Overly Obsession

yn's

cariously on my nose and a lukewarm macchiato clutched in hand. I breathed in deeply, relishing the open air for a few sweet mome

my coffee as my stomach churned in protest. I wish I could say that it was due to some particularly nasty out-of-season stomac

ves, scarves and those weird winter coats that make you look like minia

ot one of t

g, but as I dragged my poor frozen feet in a pair of ill-chosen black heels, I couldn't

office sofa, I was finally ploughing my way home through the big apple back to the warm haven that was my bed. This

enty somethings; no doubt off to spend the evening in some bar and repeat the same mistakes that I'd made only twelve hours prior. Moving from the English coast to

groan of dismay I shifted the coffee to my other hand in order to access the little outdated box. A

pen, before a particularly una

ed on the other end of the line, my weak attempt at covering my mouth with the

lly, side stepping a pair of older Turkish men f

ffed, "A bl

jectile vomit on Terry at one point," I explained, the mere image of my colleague's open-mouthed donut ch

d've thought of this before you decided that d

des of the road before throwing the law to the wind and hurriedly jaywa

va isn't eve

ety, I scoffed loudly at her response, "And? Neither are the Aus

nerd," She s

into someone whilst maneuvering by a newspaper dispenser, "Oh, sorry.

call my big sist

ically, "No, obviousl

balls than actual human limbs, and I've officially had my fourteenth pee today," She explai

nishing my Macchiato way too early for my liking before throwing

t me some Boritos? I ran

order to process what she was asking for, "Wait, serio

ell I'm eati

nty-four hours is a pretty big stretch

of them is hormo

"I think we've found

operly when all I can thinking about is how the Py

rrots in the fr

st that was being made at my recommendation

double back to the store, "Ugh, do I have to? I just want t

begged, "It's not for m

wes me bi

ighing loudly in distain, I swallowed my pain and begrudgingly turned back to the corner store that I'd passed a few blocks back-- the

"Okay, definitely the BBQ ones and... the cheesy ones. O

I glanced down at my

five alre

, before suddenly exclaiming, "Oh, wait! Bring some

he who

hreatened, a small chuckle of disbelie

knowing not to even bother arguing in fear of

ed before hanging up. Chuckling tiredly, I snapped my phone shut and stuff

neck. My shoulder length hair had been haphazardly done up with a crocodile-clip this morning, but from the few quick glances I'd caught

ndure from the general public if I was to stop right in the middle of foot traffic. Pausing in the mouth as

-opened pack of gum and travel sized deodorant. A moment later I was able to pull out my brush and promptly placed the bag be

nd my ears and sighed loudly whilst unceremoniously

distant cry of pain caused

I scanned the skips and littered damp ground for what the source could have been, but everything was

ed me to jump to action and stumble backwards into the relative safety of the street, the foot traffic that

eard cat fight, I shook my head and corrected my course. Even if it was a mugging,

myself underneath a hot showerhead. However, all that changed when a well-dressed man in a long woollen coat was suddenly thrown into view a good thirty feet away from behind a particular

my brain instantly assumed one of two things. He was either high as

ta love

ed figure and hesitantly ruled out the crackhead theory. In my experience,

was promptly reminded that in the hungover chaos that was this morning, I'd accidentally brought the wrong bag with me to work. My trusty firearm that I al

e skin, but without my glasses I struggled to pinpoint any prominent features. He moved stiffly and slowly as he recovered

e lingering look at the stranger before, with an embarrassingly familiar amount o

esensitized to it and had an incredibly warped view of how the world worked in that regard. I knew because so many peop

t blow was inevitably landed only a few se

ively trying to better myself. For my sake and others. The old me would

y didn't want t

My back was turned. Nobody was around. Nobody had seen me, not

did I sto

rang out. Wrapping my fingers into tight fists, I ran through all the options and how likely it was that this wou

and they'd done nothing but prove me right so far. In fact, they'd gotten so incompetent recently that the chances of

that's why I h

back for the alley, fishing out my phone and holding it out re

you're f***ed!" I shouted into the alley, holding out my phone as proof with 911 typed out and ready to call.

overing from a blow to the stomach. Keeping and eye out for the attacker but finding the alley e

ut after a moment, groaning as he

rroundings, the sound of a glass bottle smashing

ace twisted in pain as he slowly turned onto his side

onsidered styled blocking me from making eye contact with the stranger. Flipping over onto his knees, he took a moment to

een scared off, I flipped the phone shut and stuffed it into my trouser pocket in order t

jumped to mind was hairy. He had a thick head of hair with a heavy stubble to match a set of strong dark eyebrows.

im older than his years with a strong nose and high cheek bones which suited his long face.

iously stood to an impressive full height, reluctantly meeting my

yes locked with mine the

g in before he was abruptly flung back by his own body without warning, doubling over in agony as he held onto his side and cried out in pain. J

alright

. My eyes widened almost comically as I took several steps backwards whilst he flung his body all over the place, as if he was trying to hold himself back from doing something by physically yanking

e too quick of a call o

ugh his dishevelled hair. Alarm bells began ringing as I clocked how tall this guy was even whi

id I have to come