The Guest

A stranger found drenched on the doorstep...What would you do? Possibly To Be Continued.

The weather was horrid and I was in my house alone with a vague intuition that something was going to happen. I was sitting on the couch watching television when I heard someone knock on the door. I got up to answer it and found a drenched woman on my doorstep. She looked familiar, but at first glance I couldn’t place her. I took a couple steps closer in order to take a closer look. It was then that I came to the realization that she was someone from my past. I stepped back and waved her in, though I wasn’t sure I had made the right decision. She walked in, standing in the hallway as her clothing dripped water onto the carpeted floors.

"Come and sit in the dining room and I’ll get you a towel and make us some tea," I said as she nodded and I placed my hand on her back, guiding her into the dining room before going to fetch her a towel. I came back into the dining room and she was crying. She noticed my presence and tried to pull herself together, but only marginally succeeded. I draped the towel around her shoulders gently before going into the kitchen to make the tea. I filled the kettle with water, placing it on the burner before going to get the teacups. As the kettle began to hiss, I pulled it off the stove and filled the cups with its steamy contents, placing a teabag in each one.

"Milk or lemon?" I asked as I began to put two cubes of sugar in each glass.

"Lemon…" She replied in a shaky voice, a short sniffle following.

I nodded, putting a slice of lemon on the saucer next to her glass and poured some milk into my own tea before walking back into the dining room, placing her cup before her before walking to the side of the table opposite her and sat down, stirring my tea with a spoon and taking a small sip of it before looking up at her.

"So, Madeline, what brings you here after all this time?"

"…He beat me, Drew…" she replied in just above a whisper.

"Wh-What? Who did?"

"Damien…" Madeline began to tear up, looking up at me and meeting my gaze directly for the first time that day.

"When?" I asked her, placing my teacup back on its saucer.

"A..A couple of days ago."

"So you came to me?" There was no reply to this other than a nod. I walked over to her side of the table, taking a seat in one of the chairs nearest to her, taking her hand in mine. "Why me, Maddy? Why not the police?"

She just shook her head, lowering her gaze to where my hand held hers.

"Because…Because I can’t trust them. I know I can trust you. I know you will protect me, just like you promised…when we were children."

"Maddy…You need to go to the police. He deserves to go to prison for what he did to you."

"No, Drew…No police. No investigations. All I need is you. Just like when we were kids.."

I drew her close, running a hand soothingly through her hair as she began to cry again. We stayed like this for a short while before I kissed the top of her head and smiled softly, lifting her chin with a finger.

"Of course, Maddy. I’ll protect you. Forever."