Chapter 4

Even after the fifteen minute walk home, Natalie still had no idea how she wanted to spend her time. Did she want to garden? Spring clean? Bury herself in a pile of books? She had no idea how she wanted to deal with the massive amount of downtime that she had available. There was just too many options, yet none sounded quite like the most ideal. As she got to her house, she felt a massive amount of disgust as Troy was standing in front of her door, looking smug with his hands on his hip. "So, I see that you have decided to take me up on that offer. My magnanimous self shall make sure you want for nothing!"

"Troy, first of all, fuck off. Second, fuck no. And thirdly, get off my fucking property." Nat delivered, with a light seething rage. She already had to deal with one idiot today, she did not have the energy to deal with another. Sadly, life has a way of giving us exactly what we do not need.

"Come now, my little strumpet. No need for harsh words, just come into Master's arms and forget all of your worries." As Troy responds, clearly not even listening, he starts to move down the walkway towards Natalie, holding his arms out for a hug with a salacious grin across his face. Seeing this, Nat backs up slightly, both due to disgust and to get into a more grounded stance. Troy continues forward, seemingly ignorant of her body language. As soon as he gets close to Natalie and starts leaning in, her foot launches straight up, in between his legs. The next thing either of them know, he is on the ground gasping for breath while groaning in pain.

"Fuck off. Don't come near me, especially with that hideous look on your face." trying to walk past him, she moves relatively quickly. At least, until her progress is halted when she feels her ankle getting grabbed. Looking back, she sees that he still has one hand cradling his jewels, while the other is holding onto her ankle, as if he was saying that he wasn't done with her yet. Spinning around, she slams her heel into his face, causing him to let go.

"I told you to fuck off. Maybe next time you should try listening instead of just going as your dick tells you to." Saying her piece, Nat steps away from him and into her house, not sparing another second on the asshole who lives in delusions of his own grandeur. Locking the door, she slumps against it. 'Why couldn't anything go right today. First there was the whole debacle with Angie, now this? What do you have for me next universe? Dumb police coming to arrest me for self defense? Monsters? End of the world?' As she is freaking out over how crappy her day has been, all the sudden there is a heavy slam on her door.

"I know you are in there bitch. I will make you mine, and by the time that I am done with you, you are gonna be begging for me to put a collar on around your neck with my name on it." She stays sitting there, petrified that he will try to break in should he have any acknowledgement that she heard him. Once she hears his footsteps and heavy breathing moving away from her front door, does she get up and head deeper in her house, towards her bedroom.

As soon as she reaches her bedroom, she collapses face first onto her bed and lets out a meaty groan. 'I have 4 days off, and this asshole is probably going to bother me for each of those fucking days, if not try and force his way to doing worse.' Shuddering at this thought, she curls up around one of her pillows. The idea of spending her entire time here getting accosted by that freak is not her idea of a good time. All she wants now is to be as far away from here as she can be.

"That's it!" she exclaims, jumping up from the bed, "I'll just go camping in the brush for my time off. I will be out, in the middle of nowhere. No idiots, no people, just me and nature." Excitedly, she quickly changes out of her work uniform and into comfy hiking clothes. Then, grabbing her pack, she loads up her tent, some basic tools, some spare clothing, a first aid kit, and a flare gun. Always better to be prepared in case something might go wrong, rather than hope nothing goes wrong and be screwed when everything goes sideways.

Throwing on all of her stuff, she is about to head out of the door when all the sudden, her stomach grumbles. Pausing, she takes a step back, takes off her boots and sets her pack down and heads back into the kitchen. Cooking up a fulfilling yet light meal of tomato soup with grilled cheese, she quells the beast that lays dormant inside of her, and makes sure its satisfied before it will be forced to last with living off the land and whatever preservatives she decides to pack. Taking care of her stomach is akin to taking care of her mind after all.

Cleaning up everything from lunch, and refrigerating the leftover soup for when she gets back, she goes through her house and makes sure all lights are off and all windows and doors are locked. Checking her front window with as much stealth as she can muster, she is relieved to notice that Troy has moved on since he was dropped on her front walkway. She then gets back on her boot, shoulders her pack, and warily heads out the front door, locking it up behind her. Taking a quick look around to make sure the creep is no where near, Natalie makes her way into town. There are a couple of things she feels like she has to do before she can venture out into the wilderness to be away from anyone and anything. Chief among those, is to pick up more food!