Betrayal Of The Innocent - Part 2

She enters the shopping mall, with a feeling of confidence. Whilst scanning, if there is anyone, or rather any men, looking at her, she looks at her reflection in the windows of the stores. “Does she look pretty, does she look sexy, is her hairstyle perfect?”
As usual she first goes to her favourite restaurant for coffee. Knowing her surroundings creates a comfort zone for her. Although she seems this sexy, confident woman, she also has this frightened, confused child inside her that needs to feel secure, protected, save….
It’s a decorative restaurant, the open deck with its view of the city, is glorious, with white canvas umbrellas to keep the sun out. The inside, with widespread windows allow viewing way up to the hills. Tables, stylishly covered with its white linen tablecloths gives a feeling of cleanliness. There is intimate, circled little cubicles where you can embrace private special moments - we so tend to forget - with someone special.
The smoking area is located more towards the inside of the shopping centre, a round, quint, dim lit room, with small tables and the same intimate cubicles. The seats are covered with soft brown striped suede-like textured material. Creating a sense of comfort and the feeling of spending lasting, peaceful moments over your plate of food and drinks. Jennifer doesn’t smoke, she hates it, but she prefers the smoking area. It’s gloomy but quiet and comfortable. She can linger and unwind over her coffee as long as she likes, without really being noticed.
She feels like choking, smothered, when she enters the area. That chard smell sticking to your clothes, fills her with disgust. The whiff of smoke doesn’t seem to escape through the air cons and ventilators. The reek of it hangs thick and clingy in the room, but she puts it in the back of her mind.
When she sits down she immediately orders coffee from the waitress, a sombre unsociable, aloof lady, with a black top and pants, white apron, clinical. While waiting for her coffee, her mind wonders back to her thoughts from earlier…… Jennifer knows: she knows what people think of her: The rich, selfish, “I live for myself, I’m so pretty, I don’t care for anyone else”, person.
” Is it honestly her fault that people think of her like that?”
Her eyes fill with tears, she knows that it’s not true: her tantrums, egocentricity, blaring, hostility…., deep down she knows that’s not the real Jennifer. There is much, much more to her than anyone realise. She hides behind these actions, and re-actions, because the truth is she is scared…. scared that people who love or care about her, suddenly rejects her.
She is petrified of rejection; to her it seems she has been rejected her whole life. She turns into this spiteful person, to reject people first. She allows people near her up to a certain point, that’s it. People turn away from this affectionate woman that change into this preposterous child.
Sadly, in an effort to earn “other” people’s attention, she wants to show her love and affection with gifts and sometimes even her body: that is not emotions, it is touchable it is physical…………


Chapter Two

When Jennifer entered her friends room and he introduced her to his half-brother, she froze. The first and only thing that went through her mind was: “This is not good. This is trouble……"
It was as if something gripped around her heart. He just said “hi”, turned back on his stomach and continued texting on his phone. She wanted to face him and walked to the other side of the bed. She was curious and she was interested, very interested………