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Chapter Thirty-Seven
Mia
I made sure I was the first into the office the next day for two reasons: I wanted to avoid running into anyone in the lobby or hallways, and I wanted to appear so engrossed in work that no one would bother me. Sure, I knew that Terry and Ally would pop their heads in to say hi, but I was hoping that if I paid them minimal attention, they wouldn’t come in.
I was fooling myself and I knew it. Terry wasn’t going to simply walk away from me. Ally would take one look and know that something was wrong. I had done the best I could to hide the marks Chad had left. The swelling on my cheek was a little better—not great, but there was improvement. I was bruised there too, something I hid with makeup. I was an expert at that part. I brushed off my old skills of concealing wounds and got to work this morning. The result wasn’t half bad. The only area that was impossible to hide was my lip. The bottom was split open with a sizable cut. I couldn’t put lipstick on it, not for lack of trying, but when I did, it burned.
I heard the footsteps before I saw the person entering my office—quick and light, which meant they belonged to Ally. I kept my eyes trained on my inbox and went about answering emails. Ally already had one to read from me. I hoped she had seen it on her way in and came in to start rescheduling my day. But apparently not, because the door to my office whipped open and Ally approached my desk.
“Mia, what’s going on? Why are we rescheduling all these meetings?”
“Because I’m behind on some things I need to catch up on. Important things that require my full, undivided attention. So please keep everyone away from my door.” My tone was dismissive. I hated the way the words sounded when they came from my lips. But I tried to stay the course and avoid looking at her.
It didn’t work.
“Why are you sending me emails from the office at both nine o’clock at night and then again at five this morning?” Ally was standing directly in front of me, but I refused to meet her eyes. “Mia.” Her tone held a warning I knew all too well. She knew that something was going on, and she wanted answers immediately.
I stole a quick glance and looked back down at my laptop. Yep, her arms were crossed in front of her, and her expression was curiously pissed off. Classic Ally.
“Wait a freaking second,” she said, rounding my desk. Fuck, I hadn’t looked quickly enough, not for Ally. She had seen something. “Look at me.”
“What are you doing?” I shouted as she grabbed my chair by the arm and turned me so I was facing her. Ally bent down in front of me, using the arms of the chair to balance herself so she could examine my face closer. “Holy shit! You’ve been hit.”
There was no denying it. She was already rubbing at my swollen cheek while her eyes bugged out in shock.
“Yeah, okay, maybe a little. It’s no big deal. I just attempted to give a homeless man a dollar, and apparently, he felt I had more to give. So he gave me a backhand which resulted in this, okay?” I watched her carefully, trying to decide if she believed me. But her features weren’t adjusted from the shocked expression she wore. Did she believe me? I couldn’t tell. “That’s why I wanted everything canceled today. I don’t want anyone to see me until the swelling subsides a little bit.”
“Uh-huh.” Ally sat on the edge of my desk and continued to study me. I did my best to keep my eyes on hers. I didn’t want my wavering to give anything away. “So where was this exactly?”
“On my way home,” I repeated. Slightly lower this time, hoping she would leave it be.
She didn’t.
“Where do you run into homeless people on your way home? You don’t exactly live far from here, and this isn’t the type of neighborhood they frequent.”
“I guess no one gave this guy the memo.” I turned my chair so I was facing the desk again. My fingers hovered over the keys. I prayed she would just leave it alone.
But this was Ally, and she wasn’t going to.
“Mia.” She said my name like a mother scolding a child. I cringed. “Come on, I think I can piece together what happened here. Where did you run into him?”
“Who, Ally?” Switching tactics, I decided to play dumb. “Where did I run into the homeless man?”
“Stop. Stop repeating my questions. I know what you’re doing, Mia. You’re stalling.”
“Well, what do you think happened?” A sat back in my chair, smiling innocently at her.
“It looks like you ran into you know who, and it looks like he roughed you up a bit. Is that what happened?” When Ally so expertly guessed what had happened to me, I noted the softness in her eyes.
“Ally.” I said her name like a prayer and pinched the bridge of my nose with my fingertips. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“No, you’re not getting off that easily. You never wanted to talk about it before and look at what ended up happening—he almost killed you. I will not lose my best friend like this.” Despite everything that had happened last night, she made me smile. I loved this girl. She was like a little pit bull wrapped up in a petite blonde frame. I was so lucky to have her.
I sighed and prepared to tell my story. Which meant fixating on something just behind Ally so it appeared I was looking at her. This was a coping mechanism I had developed. I could tell someone exactly what had happened to me, but I would do it unfocused, my eyes never meeting theirs. My therapist said it made me look like a shell of a person. Maybe it did, but so did the abuse.
“He came out of nowhere on my way home from work. He was at my apartment building. I had almost made it safely into the vestibule, and he slammed me into the glass. He threatened me and told me to get rid of Terry before he hurt him.” Ally gasped, and I could see that she had moved. “He doesn’t know Terry’s name—although I’m sure that’s only a matter of time—but he said I needed to leave him alone. He wants me. The monster is back in the city.”
“When did he get back?”
