Ain't No Sharing You

Discoveries

Brandon came home from work with takeout from my favorite restaurant. It had been two weeks and I was still locked up in the house, working from home. The bruises had faded enough for me to cover them up with makeup, but the cover up wasn't up to Brandon's standards. My ribs still hurt, but it would take at least six weeks for them to heal. Brandon came up to me and hugged me tightly

After putting the food in the kitchen.

"You finished your checklist today. Good job." He said and kissed me on my nose.

"Yes, Brandon, I did." I said sitting on the couch in the living room.

"Come eat." He told me and walked into the kitchen and sat on a barstool that sat at the island.

I didn't have much to say to him so all that was heard were forks scraping plates. He was being so nice and I didn't want to rock the boat, but I needed to go back to work. I had a business to run and I needed to get out of the house.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, "Brandon, can I go back to work?" I opened my eyes when I heard him suck his teeth and slam his cup on the island.

"We talked about this. No. And how many times do I have to tell you to look at me when you're talking to me?" He stood up and walked over to me putting his hand under my chin and roughly putting my head up.

"You go back to work when I say you can go back. Do I make myself clear?" He asked getting in my face squeezing my face.

"Yes." I said trying to hold in the tears that threatened to fall.

"Good. Now clean up this mess and come to bed. "

"What mess? I cleaned all day." I said looking around as he walked to his plate and glass and threw them both at the wall. He took the Chinese food containers and dumped them on the floor.

"Looks like you missed a spot," he said smiling and walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Of course I cleaned it and it was after midnight when I got to bed. That was another night I spent "apologizing" to him for something that I didn't do. Surprisingly when he woke up the next morning on his way out he told me that I could go back to work. It always cost me something when he was nice to me. I didn't want to think about it too much. I was just happy that I was no longer a prisoner in my own home.

I went back to work and thanks to my employees I wasn't too far behind. It wasn't hard to catch up, with the exception of clients who personally wanted me to plan their events. When I worked I was free. I was able to focus on something else other than what I had going on at home. It was my escape from reality. My love for Brandon overshadowed his abuse towards me. I knew that if I didn't make him so mad or if I didn't irritate him, he wouldn't get so mad at me. I was so confused because I knew that even if I did everything that Brandon wanted that my life would be any better than it was. I just wasn't good enough.

I had spent two weeks avoiding Bre and especially Trent. I had blocked his number and was constantly deleting inboxes on Facebook. According to my assistant he came by everyday and left messages for me. He just didn't understand that my life wasn't my own and we couldn't be friends. I wasn't ready to die and I knew Brandon would kill me for even blinking Trent's way too many times. I didn't need anyone else getting hurt. I would protect him just like he protected me.

"So, you're here today?" Trent asked walking into my office closing the door.

I stood up shaking my head, "You can't be here, Trenton. Please leave." I said pointing towards the door from behind my desk.

"No. We need to talk." He said and sat on the edge of my desk.

"We don't have anything to talk aabout." I said not looking at him, rummaging through my Michael Kors purse as a distraction.