The Mansion

2: Bruise

The hours crawl by painstakingly slowly as I restock shelf after shelf, take bump after bump as people rush around the store.

When my shift finally ends, I go back to the staff only door to hand back my uniform. Ben stands, disapproval stains his face as I leave. I don't get his problem.

I take the long route back to my house, I don't want to face what waits for me back there.
The drive ends way too soon and I pull into the drive of my boyfriend's house. I pull my keys out of the ignition and sit for a minute, taking as long as possible to get ready before I walk up the gravel drive.

I open the door quietly and see Mark lying on the sofa, a half empty bottle of beer in his hand. I note multiple more bottles on the counter.

I creep across the living room toward the stairs, praying they don't make a sound. I step on to the first stair.
CREAK
Mark's eyes snap open and I sigh and turn towards him.

"Where have you been?" He sits up and rubs his head. "At work" my lip trembles. I know what's next.

"You're fucking late!" his voice is loud, it fills the small living room. Mark gets up and strides toward me. I back into the wall, trembling"I-I'm sorry! I didn't think you'd mind-"

His hand hits the wall next to my head and I flinch. "Don't do it again, you worthless bitch. You're supposed to be fucking cleaning here, not playing around with your dumbass colleagues, or your car"
He raises his hand and I close my eyes. I don't even feel the impact, just the pain.

Tears well in my eyes and I hear him groan "You're a grown ass woman, get a fucking grip" he wanders back to the couch and falls asleep. I creep upstairs and get ready for bed. Tears cloud my vision as I get in bed.
I hear Mark's snores from downstairs and my cheek stings fresh.