Mutual Trust and Loyalty

She despised being pressed against a wall. Who does that? A sick person, that was who. A flash of Ladislas' face came to her mind and she shook it away.

Instead, she allowed fresh tears to form in her eyes as she stared at the locked door. She clutched her clothes and allowed a single tear to roll down before she wiped it away harshly. 

"… treating me like a two-bit hooker…" she said in a low voice. But she knew he heard it. The corridor was empty and her insect-like voice carried. "…forcing himself on me…" she sniffed.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, her new phone and she pulled it out. She looked at Pops' name flashing and picked it up after making a grand show of clearing her voice.

"Hi, I had to rush back to the apartment, sorry," she said. She allowed the little crack in her voice to show.

"Oh," the person from the other side said. "You didn't have anything to eat. Do you want me to bring something back?"