Une / One

                                                                      ⋆ ⋆ ❧ ⋆ ⋆

“The art of seduction is knowing what she really wants and slowly giving it to her in a way that takes her breath away.”

                                                                         ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

“Stop it!” I yell as Bruno pounds on our bedroom door. The tears streaming down my face as I feel my eyes start to swell up where he hit me.

I can hear him on the other end of the door cursing at me with every pound to the door, he had been drinking a lot these last couple of months.

I had met him in a AA meeting, he was sobering up and so was I.

We clicked on instant and promised each other to go through our journey together.

He starts grunting at the door as his pounds become softer, “Bitch! You open this door for me now, I will not be sleeping on the couch for the sixth time in a row. You fucken open the door now!” he yells from the other end but I slowly back away and sit on the bed.

I stare at the door until the other end is drowned out in silence. Making my way to the bathroom I feel around my eye. He had hit me several times but only managed to hit me once in the face tonight.

Looking in the mirror I see a red, swollen right eye which is not only puffy from the crying but puffy as it's forming a bruise which will be evident tomorrow morning.

I apply a cold press to my eye as I step into the shower and get ready for bed.

I get dressed and climb into bed and think about the events of the evening. Bruno turned to alcohol when he got demoted at work.

It started off with just a casual drink once a week to drinking a few beers every night and now to drinking to a point where I am slapped around for anything that irritated him.

I knew that he had a troubled past and that his ex-wife left him because of the drinking but I never knew that he got violent.

I sit and sigh as my mind wanders and I am taken into a peaceful sleep.

I woke up the next morning to Bruno standing in front of me, he had stripped himself and had a smirk on his face. I sat up in the bed quickly and pulled the covers up further.

“W-What d-do y-you w-want?” I stuttered but cleared my throat so that I wouldn't come off scared.

Instead of answering me he just walked closer with a devious smile on his face, “Oh honey, I'm so sorry about last night. It got out of hand and I promise it won't happen again.”

He slivers his hand down my right cheek and I pull away slightly. “Don't you ever-” he begins but then closes his eyes and shakes his head, “I mean, I understand that I hurt you and I want to make it up to you.”

I move slightly across the bed but I am pulled closer to Bruno by my legs and they are parted as he pins me below himself.

“P-Please h-honey, not right now. I have to get to work. I h-hope y-you understand?” I ask as I try to sound sincere.

Bruno shakes his head and gets off of me but grabs me by my wrists and throws my body in the direction of the cupboard, “Very well, I'll take you to work! Be ready in thirty!”

He walks out of the room and into the bathroom. As he turns the shower on, I feel my body tremble and my strong wall I put up falter.

I take out some work clothing and settle on a long sleeve, turtle neck, maroon knitted dress with sheer stockings and black heels.

I pin my hair up and make sure that my little baby hairs are around my face, I then apply makeup to cover up my bruised eye and walk out to sit in the living room.

I hear the shower turn off and not long after that Bruno is walking out dressed, “Let's go, taking you to work is going to make me late and I don't want to lose another title because of you!”

Bruno had lost his title as manager about two months ago because he was caught rigging some figures, his defence was that he didn't know that the sales were rigged and he told me that he did it for us because I was materialistic and wanted him to do everything for us.

He blamed me for almost losing his job and ever since then our relationship hasn't been the same.

The drive to work is quiet, with the occasional road rage from Bruno which makes me flinch every now and again.

We arrive at the entrance to my work and Bruno almost throws me out of the car, “Right, here you are, now get out. I don't want to be late.” 

I grab my purse and climb out the door and walk towards the entrance with Bruno speeding off in the distance.

As I get to the door I close my eyes and take a deep breath and plaster on my best fake smile.

I walk through the reception where Teagan sits, “Good morning Shey!” He greets me and I greet back but don't think to look in his direction.

I climb the elevator and punch in the number ten as I work on the tenth floor.

I work in a building, in the Upper East Side of Manhattan for a well known Private Investigator and Lawyer, Jet Miller.

When he is not busy defending a client he does a bit of snooping in others personal lives, which not only helps his innocent victims be pardoned but helps others seeking the truth.

I hear the familiar bell of the elevator ding as it lets me know that I am on the right floor, I get out and make my way towards my office.

I work as Jet’s personal assistant and I assist him where I can when it comes to his cases, he is also teaching me how to become a lawyer.

My office is situated right next to his office, we share the view of Manhattan as our offices are conjoined.

I started here in a small closed cubical and when I used to study cases with Jet he used to catch me looking outside so he recreated my office next to his.

I place my handbag in the cupboard and switch on my laptop, checking Jet’s schedule for the day. I see that he will be coming to work first before his first meeting.

I walk to the kitchen greeting everyone on the way and make him his cup of coffee and warm up his favourite blueberry muffin.

As I exit the kitchen Mandy, the Human Resources lady walks in, “Oh, hi Mand’s. How was your evening?”

She stares at my face for a brief second before she talks, “Great thank you and yours?” she smiles.

I think about the events of the evening before I shake them off and give her a reassuring smile, “Not too bad, thank you. I'm sorry I need to get this on Jet’s desk before he arrives.

I excuse myself as I walk into the corridor, “Uhm Shey, I don't mean to pry but if you need to speak or if there is anything you'd like to tell me, my door is always open.” she places her hand on my shoulder which I look at then back to her.

“Thanks, Mands but everything is good, I just don't want Jet to have a cold breakfast.” I smile then walk towards the office.

I feel my body slowly shut down and my tears start to brim my eyes. I enter Jet’s office and place his coffee and muffin onto his desk as I take a deep breath and wipe the tears off my face.

I turn around and make my way to the door, as I open it Jet is standing on the opposite side, “Oh, morning Jet. Your morning coffee and muffin is on your table.”

I give him a small smile before I bow my head and head out the door. “Shey?” he calls out but i ignore him and walk to my office.

As I sit down I look up to find his muscular build in my door, his dark brown hair swept to the side and his piercing blue eyes looking in my direction.

He is wearing a dark blue tux with a white button-up shirt and a grey tie today which does not hide anything.

I swallow hard as he walks towards me and sits on my desk in front of me, “Shey, I know something is wrong. So what happened?” he asks but I just shake my head and work on my laptop.

He places his hand on my shoulder and I feel my heart skip a beat, his warmth radiating off of his touch, “N-Nothing happened J-Jet, I just have a lot of work to do and I'd like to get to it.” 

I shake off his touch and he lets out a sigh, “Very well then, please can you call my first appointment and let them know that I will be available thirty minutes earlier.”

I nod at him as he exits my office. I let out a shaky breath and buried my head in my hands.

After I gather my thoughts I contact his next client and they arrive soon after. His next client was a younger woman, she had short blonde hair with light brown eyes, she was quite small and looked almost anorexic.

“Mr Miller will be with you now. Please make yourself comfortable, there is water on the table or you may make yourself some coffee.” I smile at her and she just nods.

She looks uneasy as she walks into the boardroom, her eyes wandering everywhere as she takes in the scene.

I knock on Jet’s office door before I walk in, “Mrs Dalia is here. I've taken her to the boardroom so long.” I nod before I close the door again.

As Jet walks out of his office he stops in mine, “Bring your notebook, I'm sure you'd benefit from sitting in this consultation.”

I grab my notebook and pen and rush behind Jet to the boardroom, Mrs Dalia has taken a seat and is currently sipping her cup of coffee.

“Mrs Dalia, such a pleasure to see you again. I'm sure you've met my assistant Shey, she will be sitting in on the consultation. I hope you don't mind?” Jet asks as I shake her hand.

“No, no, please. As long as this is confidential then sure. Thank you for seeing me Mr Miller.” she smiles at him as he takes a seat.

He stares at her for a brief second before he turns to me and lets me know it's time to take notes, “So Mrs Dalia, you are looking for a representative not only for your divorce but to handle your case against your husband?” he asks and she hesitantly shakes her head.

“We've received your pictures and your open case from the police station and I honestly believe that we have a strong case against him.” Jet says as I take notes down.

We sit in the boardroom and discuss a few things before Jet greets Mrs Dalia and we walk her towards the elevator, “Thank you again, Mr Miller, for taking my case, I'm sure when my case is over you can help her too.” 

I scrunch my nose as I look at her then back at Jet as he greets her and the elevator door closes, “I assure you I have no idea what she is talking about.” I step away from Jet towards my office.

“You are in so much denial Shey, when are you going to admit to yourself that he is no good for you?” Jet says as he closes my door.

I roll my eyes, “He has done nothing but look after me Jet, he has done nothing wrong.” I yell but he steps forward and places his hand on my cheek and runs his thumb over my bruised eye.

“Of course not, he only occasionally beats you.”

                                                                         ⋆ ⋆ ⋆