Page 106 of Falling Slowly
“It’s been a week, Charlie. You’ve had plenty of time to tell her everything.” Teresa stared at him blankly, and Charlie visibly squirmed.
She was right. He could have told me at any point. Before we slept together. Before I fell for him. That hurt. It hurt so muchthat my insides ached, sending signals of pain all the way to my fingertips. “I can’t, Charlie.”
“But, I have plans. I’m trying to fix this. I was going to?—”
Just like Jack. Desperately fixing things behind my back, never letting me know how deep a hole he’d dug for himself. I couldn’t live like this. Not anymore. My vision blurred, and I stumbled off the sidewalk, along the cobblestones. As one aimless group, we moved towards the town square until Teresa spotted my mother and Celia emerging from behind a hotdog stand.
Charlie ran ahead of us and reached my mom. I couldn’t hear what he said, but I saw Mom’s posture straighten. What was Charlie saying to her and why couldn’t I walk any faster? I’d left the crutches in the car, happy to lean on Charlie. Teresa offered me her arm again and this time I accepted, taking the weight off my aching foot, waiting for Mom to reach me.
She touched my arm, her eyes glossy with tears. “I’m so sorry, Bessie. You don’t deserve this. But we’ll figure it out. You’ll find another job.”
Teresa huffed. “There’ll be a lot of people looking for that other job now.”
“But you have great references. Right, Charlie?” Mom eyeballed him.
“The best! But she won’t need them. I’ll?—”
“I promised Celia a hotdog and an ice cream and there’s supposed to be a hayride. Why don’t you take Bess for a little drive?”
“She doesn’t want to drive anywhere with him,” Teresa announced.
“Why don’t we let Bess decide,” Mom countered softly.
I stared at them, my heart in tatters. My only work friend who’d always had my back, and the man who’d lied to me all week. The man I loved, against my better judgement, just likeI’d loved Jack. I’d survived one blow. Would I survive another? Mom seemed to think so, taking Celia’s hand, pointing at the hotdog stand.
“I don’t know,” I said, fighting tears. “I can’t make this choice.”
“I can,” Charlie said, scooping me up and throwing me over his shoulder. “We’ll be back in an hour.”
“That’s kidnapping, you fucking ogre!” Teresa screeched as I wriggled in Charlie’s firm grip. “I’m recording you on my phone. She’ll sue you! We have evidence.”
“She can clean me up any time,” Charlie muttered, too quietly for Teresa to hear.
From the clicking of heels, I knew she was right behind us. Charlie didn’t care, marching across the square and down the road. I directed my anger at his backside, hammering it with my fists. He didn’t react or even slow down, but clutched me so tightly I couldn’t have escaped. Not that I wanted to. There was no strength or conviction behind my thrashing arms, only despair. I didn’t want to get away from him. I wanted to punch him and scream at him. I wanted him to hold me tightly to his chest until I woke up from this nightmare. I wanted him to tell me none of it was true.
We’d had something good. So good. And he’d taken it away. Destroyed it. How was it possible to love and hate someone at the same time?
When we reached the side street and his car, Charlie shoved me into the passenger seat, hopped behind the wheel and locked the doors before Teresa caught up with us, leaving her standing in the middle of the street, her phone held high.
“What now?” I asked Charlie, my heart pounding in my chest. “You can kidnap me but you can’t force me to trust you.”
He sped down the street, not looking at me. “No. But I only need to imprison you for forty-eight hours for the Stockholm syndrome to kick in.”
“What?”
“Just kidding.”
Was he kidding? I fastened my seatbelt, scanning the road ahead. Could I throw myself out of the car next time he had to stop? I couldn’t run. He’d catch me in seconds.
“Don’t even think about it, Bess. I know this isn’t right, but I have no choice. I need you to hear me out.”
“Is it not true? Have I not lost my job? Did you not know about it and choose not to tell me?”
“No, that’s all true. But it’s not the whole truth.”
“You seduced me. You made sure that when I found out, it would hurt so much more.” I fought for a breath, tears gushing out.
“No! I never meant to sedu… I never meant for anything to happen between us. I mean, I liked you. I admired you. I thought you were hot. But I just wanted to help. I wanted to find a way to save your job. Get you to help me with the campaign and get you a new job in the creative team.”
