My body freezes.My mind shuts down, and paralysis freezes me into inaction.I barely breathe.“Wh-what are you d-doing here?”
“I want to talk.Nothing more.”
My legs start to shake and I stumble back a few steps.To my complete shock, he walks in.
Into my apartment
My vision narrows and the room feels even smaller, the air too thin.I consider running, pushing past him and escaping, but my legs are too weak.“Y-you can’t come in.”
I hate myself for stepping back.I hate that my voice sounds too small.I hate that I feel so powerless.
“Too late, but don’t worry.This needn’t take long.”His voice is clipped, and he’s the same monster as ever.Perfectly groomed, controlled and powerful, with a hidden evil agenda.And he’s staring at me like he can do anything he wants.
Like I’m at his mercy.
I shiver.
This is how my mom must have felt.Only it was worse for her because he laid his hand on her.
The bastard.
“You shouldn’t be here.”I try to sound loud and brave, but I’m failing miserably.What’s happening to me?I’m stronger than this.Better than this.
A faint smile curves his mouth.“I could say the same about you.”
“I live here.”
I catch a whiff of overpowering cologne, and I’m fifteen again, heart pounding, skin crawling, and trapped.“I’ll call the police.”I walk backwards, not taking my eyes off him, glancing over my shoulder to see where my cell phone is.
“I didn’t come to argue with you.I came to resolve a sticky situation.”
“There’s nothing you can say that I want to listen to.”
“Don’t be foolish.”
I pick up my phone, about to make a call, but who would I call?Zach’s not here.He’s in Boston after all.
My finger hovers over the keypad.Who do I call?Who can help me?
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Paul threatens.For the first time ever, I detect a hint of panic.It’s enough to fuel something inside me.I don’t call.I press record on my voice recorder app.
“What are you here for?”I ask again, feeling confident, emboldened, even, by my actions.
“Zach is special, to both of us.”He shoves his hands in his trouser pockets, casual and laid back, everything I’m not.
I stay silent, because I don’t know where he’s going with this.
“You seeing him after all these years, complicates things.”
His words embolden me more.“For whom?”I dare to smile, because I now understand what this fucker is talking about.He silenced my mom by making sure she couldn’t work in New York, and now he’s here, thinking he can silence me.
“You don’t want to ruin his life over something that happened years ago.”
“Who says it was only years ago?”
His Adam’s apple bobs.“You understand how damaging this could be.For everyone involved.”
That’s it.That’s his subtle threat, wrapped up in a smile and politely spoken words.
