I was halfway through my workout when Claudia rang. I paused long enough to answer and say, “I’ll ring you back,” as I panted down the phone.

“Are you having sex?” she replied. “You sound like you’re having sex.”

“No!” I squawked. “How likely is that?”

“It’s not often I get someone breathing so heavily down the phone.”

“I’m in the middle of my squats.”

“I bet you are.”

“I’m going now.” I hung up before she could say anything else and got back to it. I’d eaten most of a tub of chocolate fudge ice cream for supper the night before and I was regretting it, hence the workout being more intense than usual. I’d binged on the ice cream whilst binging on season three of my favourite show. I’d say what show but it’s too embarrassing to admit. I hadn’t planned to eat so much but my mind had wandered as I stared at the TV, my focus shifting to my neighbour. I’d found myself wondering what he was up to. Was he unpacking over there? On the phone to his wife? Wishing his kids a good night?

Maybe he’d done all those things. Maybe he was in the shower, stripped naked, water running down his rippling chest, trickling down to his…

That was how I ended up eating so much ice cream and watching TV for so long. It meant I had extra calories that needed burning. I ended my session with half an hour on the exercise bike in the corner of my bedroom, looking out into the garden and definitely not hoping he’d appear in his kitchen and look up at me. His window was directly across and down from mine and if he went in there to make himself a coffee, he’d see the svelte gym bunny hard at work, sweating up a storm. He’d seen me from that window last night, the memory of that was enough to make me blush and pedal faster to distract myself. I still couldn’t believe what I’d done.

I rang Claudia back when my alarm beeped the end of my thirty minutes. I leaned over the handlebar, letting my breath return to normal as I waited for her to answer. “Finished being fucked?” she asked as soon as the call connected.

“I am fucked,” I gasped. “Just not in that way.”

She laughed. “So, are you coming out to play tonight?”

“If you’re buying the drinks.”

“Sod that. We’ll get the men to buy the drinks. You bring that booty of yours.”

“You’re just jealous because at least I have an ass.”

“Yeah, well, my tits are bigger than yours.”

“No they’re not.”

“They will be in a couple of weeks.”

“Wow, you’re actually going through with it then?” I asked, glancing down at my chest. What would my boobs look like pumped full of silicone?

“Uh huh. I’ll be pneumatically enhanced in time for the beach. What about you?”

“What about me?”

“You can’t tell me you’ve never thought about it.”

“Nope.”

“Bullshit.”

“I haven’t, genuinely.”

“Don’t you want them a bit bigger?”

“They’re thirty four double D, that’s big enough for anyone. If they keep growing, I won’t be able to walk by the time I’m thirty.”

“Some men won’t look at anything below an F cup.”

“Yeah, well some men looked pretty happy when they saw mine last night.”

“I knew it!” she screamed. “You did get fucked.”

“I didn’t.”

“Then what are you talking about? What guy saw your puppies?”

“My new neighbour.” I blushed again as I remembered last night.

“You’ve got a new neighbour?”

“I have and he’s fucking sexy.”

“And you showed him your tits? Was this before or after he’d unpacked?”

“It wasn’t like that.”

She growled. “Stop teasing and tell me what happened. I’m your best friend, I have a right to know.”

“It’s nothing really. I was getting ready for bed and I hadn’t shut the curtains.”

“You don’t shut your curtains at night?”

“No one’s lived next door for ages. I just forgot.” It was a lie but she didn’t know that. She didn’t need to know that I’d seen him in the kitchen before I began to undress, that I’d deliberately stood by the window, slipping off my top and hoping he’d look up and see me.

“So what happened?”

“He saw me.”

“He saw your what?”

“He saw me topless.”

“You should be careful Bella. What if he’s a rapist or something?”

“Don’t worry. He couldn’t have looked more shocked if he’d tried. He just turned away. I don’t think he’s going to come over and ravish me.”

“I wouldn’t mind being ravished.”

“Me neither.” We descended into a fit of giggles, my laughter stopping abruptly when I heard a noise downstairs. “Hang on,” I said, listening hard.

“What? What is it? Has he come to spank you for teasing him?”

“I don’t know. I’ll call you back.” I hung up, keeping the phone in my hand as I went downstairs. It had sounded like someone was in the house. I walked into the living room, ready to ring the police if there was any more noise. Had I locked the back door? I wasn’t sure. I gave it a rattle and it remained firmly in place. The front door was the same. A creak of a floorboard behind me. I spun round but there was nothing. Tiptoeing to the cupboard under the stairs, I grabbed the lamp from the table next to it, yanking the door open, ready to smash the head in of whoever might be hiding from me. The only thing in there was the vacuum cleaner. It looked accusingly up at me but I ignored the glare that said you should try using me from time to time.

Shaking my head, I turned back to the stairs, nearly jumping out of my skin when the alarm on my phone went off. Shit, I was going to be late for work if I didn’t get a move on. I still had to shower and have breakfast. I felt on edge as I walked back upstairs but there was no sign of anyone in my room or the spare room. Finally satisfied that I was alone I headed into the bathroom and stripped out of my work out gear. I hit play on my phone and left the music filling the air as I glanced at my face in the mirror. No spots. That wasn’t something I could say every day.

I climbed into the shower and spun the dial, letting the hot water cascade down onto me, humming along to the song. I ran my fingers through my hair. My eyes were closed when it happened.

The shower curtain was wrenched to the side and I was grabbed. Before I even had a chance to scream, a hand was over my mouth. I lost my balance on the wet surface under my feet, stumbling and falling to one side. I caught a single blurred glance at a shadowy figure behind me, water dripping in my eyes and stopping me from seeing properly. The hand clamped on my face shifted just enough for a cloth to be crammed in between my lips. It tasted of chemicals and I did my best to spit it out as a bag was shoved over my head.

All the time that was happening, I was lashing out, clawing with my nails, doing my best to break free from the insanely strong grip of whoever had grabbed me. A drawstring on the bag over my head was tugged tight and I found myself fighting for breath, half choked as I was dragged out of the bathroom onto the landing. I was thrown to the floor, landing with a heavy thud. I twisted to crawl away but whoever it was leapt on me, wrapping something cold and plastic round my wrists. There was a clicking sound and then my hands were stuck together. No amount of pulling could separate my arms.

The same was done to my thrashing ankles. They were tied in plastic something that clicked tighter until I was trussed up and unable to fight. Ten seconds ago I’d been humming in the shower. The song hadn’t even finished. Now I was bound in two places, unable to see, barely able to breathe, being dragged naked down the stairs into the hallway, my skin stinging from where the carpet rubbed along it. It was all I could do to breathe, my nostrils pressed against the bag, bile rising up inside me as the pain of the blow wracked my body.

I was still fighting to catch any kind of breath when I was moved again. I had no idea what was happening at the time but afterwards I was able to work out what he’d done. He took me through the door in the kitchen that led into my garage. Then he bundled me into the boot of my own car. As the boot slammed shut and I was left alone in a silent darkness, any hope that I had vanished. I was being kidnapped from my own house and no one would know where I was.

In the muffled coffin-like prison I was trapped inside, I could do nothing but rock my feet to thud against the side of the boot over and over until I fell onto my back, exhausted, in pain, terrified beyond belief. I was so scared I couldn’t even cry. But as the engine of the car rumbled into life, tears began to fall of their own accord, soaking the cloth of the bag. With a shuddering motion, the car began to move, driving out of the garage and onto the street, leaving my house, my phone, my hope, all far behind me.

 

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