Everyday Dani felt more assured that Beau would stay away. The wall she put up between her and Kasper grew more uncomfortable. She broke him, because the happy charismatic star had turned sullen and sour.

She had been in the ladies' room fixing her lipstick when Sue Ellen walked in. Dani smiled. "How is it working for Kasper?"

"Great! It's a lot more exciting than working for Philip. He's so nice."

Dani winced internally. No regrets, she pushed him away. He had been behind closed doors with Baxter earlier. After Kasper left, Dani stood in her boss's office door. "Is everything okay?"

He let out a long sigh. "Yeah. It's a family matter."

She felt a pang, but she wasn't family and would always be left out.

The following morning, Dani woke early. Maybe she would crack her wall so she could at least greet Kasper. Slowly, they could work their way back to the friend zone. Pleased with her plan, she took a few minutes to clean her bathroom. After adding the bathroom trash to the bag in the kitchen, she took the tied bag to the trash room on her floor.

It was time to shower and get dressed for work. As she pushed on her apartment door, she stepped inside and kicked aside the boot she used to prop the door open.

When the door clicked, something cold hit her throat. A stench overpowered her as she tried to sound brave. "Beau. You don't want to ruin your career."

"Shut up or I'll hurt you."

The cold blade shook. The voice was a stranger's. "How did you get in?"

"People leave. It was easy."

"What do you want?" Her voice shook like she was sitting on an unbalanced washer.

"Nice home. Money. You people hurry around and ignore me. Too important. Too rich."

"I don't have cash. I don't have cash." She had a bank card and two credit cards, one was her company card. Her wallet was in her coat pocket.

She didn't carry a pocketbook during the week. The soft leather handbag hung on the back of her door. She looked at it, knowing it was empty of valuables. Thankfully, she left her laptop at work after working late.

"Sit there." He pushed her onto her sofa. "Don't move." She did as he said and winced remembering she left her phone in the bedroom.

The guy was relatively young. She didn't recognize him, but she ignored the homeless. Growing up in a small town, the people on the streets shocked her when she moved to Boston. They had always made her feel uncomfortable. What if her paychecks stopped? Rent was expensive.

He lurched for her bag and dumped it out. He looked at the items scattered on the floor. Could she get away? The sun streaming in hit the blade in his hand. His dirty shoe kicked the contents of her purse - lipstick, gum, mints, tampons, a small bottle of pain reliever, a nail file, a trial sized hand sanitizer, a pocket pack of tissues, a pen...

It occurred to her, there should be a twenty tucked in a zipped pocket. Cab money, just to be safe.

"I think there might be some cash in a pocket. Take it and go. I won't tell anyone."

He fumbled with her leather bag and found a ten. It wasn't much, but she hoped it would be enough. Her body sat rigid as he looked at her. "It's cold outside. I'm not leaving and neither are you."

He stood staring at her for a long time with his knife reminding her not to move. If he cleaned up, he would blend in with his nondescript brown hair and plain face. Instead, he blended into the sidewalks.

When he turned to her kitchen, she started to stand. "Freeze or I'll stab your heart."

He rummaged through her kitchen touching her things making a mess. Her apartment was her domain. Everything in it she earned. Having grown up with little, every purchase meant something. A plate fell on the floor with a crash. She took her time picking plates she loved and afford. It was like a bride choosing her registry items, but she used her own money to gift herself.

Too afraid to move, she watched as he violated her home. He ate leftover Chinese from her refrigerator with her fork. At least he didn't use a glass to drink the beer from the back of her fridge. They were old from when she dated Mac. Maybe the expired brew would make him sick.

He finished the drink and his hand shook less. He sat down on the floor with his back against the door. Maybe she could tell him she needed the bathroom and sneak in the bedroom.

"I, um, have to go to the bathroom."

"You do. Do you know what it's like to piss on the street? You can find out. Go in your fancy pajamas."

She forgot she hadn't dressed and felt braless for the first time. She wore flannel PJ which looked like men's with a top and bottoms. "Can I get dressed?"

"Dressed," he mocked. "I wear these clothes morning, noon and night. I don't get dressed."

As the time ticked, she started shaking. For years, she worried about Beau hurting her, but a stranger with a knife wanted to kill her. She finally felt free of the threat she had lived with and an addict trapped her.

She moved to stand, and he lunged at her. She shut her eyes as the blade touched her neck. "Don't move."

She tried to stamp on his foot, but she had slippers on. He held her tighter, and she gagged at the smell of him.

"Bitch, in her fancy place. If I had some shit, I would shoot you up. First, you would lose your job, then your home, your family. Your tight ass would be on the street turning tricks to shoot up again and again."

"There are programs that help." She had been to an event. "I have gowns worth hundreds of dollars. You can sell them for money. I'll get them."

"I can't walk around with dresses. Don't move."

It happened quickly. His wrist jerked, and he sliced under her chin. It hurt, and she winced as her warm blood dripped down. "You cut me!"

"You moved."

"I didn't. I need something to stop it."

"Don't move or it will be your heart."

He went to the kitchen and threw her dish towel at her. The blood would ruin the light gray, but she held it to her chin while he reached into her fridge for another beer. Eventually, he would have to pee. A shiver ran through her. He would probably pee in her sink or on her floor.

He stood staring at her. She looked down and tried to pray, but it had been too long. She stopped when her mother left. A tear slipped out for the millions of times she needed a mother. When Derek was sick. When she tried to make Thanksgiving dinner on her own. When a girl, whose name Dani couldn't remember, called Darlene white trash. When Beau squeezed the life out of her with his possessiveness. When she fell in love with the one man she couldn't have.

She was not ready to die. The clock on her microwave told her screaming wouldn't help. Her building cleared out. Ironically, no one worked from home. Maybe because it was near Longwood Medical. Thankfully, it wasn't close to Beau's hospital, but right then, she would be glad to see him.

When he went for a third beer, she worried he might get drunk. Had there been three or four in there? Why hadn't she thrown them out? Most recently, she had imagined offering the old malt to Beau if he ever showed up. Maybe she should have googled if old beer could make a person sick. She never drank beer, but Beau did when they were in college.

A memory surfaced. He had gone to a party with his team. Dani had stayed at the dorm. Her neighbor across the hall invited her over. Then the guy her friend liked showed up with his friends. Dani should have left, but they were laughing and having fun. She never had fun. Beau showed up smelling like beer. He grabbed her arm and pulled her across the hall while calling her a slut like her mother. Just because she left didn't make her a slut. She argued if she was a slut they should break up. It was the only time she suggested it. He claimed her by thrusting into her unprepared body. A slut would have been wet. Her vagina was tender for a week, especially when Beau wanted sex. It was the week she sent her deposit to the college in Boston.

She looked up. The man finished his beer. With his free hand, he rubbed himself. "You know. I bet you could give me..."

"No!" She screamed. She would fight him off to her death. As he lunged at her, she lifted her knee. Instinctively, she struck him in the nose. He screamed. She couldn't stop screaming as he pointed the blade at her.

Deep breaths. Quite the surprise!

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