Annoyance starts to bubble up as I get into my car. I tell myself there has to be a good reason she didn’t call earlier to go get her, but I can’t think of one.Does she not see me as somebody she can call when something happens?
I make my way slowly through the congested traffic, and the annoyance begins to change into anger. And underneath is maybe a tinge of grim sadness and anxiety.
Just what does it take to be the person she can depend on? My brothers all say I’m like a tree—solid, reliable and unshakable. But what’s the point of having those qualities if Molly doesn’t see them? She said I was like my mom. Does she think I’m going to abandon her in her time of need because I have some more pressing whim to attend to?
Frustration and resentment twine around me until my lungs burn. I picture shoving them all into a box in my head, trapping them so they don’t spill out and affect my mood or my interaction with Molly. She deserves a chance to speak without me making assumptions and getting upset.
She’s thumbing through her phone in an armchair in the living room. She jumps out of the seat when I walk in.
“Hey,” I say, not giving her my usual greeting of “How was your day?” It’s obvious her day didn’t go as planned.
“How was your day?” she asks, like today is like any other day.
“The same as usual. Lots of meetings.” Dismissing her question and demanding she tell me everything that happened at work right now isn’t going to help. I reach for her, then stop short when I see red marks all over her forearm. Four long, thick lines wrap around her, and I narrow my eyes. Are thosefingers? Did someone dare lay their hands on her?
Murderous fury erupts. Blood roars in my head. My whole body shakes with the need to clench my hands around the neck of whoever bruised Molly. It’s all I can do to rein myself back so I don’t scare her. “What happened?” My voice rises despite my best intentions.
“Oh, it’s nothing. Well, notnothing, but…”
My vision grows red. The blood in my veins run hot, cold, then searing. “Who did this to you?”
She shoots me a wary look. Like I’m the feral one for reacting like this, when she’s been abused by some asshole! “Can we sit down?”
If that’ll make you answer me faster. I park my ass on the sofa. “Give me the name.”
“Don’t do anything rash.”
“Thename, Molly.”
She sighs. “It was Jack.”
“Your boss?”
She nods. “Former boss.”
“What did he do?” I need to know all the facts so I can decide how much pain to deliver.
“Just the usual jerk-off behavior. Staring and touching if he can. I’ve been avoiding him as much as possible—”
Something clicks in my head. “Is that why you keep your office door locked? To keep that piece of shit away from you?”
“Yes, but—”
“Why didn’t you say something?”Why didn’t you let me help you?
“I was trying to find a new job before I quit,” she says defensively.
My frustration reaches a fever pitch. And the grim sadness I felt earlier slides deeper into my gut. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I don’t know what purpose it would’ve served to tell you beforehand.”
The knife’s lodged so far down, I’m not sure if I can pull it out. “Did he grab you when you told him you got a new job?”
“No. He grabbed me, so I quit.”
“And you came home.”
“A coworker offered to give me a ride—”
