When Love And Hate Collide

"Miss, are you going to the Bronx?" asked the taxi driver as he glanced at Briana sitting in the back seat through the center rearview mirror while she was on her way to the Bronx, United States.

"Yes, Sir! What's wrong?" asked Briana in surprise, returning the driver's gaze through the center mirror as he smiled to himself in the front seat.

"Nothing wrong, Miss! I just wanted to ask if you want to go there; I'll take you there!" said the driver as he sped up the taxi. It was only seven in the afternoon, and the sun was still on its throne. Briana Agatha Palmer was sure that in less than an hour, she could find a new apartment to rent later so that she could return to her old apartment not too late because the sunset was at half-past nine in New York. Briana tried not to care about the driver's question, which sounded suspicious. However, she tried to keep positive thinking.

"Could it be the slums? So the driver is surprised that I want to go there?" she thought as she stared at the street through the car window.

"Thank you, Sir!" said Briana as she exited the taxi that took her to the Bronx while glancing at the watch. "It's half past eight at night; I have to hurry!" she muttered softly as she stared at the area.

The area is the same as other neighborhoods: many houses lined up, salons, coffee shops, and flats, but no apartments like Briana imagined. "Where's the apartment?" thought Briana as she walked down the sidewalk. "Is it still a few blocks ahead?" The girl continued to walk down the sidewalk while looking to the right and left, where every house had several women sitting on the front porch, smoking and giggling, wearing sexy clothes.

"What neighborhood is this? Should I ask one of those women?" she wondered as she approached the woman. "Good afternoon, sorry... may I ask something?" The women giggled and answered in unison.

"What do you want to ask?" they replied flirtatiously.

"Do you know this address?" asked Briana innocently as she showed the paper Felicia had given her earlier. The women giggled again as they read the writing on the paper Briana had given them. They looked her up and down as if they were screening her while nodding, then laughed again and puffed their cigarette smoke upwards.

"Come... I'll take you! Bye ...!" one of the women said as she waved to her friends and took Briana to the address. When they arrived, the building didn't look like the apartment she was currently living in; it looked more like a flat.

"This is the place! Come on! Let's go in!" the woman said again. Briana was hesitant to enter the building, her little heart resisting.

However, she was curious about what exactly this building was. Was it an apartment like Felicia said? "Sorry... is this an apartment? I'm looking for an apartment. My friend told me there's an apartment here," Briana explained as she gazed across the apartment building lobby as she entered.

"You can ask Mr. Hugo later! He's in charge of this area!" said the woman, who dressed up slightly. Briana wondered more and more.

"What exactly is this place?" she fretted because there seemed to be something wrong with the place, especially when a man came out of one of the rooms with the woman who had escorted Briana earlier.

"This is Mr. Hugo; this lady said she was looking for an apartment! Isn't that right, Miss? You can ask Mr. Hugo because he owns this area. Well, I'll leave first! Bye!" said the woman as she waved to Briana and left them.

Briana panicked, feeling anxious and worried, especially when a man who looked like a thug with a muscular body and tattoos all over his arms stood in front of her, staring with a smile that was hard to understand.

"Oh my God. What is this place? I seem to have the wrong address!" she thought anxiously, clutching her bag tightly.

"Hey... Hugo, who is she? New, huh?" asked another man who had just come out of a room with a woman on his arm. "That's pretty good! Very classy!" the man praised as he looked at Briana with eyes full of lust and ready to devour.

Briana became even more agitated; she had just realized she had the wrong address.

"Oh my God, I'm in a brothel; how stupid of me! Why didn't I realize that earlier? But how do I get out of this place?" she thought as she glanced at the door not far from where she was standing. "Sorry, I got the wrong address! Excuse me!"

"Hey... wait!" shouted the man named Hugo. "Get that woman! Don't let her get away!" he called again, followed by his men chasing after Briana, who had run as fast as she could to escape from them.

Briana needed to figure out where to run. She just followed where her feet went while praying silently that she could avoid the ambush of Mr. Hugo's men. The girl continued to dash.

However, the high heels and knee-length span skirt that wrapped her thighs made her unable to move freely. She fell several times and stood up again, injuring her hands and feet; she ignored it. Briana continued to run barefoot because she had taken off her high heels when she fell earlier.

Fortunately, it was getting late, and soon, the sun would return to the sunset, so the asphalt road she stepped on was not so hot, and the evening atmosphere was also favorable for her to hide.

"I have to find a place to hide, but where?" she thought as she looked to the right and left and then sneaked around with a breathless and anxious look. She saw a large rectangular trash can made of steel, which she could hide behind. Briana hurried to hide.

"This is also a span skirt; it makes me unable to move!" she muttered in annoyance as she flipped the skirt from the back to the front, put the back half of the dress on the side, and tore it to the thigh.

"This is better, so I can run faster! I'll take this blazer off, but will I take it? I'll just put it in my bag." Briana quickly put the blazer into the bag.

"Where is that woman? Please hurry up and find her! We can't lose track of her!" shouted Mr. Hugo loudly. "I'm sure she's still around!" Briana's body tingled as she heard Mr. Hugo's booming voice, loud in her ears.