Never Again {Bashai and VampireByte}

[souled]

(Name: Sonja Victoria Grey, Age: 22)

​

The day had been rough to say the least. It was just one of those days were nothing seemed to go right, and Sonja could feel the tension in her rising, though the young woman really was trying very hard to keep her anger in check, forcing herself not to lash out at everyone and anyone who she still had to deal with through out the day.


Being an Elementary School teacher, their was a lot of stress in her job. Well, sometimes. And today, well, today was one of those days that the stress was a bit heavy. And as the school day ended and Sonja completed what she need to, standing up from her desk and gathering the homework that needed to be sorted through and graded, Sonja made her way out of the building and into the parking lot, letting out a sigh as she entered into the fresh air.


Climbing into her vehicle, setting her purse and the student's homework in the driver's seat, Sonja buckled up and drove out of the parking lot of the school, looking forward to heading to the local Star Bucks coffee shop to unwind for a moment.


Reaching the coffee shop and climbing out of her car after finding a place to park, Sonja slung her purse over her shoulder, and taking the student's homework with her, the young woman entered into the coffee shop, a bell ringing overhead as she opened the door, alerting the workers of another customer.

 

[Bashai]

(Name: Richard Sturm, Age: 27)


He sipped his black coffee and scanned over the paper and after finding the proportion of bad news rather high today he turned to the comics and personal ads. They were always good for mild amusement. A cell phone ringing interrupted his peace momentarily and he shot an angry glance as the person altered the annoying sound of the ring tone to their just as annoying voice. How he loathed how rude society was. He tried to distract himself back to an ad of an elderly woman trying to convince whoever would listen that she was still down for a good time. He grimaced as the person on the phone burst into laughter. He cleared his throat loudly and willed the person to make eye contact and finally they did. Perhaps they caught the subtle message of his body language telling them to shut the hell up because their voice became much lower as they quickly looked away.


Some sort of peace returned and he was content again.


He hadn't so much seen the woman coming in as he felt her energy sweep by him. He caught sight of her backside as she quickly made her way to the counter and what a nice view it was indeed. He watched her over the edge of his coffee cup. He couldn't say entirely why the female had caught his attention and like most of them it probably wouldn't last for long, but for now he'd enjoy the sensation of interest. It was so rare lately.

 

[souled]

After getting her coffee and a salad to eat and drink, the young Elementary School teacher found her way to a booth next to the window, setting her things down next to her on the table, setting her purse in her lap after getting herself situated, taking a drink of the Iced Coffee for the hot day outside, and after taking a few bites of the chicken salad, Sonja began to go over her student's homework that they had turned in, letting out a long deep breath, not seeming bothered by the many others here at the Star Bucks coffee shop.


But yet, as Sonja went through the student's papers, the woman felt watched, and consciously lifted her eyes and found the one who was watching her, a man with quite the shaggy hair on him, his grey eyes piercing into her behind the rim of his own coffee, the cup plastered happily with the Star Bucks logo on it.


Suddenly blushing, Sonja squirmed a little and quickly diverted her gaze back to her student's work, shyly tucking a lock of her honey colored hair behind her ear, the bracelets she was wearing around her wrist jingling with her movements, the young woman biting at her lower lip.

 

[Bashai]

It seemed nice the way she was caught up in her own world. It wasn't a foreign concept to him but he didn't quite find the same enjoyment from the internal solitude that most people did. He found himself wondering what was going on in her mind. He often watched people and wondered things. Sometimes odd things. Odd things like why did she order a salad? Was she health conscious? Did she eat a heavy lunch and just need a light snack? Was she self conscious? At the last thought he let his eyes roam over her figure again and he could find no reason himself that she should be self conscious.


When she turned and saw him he didn't turn away like a shy boy but neither were his eyes uncomfortable hungry like a flirtatious male. He managed to make himself smile to her in the brief moment their eyes met as he raised his cup in a friendly salutation. He felt a small sense of triumph as her cheeks reddened and he briefly wondered what else he might be able to redden. This thought brought on an emotion of self loathing. No. He'd probably never know. Things often didn't end well in his relationships. He'd learned he wasn't necessarily good for people and he should probably do this woman a favor and stay at his table. If she had been looking she would have seen his smile fall suddenly and something become dark about his expression.


Still, he continued watching her nervous movements. She could probably still feel him watching. The bite on her lip was an invitation to him. He liked the innocent look about her. Something about her seemed naive and that was his weakness. He hesitated for a moment as two thought processes argued in his mind but his need for self indulgence overrode his logic. He was not a man prone to wasting time. He folded his paper neatly, grabbed his coffee, and took a seat at her table. His presence was perhaps a bit on the intimidating side but his body language gave all the signs that he belonged right where he was.

 

[souled]

Catching movement from the corner of her eyes, Sonja looked up just as the man she had spied looking at her joined her at the table, and slowly, Sonja set down her fork, a bit of an unreadable expression in her brown eyes, gray meeting brown, before the woman went back to the student's homework, shyly tucking some of her hair behind her ear, despite none of it being loose, the bracelets once more jingling.


The young woman really didn't know what to say to this stranger, and instead Sonja simply wrote down something on the student's homework piece before moving onto another and taking a drink of the Iced Coffee, yet glancing up at the stranger sitting across from her now, as if checking to see if the man had left, or was still there, and whoever he was, the man clearly hadn't left yet, and seemed to be in no hurry to leave any time soon.

 

[Bashai]

He sat back in his chair with a straight posture yet with one leg crossed over the other he seemed very relaxed. He was amused at how she tried to ignore him, like a small trapped creature trying to ignore the lingering predator maybe hoping it would go away. Maybe he would eventually.


"I take it they're young," he said. His voice was ventured on the deep side but was also soft. His tone was friendly though it would sound like he was making a statement instead of small talk. If she was unsure what he meant he followed up with a nod toward the papers she was working on. "Your students?"

 

[souled]

Looking up at the man now sitting across from her, Sonja blinked at him. But then realized what the man spoke of. "Oh. Yes. Elementary." Came the shy reply, a bit of a rosy tint coloring Sonja's cheeks as the woman took some more bites of the salad. The woman had had her students learning on writing skills, and was grading poetry the students had written for her for their homework that Sonja had assigned them.


Before the man across from her could reply, someone nearly knocked into their table, someone who clearly was in a big hurry to be somewhere else, and Sonja frowned as the woman didn't eve bother to apologize to them, instead merely hurrying off to wherever she had to be next, and Sonja rolled her eyes a little and shook her head before taking more bites of the salad.

 

[Bashai]

He gritted his teeth at the jarring movement of the woman into their table and resisted the urge to grab the woman by the wrist and distribute a mild punishment. No, that wouldn't do. He mustn't scare this pristine vision before him. Making her uncomfortable with his forwardness was one thing, but outright fear would be more than he intended. A heavy sigh was his only reaction for now and a look of concern at the female across from him.


"People can be thoughtless. I hope she didn't ruin any of your work." He drank more coffee and scanned his eyes over her stacks of papers. "By the way, may I ask how long have you been a teacher?"

 

[souled]

"Not very long. Just for a year now." With a sigh, Sonja carefully put her student's writing in the folder and set that in her lap as well, moving the chicken salad and Iced Coffee before her and starting to eat, but then realized that Sonja hasn't gotten this man's name yet, and set down her fork, wiping her mouth with a napkin.


"What is your name again?" Sonja wondered, blinking up at him, the woman completely clueless as to who this man really was in nature sitting across from her.

 

[Bashai]

A year. No, that wasn't very long. Perhaps she was fresh out of the university. She didn't look to be very old either. He made an effort to let his eyes move off of her and look around them. He didn't want to come off as creepy by constantly staring at her. Predatory ambition might be rising inside him but it was too early to let the prey in on the game. He was certain he was keeping her from her work but that didn't bother him in the slightest and if she were bothered by it, well, that wouldn't cause him any discomfort either. Selfishness was one of his worst traits.


He smiled at her question. Her words implied he had already given his name but he never had. Normally, he would need to point that out but he let it pass.


"My name is Richard. And you?"

 

[souled]

"Sonja." The teacher replied, a bit of blush once more coloring the young woman's cheeks. Indeed the girl had just graduated from collage, a feet that her parents were very proud of of their only child, and bit shyly at her lower lip before deciding to eat more of the salad that Sonja had ordered, managing most of it down before starting to sip at her Iced Coffee, turning her gaze to the window that the two of them were sitting next to, ignoring the hubbub of chatter and the life around them, smiling as birds of varying kinds flitted about, chasing at each other.

 

[Bashai]

"Sonja," he repeated. His voice had been flat and even but as he said her name she might notice the hint of a Southern accent. "It's a very pretty name." Quickly, deftly, his eyes glanced down at his watch and he noted he still had time to spare before he must leave this dainty flower. "What got you into teaching? And small children for that matter." His expression would seem to drift for a moment but rapidly returned to her. "I myself could not fathom being surrounded by so many tiny people all day."

 

[souled]

The girl blushed a bit more and took another drink of the Iced Coffee. Suddenly glancing down, Sonja fished in her purse and pulled out her cellphone, checking the time. With a sigh, Sonja put her phone back where she had gotten it and zipped up her purse, clearing her throat and gathering her things, slinging her purse over her shoulder and tucking the folder of her student's work to be graded still under her arm, grabbing her Iced Coffee to take with her.


"Well, I need to be going...It was...Nice meeting you." The girl told him, giving the man a shy smile and turning to leave, only to collide straight into someone and fall backwards, Sonja's eyes widening as the girl quite literally landed in Richard's lap, Sonja's heart pounding from the suddenness, and quickly, the girl untangled herself from him, her cheeks turning a furious red as Sonja blushed even more.

 

[Bashai]

There was a rise of anger in the back of his throat as she started gathering her things to leave. Before he could protest it seemed life was there to intervene for him. He caught the girl in his lap and with a reflex helped remove her. He gave a courteous nod to the stranger, then stood and straightened his clothes.


"It seems, Miss that you are attracting the accident prone today. Would it be too forward if I helped you out simply with the intent of making sure you get to your car without getting knocked down?"

 

[souled]

Luckily, Sonja had replaced the cap onto the bottle of her Iced Coffee, so none of it was able to spill on either of them, and as Sonja untangled herself from her new acquaintance, the girl was blushing madly, rather shy for an elementary school teacher as Sonja straightened out her clothing and readjusted herself after gathering her purse and her student's homework they had done for her.


But then, after straightening out her hair, Sonja grimaced at the man's mention of her seeming to be accident prone that day, which, as much as Sonja didn't really feel like admitting, was quite true, and then woman sighed. "Sure...Thank you..." Once the woman had gathered herself and her things, Sonja walked with Richard out to her car.

 

[Bashai]

He grabbed up his paper and left his coffee cup and resisted the urge to touch her in any way. That would be unseemly of a stranger. He enjoyed the rush of warmth and light on his face and made mental note of how her hair shone golden. He wondered what it smelled like. He saw her pause as they reached her car and he took a step back in the hopes it would make her feel more at ease. He pulled out a dark leather wallet, removed a card, and offered it to her.


"I would like to meet with you again when we have more time to spare and get to know you, if that's alright." If she looked at the card it would be a simple white business card with hard thin letters spelling out his name in the center. Beneath his name was written only "Buyer & Procurer". On one side of the bottom corner was a telephone number and on the opposite was a mobile and fax number.


"Feel free to contact me on any of those numbers." He took another step back from her but flashed a bright, friendly smile. "I will stop bothering you now. Enjoy the rest of your paperwork and your day."

 

[souled]

The young freshly graduated collage student and teacher blinked a bit in surprise at the man's offer, shyly accepting the man's business card and slipping it into her purse. "Thank you...Maybe I will..." Sonja trailed off, smiling shyly at the man before sliding into the driver's side of her car, and carefully pulled out of the parking lot and onto the streets, making her way towards her apartment in which Sonja lived, wondering on the man that she had just met.


Upon arriving at her apartment, Sonja tiredly made her way inside, setting her purse, her student's homework, and the Iced Coffee onto the kitchen table before heading into the bathroom and getting a bath ready for herself, closing the bathroom door behind her and turning on the lights, silently watching the tub fill up just under the brim with the warm water.

 

[Bashai]

He turned and left as she got in her car. He walked behind her car taking a mental note of the license plate number and continued across the parking lot heading towards his office. It was only a short distance away hence why he sometimes stopped at this particular coffee shop. Convenience. Thank you, Starbucks. His mind was racing with potential and future scenarios but a voice inside cautioned him. He knew where this momentum was going to lead and it was a dangerous path. Did he really want to go through this again? Yes and no. Part of him wanted to at least try. Maybe this time would be different. Now, he heard his inner voice laughing at him.


He turned into his building, got in the elevator and pressed the button for the seventh floor. The doors closed and he was enveloped in a moment of solitude and silence and in it he came to a decision. Yes, he would pursue this. Curiosity always got the best of him. The elevator doors opened and he stepped in a narrow hallway with a single door. Passing through the door he was met with a sparse office with modern decor. Everything appeared very clean and had hard lines. Simplistic. Controlled. That was how he liked things. He greeted his receptionist and secretary and ignored the approach of a thin, balding man who insisted he had something important to talk about in regards to a recent buyer. Richard walked past him as though he didn't exist. It was easy because at the moment nothing else existed except for him to acquire information about this Sonja.


He settled into his chair at his desk and started up his computer. He searched his memory for the car tag and typed in the numbers and waited. It wasn't a long wait. The beauty of computers was how fast they could think and within seconds he had her full name, her telephone number, place of employment, and most importantly her home address. He felt a twitch in hand as his fist curled into a ball. He swallowed hard. It's so easy.


He rose and made his way just as abruptly through the office as he'd entered. He got in his car and drove to her neighborhood. He went up and down the street only once so as not to arouse too much suspicion but his hungry mind devoured the details quickly. Not far from here there was a grocery store. He might have to wait until dark but he could park there and get to her home on foot. As far as he could tell the homes were spaced out just enough that if there wasn't too much in the way of lights, he could find a nice shadow to take refuge in.

 

[souled]

Unaware, Sonja made her way through her even, after her bath, the woman changed into pajamas and tied her hair up into a pony tail after getting it good and dry with her hair dryer, and headed into the kitchen for a snack, warming up a bagel and spreading the top of it with strawberry cream cheese before eagerly biting into the treat, a long tired sigh escaping from Sonja as the girl headed into her bedroom, curling up on the mattress and proceeded to grade her student's work, finishing the grading within the hour before reading before bedtime, falling asleep with the book open and resting on her belly, the girl not knowing that the man whom she had met at Star Bucks that very afternoon was "digging her up"...

 

[Bashai]

Finally, night arrived and he felt more in his element. With ease he'd made his way onto her property and into her backyard. There were motion sensors on the front but none in the back. Interesting, he thought. He'd quickly had enough of watching her through the windows. He'd not seen her move to an alarm system to punch in numbers and presumed that there was none. No, he shouldn't be so hasty. Being impulsive was how you got caught. He should be reasonable and simply do more research and study her longer. Enter her world with caution so that he could protect himself.


The fire inside him was growing in appetite. He couldn't wait for all that. His fingers grasped around the door latch and to his surprise it turned. How could she be so foolish? Part of him expected a trap but he shook the stupid idea from his head. He wasn't dealing with his usual work. He was dealing with a normal, everyday woman. He pushed the door open, slowly, testing. It was quiet and he allowed only a sliver of space to fit through and soon he was in her home. He could smell her everywhere. Her home was neat but obviously lived in. Not messy. Just the home of someone who had a job and didn't have all the time in the world to maintain it. It was cozy. He remembered when he'd had cozy. When he'd had a wife and children. It had only been a few years now but they felt like distant memories in his mind.


He pushed his past from his mind and looked around her home. His eyes roamed over her choice in furniture, over her photographs and he wondered at who the people were in them, especially the young men. Brothers? Lovers? If she had a boyfriend there had been no sign that he lived with her. That was just as well.


Finally, after he'd explored enough he went to her bedroom and stared past the edge of her door frame over her still, sleeping body. She was quite beautiful. He slowly, silently leaned down and removed the book from her stomach, his fingers every so slightly trailing over her shirt and feeling the heat of skin beneath. It caused something inside him to shudder. He swallowed and stood back up. He should stop now. He should leave.


He took one final glance at her and made his way out. Every step was heavy. He didn't want to go but human behavior dictated that certain protocol be followed. If she woke up now all it would end in for him would be a jail sentence. He didn't have time for that.

 

[souled]

Luckily for the young teacher's intruder, Sonja was a fairly heavy sleeper, not easily woken by the slightest noise that might be unfamiliar to her, and certainly not afraid of the dark. After all, the young woman certainly was no five year old any more, the girl's chest slowly rising and falling with each breath the girl took in her sleep, Sonja stirring slightly when the man removed the book from the girl's belly and set it aside on the end table sitting next to her bed, but Sonja showed no signs of waking or being alarmed.


But then, as Richard trailed his fingers over the girl's belly, Sonja stirred again, soft sleeping noises escaping from her as the young woman pulled the blanket up more around her, her head turning to the right, the girl still sleeping the entire while.


Waking the next morning to her radio alarm clock, Sonja sat up reluctantly and combed her hands through her messy and tousled hair, completely oblivious that the woman had had company in her home last night...Uninvited company at that. Turning off the alarm, Sonja worked her way out of bed and into the bathroom, preparing herself for the long and tedious day of working with her students.

 

[Bashai]

He'd slept little and barely touched his breakfast. He'd returned to his own home, an apartment with decor similar to his office though more spartan. He believed only the essentials were really necessary to get by. He'd gone through his routine of a shower and settling into bed but didn't find continuous sleep. He thought of her. He didn't know why a woman, much less a stranger, should occupy his mind so much but there it was and it was happening.


As soon as the sun was up he kept his phone at his side. Maybe she would call and save him the trouble of staging an accidental run in with her. When he went into work he went about his business and finally discussed problems from the prior day that he'd avoided. Like the night, though, his mind was distracted on her. He wanted to know who she was, what she was like, what she was interested in. He wanted to know everything about her and he could do as much research as he pleased but those would just be facts on a paper. He needed more. For the hundredth time he glanced at his mobile and work phone hoping either would ring at any moment.

 

[souled]

Once completing her day at school, having decided to let her students free of homework that day, Sonja simply drove straight to her apartment and headed inside, absently fiddling with the business card that her newest acquaintance had given her after their first meeting at Star Bucks. Should she give him a call? Was Richard waiting for her to call him? Sonja bit at her lower lip, setting the business card down at her small kitchen table in front of her, her Smart Phone at the ready, unaware that Richard indeed was waiting for the teacher to give him a ring.


Slowly, clearly feeling shy and nervous about this venture, Sonja dialed the cell phone number that was on the business card, swallowing hard and nervously tucking some of her long locks behind her ear, and letting out a deep breath, Sonja hit the call button, putting the man on speaker phone, and silently, Sonja listened to the ringing, trying to wrack her brain for something to say that would even be remotely interesting...

 

[Bashai]

He felt his heart thud harder when he recognized the number on his mobile phone. He had, after all, looked up her telephone number. He let ring a few more times before he finally answered and even then he paused a moment to listen for her breathing. It was only a second that passed in silence before he spoke but time had slowed down for him and in the brief moment he imagined being clever and asking her for a date and she accepted. He imagined what her skin might feel like held tight beneath his grasp. He wondered if she would scream...He snapped back to his senses and tried to act like a normal human being.


"Hello, this is Richard Sturm."

 

[souled]

"Er...Hi...It's Sonja..." The girl breathed, feeling heat rise up in her cheeks as the teacher swallowed hard, unbelieving in herself that she was actually doing this. The girl swallowed hard and shifted nervously in the chair she sat at at her small kitchen table of her apartment complex, and absently began to fiddle with a lock of her long honey colored hair, feeling her heart thudding in her chest from nervousness and adrenaline.