Leia
“Thomas, you’re drunk.” I pushed my husband away from me as best as I could. It was hard to resist him, he was so incredibly handsome in any state—drunk or sober.
Thomas grabbed onto my body, wanting me in every way he could have me. “C’mon, baby, I need you.” We were on the patio of our small townhouse at 3 o’clock in the morning. Eventually, I gave in and we ended up not sleeping the rest of that early morning. At that time, I was just as drunk as Thomas was, but he didn’t—and still doesn’t—know how to handle his alcohol.
That was about 2 years ago, a couple of weeks after Thomas and I first got married. I remember one time when Thomas took me strawberry picking. Before that, I had never been strawberry picking and I always wanted to go. Thomas knew that.
He made me wear a blindfold and led me to his car from our hotel at the time. I had no idea where we were going, and I hated surprises. The whole car ride, I was bickering and telling him I would take the blindfold off until I knew where we were headed. He never gave in. He’s a strong man and doesn’t take no for an answer. Unfortunately, I found that out the hard way.
About 3 months ago, was the first time Thomas ever laid his hand across me forcefully:
I heard the front door swing open and slammed shut. Thomas was home. I excitedly ran down the stairs and held a big smile on my face. When I noticed how drunk he was, my smile quickly faded into something I’d never felt before with Thomas. Worry? I’m not sure, but I know I didn’t like it one bit. Thomas didn’t even look my way and set his belongings in the doorway.
“Uh, what are you doing?” I motioned to his belongings as he looked in my direction. Looking down at his hand, I noticed he wasn’t wearing his ring. My stomach twisted as I thought of my husband with somebody other than me.
Thomas must’ve noticed me looking at his hand due to him shoving his hand into his pants pocket. He stomped over to pick up his things and stood in front of me, towering over my small figure. “Just grabbing my things, darling,” he said, the alcohol flowing through his breath. The sarcasm flowed through his words as he forced a smile on his face. He turned towards the kitchen.
I swallowed my pride as I murmured, “Why aren’t you wearing your ring, Thomas?”
Thomas turned, looked at me, and said, “Oh, I had to remove it for work. I guess I forgot to put it back on.” He pulled his hand from his pocket and scanned it.
I watched him force another smile on his face. “So, where is it now?”
“In the car.” His responses were quick as if he had planned this.
“Why didn’t you bring it in?”
Thomas sighed loudly, said, “I told you, I forgot, Leia.”
Tears began to form in my eyes as Thomas turned his back to me again. “Bullshit,” I said firmly.
Thomas stopped in his footsteps and turned to me once more. “Excuse me?” He walked towards me, slowly.
I began to feel fear boil in my blood as I inched backward, away from him. “I said: Bullshit.”
That’s when I felt the sting burn my cheek and tears flow down my face. I was at a loss for words. “Don’t talk to me that way, Leia.” Thomas walked away from me and into the kitchen, throwing his belongings on the counter.
I stood still, trying to process what just happened. Looking over to the kitchen, I recognized his face, but I didn’t recognize this stranger. This was not the Thomas I knew. Something had to be incredibly wrong.
Ever since that night, I can’t sleep next to him without constantly worrying if I wouldn’t wake up the next morning. Thomas’s abuse only got worse and worse as the months went by. The most he’s done was take advantage of me in a vulnerable situation. I was almost black-out drunk and Thomas did things I could never talk about. The next morning, I woke up, and my whole body ached. It was almost bruised all over and I remember sitting on the floor of the shower, crying for hours on hours.
Pulling me out of my thoughts, the barista asked, “Ma’am, what would you like to drink?”
I cleared my throat and noticed the line behind me. “Just a regular coffee. No cream nor sugar, please.” I pushed the sunglasses closer to my eyes, not wanting anyone to see the ugly bruise that covered my eye. After I paid the lady at the counter and told her my name, I walked over to an empty table and sat on a chair. My thoughts of Thomas hitting me swarmed around me—which caused my breathing to speed up.
“Leia!” I heard a barista call my name and set a cup of coffee on the counter.
I hurried, grabbed the coffee, and thanked the barista. Just then, I ran into something or someone, spilling my coffee all over myself. “Shit,” I murmured to myself. When I looked up I saw a tall figure towering over me. He was handsome as all hell and my whole body went limp when he began to speak.
“Ah, I’m so sorry. Are you alright?” His voice was thick and had either a Japanese or Korean accent. I had no idea, but it was extremely attractive. His eyes were dark along with the tan on him. His slight smile and dimples rose as he noticed I was staring much too long, but I couldn’t help myself. It’s as if I was in a trance.
“I-I’m okay, it’s just hot is a-all.” I couldn’t stop myself from stuttering in his presence and I didn’t even care if everyone was watching. Someone walked past me, running into my shoulder, causing the glasses to fall from my face. Panic rushed over me as I immediately looked down to get them.
“What the hell man?” The man glared at the other.
“My bad dude.” The stranger apologized.
The man grabbed onto my shoulders and took a good look at my face. His dimples disappeared as he quickly grabbed onto the glasses at my feet. He put the glasses back onto my face gently, then whispered in my ear, “Are you okay?” His breath against my ear made me stiffen as my skin crawled for the attention I hadn’t gotten in months.
I forced a smile, said, “Never better.” I walked past the man, almost making it to the door.
His hand gripped my arm, causing me to wince at the pain. He let go instantly and sighed as he followed me outside. “Don’t lie.” The man walked in front of me to stop me in my tracks.
“Don’t lie? I don’t even know you,” I scoffed. “I told you I’m good. Nothing’s wrong with me.”
The man looked down at my hand and noticed the ring on my finger. He swallowed hard and pulled his phone out. “Give me your number.” He studied the look on my face and continued, “And don’t give me a fake number, I could easily find you. Google is my best friend.” The man pushed his phone towards me and watched my every move.
I slowly typed my name and number. When I finished, the man took his phone back and began to walk away. My nervousness began to ease as I saw the man slowly disappear into the crowds of people. I began my walk to my interview for a new job to get out of the house for as long as I could. My thoughts swarmed around the mysterious man and what just happened. He acted like I was a close relative or someone he cared about. I didn’t even know the man. What in the hell was that?
