I set out, each step agony. I’d almost reached the far curb when a Honda turning on red from the cross street suddenly pulled into the intersection, having only checked for cars and not pedestrians. Seeing me, the driver slammed on her brakes a bit more harshly than she probably needed. They squealed, and the car came to a stop about two feet from me. While moderately alarming, this wasn’t anything that probably would have scared me too much under ordinary circumstances. The car had stopped, after all, and I was almost across anyway. Yet, I was so on edge already that when I heard the brakes and saw how close she was, I simply froze. I stood there, caught—literally—in the headlights.

I couldn’t think or move. It was so stupid. Seven more steps, and I would have been safe. The woman’s panic over avoiding me turned to annoyance when she realized I was blocking her way. She pressed down on her horn, which was a particularly loud and obnoxious one. Unfortunately for her, it was ineffectual. If anything, the noise simply froze me up more.

Suddenly, someone grabbed a hold of my arm and started tugging me to the curb. The bitch in the Honda kept honking, and I think I was nearly as startled by it as I was when Seth yelled to her, “Oh, shut up already!”

His steady hands guided me to the sidewalk where I promptly froze up again, oblivious to the curious cars and pedestrians. Cupping my face, he forced me to look up at him. His eyes were like warm molasses, and something about them spread comfort through me and brought me back to myself.

“Georgina, are you okay?”

My whole body trembled, and it took me a moment to gather myself and speak. “I . . . I think so . . .”

His voice was so, so gentle when he spoke. “What happened there?”

I blinked back tears. “Nothing . . . that is . . .” I couldn’t finish. I was going to break down, then and there, right on Queen Anne Avenue. I hated myself for being so weak and scared.

“Never mind,” said Seth, taking hold of my arm again. “It doesn’t matter. You’re safe. Let’s go inside.”

If any of my co-workers saw Seth leading me through like an invalid, I didn’t notice. In fact, I was barely aware of the trek at all until we were inside my office. Seth sat me down and then shut the door. He leaned down toward me.

“Do you need anything? Water? Something to eat?”

Slowly, almost robot-like, I shook my head. “N-no. I . . . I just came for my laptop.”