Chapter 2

For a moment when Anthony raised his eyes to mine, I saw complete shock, and then there was fear, but all of that disappeared in a moment, and I saw his face register anger.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He asked. “Are you following me?” 

The girl in his laps slowly disentangled herself from him, and settled next to him on the chair. With the music still blaring, I knew that I'd have to shout for him to hear me, but I feared that if I tried to shout, I'd break into wracking tears. 

How dare Anthony do this to me? How dare he try to make a fool of me like this. Here he was with another woman when he'd said that he got held up at work, and he still had the guts to ask what I was doing here? Oh, the nerve of this man.

With a resolute thought on my mind, I pushed down the tears that were at the back of my eyes and turned on my heels. I grabbed my purse from the counter where Chloe and I had been sitting, and staggered my way out of the club.

I'd just made it outside the door when I felt someone grab my arms and spin me around. 

“You didn't answer me, Marie. What the hell are you doing here? Are you cheating on me? Did you come here to meet your lover? Shouldn't you be at home cleaning up and sulking over the fact that your husband didn't come home to dinner?”

With every word that he uttered, I felt my anger begin to mount. These past few years, I'd let this man walk all over me, but not anymore. Now, I just wanted to get home without letting him see how much his infidelity had hurt me. I turned on my heels again and walked towards my car, but he grabbed my arm once more to pull me back.

Without thinking, I swung my other arm back and landed him a sizzling slap. I'd shocked him. I could see it. I'd shocked myself too, and as soon as it was over, I regretted it. I took a few steps back in fear. There were people around, but that hadn't stopped him from hitting me before.

I saw his lips pull back in a snarl, and braced for impact, but right in that moment, Chloe rammed into him from behind, sending him off balance and onto the floor.

“Don't you dare lay your hands on my friend!” She yelled. 

At this point, people had begun to gather. Some were even recording. Grabbing my hand, Chloe pulled me out to the parking lot, got into her car, and zoomed off, leaving a stunned Anthony struggling to get back to his feet.

***************************************

“I'm listening, Rissa. What happened back there?”

We'd both been silent on the drive to Chloe's place, but I'd seen her itching to ask me questions. When we stepped into her cozy apartment, I just knew that this wasn't one of those days when Chloe left you to process your thoughts. This time, she would want to know.

“I'm still waiting.” She said impatiently and I could hear the beginnings of annoyance in her tone.

“I don't know where to start.” I responded shakily.

“Well, maybe start from the top. What the hell, Marissa? That bastard was about to hit you before I got there. And you looked scared to hell. And what was he even doing there? First, you tell me you can't hang out because your husband's coming home, and then you suddenly call me to ask where I'm at, and did I ask anything? No. But with what I saw there just now, you've got a lot of explaining to do, girl.”

I tried hard not to cry, but when I started talking about all that had been happening, it was as if a dam burst open.

“Our first year together went by so fast! It felt so good, but these past two years, he's just been a total asshole, Chloe. He snaps at everything, throws hurtful comments at me, and stays out most of the time. I don't know why, but this entire time, it never even occurred to me that he was cheating.” I finished on a sob.

Chloe held me in her hands, and was quiet for a full minute before asking, “And when did he start hitting you?”

I froze for a second, but I let myself breathe. This was Chloe. I could talk to her. “A little over a year ago.” My voice broke as I said this.

She was quiet again, and before long, she got up, went into the kitchen, and came out with a glass of water for me.

I'd known Chloe so long that as she stood away from me looking out her window, I knew there was a storm brewing inside her.

“Come on, now, let's hear it.” I said to her, and saw her hesitate for a moment before finally deciding to speak.

“Over a year, Rissa?” She exploded, “That bastard has been hitting you for over a year? And he's even been hurting you longer than that. What the hell? Is that how it is between us now? You keep stuff like that away from me? Is this your definition of being best friends?”

I swallowed before responding. “I told you some of it.”

“Only a handful of times, and never about him hitting you. And even all those times, you still always defended him!”

“I love him!” I heard myself yell. “And I was too ashamed to tell you about it. You never liked him, Chloe, and I just couldn't admit to myself that I'd made a terrible mistake. And.. and the last time we had a fight, he promised me that we were starting on a fresh slate. I know it was stupid of me to believe him, but I just… I don't know, Chloe. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.” I said and broke into fresh sobs. 

Chloe walked the short distance towards me and gathered me in her arms. “Easy, baby. It's okay, now. You're okay.” She said in a soothing voice. “I could have helped, you know.”

‘'l know. I'm so sorry.” I said again, and she held me closer.

“It's okay. You don't have to be sorry. I've got you.”

That night, she tucked me in bed and got in with me. The last thing that crossed my mind before I went to sleep is that I was indeed lucky to have a friend like Chloe.