Here is chapter 3! Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed; it's much appreciated.
The dentist dragged Audrey just out of the shop before he smacked her hard with the back of his hand, his knuckles each leaving their own small bruise on her lily-white cheek. "Whore," he called her, "screwing some little punk behind my back!"
"Oh no, doctah, it's nothin' like that!" Audrey cried, "Seymour's nobody, just a guy at work."
Orin seized her roughly by the waist, drawing her dangerously close. "And why should I believe a dirty, lyin' slut like you?" he spat at her as she trembled in his gripped. This was how he liked her: afraid, shaking, shivering at his presence. Fear made pain a lot easier, and pain was all he needed.
"I…I'm all yours, doctah," she stuttered, wrapping her arms around him as affectionately as she could, hoping it would placate him, "not Seymour's." Orin threw the shaking woman to the rough, choppy Skid Row sidewalk, which scraped against the soft skin of her arms, legs, and cheek, sending runs through her nylons and drawing blood from her elbows and wrists.
Orin turned from her and paced towards his motorcycle as the blonde scrambled to stand and follow him. Removing his nitrous oxide puff from the pocket of his shiny leather jacket, he brought it to his nostril and took a long puff of the gas as he pulled Audrey onto his bike. Tonight will be fun.
The sound of a revving motor and a shrill laugh rang through the little ghetto hauntingly, somehow still echoing after the two had left.
Once again, the corner florist was buzzing with business, with people trying to get a glimpse above the crowd of the mysterious Audrey II and paying good money for a fern or a few daisies while they craned their necks for a better view.
For one night, the plant hadn't wilted and forced Seymour to sacrifice his blood to the plant. He should have slept through the night for the first time in weeks, full of blood and ready for the next day.
But he couldn't.
He kissed Audrey—no, Audrey kissed him! It should have been the greatest night of his life! But as soon as she was in his arms, she was out of them, in the hands of a cruel, abusive man, and Seymour himself was left a few bruises, though small compared to what Orin inflicted on Audrey, from being thrown to the tile floor of the florist.
The he saw Orin hit her. He saw him threaten her then throw her to the pavement. Seymour wanted to stop him, to save her…but he was too weak to stand, let alone fight. He'd do nothing but get them both killed.
Still, Seymour was plagued with Audrey. Audrey, smiling at him from across the shop, a bouquet of lilies in her lily-white hands. Audrey, resting her head against him as she cried and he comforted. Audrey, toying with his hair with one hand, pressing herself close to him with the other, kissing his lips with all the love in the world…
Audrey, with a swollen purple welt covering her eye. Audrey, struggling against the forceful will of a certain forceful dentist. Audrey, lying on the sidewalk, bloody and battered…
It was another sleepless night, followed by another chaotic morning. Where is she, Seymour wondered to himself, conjuring more brutal images of her.
"It's passed noon!" Mr. Mushnik cried, breaking Seymour from his thoughts as they grew more and more graphic. "Where is she, Seymour?"
"Audrey had a date last night," Seymour called back in reply before telling the man about to pay that he should probably buy red roses, not tulips, to give to his soon-to-be fiancée.
"Of course she did! Audrey needs a doctah, not a date," Mushnik rolled his eyes, but Seymour gulped. "A doctah's the problem," he muttered to himself.
Seymour handled the cash register while Mr. Mushnik tried to get the customers to leave for his lunch hour. "We open up again in an hour!" Mushnik hollered out. "The Audrey II needs to eat, too!" The sea of patrons swarmed out the door, but, as if on cue, the bell above the door jingled just as soon as the last customer left. "Come back in an hour!" Mushnik called, not bothering to look at the door opener.
"Sorry I'm late, Mista Mushnik," a squeaky voice said quietly.
"Audrey! Where you been all day?" Mushnik turned to look at his employee; she was a mess. Her makeup was even thicker than usual, eyelids bluer, lips and cheeks redder, but it did little to cover the new bruises formed on her pale face. A particularly long one trailed around her right eye, matched by a raw red scrape on her left cheek. Her right cheek bore four small, aligned, raisin-shaped black and blue marks, in the exact shape of knuckles.
"Audrey, what happened to ya?" Mushnik then asked softly, "Here, let me take ya out to lunch."
"Uhh…thank you Mista Mushnik, but if you don't mind, I'd ratha stay here with Seymour and help him get some work before the rest of the day." Audrey smiled at Mushnik, and Seymour smiled at Audrey. Mushnik looked confused, but he simply shrugged and left the shop to the two storehands.
As soon as the boss was out of sight, Audrey ran behind the counter to Seymour and practically leaped into his arms to kiss him. The kiss was short, and when it broke, Seymour kept Audrey close to him in a warm embrace, one arm tight around her waist, and the other gently stroking her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder.
Seymour gentle kissed the top of her head and, smiling at her, cooed, "It's okay, Audrey. You wanna talk?" Audrey nodded, and Seymour knelt down to sit in the hollow inside of the counter; he grinned up at her from his seat and, grinning goofily, hoping to make Audrey laugh, gently patted the ground next to him. Giggling, she sat down beside him and leaned her head against his shoulders. Seymour wrapped an arm around and inhaled, ready to start the conversation.
I'm coming to a part in the story when I have to choose one of two ways the story can go. I may post a poll after the next chapter, if anyone would like to help me in this decision. Thanks for reading!