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It was becoming harder and harder to hide my attraction to this woman. I found her beautiful even when she wasn’t at her best, but seeing her lately... that just did something to me. Growth and happiness were beautiful on her. I knew she was still dealing with a lot, but she had so much to be happy about these days. Seeing her genuinely smile did my heart all the good in the world.
The first stop of the night was a Riot Room. I knew she had stressors because I was dealing with stressors of my own. This was the perfect place for us to release some of that tension.
“Is this one of those smash rooms or whatever you call it?” she asked, looking around.
“Yes.”
“God, I needed this. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve just wanted to break some shit.”
“Well, you can break all you want here.”
I got us checked in, and we were led to our room. She didn’t hesitate to suit up in the vest, gloves, and a face shield. After a brief rundown of rules and expectations, we were left alone. She eagerly grabbed a bat and went to work. When she smashed the first item, she took a deep breath. I could tell that felt good to her.
“Stay with it,” I said. “You can fuck up as much shit in here as you want until you get it out.”
“This is what I wanted to do the night you stopped for me.”
She dragged the bat around the room until she found what she sought. It was a mirror. She raised the bat again.
“For all the times he called me fat.”
Whack!
“For all the times he made me feel ugly and worthless.”
Whack!
“For all the times he made me hate myself!”
Whack!
All the mirror pieces shattered and fell to the floor. She moved around the room, smashing the bat into various objects. She had stopped talking and was now channeling all of her anger. Her hits became harder and more forceful. I could only imagine that it was that man’s image in her head every time that bat connected.
After a few minutes, she dropped the bat and leaned over, resting her hands on her knees, panting heavily.
“Feeling better?” I asked.
“That was liberating. I didn’t realize I had that much rage built up.”
“Look at how long you had to hold it in.”
She stood upright and wiped the sweat from her brow. “I’m ready to go again. Are you going to join me? I know there has to be something you’re angry about... something you want to get out.”
I had enough to be upset about. After my uncle’s funeral, my aunt Sheila and aunt Glenda popped up at my house to check me about coming and then leaving. They accused me of trying to start trouble, and that wasn’t the case. I wouldn’t have waited seventeen years if I wanted to start trouble. The whole visit started a big argument and a slew of unwanted pop-ups at my house.
One of the cousins who had been present during my parents’ will reading showed up on some “putting me in my place” type of energy, and we almost came to blows. If it weren’t for Martin stepping in, things could have gone completely left. One thing I didn’t play about was disrupting my peace. Coming to the place where I lay my head and starting drama was a big hell no. Not only that, but this was also my parents’ home, and nobody was going to disrespect that.
Picking up the sledgehammer I’d chosen as my weapon of choice, I crashed it into an old computer monitor. Pieces flew everywhere. Damn, that felt good. Pasha and I looked at each other and gave a simple nod before we tore that room apart. Nothing went untouched. By the time we finished, both of us were breathing heavily. She dropped the bat and came over to me.
Gentle brown eyes stared up at me. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around me and rested her head against my chest.
“Thank you, Callum. I didn’t know how badly I needed that.”
I embraced her warmly and kissed the top of her head. “I’ve got you. Whatever you need, I’ve got you.”
We stood like that for a while until she pulled away.
“How about we go get something to eat?” I suggested. “I don’t know about you, but I worked up an appetite.”
