Suddenly

A Reckless Plan

When she first 'went dark', as she liked to call it, people of course tried to get ahold of her. Her manager sent endless emails, her friends and family made countless phone calls and texts. Sadly, her phone number and email were quickly changed.

She wondered often what it would feel like to listen to those pleading voicemails again. They had made her so sad back then, now they would just make her feel wanted.

"Morning." The peppy voice of her housekeeper broke her thoughts. She had barely realized it was time for Tatiana to be be there.

Grace was exhausted to say the least.

She and Ayla had exited the closet just before dawn. Thankfully, Josh had already left for work by that time. She was able to lay the equally exhausted baby in her giant bed and drift off to sleep for a couple hours before Tatiana arrived.

"Hi, Tati, are you sure you aren't early?" Grace asked just like every other morning. Her eyes barely seemed to shut before she was awoken by her ever diligent housekeeper.

The younger girl grinned. She had been a huge fan of Grace during her YouTube days. This job had been a blast for her. Though, she had learned to never bring up the past, especially in front of Grace's husband.

"Mister Housely left a note, he is going to be gone until Wednesday." Tatiana quickly handed her employer a crumpled piece of paper, with Jack's messy, hungover scrawl written on it.

Grace felt a sigh of relief leave her. She didn't really think for a second that Josh was actually going on a business trip. She knew of his various affairs, she simply didn't care. Better them than her.

She glanced down at Ayla beside her, the tiny human was still sleeping, her chubby thumb poked into her mouth. Josh hated the habit, said it was disgusting, but she found it endearing. Ayla looked so innocent with her thumb half hanging from her pursed lips as she slept.

A sudden thought gripped at her chest.

It was only Friday, Wednesday was five days away. That was plenty of time for her to disappear, with Ayla.

The thought scared her. Sure, she had thought about leaving before, but Josh's constant threats always made her stay.

Now, she was slowly realizing that her leaving this weekend would possibly be her only chance to escape. She had more than enough money to hire a lawyer. She had more than enough evidence to prove what a sadistic bastard her husband really was. All she needed to do was be brace enough to take the leap.

"Miss Housely?" Tatiana's voice once again pierced through her thoughts.

She looked up to the worried girl.

"Are you okay?"

Grace just stared at the girl in front of her. Her mind was racing with so many thought.

Could she really pull off leaving?

Could she trust Tatiana?

"Grace?"

The older woman suddenly leapt from the bed, Ayla jerked in her sleep but didn't wake.

"Listen, Tati," she was at her dresser, rifling though the drawers. "Ayla and I are leaving, right now."

Tatiana was confused. It wasn't very out of the ordinary for her employer to take the baby out during the day, especially when her husband was gone for a business trip.

"Do you need me to pack Ayla's diaper bag?" She questioned stupidly, still not understand the weight of Grace's statement.

Grace shook her head, she realized the girl was not on the same page. Of course she wasn't, Grace took so much care to make sure Tatiana didn't see the dark side of her life. Though she would gladly consider her a friend, she wasn't fooling herself to believe she could trust Tatiana to know the truth about her and Josh's relationship. She knew good and well that Tati was a fan, though she had been sworn to secrecy, one never knew where loyalties really lay.

"Tatiana, I need you to keep up for a moment." Grace held her breath, waiting for the girl to catch up.

Tatiana had frozen in mid stride towards Ayla's bedroom. She now faced her employer with rapt attention.

"Good, I need you to use your phone to book Ayla and I a flight to LAX, ASAP." She spoke over her should as she hunted down the one credit card that her husband knew nothing about. Finally she found it in a false bottom on her underwear drawer. "Use this card."

Grace tossed the card to the still very confused younger woman. Tatiana had begun to wonder if her employer was having a mental breakdown.

"Why are you taking Ayla to California?"

Grace's frenzy of packing ceased. She was suddenly gripped with a fear that she had made a terrible mistake in including the younger girl in her plans.

Her eyes involuntarily filled with tears. How was it possible her escape was over before it even began?

"No, Grace! I'm sorry!" Tatiana wailed. "I'm just really confused! Please get me up to speed and I will do whatever."

There was a long silence before the blonde found the strength to speak.

"My....my husband...Mister Housely." She fumbled over her words. "He is not a good man, Tati. He-he hurts me." She didn't comment on the sharp gasp that came from the shorter woman. "He has for a long time. I've worked very hard for you to not see, for anyone to see. But I can't keep this up anymore." She shot a tearful glance to her sleeping baby. "I have to do what is best for her. She is my everything, and I can't have her growing up with that monster." She trailed off as she dissolved into tears.

Tatiana could feel her heart break for her friend and employer. She had always looked up to Grace, even before she had come to work for her. She had always seemed to poised and in control. Now, this version scared her. How could she have overlooked Josh beating her? Sure there were odd coincidences, and many days that Grace would just lay in bed, but she had always claimed to be sick.

The more Tatiana thought about if, the more she realized she had missed. She felt like a horrible human for not stepping up for Grace, and Ayla. This could be her last shot to right the wrongs.

"You get what you need. Make sure not to take anything he can track. I'll call the airline." Tatiana gave Grace a reassuring squeeze on her arm before grabbing her cellphone and the credit card.

Grace was grateful to have the younger girl on her side. It had been a long time since anyone fought in her corner. She gave one last glance to Ayla before grabbing her bags.