The Darkness We Hide

Early the next morning as Michelle was dressing, humming happily to herself, her phone began to ring.

“Hello,” Michelle said brightly, bringing it to her ear, not bothering to look at the number.

“Good morning,” a man’s voice said over the line.

“Richard?” Michelle said, her good mood evaporating as she slumped weak kneed to her bed. “Why are you calling me? The restraining order.”

“You disappeared from the bar the other night,” he replied, “I never got to give you your present.”

“You were there?” Michelle gasped, her body shaking as she turned to double check that her door was locked and the chain on.

“I wanted to wish you a happy birthday and give you your present,” Richard replied, sounding put out. “I can bring it over to your apartment if you’re home.”

“No,” she stammered, fear wrapping its icy hand around her stomach, “I don’t want anything from you. Please, just leave me alone.”

“Michelle,” Richard replied, his voice still sad. “I said I was sorry for hurting you.”

“Richard,” she sighed. “Please don’t call me again.”

Hanging up the phone before he could reply, Michelle slid to the floor in the corner, pulling her legs to her chest. With Richard she’d thought she’d finally met a nice guy, but then the controlling and abuse.

At first, she hadn’t realized what was happening. It wasn’t until the physical abuse started that she’d begun to see what was happening, though she had no idea what to do about it. Finally she’d had enough and told Richard it was over, with terrible results.

Since receiving the restraining order, Michelle had not seen or heard from him. Why was he all of a sudden contacting her? Should she report him or just hope he left her alone.

Still clutching her knees, the phone in her hand rang.

“Leave me alone Richard,” she said as she answered it.

“Michelle?” Gareth asked, surprised.

“Oh hi,” Michelle sighed, angry at herself for not checking the number. “I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

“Are you okay?” he asked, hearing a slight tremble in her voice.

“I’m fine,” she lied. “I just got a call from someone who shouldn’t be calling me.”

“That would be Richard?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “We dated for a while and he got really possessive and violent.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Gareth said, trying to control his rage.

Richard had hurt her. Hurt her enough that he could hear the fear in her voice when she spoke of him.

Rage built in Gareth as he thought of what he would do to Richard if he ever got his hands on him again.

“It’s okay,” Michelle replied, trying to push the awful memories away. “He hasn’t tried to contact me since I got a restraining order against him.”

“Why do you think he called you today?” Gareth asked, the nails on his free hand turning to claws the angrier he got.

“He said he had a birthday present for me,” she answered, sounding calmer, but still shaken.

“I guess this is a bad time to ask you out for dinner?” he said, trying to sound normal instead of angry.

“No,” Michelle laughed, “it’s actually a great time. I could use a distraction.”

“How’s your ankle?” he inquired. “Still sore?”

“Honestly I haven’t walked on it much today,” she admitted. “I’d planned on taking care of a few things, but I just haven’t found the motivation to do anything on my list.”

“Anything I can help with?” he asked.

“No, not really,” Michelle replied, suddenly needing his presence.

“Okay,” Gareth said, hearing the weariness in her voice. “How about I pick you up at 6:00. We can get that sushi you were telling me about.”

“That sounds really good,” she agreed, looking at the clock, seeing it was only just now noon. “That gives me time to try and convince myself to do a few things between now and then.”

“Alright,” he laughed, the sound of it making her heart feel lighter. “I’ll see you then.”