Chapter 38

 

Thursday night and April was back at the Dog and Duck with Joey and Rachel. It was becoming a habit after work. Joey didn’t drive to work on a Thursday so they could go out after they’d finished.

They were huddled together around a table enjoying their drinks. Rachel was holding court and moaning there were no decent men about.

“What happened to the last bloke?” Joey asked, “I thought you liked him?”

“I did, but I reckon he had a wife and kids at home. That’s the trouble with online dating; you don’t really know who you’re getting.”

“What makes you think he had a wife and kids?” April asked.

“’Cause his profile’s gone off the website.”

“Jesus,” Joey pulled a face, “that’s not a great advert for these sites, is it? Don’t they do background checks on people?”

“God, how old are you, Joey?” Rachel said scathingly. “They can’t check up on everyone registering on a site. There’s got to be some trust. And I have met a few nice ones, they never last though, that’s the problem. You should go on, Gemma, they’d be queuing up to meet with you once they saw your photo.”

“Er, no thank you,” she said, “I couldn’t be doing with all that. I’d rather meet someone in person and take my time getting to know them.”

“Yeah, easier said than done, though. You look round, is there anyone you’d fancy in here?”

April allowed her eyes to wander around the room and they stopped at a reasonably good-looking man propping up the bar and talking in a group.”

“He looks okay in the white shirt by the bar.”

Rachel turned to see who she meant. The tall man, who appeared to be in his early thirties, looked over at them as if he knew they were discussing him.

“Hey, well spotted,” Rachel widened her eyes. “He looks more than okay to me.”

Joey sighed, “I’m off outside for a fag while you two are window shopping.”

Rachel jumped up, “I’m coming too. I reckon that bloke’s clocked Gemma. He’ll be over if we’re out the way.”

“He needn’t bother,” April said, “I’ll go get some more drinks while you’re outside, he won’t be able to catch me then. Same again?”

 

April returned to their table with a tray of drinks from the bar.

“Hi,” a male voice spoke behind her.

Rachel had been right. It was the man they’d been looking at a few minutes earlier.

“Have your friends gone?” he asked, “I wasn’t sure.”

“No, they’re outside. They’ll be back in a minute.”

“Do you mind if I join you until they come back? I’m Mike, by the way.”

“Yes, I do actually.”

He gave her a puzzled look, “Are you with the bloke?”

“No.” She took a breath in, “I’m just having a quiet drink with friends and I don’t want to pick anyone up. So, it’s probably best if you go back to your friends before mine return.”

“Okay, okay,” he raised the palms of his hands. “I’m only trying to be friendly.”

“I know, but I’m not interested.”

“Your loss.”

“Yeah, right.”

She sat down hoping he’d get the message to clear off.

“If you change your mind, you know where I am.”

“Thanks, but I won’t.”

He raised his eyebrows, “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

“I think I can live with it.”

“You fancy yourself as something special, don’t you,” he sneered.

Jesus Christ, she needed rid of him.

She stood up, so she was level with him. “Mike,” she emphasised his name, “why don’t you piss off and go find someone that might be interested.”

His skin coloured, “Oh, I get it,” he leered, “you’re a fucking dyke. Tell you what, I can fuck you and your friend if you want.”

She leant forward so her mouth was close to his ear.

“The only fuck I’m interested in, is you fucking off. So why don’t you do that now ’cause I’ve already had a bellyful of you.”

She turned her head towards the door and saw Joey and Rachel coming back.

“Oh, look, here are my friends now. See you around, Mike.”

He walked away back to his mates who jeered knowing he’d been knocked back.

 

“Well?” Rachel asked enthusiastically.

“Well what?”

“I told you he’d come over.”

“And I told you I’m not interested.”

“You’re such a spoilsport, Gemma. Isn’t she, Joey?”

He shrugged. “If she doesn’t want to meet random men, it’s up to her. There’s nothing wrong with being single, I like it!” He took a gulp of his pint.

“God you two are so boring,” Rachel said. “You should be together, sat at home in your slippers watching telly and drinking cocoa.” She craned her neck to see Mike who was back with his friends near the bar. “I think he’s fit, and if you’re not interested, I might try my luck with him.”

April widened her eyes at Joey, “On that note, I’ll make this my last and get off. My slippers and cocoa are waiting.”

 

April walked away from the pub towards the bus stop thinking about Rachel. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for her life, which sounded a struggle. She worked in a factory packing fish fingers in the day, and cleaned at the gallery each evening five nights a week. There was no way of improving her lot, she wasn’t a particularly bright girl, and as far as April could tell, all she did was work and go out with losers. It’d be nice if she could meet a decent man, but being single in London was the norm as most men Rachel’s age would be in relationships and bringing up kids. As she knew only too well herself, there wasn’t an abundance of single men around, and internet dating wasn’t for her. While plenty of it was legitimate, there were some real weirdos out there and she encountered enough of those in the police without dating any of them.

 

As she turned a corner towards the route to the bus stop, she became aware something wasn’t right. She turned around but there was no-one behind her. The street was deserted. Odd that in a city of over eight million, she was all alone. It wasn’t much further to walk to the end of the road where it’d be busier nearer the bus stop. She’d be safe then.

The police officer in her sensed something was wrong. Her internal antenna was on full alert. It was quieter than usual down the street. She’d walked the same route several times and there was usually a few people milling about, but not tonight. She increased her pace.

Was someone following her?

She was certain she’d heard someone behind her, or had she sensed it?

A few more paces. Should she run?

She turned again. Her instincts had been right.

A huge fist smacked her hard in the face. She felt herself falling and her head hit the pavement before all went black.

 

Everything was blurry. She could barely open her eyes. She had an awareness of being dragged, and it only took seconds for her to realise exactly by whom.

Mike, the tosser from the bar.

She started breathing deeply, trying to take in some oxygen so she’d be able to react when he stopped. Her head kept banging on something like soil, but she was too groggy to support it properly.

After a few minutes, he released his grip and she slumped in a heap on the ground. It was dark, almost black. There was a street lamp, however it was too far away to offer much light, but she knew instinctively exactly where he’d dragged her to. It was one of the allotments she passed on the way to the bus stop.

Although she was slightly more alert, she faked being dozy by moving her head from side to side and groaning, as if semi-conscious. It had been a massive punch he’d hit her with. Maybe he boxed or something similar.

He started to fumble with his belt and released his huge dick, glistening in the tiny bit of light.

“Right, bitch, you’re going to fucking get it,” he was working himself as he moved towards her, “this’ll fucking teach you.”

He let go of his dick and grabbed her jeans to undo them.

She was ready for him. She reached for his dick and wrapped her hand around it, twisting and squeezing as hard as she could. He gave a high-pitched scream and fell onto his side. She squeezed, harder and harder, and dodged his arms as they lashed out at her, but she wouldn’t let go. He wailed like a banshee as she eased herself into a kneeling position.

She held on, and still he screamed.

Her legs were weak, but she managed to get to her feet and as she let go, she stamped as hard as she could on his tackle.

He rolled onto his side with his knees up in a foetal position, groaning. “You fucking bitch.”

“Like I already told you, Mike, piss off.”

She ran.

Adrenaline and shaky legs spurred her on. She kept on running until she was out of the allotments and continued onto the main road. As luck would have it, she spotted a black cab and raised her arm.

The taxi stopped alongside her. She quickly opened the door and checked over her shoulder to see if he’d come after her. All she could see where a couple walking hand in hand.

Where were you when I needed you?

She got in and slammed the door behind her. “Notting Dale, please.”

Her face throbbed, and her stomach churned. She let out a deep sigh of relief. She’d just escaped being raped.

What must she look like? She touched her aching cheek.

“Alright, love?” the driver asked looking at her in his mirror.

“I’m okay,” she replied, “I fell over.”

“One too many?” he asked sympathetically.

“Yeah, something like that.”

Shit.

What the hell was she going to look like for work tomorrow?