Page 2 of Malice
The woman turned her attention back to the notebook open on the table in front of her. If it wasn’t for stiff way she sat and the fist in her lap that Malice could only see because of how far away he was, he would have thought she was completely oblivious to the man who radiated violence standing at her table. That white knuckled fist told him she was aware of the risk that the man wouldn’t walk away.
“Can I get you something, sir?” the waitress who’d taken Malice’s order stood on the other side of the man still standing next to the woman’s table, but far enough away that she wasn’t in arms’ reach. “A table of your own perhaps?”
That statement just upped the waitress’s experience in Malice’s opinion, and her tip, at least from him. She’d not only noticed that something was off, but stepped in. She was wasted working waiting tables. There had to be another job that would better use her observation skills.
“No thank you. I was just leaving.” The man shot one more glare at the woman seated at the table then spun on his heel and marched out, not bothering to look around at who might be watching or even at the waitress who stood only a couple of feet away.
Malice watched him go, not trusting that this was over.
2
Bonnieforcedherselftokeep her eyes on her notebook and her clenched hand under the table, not just after Phillip had walked away, but until after he’d left the restaurant. Only then did she allow herself to take a deep breath and look around. She could only hope no one had noticed.
But she knew better than that. At least one person noticed. The waitress had stepped in and asked if Phillip had wanted a table. And made a point of asking if he wanted one of his own. Bonnie was grateful, but at the moment she’d also been terrified.
She forced herself to relax. To unclench the hand resting in her lap and to stop holding herself so stiff.
“Are you all right, honey?” The waitress came back with a coffee pot to top off the mug Bonnie had barely touched.
“I’m fine. Thank you for stepping in.” She tried to smile but was afraid it came across as more of a grimace. “He would have left eventually, but you made him realize we weren’t alone, and that made his leaving happen faster.”
“You need to shake yourself free of him, honey.” The older woman patted Bonnie’s shoulder. “He’s not good for you.”
“I know. I thought I had, but he just won’t shake.” Bonnie smiled at the older woman as she tried not to let how much Phillip’s showing up here, in public, had shaken her. She watched the older woman walk away and go back to work. If he would try this here, what would he do at her apartment, if he figured out where it was? There would be no one to see. What if he took that as a license to do whatever he wanted? She fought back the shiver of fear that threatened to overtake her body and instead took another deep breath, this time forcing some of the tension from her body as well as thoughts of Phillip from her head.
She’d left him, now if only she could get him to leave her alone.
A few minutes later the waitress was back with her meal. Bonnie set her notebook aside and turned her attention to the food. She’d been looking forward to this all week and she wasn’t going to let the asshole she’d left ruin it for her. He didn’t deserve another moment of her attention, much less an entire evening.
She turned her thoughts back to the painting she’d spent most of the last day working on, remembering the details she wasn’t quite happy with and thinking about how to fix them as she dug into the chicken fried steak that was her favorite. It was so good but not something she needed to eat every day, so she saved it for special occasions.
Today’s occasion? She’d closed the deal for a commissioned mural. It was bigger than anything she’d done before, but the store owner had only the vaguest idea of what he wanted and had given her complete creative license within that. She’ been thrilled when he’d chosen her and nervous he would decide he wanted someone other than her the whole time they’d been negotiating price and how long she had to finish the work.
Now that the deal was done, and he’d paid the advance, she’d begun working on the design. It was only starting to make it to paper, but she had a couple of ideas already.
As she cut another piece and took a bite, she thought a little more about the piece. The store owner wanted a full wall piece, his entire vision was motorcycle riders on the road with a Wyoming landscape in the back. That would be easy enough, but she needed to add more, something to make it unique.
She would need to research Harley motorcycles. She didn’t know much about them other than they’d been around a long time, and they were loud. But since this was a Harley dealership, the bikes needed to be what was sold there. Or did they? Didn’t a lot of motorcycle riders go for custom bikes? She’d also have to look into the legalities and copywrite infringement. Maybe she could get away with painting bikes that looked similar and not putting logos on them.
She tilted her head and stared off into space as she thought about it for a moment. Then realized her dinner was getting cold and pushed thoughts of this project out of her mind long enough to finish eating.
Once done, she packed up her things to leave, determined to make it home before she let herself get distracted again. She paid her ticket and dug out her keys and had them in her hand as she walked out of the diner, pausing for a moment at the door as she scanned the parking spaces and tried to remember where she’d parked.
It only took her a second to spot the bright blue vehicle that was part of why she’d chosen the car. It was easy to see. Which worked in her favor both on the road and in parking lots, where she tended to forget where she’d parked, even a few minutes before.
She headed toward where she’d parked the car, only vaguely aware that the restaurant door opened behind her and someone else had come out, it made her glad she hadn’t lingered longer in front of the door.
Bonnie had just stepped past the edge of the building, intent on getting to her car, when a hand clamped around her upper arm and jerked her to a stop.
“Who the hell do you think you are to embarrass me like that?”
The voice that snarled in her ear told her who had grabbed her. Phillip. She thought he’d given up and gone home when he’d left. Apparently not.
A quick glance around told her there was no one there to see what he was doing. Trying to appeal to his need to not make a scene wouldn’t work this time. Now she had to figure out how to get away without that.
“Answer me!” The tight band around her arm tightened as he shook her.
What could she say that wouldn’t make things worse? How could she make him see reason so she could go home, and he wouldn’t follow her? Again. Her mind spun but she came up with nothing.