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It was long dark outside when they finally left the cinema after watching the newest action film that was playing. Emily did not care much for them, but Nathan really enjoyed, being a fanatic DC fan.
Her boyfriend wanted to go watch Joker in Venice last Summer, when they were showing at the film festival, but he was much too busy with work. To compensate, he went to the première in LA last week, before excitedly dragging her for a night session at a theatre in Charlestown.
She did not care much for superhero movies, but Nathan was a rather lonely person and had not much on the way of company to attend those things, so she bears it to indulge him.
The sky was a milky shade of a deep blue, with only a few stars dotting the dark mantle, the rest of them hidden behind the clouds. It might rain overnight. A nice cold breeze blew through the Boston streets, making the last Elm fallen leaves of the end of October tumble over the stone sidewalks of the streets.
It was very late, past one in the morning. The lights of bars and pubs that were closing flickered, the blue and green neon signs glowing their dim lights on the misty streets. Soft talking and music from the bars that were still open sounded through the almost empty street.
It almost seemed like scene from a movie and not the street close to her apartment. The blond man was walking her to her home, before driving back to his apartment at Back Bay.
Emily snuggled herself on her coat.
“Are you cold?” Nathan asks, kindly.
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
Her tiny hand brushed along Nathan’s as she stood next to him, taking in the beautiful sight in front of her.
Something about this city made Emily feel excited. She was a Rhode Island small-town girl, even Providence seemed beyond her means. Boston was always busy, alive, filled with people, no matter the time of the day.
She had been here before, but when she first moved here, she was scared to be on her own, but she soon got to know the city around her and the fear gradually disappeared. Now, she could walk blindly through the MBTA.
Nathan and Emily have been dating for three years, now. They met at a fundraiser promoted by his fraternity for her friend Tyler, whose car was T-boned on the driver’s side the year before and so desperately needed physiotherapy, but had no money for it, on top of his tuition.
She held no good memories from her Junior year, other than meeting and spending time with the boy. Besides Tyler, Chris had trouble in football, Becca did not get into law school, Kaitlyn lost her album recording, James was accused of harassment and Emily herself exploded from the compounded stress and fought incessantly with them.
Alas, her Senior year was much, much better. She managed to graduate with honours and come to Boston to work as a text reviewer at a publishing house, while Nathan followed her, joining grad school to study Business at Harvard. He commented with glee that his mother popped a vein in rage about him going there.
Life had been good to her.
Shivers ran down her spine as Nathan’s fingers entwined with hers. Such a small move made Emily shake on her feet. She fell hard and fast for the young man next to her. She felt comfortable and protected when she was with him and she felt like she could trust him.
“Let’s take a left here.” Nathan said and he gestured to an empty alley. “We can cut through the block.”
Through it, there was one door to what seemed a closed bar, but the place was lonely and the street lights were gloomy. The idyllic, romantic scene of the couple out in the town at night from before gave way to a dark, adrenaline-driven suspense flick, but the redhead woman tried to calm herself. She was not alone, and her boyfriend would protect her.
Emily clung onto his arm as they walked through the dark street. On the other side of the alley, two men were approaching them. The wind blew against her legs and she shivered. Something about the creepy situation did not feel right with her.
The two men came closer and she could see their faces in the light of the flicking streetlights. The left man was broad and his skin was paler than milk. His eyes were dark and he had not shaved in a while. The dark grey stubble on his chin, was most likely the same colour his hair had had before it had gone away, as he was bald. The other man was bigger and less muscled, yet he seemed equally strong. His skin was darker, like he had spent his entire life working out in the sun. There was an uninviting sneer on their faces that chilled her to the bone.
“Goodnight, sweetheart.” The smallest man said with a slick voice that made the young professional want to throw up.
Emily did her very best to ignore the man and squeezed Nathan’s hand, letting him know that she was everything but comfortable right now. He gave her a light squeeze back and he fastened his pace.
“Are you going to ignore us, darling?” The same man asked.
He was now standing right in front of them and, in the small light, she felt her soul leave her body for a short second when she saw what he was holding in his hand.
The man had a gun.
The woman squeezed her boyfriend’s hand so hard he could not feel his fingers anymore. Her heart was beating in her throat and she stared back at the man.
“What do you want?” Nathan’s voice sounded fierce, despite the situation.
“We just wanted to take a closer look at your little girlfriend, man.” The big man said as he stepped closer. His breath was stinking, as if he ate garbage.
He raised his hand and stroke her cheek with his finger. Emily gulped discreetly when his cold hand touched her skin and avoided to look at the two men.
“Such a pretty face.” The man mumbled and his smirk grew as his finger traced her jaw to her neck.
“I would advise you to keep your hands to yourself, filthy pig.” Nathan spat, letting go of her hand and stepping in front of her.
“Nathan, please…” Emily whispered with a trembling voice. “He’s armed.”
God, they were going to turn out into Thomas and Martha Wayne. Those thugs were going to shoot them and leave them to die. By the time someone finds them, they will be cold corpses on the street. At the very least, she did not have a son to dress up as a creepy bat, going around disregarding due process as a form of vengeance.
The big man took his hand back and placed it on Nathan’s shoulder. His fingers dug into his alabaster, covered skin and the dirty nails were hidden in the fabric of his fine Cashmere beige overcoat.
“What do you got?” The chubby man asked.
His brows were furrowed and he was looking at the Boston Brahmin with a light smile on his face.
Nathan sneered, throwing the thugs his wallet. “Take everything I got, but leave her alone.”
Emily could not identify whether he was pretending not to be scared or if he was actually not scared. His voice was clear and demanding, though he was not the one to ask. The two men glanced at each other quickly but not fast enough for she not to notice. Something about her boyfriend’s demeanour had thrown them off.
The big man let go of the blonde’s shoulder and then reached for his pockets, to see what else he could offer. The man with the gun raised it while bending down to pick up the wallet, and the Harvard student quickly put up his hands.
The hesitation that the men had had just mere seconds ago was now gone as they had realised that they had the upper hand in this situation. One of the thugs, the one with the weapon, quickly went through the wallet. Inside, there were the movie tickets, credit cards and a few hundred dollars that he carried around, a habit Emily had already asked him to shrug, but he insisted.
They both had left their mobile phones at her home, rationalizing that they had to be off in the cinema, anyways, and they had not wanted to be bothered on their date.
Normally, Emily would feel a little insecure without her phone, because she was afraid something would happen and she had nothing to contact anyone with, but she weighed that the theatre was five blocks away, in any case, and it was better not to walk around with it at night. Right now, she was more relieved than ever that she had decided not to bring it.
As it was predicted, whatever that was inside Nathan’s wallet seemed enough to please the two men, for that they lowered the gun. They must had hit a jackpot with it, if the young man’s spending habits were any indicative.
They stepped aside and Nathan quickly took her hand. He dragged Emily to the end of the alley. On their way, the big man did not hesitate to hit she on her bum as she walked by. A sob escaped her mouth and she ran with her boyfriend to safety, not resting until they were two streets further.
As they stood on the sidewalk of a busy street, the redhead broke down crying. The tears fell from her blue eyes as she tried to wrap her head around what just had happened. Nathan quickly put his arms around her and she buried her face in his neck, inhaling his scent to calm down.
“It’s alright, honey.” The man whispered, kissing her head lightly. “We’re fine. We’re safe.”
Emily controlled her shaky breath and looked up at her companion. She saw the shock on his face, too, and shook her head. “They took your wallet!”
“Don’t worry, there was barely anything in there. All they can do is borrow books at the library and go out for a free milkshake at Dairy Queen.” Nathan chuckled and she giggled watery. “Really, Em, it’s alright. We’re fine and tomorrow we’ll go to the police to report the assault. Who knows? I might get that punch card back after all.”
Emily nodded and once again hid her face in Nathan’s neck. His hands stroke over she back and he rested his chin on the top of her head. She stood there in silence for a while, as cars drove by and drunk teenagers sang on top of their longs on the other side of the street.
“Thank you.” The girl gripped his arms and said into the soft, perfumed fabric of Nathan’s coat. “Thank you for being there with me. For keeping your head cool.”
“I will always save you, dear.” Nathan said back and he lifted her head with his hand.
He kissed her softly and, just like that, they were transported back to the romance movie, and Emily was not ready for it to end just yet.