Learning To Trust Again

 Rebecca knew they were trying to scare her, and decided not to give them the satisfaction. She squared her shoulders and said in a firm voice, ‘excuse me.’ As she spoke, she attempted to move around them and continue her journey. But when she took her first step, one of the men moved to block her path. He was the one who had spoken a moment ago. He was not very tall for a man, just a few centimeters taller than herself but he was thick set with muscular arms and huge shoulders, bulging beneath his t-shirt. His eyes raked over her and he asked in a menacing tone ‘what’s the hurry sweetheart?’

Rebecca knew what he was seeing. Tousled, shoulder length brown hair. She had released it from the hair tie that had held it up while she worked just before she left the hospital. Even features but with a nose, the shape of which, was far from perfect and direct blue eyes. For the rest, she knew from the looks she got from some men her body was at least passable. Without question, she had curves, but in her uniform they weren’t displayed at their best. Something she was grateful for at the moment and was indeed part of its purpose. In her job, working in close quarters with people, she didn’t need to attract unwanted attention. However her body wasn’t hidden either.

For a moment anger coursed through Rebecca. How dare they do this to her? She should be able to walk the streets without being harassed like this. Glaring at the men, she attempted to move away again as she said in an uncompromising tone, emphasising each word, ‘let me pass.’

But far from having the desired effect, the man just smiled, showing even white teeth. For some reason, this struck Rebecca as odd. Why she even noticed, when there were more important things to worry about, she didn’t know, but all she could think was that it seemed incongruous that a man who would impede a person’s progress along a public street would have good teeth.

As she watched him look her over again, she noticed that his eyes lingered on her chest. It caused her blood to run cold.

He said ‘I don’t think so.’

Her anger fading now as they continued to detain her and she realised this wasn’t just a joke, Rebecca was soon overcome by fear. She tried not to panic. Her eyes darted around behind the men, searching for someone to help her. But there was no one else in the vicinity, the street was deserted and were she to call for help no one in the pub would be able to hear her over the racket. That left only her, so forcing a calmness into her tone that she didn’t feel, she demanded again ‘let me pass, now.’

However the man just laughed and said ‘I think we’re going to have some fun first, eh boys?’ And as the others muttered their agreement he grabbed her arm and forced her to walk down the lane running along the side the pub. The other three men followed close behind.