and that was all./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe stood there, heart beating like a rabbit's, exhilarated and afraid. Who on earth was this person – this man, as he seemed to be. Before her attack, Christine, who loved to see the best in people, would have thought it lovely to have a mysterious person leaving her music in her back garden. A charming English fairy tale, almost. But now, now that she knew that darkness was everywhere, she felt violated and afraid./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"ERIC/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"He crouched flat against his own garden fence, not knowing whether or not she still stood there, staring after the space he once occupied. Did she know that he was there? He hoped not. He never wanted them to meet this way, with him acting like a criminal, hiding from her. He wanted romance and harps and bells and flowers and all the nice things in the world for their first meeting, not this. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"Electricity hung in the air, crisp and crackling. Would she detect him? The minutes ticked by, agonisingly slow. Two or three went by, slowly slowly. When would she give up and go back inside? Still he waited there, wondering what would happen to break this, the most tense moment he had ever experienced…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Eric? What on earth are you doing?' Nadir had come out of the back door and stood staring at him, metres away from Christine with only a shoulder height fence between them./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"Eric hissed in frustration and motioned with his hands to em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"be quiet/em. Nadir looked baffled and appeared to lock eyes with Christine./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Oh hi. You're the girl I gave a lift to last week. I didn't realise we lived next door to each other?' /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"Christine probably swallowed and cast him a look, under which Nadir withered slightly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'I got you to drop me off down the road so that you and your friend wouldn't know where I lived. I should buy the two of you a drink to say thank you…sorry but didn't you just talk to someone by the fence? I think they may have left something in my garden'. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"Nadir looked tense. There was nothing for it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"Eric stood up and took his hood down./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Yes. Um..hello'./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'So it's you then, is it?' She asked, with her left eyebrow raised. She did not seem to make much of him. She looked right into his eyes. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'uh..' Eric was lost for words. She was looking right at him. Christine, the woman he had loved from afar, looking right at him, with that look on her face, one she reserved for housemates who did not buy toilet paper when it was their turn. Nothing more. Just slight annoyance. No sign of disgust or mistrust because of his scars. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'I think you had better come in for a chat, don't you?'/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"Into her house! With her! Her house!/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Okayyy' Eric drew out the sound for the sake of not having to think of extra words to say. He was behaving like a total idiot but this was just not at all what he planned and what if, now that they were finally meeting, she hated him or didn't like his music or worse, what if she bestowed on him things he did not deserve from her considering the fact that he was basically a stalker and had seen her naked without her permission through a hole that he had poked in her wall. Oh boy, did that sound bad when you put it all together./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Would you like to jump over the fence or come to the front door this time?' A wry smile crept onto her face. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"Nadir looked totally confused, something that seemed to be becoming a common theme to him today. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Right...well I've got something in the oven so I'll just go and do that…' He went indoors with an awkward wave at Christine and shot a scathing look at Eric for whatever he had just got him into. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"CHRISTINE/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"He jumped the fence with the grace of a tiger, and landed on his feet just as softly. She could barely believe he was real, this mysterious, scarred man who left her music and probably listened to her sing – seeing as he was next door./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"Inside, with a hot cup of tea in her hands, Christine felt a little more vulnerable. He was in her sacred space now, her little kitchen with its toast crumbs and burnt hob style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'I'm not really sure where to start. I guess with your name?'/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Eric'./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Hi Eric'. She waved pathetically./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Hi. I-' he began just at the same time as she did. She faltered, then started again, and then they sat and sipped their drinks. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"Then Eric spoke. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'So I've been leaving music in your garden and listening to you sing. You're very good…' he trailed off. Christine swallowed. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Thanks. It's just a hobby though'. Eric nodded, looking like he wanted to say more./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'But why? Why me?'/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"He changed his grip on the mug. He seemed to be calculating each word, scrutinising her reaction, though shying away from actual eye contact. The whole situation was so weird./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'I'm not sure. You moved in and you were – are, I should say – very pretty and unique and I guess I got a bit carried away'./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"Christine blushed furiously. No one had said that before. Pretty and unique. That was one way to describe the fact that she was clumsy and odd./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'I'm not sure I understand…the music started before we met last week. Did you just happen to be in that alley when that man was-'/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Christine'. He said her name in such hushed tones it stopped her in her tracks. It was like he revered her or something. Like the way priests talk about Jesus. She hadn't really wanted to say the words 'trying to rape me' anyway. She might have cried again and she certainly didn't want to look vulnerable in front of this stranger who clearly thought she was so wonderful. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'I didn't intend for us to meet like this'. He was started to unnerve her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'So you did intend for us to meet?'/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"He took a sip of his tea, frowning. He seemed under great distress. The way his scars moved with his face interested her. He must suffer them so much, they really were quite bad. Had he been attacked too? She couldn't remember what he had said about them when he rescued her as she had been a bit preoccupied with her shirt being open and her bra on display, and being drugged and attacked and all that. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Yes, I suppose I did. But somewhere darker perhaps' he grimaced and gestured towards his face. Impulsively, she put a timid hand on his./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Don't say that. Please go on. I want to know everything… I'm so confused. You have been leaving me music because you like me…' he nodded, so she went on: 'and you just happened to be there when I was in danger…is that what you meant by a dark place? You set that up so that you could save me and we could meet?' She retreated her hand slowly, and watched his face fall. It was a logical explanation./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"Christine had never seen a man pale so quickly. There was a knock at the door right then, which Christine ignored. Had this man, sitting across from her in her little student house sent an attacker after her to be her knight in shining armour? The door was knocked again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'I think you should answer that' Eric said through clenched teeth. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'I will. But this isn't over. I need the truth, Eric'. Christine set her tea down a little too hard, sloshing some on the table and going to answer the door. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"Rob was there, smiling away like always. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Hi Christine, is Meg in?...Are you okay?' His smile faltered for a second on sensing her mood./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Yeah I'm fine thanks just having one of those days. She's in her room'. Rob let himself in as she went back to the kitchen. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Eric?'/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"He was stood at the sink with his back to her, a cloth in his hand. He had wiped up the tea she spilled. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Eric? Is it true then?' She bit her lip, trying not to cry. She wouldn't cry in front of this man, this stalker. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"He turned around, and she saw tears glistening on his face./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'How…' He shuddered and took a shaky breathe. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'How can you think that I could do that to you?... Let another man near you, hurt you even?' Christine was taken aback. She had never seen a man cry before. He looked like a big baby, albeit one that had been in a knife fight. Her heart softened./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'I'm sorry I just…I'm just trying to make sense of everything…I'm so confused'./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"'Please…can I hold you?'/span/p