Walk Abigail home

You leave Krystal in the pub. She doesn’t look so disappointed. You can see her already assessing the other men in the saloon bar.

Outside evening is darkening, night rapidly descending.

“You two alright walking in this?” you ask the two women. They both say they will be, but you’re not convinced. It would be gentlemanly for you to escort them. Except Abigail isn’t going back to the school and Anissa is. Apparently, she walked to school this morning, and her flat is in the other direction.

You decide to escort Abigail.

“You appear distracted,” you tell her as you walk beside her.

She pauses before replying. “Yes, I am. I told you, my ex is in prison. Well, apparently he isn’t any more. He got probation. I thought I had a few more years before he got out.”

“You think he’ll come looking for you?”

“I don’t know. I hope not. I hope he’s got over it. But I don’t know. Before he went to prison, he made it clear he wouldn’t let me go. That’s why I testified against him. I thought it was the only way to get away from him. I hoped the years apart would allow him to accept our relationship was over, but he was never very good at accepting things he didn’t want to.”

“Look, Abigail, you know you have friends here. We’ll look after you.”

She smiles. “I know, you, Anissa, Spencer, heck even Blair and Krystal, even Mrs Oversight will protect me. I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about my parents. I persuaded them to move, but they didn’t move far, and they didn’t do all the things I had to do to hide myself. I couldn’t ask them to do all that. They’re old. They couldn’t rip up their life to hide themselves like I did. If he goes looking for them, he’ll find them.”

“Do your parents know you’re here?”

“Yes, but I know they won’t tell him. They never liked him anyway. At the time I thought it was parents being overprotective, but I know now they were just trying to save me from myself. But they’re ****, and Derek can be very persuasive.”

“Look, if you ever need anything, just shout. You have friends here. I like to think I’m one of them.”

Her smile is heartwarming, and dick-hardening. It’s the one thing you remember when she turns off for her flat, an anonymous modern block of concrete and glass. You watch her until she moves into her complex. Then you turn and walk your own way home.