Hope (7 page)

The fresh produce was given by Don. It didn’t stay fresh for
long,
and what little could be found was a true
pleasure. The farmers were doing everything they could to introduce more and
more vegetables to the area.

“Hey, Damon, it has been a while since I’ve seen you here,”
Martin said. His arms were folded showing off an impressive bulge of muscle.

Damon cracked his knuckles, grabbed a basket, and started
walking the aisles.

“I forgot to pick up my load,” he said. Martin knew about
the supply of food to the closest workers for Don.

Martin grunted, grabbing a couple of plastic containers and
putting them in the basket. “They’re the best we got.”

Damon nodded his head accepting what he put in. Martin
wasn’t a bad guy, but like everyone else, he bargained for everything. Damon
didn’t hold that against him. In this world, everything needed to come at a
price.

“I don’t suppose you heard about a group of young thugs? Not
from around here. Most of them wore sweaters with hoods?” Damon asked.

Martin followed him around the store. From the frown on his
face, Damon knew the big guy was thinking.

“No, I haven’t heard of any, but I’ll keep an ear to the
ground. If they’re causing trouble, you’ll be the first to know.”

Damon nodded, and he made his way to the counter. In his
pockets were some of the goods he’d stashed away from his searches of the
rubble.

“Why do you want to know about the thugs?” Martin asked, looking
through the goods.

“They were in my apartment block. They’re not from around
here, and they attacked a woman.”

“Whore or stray?” Martin asked.

“Does it matter?”

“To a lot of men, yeah, it does.”

“Don will hate that.”

Martin sighed. “Don hasn’t been around lately. A lot of
people are losing their grip with reality. It is getting worse out there.
More animalistic.”

“I know.”

Damon picked up the last of his goods as Martin took one of
the chains he’d found through his searches.

“What happened to the woman?” Martin asked.

“Why?”

“It gets lonely.”

“She’s taken.” He snapped the words out, startled by the
sudden urge to claim her as his own. The surge of possession shook him. “I’ve
got to go.”

“Take care, Damon. Having a woman in your place is dangerous,
especially with the thugs you’ve just told me about. They pose a threat to you.”

“Thanks for the tip.”

 
He walked back to his
apartment block with his bag in one arm and the knife in the other. Damon
climbed the stairs to his door, unlocked it, and went inside.

He moved towards his room.

“I’m back, Penny.”

“Thank God. I hate this place. I feel like I can’t breathe.”

He understood what she meant. Making the hide hole had been
brilliant. The only problem was his fear of close, confined spaces. Even if he
needed to use it, he never would be able to get into that thing. He’d rather
die fighting than be at the mercy of his fear.

Banging on the wood, he pulled it out of the way.

Penny climbed out, shaking her body down and tapping it. “Is
there anything on me?” she asked.

“You’re clean,” he said, moving back to grab the food. “I
didn’t know what you liked, so I got a good selection of food available.”

He felt her following behind him. She’d need a good meal
before going out to the club. There was no way anyone would risk eating food in
public. The bag he’d carried the food in was covered, so no one would risk
attacking him.

“I’m not a picky eater.”

“Good because I can’t cook for shit.” He picked the plastic
containers out of the bag.

“Nothing fresh?” she asked.

“Nope, I left the fresh stuff at Don’s, and I didn’t like
the look of the shit on Martin’s shelf. I’ll pick it up tonight. Speaking of
tonight, you need to wear something a lot less than what you’ve got on.”

She glanced down her body and then back at him. The sound of
a tummy grumbling made him chuckle. “First, we need to eat.”

Penny looked through the food. “There is not a lot to cook
with. No meat either.”

“Meat is as rare as rocking horse shit,” he said.

She frowned. “I don’t get it.”

“And I’m not explaining it. Can you cook something with what
I got?” he asked.

“I can try.”

“Great. I’m going to look through your clothes.” He pressed
a finger over her lips. “No arguing. You’ll do as you’re told.”

He grabbed her bag and began pulling clothes out of it. Most
of her outfits were mismatched dressed with a few pairs of jeans thrown into
the mix. He found one long denim skirt that appeared to be well worn and a pink
cotton dress.

Pulling his knife out of his pocket, he set to work
preparing her an outfit for her to change into at the club.

Chapter Six

Penny nibbled on her bottom lip as she looked at the food.
None of it looked appetising. She didn’t realise how much food was actually on
offer at the farm. Working from plastics had never been her strong point.

Opening the plastic containers, she took a quick sniff at
the contents and turned her nose up at the scents. They smelt awful. Penny
didn’t want to risk his anger by throwing them out. She did the best she could
with what he had in the small kitchen.

Rummaging around his kitchen, she found a pot along with a
couple of out of date herbs and spices. Shrugging her shoulders she began to
work it all together into one big pot.

The oven looked dated as well. There was a pit underneath
the main stove. Several pieces of wood, from old furniture, and some matches
were beside the stove. Penny guessed he’d found the matches through rummaging.
She placed the pot on top of the flame she created. Once she was done, she
cleared away all of the rubbish before making her way into the living room.

Damon held her denim skirt in his hands.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m fixing your outfit for tonight.” He flicked his knife
closed, throwing the skirt and top to her. “Go and put it on. I want to see
what it looks like.”

“You knifed my clothes,” she said.

“Do you think Don will accept you going to work looking like
that?”

“What is wrong with my clothes?” Penny put one of her hands
on her hip. There was a pain in her heart at his vicious words.

“You’re working in a sex bar, Penny. Men want to see flesh.
They want to get a taste of the forbidden. There will be plenty of women with
nothing on offering them a good time.” He stood up from his seat on the sofa.

“How many of those women have you slept with?” she asked.
What? Why did you ask that? That is none of
your business.

Why was she so nervous at his answer?

“I don’t sleep with women.”

She let out a sigh in relief.

“I sleep in my bed, and I fuck women, Penny. There is a
difference.” He brushed past her. The relief she had felt moments ago
disappeared. She felt hurt and jealous at another woman having him.

You don’t
know him. He’s not yours and will never be yours.

Penny walked through to the bedroom. She pulled the shirt
over her head and then pulled the pants she wore off. There was a pain in her
heart that she didn’t understand.

Shrugging off her feelings she thought about what Don had
said to her.

“If you think
you can marry for love, Penny, get that notion out of your head. The world is
not full of fairy tales or roses anymore. It is a hard place, and love is not
part of it.”

She was learning that fact rather quickly.

Pulling on the skirt and the top, she tried to make it fit
past her stomach. The material wouldn’t budge. She walked out of the room. Damon
had pulled the disaster from the stove and was spooning it into bowls. “It
smells good,” he said without looking up. Didn’t the man have any sense of smell?

When he was done, he looked up.

“Well, do I look slutty enough for you?” she asked, feeling out
of place.
 
Her shoulders slumped in
defeat.

“You look good.”

She hated his words. They pretty much meant she looked okay,
and there was not a thing he could do to change that.

“Here, eat this.”

He handed her a bowl and moved to stand by the window.

The food looked like vomit.

Penny forked a potato and then put it into her mouth. It
didn’t taste as bad as it looked. The flavour was dull, but it was better than
starving. She stood next to him looking out of the window overlooking the city.

“This is good.”

“No, it’s not.”

Damon turned to look at her. “Someone really did a number on
you, didn’t they?”

“I’m just taking Don’s advice. This place is not for love.”

He stared at her for several minutes. “This world is what it
is, Penny. Don wasn’t trying to upset you. If you can face the fact the world
is shit, then maybe you can find some happiness.”

She wrinkled her nose. “What happiness can be found?”

From what she saw it was a never-ending cycle of pain, panic,
and fear. She’d rather die than live her life like that.

“Companionship can be found and friendship. Don said that it
this wasn’t a place for love, but that doesn’t mean love doesn’t exist.”

Penny glanced at him, waiting for him to continue.

“You can’t help how you feel. If the world was as bad as you
think it is, we’d have all killed ourselves years ago.”

“Maybe we can’t kill ourselves.”

“We can kill ourselves. Even before the world went crazy
people were dying by their own hand, Penny.”

She scooped up some food and tasted it. “Then why haven’t
we?”

“Because there is a chance the world could change. For a
short time we can lose ourselves in another person. Sex is not all bad. There
is a connection during it at least for a second when nothing else matters. The
world is not a big, awful place, and I think you need to start opening your
eyes and seeing more.”

Penny stared out of the window. “What more is there to see?”

“What do you see?” he asked, stepping behind her.

She felt the heat of him behind her. Penny closed her eyes
to try to control her raging thoughts. Her nipples tightened, and warmth spread
down between her thighs.

It was Damon who was having an effect on her body. Biting
her lip, she opened her eyes and stared out of the window. She thought about
what he’d said and the women he’d taken. Her thoughts began to wither.

“I see crumbling buildings. Buildings that are in so much
decay they’re falling down. There are smoke fumes in the distance from a fire.
Maybe it is a fire that someone set or coming from a badly constructed
building. The fields are brown and barren. The roads have holes going up and
down. Children are crying in the street, and a woman is offering her body to
every man passing by.”

“You’re seeing the bad, Penny.”

“What good is there to see?”

He placed a hand on her shoulder. The small touch made her
heart thump harder against her chest. “When I look out of the window I see the
sun shining brightly in the sky. That sun is providing our crops with the light
they need to grow. Chemical reactions are occurring that means we could have a
good harvest this coming year. The buildings are in different stages of
construction. There are people walking the streets that are still alive and
prepared to fight another day. They haven’t been broken down by illness or
depression. Like everyone else, they’re fighting in their own way. The child is
crying for a parent across the street. At least the little kid has a parent.
The woman selling herself on the street is prepared to do everything she can to
survive.” He paused, and he began to stroke her exposed shoulder. His touch
sent goose-bumps down her body. Her nipples tightened, and the desire to lean
back was strong. “See, Penny, the world can be what you make of it. All you
need to do is fight for it.” Damon pressed a kiss to her temple and then walked
away.

****

Later that afternoon, Damon told her to change into the
clothes she’d worn earlier. She glanced down at the denim skirt and frowned.
“Why am I changing out of my work clothes?”

“We’re about to walk the streets of
New York City
. Do you really want me to fight
every single man who tries to touch you?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“Good, because getting beat up is part of my job. I’d rather
save it until I’m actually at work rather than before. Change into your other
clothes, and put those you’re wearing into a clean bag. Shelley will have a
place for you to change when we get there.”