#5

22 4 62
                                    

⚠️ TW : Mention of SA, violence, harassement, death
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I felt my heart sink. That bastard touched her. He raped her.

CJ : "I should've killed him when I had the chance."

I looked at her. She was staring at the floor. Tyler disgusted me. How could he do this to her? I didn't know what to say. Mae was holding back the tears, already regretting that she had just said that.

« Mae : Please, say something.
CJ : Um, I'm sorry. ... I really don't know what to say. Um, ar- are you okay? »

That was a dumb question. Obviously, she wasn't but I couldn't think of anything else. I needed to find a way to reassure her.

« CJ : He's not coming back, don't worry.
Mae : Was he alive when you left him? »

She didn't show any emotion. It almost felt like me.

« CJ : Yes, he was.
Mae : Then, how can you be sure he's not coming back? »

CJ : "Cause I will take care of him."

Of course, I couldn't say that but it was the truth. All I could think of, now, was how I was gonna make Tyler pay.

« CJ : If you had seen him this morning, you'd understand. He's in a bad shape. And he's scared of me. »

Mae looked at me.

« Mae : Tyler? Scared?
CJ : Yeah.
Mae : No, he's playing.
CJ : He wasn't playing.
Mae : Right, because you know better than anyone. You! The person with the amazing memory who didn't even recognize him!
CJ : I was 10, the last time I saw him! What are you doing?! We're on the same side! »

Mae looked away.

Mae : "Great, now, she's yelling at me."

The truth is that Mae was trying to change the subject of the conversation. She didn't want to talk about what happened with Tyler but I didn't know that.

I didn't like how just with one sentence she made me feel responsible for Tyler stabbing her. It's true that if I had recognized him sooner, we could've avoided that. Still, I was upset that she brought that up.

« CJ : You know what? I'm gonna go, now. You got what you wanted, you got the names and your ex is a computer genius so you'll be fine. You don't need me. »

Mae : "No..."

She watched me put on my jacket without saying anything but when I walked past her she grabbed my arm. I stopped and looked at her but she didn't let go of my arm. I could feel her hand shaking. She wasn't looking at me. She was looking behind me. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

« Mae : Don't go... I need you... »

She slowly opened her eyes.

« Mae : I know I said before that I didn't need you and I wanted you to leave but... »

She looked at me.

« Mae : ...please stay. »

I was looking at her, worried. I nodded and she, finally, let go of my arm.

« Mae : I never told anyone about that. I didn't know how...
CJ : Even... Monty? He doesn't know?
Mae : No. You're the only one.
CJ : Can I ask you when it happened?
Mae : September 23, 2017. It was the day after Monty's birthday. I stayed late at work because I had paperwork to finish and... when I was about to leave... »

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