For Sophia, the long work day at the bakery was supposed to end with her resting her tired legs. But when she detected the smell of spearmint wafting from the dingy alley near her home, she couldn't help her curiosity.
Why would something so fresh and pure be emanating from a place so full of garbage and filth?
Did someone throw out an entire box of fresh herbs? If so, she might be able to take them home and make something out of them.
Against her better judgment, she went into the alley, expecting to see boxes of fresh herbs, for the smell got increasingly potent the closer she got to the source. Instead, what she saw was a bronzed arm, lying underneath a pile of garbage strewn on the floor.
Immediately, she sprung back in shock. Oh god. Was the arm attached to a body, and was the body even alive?
Did she accidentally stumble upon a murder scene from a serial killer? New Vista wasn't the safest place to live in, with mafia gangs warring for territory, but she had always kept her head down to avoid trouble.
Sophia gulped as she gingerly stepped around the pile of garbage. Should she call someone to help? But what if a person was lying underneath the pile of garbage, on the brink of death? If she waited for someone else to come, they might already be dead.
Still, the urge to run away and leave this problem to another good samaritan was strong. After all, she was merely a 24-year-old baker who had no skills to save a life. Her hands were growing cold and clammy the longer she stayed in the alley.
Just as Sophia decided to wash her hands of this matter, the arm on the floor twitched! There was a living person underneath all that garbage.
Now she had to help. Sophia internally despaired at touching trash with her bare hands, but she began removing the debris.
The more trash she removed from the pile, the stronger the spearmint scent became. The dingy alley was starting to smell refreshing for a change. In her panic to unbury him, she found a silver watch shattered on the ground, without thinking much of it, she put it in her purse. She would have to look at it later.
When the last piece of cardboard, a sign that read 'Homeless. Anything helps' from one of the many panhandlers in the area was removed, and Sophia's mouth fell open in shock.
Her green eyes widened as they took in the sight of flawless bronze skin, belonging to a muscular stranger. Said muscular stranger wasn't wearing a single shred of clothing!
Not an inch of him was created without the female gaze in mind. Each valley or peak was made to attract women, but she hastily averted her eyes. It wasn't right to leer at this possibly homeless man in a dingy alley.
The man began to writhe and cough.
"Are you alright?" Sophia asked instinctively. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"
Instead of gratitude, she was met with cold blue eyes. His dark eyebrows scrunched together in anger, as if she was the one who shoved him in the pile of garbage to begin with. He grabbed the end of her grey sweater, undoubtedly stretching it out as he dragged her to his eye level.
"Who the hell are you?" He spat out disrespectfully. "What did you do to me?"
His voice was deep and threatening, like a big burly bear pouncing on a scared little bunny.
Sophia tried to pull herself away, but the man was so strong and so enraged that her attempts to escape went completely unnoticed.
Yet as she got pulled closer to him, she realized that the smell of fresh spearmint was coming from him. How strange.
But regardless, she had to escape. If brute force wasn't working, she would have to reason with him. She gripped at his hand.
"I unburied you from this pile of garbage! Don't be so ungrateful!" Sophia exclaimed in total disbelief.
"Why should I believe you?" He scoffed as if she wasn't worth his time, but he immediately flung her away from him, causing Sophia to stumble back.
He tried to sit up but his body wouldn't do as he ordered. He clenched his teeth together and grimaced.
His muscles bulged from all the effort but he quickly fell back after only making it up a few inches.
Sophia watched him warily, and she noticed that his pupils were dilated. Quickly she scooted further away.
"Are you on drugs?" Sophia demanded.
It would make the most sense, considering that the alleys were home to drug users who wanted a place to get high from whatever new drug was circulating in the seedier parts of the city.
The question about drugs seemed to strike a nerve and his enraged gaze turned onto her again.
"What the hell?" He snapped. "Did you give it to me? Was it my father?"
He was in a frenzy, looking for evidence that didn't exist. He was definitely on drugs, Sophia thought to herself. She had to call the cops!
Then the man turned his head away, and she saw a large, deep gash on the back of his head. Sophia gasped in horror. She could practically see his skull if it weren't for the coagulated blood.
"O-oh my god," she gasped. "We need to get you an ambulance immediately."
Maybe she had misjudged him. The dilated eyes could have been due to a horrible head injury.
With shaky hands, Sophia hurriedly pulled out her phone from her purse. But before she could call for help, the naked man smacked it out of her hands.
"Hey!" she yelled, trying to keep her voice from panicking but failing miserably as she saw her phone clatter on the floor. Sophia hoped it wasn't broken. She didn't have the extra cash to get a new one.
"Don't you dare call an ambulance or they'll know that I'm here," he seethed, the words coming out between his clenched teeth. The man gripped her hand tightly enough to hurt. Sophia winced in pain.
Suddenly, his expression changed. His grip on her loosened, and Sophia quickly pulled away, hoping to pick up her phone without him knowing.
"This scent…" He uttered, his eyes widening in a wild frenzy. To her surprise, he managed to push himself up! The scent he referred to was enough to motivate him to move forward despite how badly it looked like it hurt.
Sophia tried to escape, but before she could, his arms were on either side of her. His nose was pressed close to her neck.
"What do you think you're doing?" Sophia gasped in shock as her body felt his warmth.
The man clearly didn't understand the concept of personal space. Or was it because of his head injury?
She pulled herself away from him, meeting his eyes, not sure what she would find within them.
Was he going to hurt her?
Her mind went to a year before when she was pulled into that very alley by someone intent on violating her. She had escaped then, but perhaps she wouldn't be so lucky now.
Stupid! Sophia cursed herself. How could she have made the same mistake twice? At that moment, his dilated eyes softened, the hostile glare on his face vanishing into something sweeter. Before Sophia could figure out his sudden change in attitude, his eyes fluttered shut, and he fell directly on top of her, crushing her with his full weight.
Sophia let out a groan of pain, her face flaming red at their new position.
His hard corded body squished her softer smaller one, and the scintillating scent of spearmint engulfed her, leaving her heart beating like a war drum.