Page 57 of Danger and Dominance
Abusers weren’t abusive all the time.Especially not at the beginning.
If they were, it would be easy to leave them.
Sitting and watching with Brenda was cathartic, though, replacing the memories she had of watching with Don.Pushing them a little further back.
The show also let her fantasize.There was a brief moment where her brain went down the path of what would happen if Don caught her and Brenda here.Imagining how he’d disable Cassidy so he could take out Brenda, dragging Cassidy away while Brenda lay bleeding on the floor.She’d never know whether the other woman died or was saved.Who would find her.
If David would be the one to enter the house first.
Heart in her throat, Cassidy blinked away the tears and focused on the show.
Which, of course, made her think about Don’s disappearance.It was probably too much to hope that someone had Dextered him.And wasn’t she a shitty person for thinking about it?
Shouldn’t she just want him to leave her alone?
Sure, leave me alone so he can go and terrorize someone else.
She’d rather the guilt from being relieved that he was dead than finding out he’d gone on to hurt someone else.
It sucked that the justice system wouldn’t do anything to him until he had.
No wonder people loved shows likeDexter.
They could cheer on the bad guys meeting a bloody end without any guilt because it was all fictional.She would be wracked with guilt if Don turned up dead, but she would also be secretly grateful.Wildly relieved.
So, watching Dexter gave her mixed feelings, but it also felt good in a way to be doing something that had so many memories attached to it.Like she was watching in defiance of Don.
After TV time, Brenda liked to read or sit and do some Sudoku or a crossword puzzle to keep her mind sharp.
Then, it was time to make lunch, after which Brenda took a short nap.The afternoons were dedicated to Brenda’s various activities.Monday was book club, Tuesday was Mahjong, Wednesday was crotchet club, Thursday was yoga class, and Friday, there were alternating activities at the community center.The last thing they did every day was go take a self-defense lesson with Claudia.When Cassidy had mentioned the lessons, Brenda had insisted she wanted to join, so now that was how they ended their days before Cassidy took Brenda home and made dinner before leaving.
Since they weren’t going anywhere other than the retirement center and Black Fox, Cassidy had been cleared to drive and given a car… the first week, someone was always with them, whether it was Jensen, Claudia, or Drew.David did not come.She knew through the others that he was gearing up for an important fundraiser.All of them were, of course, but the responsibility was on him.
Week one passed without incident.Don didn’t show up anywhere.They still didn’t know where he was, but if he was anywhere in Pittsburgh, he wasn’t showing himself.Cassidy spent her days with David’s grandmother, her evenings with Jensen or whoever was guarding the house that night, and Thursday night at game night for a rousing round of Seven Wonders.
They really should call it Game and Gossip Night.
“So, how is it going working with David’s grandmother?”Yasmine asked slyly, casting her gaze at Cassidy in between examining her cards.“Is it awkward after your scene last week?”
“It’s not like she scened with his grandma,” Ashley, Lincoln’s wife, pointed out.She’d joined them this week and added a surprising dollop of sass to an already pretty sassy group, much to Cassidy’s amusement.She was also the youngest of the gathered women, and all of them were genuinely amused by her.“Why would it be awkward?”
“Uh, because she scened with the woman’s grandson right before getting hired.”
“Yeah, but his grandma doesn’t know that.Wait, does his grandma know that?”Ashley’s head swiveled around so she could look at Cassidy with wide eyes of surprise.
“No, she definitely does not know that.”Though she’d dropped several hints about how David was a very ‘good boy’ and would make someone a wonderful life partner if he would just slow down enough to make time for someone else.There was no way Cassidy was going to admit to Brenda that she and David had any kind of relationship outside of him being in charge of the team that was protecting her.
Because they didn’t.
Not really.
And she definitely didn’t want his grandmother putting pressure on him to start one.
They’d agreed to keep things to the club, and she’d meant it.
“So, it’s not awkward?”Yasmine asked curiously.
“No, not really.I haven’t even seen David since she hired me.”Which was disappointing, but she understood.He was busy with work.And they weren’t in a relationship anyway, so she didn’t have any expectations about seeing him.It was just that she’d kind of hoped to.
