I'm Coming For You.

It had been three hours since I'd sent Julia to the store. Three hours since I'd told her we needed milk to make her favorite dish. It was our anniversary, and I wanted to treat Julia to her favorite dinner, and then I'd give her a nice massage to help her get over her rough day at work. And boy was it a rough day.

She'd been working as a customer service representative at the local fancy hotel, as usual, and it was a nice day as usual. Everyone was in a good mood, especially her boss. But that changed when a busload of children came into the hotel, apparently part of a school field trip that was staying there for the night. Naturally, it was also followed by a large group of teachers and staff. The good part was that they'd already pre-booked in advance, so everything was taken care of. The bad part was that there were so many students that had to be divided up into all the rooms, and that was just the beginning. Julia was forced to keep running up to the seventh floor in her high heels to warn the students to stop playing in the halls, among other things. There were several kids fighting, playing hide and seek on various floors, and even having elevator races. Not to mention, even though the pool was closed, the students kept slipping in there.

By the time she got home, she'd kicked off her shoes before she was completely inside. I saw how things were and immediately seated her on the couch. I told her this was going to be a great anniversary in spite of what happened, and went to prepare her a special meal. It was then that I learned that we were out of milk, and I was very frustrated. I was going to go to the store, but Julia had gotten changed and said she wanted me to tend to dinner. I sighed, telling her that she should just pick up a small bottle and come right back home.

That was then, this is now. I'd got dinner on hold while I wait for her. I'd tried calling her cell phone, but there's no answer. I was going to call the police department, but it wasn't enough time past for a missing persons case. I was growing more and more frustrated by the moment, I felt like the pressure that was on Julia was now on me. I thought I was going to have a stroke from running out of patience...

...And then, the phone rang. I ran to grab it, and barely got out a forced, "Hello?"

"Help! I'm near the train station! I need you!" It was Julia's voice, she sounded out of breath and in great trouble.

"Julia, what's wrong?" I asked.

“It’s him! He’s after me!” Julia replied. Almost immediately, I knew who it was. Julia’s ex, who refused to let go of her. Despite moving and getting a restraining order, nothing seemed to keep him away.

“Is he armed?” I asked, finding that dinner was now a thing to put on hold.

“He’s got some kind of large object! It looks like a club!” Julia said, sounding more out of breath than before. I could tell she was running based on the sounds in the background.

“Where are you now?” I asked, turning off the stove.

"The train station down the street, help me!" And then the line went dead. I didn't know what was going on, but I grabbed my jacket and ran out the door. I turned right and began running down the sidewalk, knowing that the train station was large, and while Julia could possibly lose him in there, it was possible that Julia’s ex could grab her and sneak onto a train with her, and I would never know. Nonetheless, I wasn’t going to let him get away. I ran as fast as I could, while in my mind, I kept repeating to myself, "Hold on, Julia! I'm coming for you!"