She was stuck.
Just ten minutes drive away from her house and her car had broken down in the middle of the road. She cursed at her luck and closed the hood of the car, walked back to the driver’s side and removed her bag, shut the door, and locked the car, it would not be going anywhere and she would need it to be towed to the repair shop.
She checked her phone, she had a partially full battery but could hardly get cell service out here, and she could not order a ride. She was faced with only two options; to walk the rest of the way or to hitch a lift, she was aware of the dangers that came with hitching a ride, just jumping into a stranger’s car was pretty risky, especially at this time of the night. But could she even walk the rest of the way home?
She sighed, she had chosen the best day to wear heels.
She walked.
It was a narrow and lonely road and one could count the number of cars that passed there. Occasionally she checked her phone, service was still terrible and she could not call her mother nor order a ride. She knew there was no way she would be able to walk all the way home, at least not in these heels.
She paused and took them off, the road was cold and wet like it had just rained here but she knew it had not rained today. She closed her eyes briefly and let out a breath, she would walk a little and then try to get a ride when she came to a busier side of the road.
She opened her eyes and continued her journey, the busier part of the road was the roundabout just up ahead, she guessed she would need to walk for about ten minutes before she would get there. She checked the time, it was seventeen minutes past nine. She would do it.
Laura sat on the hood of the car parked a little distance away from the road, she had picked the perfect point and had predicted that Donna’s car would break down on this road and somewhere close to the sport in which they now parked.
She smirked when she saw her walking from a distance, she held her bag and shoes in one hand and was walking painfully like she had been stabbed in the food by a nail.
She banged on the hood of the car twice, signaling her girls that their target had arrived, six other women emerged from the car and two walked on to block Donna, they intercepted her and forced her off the road to where the rest of them were.
“Well well, if it isn’t the righteous secretary.” Laura welcomed with her hands stretched out towards the sky.
“Righteous?” Donna frowned at the woman. “And you are?” she put up a brave front even though she was scared of the number of women that surrounded her. She counted them, seven. They didn’t seem like robbers or bandits, their leader had on a couple of expensive pieces of jewelry and she wondered what they wanted with her.
“Not necessary for now,” Laura replied and jumped off the hood of the car. “But you will have to later.”
“Okay, so what do you want?”
“I want you to apologize to me.”
Donna chuckled in disbelief. “Apologize? And what for?”
Donna felt a blow to the back of her knee and she came crashing down to the dirt, before she could recover, one of the women walked up to her and pulled her by the hair so that she knelt upright. Donna yelped in pain and dropped her bag.
“What the hell…?!” she began but was silenced by a slap to the face. The impact caused her lip to split by the corner. She gasped as she was not expecting that and fear settled in her heart, they were out by the side of the road, just a little distance away but hidden just enough not to attract attention.
“Still arrogant I see.” she walked up to Donna and bent down. “Remember this face?”
Donna could not, she could not remember having seen the woman before now. “I don’t know who you are but it seems like you know me and obviously have an issue with me, could you not at least tell me?”
The woman smirked and looked up to the other lady holding Donna by the hair and she let her go. Donna fell and sat on the dirt, her eyes remaining on their supposed ring leader.
“You really don’t remember me,” Laura said in fact and stood up straight to pace. “I should probably refresh your memory. Keith’s office, two weeks back. Surely you remember having to give me one of his shirts.”
Donna’s eyes widened, yes she remembered now. “You?! what in the bloody hell is this?!”
“Bring your voice down!” another smacked her in the face and Donna kept quiet, holding her cheek.
“It is common for Keith to bring in sluts whenever he feels the need to release, all the petty women flocking around him, but what I have with him is something real.” she faced Donna. “And I cannot blame you for not knowing about me because why would he tell a common secretary like you about his relationships?”
Donna shot an angry glance at the woman, if it were just the two of them she was sure to have the upper hand if they were to brawl it out, but why would she be fighting a woman over Keith? She had no interest in him in the first place.
“I do not know why you would choose to do this but I have no interest in Keith,” Donna spoke up.
“Oh I know that, but you insulted me that day and I am not one to let things just slide easily.”
“And that was why you wanted an apology?”
“Ummm… yeah, but now, an apology just won’t do.” the other lady took a hold of her hair again and pulled, forcing Donna into a kneeling position. She yelped in pain. “This time, it would take a pound of flesh to appease me.”