Stage 1, continued

“Hey Rain” Kane greets her with a smile. People always laughed at how their names rhyme.

“Morning Kane” She smiles back. Her voice is earthy and sweet like a flower. She takes her place behind the till. Kane draws close to her, too close as always, she can smell his musk, sweet with aftershave but with an underlying scent of his body.  He kisses her cheek then draws back, retreating into his office at the back of the store.

She takes a deep breath.

Ten hours later her shift is over. Night starts to fall so she rushes home, beating the darkness. She locks the door behind her and exhales as she sheds the day’s bad karma. She eats alone and goes to bed early.

The next day she wakes with blood drying round her mouth the smell of burnt sugar filling her nostrils. Her hands were sticky and still wet. She shudders and feels like crying but instead drags herself from bed into the shower so the cycle can begin again.