Thanks for the feedback so far, everyone. I knew that last chapter wouldn't win me any popularity contests...
... but I'm glad that everyone can see the necessity of it. I think I have 2-3 more chapters to go before the tale is complete.
@GS: Can't wait for more of yours, either one of them! Super excited for the Kevney one, though. I think you're doing an excellent job of getting into Whitney's mind with it...the poor girl.
@danyale: It sure looks like it's about to be an open-mouth kiss, huh?
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Two Samurai, Chapter 12
Santa Monica, CA
Christmas Eve 1991
Whitney hadn't even been home for two days when things escalated to a fevered pitch with Bobby. She was in the living room in a tank top and fleece pants, wrapping a couple of final gifts for their family get-together the next day, when he came downstairs to join her. He had obviously been drinking.
"You almost done?"
"Yeah, almost." She separated a piece of tape from the roll, placing it carefully on the edge of a present.
"You said that an hour ago. I hate when you keep me waiting." He sank down onto the couch, sitting his drink on the table and bending down close to her to grab the remote, then flipping on the TV. It came to life immediately, a trashy entertainment news program on.
Whitney backed away, wrinkling her nose at the strong smell of liquor on his breath. "I know you do. But I'm almost finished. You can wait." She spoke slowly and carefully, as though speaking to a child.
Bobby watched as she unrolled a large section of wrapping paper from its tube, then cut it, straight and carefully. "Hurry the ufck up," he instructed again. "Better things to do."
"Yeah? Like what?" She didn't even bother to look up at him as she asked. She was completely sick of him, and her mind began to wander, thinking about what Christmas must be like at Kevin's, with little ones running around underfoot.
"
You know what," he replied, grinning and making a lewd gesture at her. She rolled her eyes, completely disgusted at the thought. Lately she'd just been going through the motions with him, and she couldn't help but think that a certain someone had spoiled all other sex for her forever. It just didn't compare.
The TV caught the attention of them both as a reporter teased an intro for an interview with Kevin that was to air right after the commercial break. Whitney felt a rush of adrenaline; she didn't remember him giving an interview recently, and had no idea what he was going to say.
"Oh, great," Bobby said sarcastically. "Can't get enough of him."
Whitney didn't respond, instead focusing her attention completely on the box she was finishing up. She could feel her face heating up.
"What, nothing to say about your
lover, baby? I'm surprised." His words were slightly slurred as he picked up his drink, taking a long sip.
"He's not my lover," she replied, loudly snipping a piece of ribbon.
"Good," Bobby sneered. "The thought of that white boy laying a hand on my property makes me sick."
She turned her chin up to face him, gently setting the scissors down. "Once again, I am
not your property. And he was nothing but wonderful to me until he could tell that things were... different." Her voice was growing louder with each word, her eyes looking intensely into his.
"Man,
ufck him!" Bobby yelled, then after a pause, continuing. "Oh wait... I forgot.
You already did! My bad."
Whitney cringed, the room seeming to tilt with the angry words. He'd never out and out accused her of cheating before, and she had no idea how to react. She could hear Kevin's voice on the TV, sounding calm and sweet as always. She stood up slowly, taking a deep breath. There was no point in denying it; he was going to start a fight either way.
"Where do you think you're going?" Bobby stood up, countering her move.
"No idea. I just don't want to be here. You're being an assohle." She took a step backward. "On second thought, this is my house.
You leave."
He laughed obnoxiously. "I don't think so." The words were slow and deliberate, and Whitney felt a flash of fear in her chest, imagining him getting violent with her again, picturing him backhanding her hard. What happened next was much worse than that.
Things seemed to be moving in slow motion as she saw him grab the long-handled scissors, opening them into two separate blades.
No. Surely he wouldn't.
"Kick me out," he said softly, then his voice rose in volume. "Kick me out, btich!
Do it!" He held the scissors up as a threat.
Whitney's eyes darted around the room, but her feet were frozen to the ground. She lunged for her car keys on the rack beside the door, but not quickly enough, as she felt his strong hand tighten around her wrist, followed by a sharp slice of pain as he slid a scissor blade hard into her forearm and dragged it down toward her wrist.
"Will this teach you? Don't disobey me!
Do you hear me? He doesn't want you, Whitney! You're nothing without me!!" She'd never heard him scream so loudly, and her pulse was thundering in her head as she managed to grasp her keyring and slip out the door, slamming it in his face.
She ran barefoot in the dark across the dewy grass, her breath catching in her throat, and her whole body shivering uncontrollably. She could still hear him yelling obscenities, and he had caught up to only a few steps behind her as she managed to slide into her car seat and lock her power locks. The engine revved to life and she put the car immediately into reverse, not looking back at him.
Whitney didn't stop driving until she was several miles away, her mind a cloud of words and thoughts and fear. She'd never seen him so angry, and it terrified her.
What now? She pulled into a grocery store parking lot, making sure she was in a well-lit area just in case he had followed her, but she didn't think he had.
*********************************
An hour later, Whitney was sitting on the edge of Anna's couch as they cleaned out her gash with peroxide. She squeezed her eyes closed, the liquid stinging the wound on her arm as it bubbled up. She'd finally told her everything -- the entire story, from beginning to end.
Anna was wide-eyed. "Whitney... honestly. I had no idea about most of this. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't know." Her voice was small and sad. "I couldn't even admit to
myself that this is what he's like. I just thought he would change. I thought with the engagement, that he'd... I don't know. I just thought it would make things different."
"If I had only known... you realize I'd have
never encouraged you to go through with it!"
Whitney nodded.
"So what about Kevin, then? Does he know? Did you tell him that the assohle made you back away from him?"
Her eyes again brimmed with tears that she didn't want to let fall. "No. I... I never gave him a reason. We just stopped talking after awhile." Whitney paused, her eyes moving up to the spackle pattern on the ceiling. As long as she didn't have to make eye contact, she wouldn't cry. "I mean, he knew some of it, at first. Before it got so bad."
"Damn it! I could find that bastard and wring his ufcking neck! I swear I could!" Anna shouted.
Whitney licked her lips, her gaze settling back on her friend. "It's not worth it. You'd look terrible in orange, anyway." The two women shared a soft laugh, then Anna excused herself from the room. Whitney could hear her making a phone call as she stretched out on the couch, pointing then flexing her toes.
What do I do now?
**********************************
A romantic comedy on in the background, they discussed calling the police, but it was ultimately Whitney's decision and she opted not to. It would only add fuel to the fire at this point. The wound was long, but luckily not deep. She was sure it would scar, but didn't think a hospital could do any more in-depth treatment on it.
After a couple of minutes, there was a knock at the door, and Anna quickly hopped up to answer it.
"It's almost 11 pm on Christmas Eve...this can't be good." Whitney's voice was shaky as she spoke. "He found me. I need to hide! Tell him I'm not here!"
As she rose from the couch, Anna silently opened the door, and Whitney's eyes widened as she saw Kevin walk in, looking panicked.
"God...I came over as fast as I could...are you okay, Whit?!" He crossed the room quickly, moving right over to her.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I --"
Her answer was cut short by his arms being thrown around her, wrapping her up tightly. He held her close for a long time, cold droplets of rain on his jacket pressing against her cheek. Finally he released her, then removed his coat and tossed it over a chair before hugging her again.
"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" Kevin asked softly.
She couldn't hold back the tears anymore. They fell quickly, one after another, down her cheeks and got absorbed into his navy sweater. He didn't let her go, his breath warm on her neck as she cried. A couple of minutes passed in silence, and Whitney, through closed, wet eyes, heard Anna quietly leave the room to give them some privacy.
"I love you," she finally whispered into his cheek.
Pushing her gently back, he caught a glimpse of the fresh cut on her forearm, red and now shiny from antibiotic ointment. She watched as his jaw tightened, but he didn't say a word about it.
"Whitney, I've been going crazy for months wondering what I did to make you change your mind about us. And the whole time, you were being treated like... like
this... and you never said anything? You're breaking my heart, baby."
Whitney swallowed hard, her mind racing. She sat down and blew out a slow breath before speaking, her eyes still watery. "I never meant to hurt you. Please understand. But you have a family at home, and it isn't fair to them. It's not fair for me to disrupt so many lives because I'm being selfish and wanting something I can't have."
"What about what
I want?" he replied, softly squeezing her leg. "This was never a casual fling to me.
Never. I love you, beautiful woman, and I want to make this work. More than anything. We're going to have to wait a little while... it's going to be at least summer before everything's final... but --"
"Wait...
final?" she interrupted. "You've started?"
"Yeah. We filed back in June. A couple of weeks after I got home from Vegas."
Whitney blinked, completely stunned. "I had no idea."
"Yeah, well, you weren't speaking to me," he replied simply.
The lights on the tree in the corner blinked slowly, red and gold, as Whitney laid her head on Kevin's shoulder. He ran a hand up and down her arm. There was nothing else to say at the moment; no more excuses, no more apologies to lay out. Anna didn't come back downstairs at all. Whitney thought about going and filling her in, but she was so sleepy, and just wanted to enjoy being pressed up against the man she loved again, finally. His relaxed breaths were moving her almost imperceptibly every few seconds. She knew that he needed to get back to his family, to fill stockings, to set out a plate of cookies for Santa with one bite taken out of them. She'd wake him up in a minute, right after she closed her eyes for a few seconds...
******************************************
It was still dark when she awoke with a start, falling to one side as Kevin moved out from underneath her. She was disoriented from sleep, and it took a few seconds to get her bearings.
"Whit, I'm so sorry...it's almost five and I have to get back home. There's presents that I need --"
"I understand," she said breathily, stifling a yawn. And she really did understand. She felt bad that they'd both fallen asleep for several hours.
Kevin pressed a soft, quick kiss to her lips, causing her to feel a stir of real desire for the first time in months.
"I'll call you tomorrow night, I promise. You're going to stay here, right?" he asked.
She nodded silently, the realization of everything hitting her for the first time. It was Christmas, and she was sleeping on her assistant's couch. She had a high-profile wedding to publicly call off. But most importantly, she had her love back. Whitney told herself that everything could be dealt with after the holidays, as she tugged a well-worn quilt off the back of the sofa. She was back asleep almost immediately, too quickly to feel Kevin lovingly wrapping the quilt around her; not seeing the tears in his eyes as he watched her sleep for a couple of minutes before he quietly left.