RAISE YOUR HAND

Chapter 8

Yesterday had been cathartic. It was a purge. It felt great to unload. When it was over, it felt horrible. How could she have divulged all the gory details of her marriage to the beautiful man? Correction. Her boss, of all people. Shame and embarrassment filled her.

How was she supposed to look him in the eye today? Oh yeah, she had the day off. The day was meant for furniture shopping. On line of course. Mr. Venturi told her to stay home and call Eugenia or Ms. Jewell if she needed any help.

Why was he helping her? Better yet, could she trust him? Trinity cupped a warm coffee mug in between her hands and stared out the sliding glass door of her new bedroom. The room faced the back of the building which overlooked a flower garden. It was probably lovely in the summertime. Would she be there that long?

The bigger question she kept pushing to the back of her mind was David. Would he find her? What did he think when he discovered she didn't make it home? He probably tried to call. She wouldn't know. She was provided with a brand new cell phone to use instead. It was a bit overwhelming trying to figure everything out. Eugenia showed her a few things, but she promptly forgot what she said.

Eugenia went on and on at lunch about how sure she was Dante was interested in her. Too bad it wasn't under different circumstances. There was no way she'd entertain the idea of a relationship with anyone ever again. How could she? There'd never be trust. It was bad enough she couldn't even trust him as her boss.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. If she hadn't trusted at least a little, she wouldn't have stayed the night. But, her gut told her to stay despite the fear she had for David finding her. The truth was, he hadn't. He hadn't found her last night. Nor did he discover her new phone number. Shit! She forgot to call Becky. How could she have forgotten? Becky was her best friend for crying out loud.

Trinity put her coffee cup down and grabbed her phone. No missed calls. Of course there weren't any. No one aside from Eugenia, Dante and probably Ms. Jewell had her number. What if David went to Becky's house last night? What if he hurt her? Her fingers flew over the numbers, but she paused midway and hung up only to redial.

"Hello?"

Relief. Becky's sweet voice answered after the first ring. An inquisitive tone reflected in her greeting.

"Becky!"

"Where the heck are you? What number is this?"

"Oh, I...has David been to see you?" Trinity frowned. Didn't Becky care if she was alright? She was glad she dialed star sixty-seven first.

"He called and asked if I've seen you. I told him I didn't."

"Oh, thank God."

"It's wasn't a lie. Where exactly are you?"

"I'm safe."

"That's good. So, are you gonna tell me what's going on and where you are?"

"I...I can't tell you," Trinity cringed.

"What? Why not?"

"I got away, Becky. I'm safe," Trinity breathed.

"What? How?"

"I can't...,"

"Tell me. I get it. So you're someplace safe?"

"Very."

"Okay, but when will I see you?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know? Are you talking a few days, weeks?"

Something in the pit of Trinity's stomach told her it was going to be a hell of a lot longer than days or weeks. So long as David was looking for her, she would need to stay away from her best friend. Even if it took months. Might as well be straight with her.