The Unseen (2 page)

Rebecca sniffled and laid her head on Amanda’s shoulder. Her best friend always made her feel better—even now, when it felt like her heart was shattering into a million tiny pieces.

She’d met Amanda in fifth grade at Tucson’s Richardson Elementary and they’d been inseparable ever since.
Together through thick and thin—that’s us
. Rebecca hated the thought of facing all this alone. “I think maybe he did just want to protect me, but I have to know for sure.”

Amanda took a step back and gave her a sympathetic gaze. “I really think we should catch this flight. Then you can talk to him after things settle down. Please just ask the attendant for another boarding pass.”

“I can’t. Don’t you want to know the truth? About Tom, I mean . . .”

The glow drained from Amanda’s cheeks. “Of course I want to know. But staying here isn’t practical.”

“Neither was coming here in the first place,” said Rebecca.

Amanda let out a defeated sigh, her tall, lean frame slumping forward. “Fine. I’ll stay with you. I’m your best friend—I can’t let you do something so completely insane all by yourself.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re going to stay.” She gave Amanda an affectionate nudge. “At least we only have a carry-on. But I want to change back into my bushwhacking clothes. These flip-flops won’t work at all where we’re going.”

* * * *

Bunny dropped into her airplane seat, reflecting on the situation. She couldn’t believe Rebecca was staying. And Amanda wasn’t boarding either.
They’re nuts to stay here.
She sighed.
I was nuts coming here in the first place. Stop—you promised last night you’d stop beating yourself up. You didn’t have a lot of options.

After four years of living with Jason in North Carolina, her life had become a mire of fear, confusion, and insecurity. And even when Jason struck her, she found herself thinking that it was her fault, like she
deserved
to be hit.

Everyone thought he was brilliant, good-looking, and charming, and that Bunny was an emotional basket case.
Why couldn’t they see the truth?
Many days, she’d barely been able to drag herself out of bed, she’d felt so weighed down and depressed.

She’d never been inclined to burst into tears with the slightest provocation before they’d met. But now she felt like only a tiny thread held her together, and it was thinning and about to break. When she looked back on her life pre-Jason, it felt like that life never existed. It felt like decades, rather than years ago.

Each morning before she drove to the investment brokerage and greeted clients as executive secretary, she spent two hours getting ready. After a long thorough shower, she shaved her legs, slipped on a neatly pressed, fashionable outfit, styled her hair, and applied model-perfect makeup.

For years, her life had been routine—she worked, played the piano, designed jewelry, read romance novels and spent weekends dining out and shopping at the mall with her friends. Then one day her boss hired another investment team member—tall, dark and irresistible Jason Frank.

She’d been instantly attracted to him. It wasn’t that she had a shortage of dates—it was just that none of them interested her all that much. But her libido kicked into overdrive the minute her eyes landed on Jason. Moisture trickled between her thighs when he walked by, his muscular thighs flexing against the navy blue pants. When he slid off his jacket, she couldn’t help staring at the bulging muscles in his upper arms. Whenever he passed her office, she’d jump up from her seat just to get a view of his butt disappearing down the hall. When Jason had asked her out to dinner, she’d wanted to leap right out of her skin. “Sure,” she’d said, feeling too overwhelmed to say anything else.

Their first dates had been magical—he’d taken her to the most expensive restaurants in town and always acted the perfect gentleman. On their fourth date, he’d cooked a romantic candle light dinner for her at his townhouse, and afterward they’d made love for the first time.

She’d found the interlude more than a little disappointing—it was over in a few thrusts and labored breaths—and for the first time she’d considered that he might not be what he seemed.

Not feeling much intimate connection afterward, she’d dressed and returned to her apartment. Initially tempted to call it off, Bunny decided to give the relationship more time. They’d dated on and off for the next month and he’d occasionally persuaded her to spend the night.

One morning after she’d left his house early and gone home, her car wouldn’t start.

She called AAA and texted her boss to let him know she’d be late. When she finally got to work, she sat down to a pile of work only to sense a shadow standing over her. She looked up, feeling the intensity of Jason’s gaze.

“Oh, hi, I didn’t hear you come in.” She’d offered him a strained smile before turning her attention back to her work. Last night’s sex, which revolved around Jason’s enjoyment, had left her feeling cheap and worthless.
I have to break it off with him—I gave it a month and things are only getting worse.

“Where have you been?” Jason’s grey eyes looked angry and a muscle in his jaw twitched unpleasantly.

Bunny shrugged, figuring once she explained, he’d settle down. “My battery died. I had to wait for AAA to come.”

He raised his voice and pounded his fist down on her desk. “Why didn’t you call to let me know?”

Worry tugged at Bunny’s insides. Jason’s reaction struck her as more frightening than normal. “It just didn’t occur to me. I texted Rick and let him know I’d be late.”

Spit flew from Jason’s lips as he berated her. “From now on, if you’re not going to be somewhere on time, I expect you to let me know.”

She jumped up from her chair and ran to the door he’d shut behind him when he’d entered the room. “Jason, you’re acting crazy and I’m not going to listen to any more of your ranting.”

Jason grabbed her by the shoulder and steered her away from the door. “If you want to keep your job, you’ll go back to your chair and sit down.”

“What do you mean if I want to keep my job?” Panic rose inside Bunny’s chest. She had bills to pay and work was hard to find in a tough economy.

“I told Rick earlier, I thought he should replace you because you’re difficult to—”

“I’ve never been difficult at all.”

“I told him this morning you don’t seem to like me, that you’ve been intentionally not finishing my work. He agrees that’s completely unacceptable.”

She planted a hand on her hip. “But that’s simply not true.”
Why is he doing this?

“I’ve always been able to convince people of anything I want them to. But you can keep your job if you cooperate with me. All I want is for us to be together. Now sit down.”

Bunny sat down in her desk chair, hoping he wouldn’t notice her trembling hands.

“Now do you promise to let me know from now on where you are?”

“Sure—that would be no problem at all.”

He placed a hand on top of hers, applying so much pressure, she gritted her teeth to block out the pain. She closed her eyes and held her breath, fearing he might strike her.

“That’s a very wise decision. I’ve made reservations for dinner at six. “

What will he do to me if I say no?
“Okay, then.”

That was the last day she recalled making a decision on her own. From then on, she’d been Jason’s puppet.

Within a month, she’d moved out of her apartment and into his condominium. He hadn’t liked her furniture—the sofas and tables she’d inherited from her grandmother, the watercolors she’d purchased from local artists, the piano she’d bought at a garage sale, so she lied and said she sold all the items while secretly putting them into storage.

Everything changed once she moved in with Jason. She no longer played tennis with her friends on the weekends because he didn’t want her displaying herself in short skirts, which according to him made her look slutty. Since her piano was in storage, she no longer had that musical outlet to release the pain that ate away at her insides. Soon all her friends stopped calling. Jason always answered the phone and told callers she either wasn’t home or wasn’t available. She heard about people going to prison and thought, that’s what I feel like. She had to do everything Jason’s way or else.

She’d run into an old high school friend at the grocery store a week before she’d signed on for the Vietnam expedition. Michaela was happily married and had left her six-month-old son at home with her mom that day. Bunny studied Michaela’s dark disheveled hair and her pale make-up-free face and noticed the purplish rings under her eyes.

“I’m just glad to have a few minutes to myself.” Michaela masked a yawn. “Sorry, I don’t get much sleep these days.”

“I can imagine.” Bunny had once told herself she’d never stop paying attention to her appearance if she had kids. But when she glanced in the store mirror and saw her reflection beside Michaela’s, she realized all her daily primping wasn’t working anymore. Her waistline had broadened since she’d stopped exercising—she could barely even wiggle into her jeans. And her whole countenance had changed.
I look miserable and pathetic.

“So enough about me. What have you been up to? Hey, did you hear me?” Michaela waved a hand in front of her face.

Bunny shifted her gaze from her reflection back to Michaela. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just got a little distracted by the noise in here.” She briefly mentioned her work at the investment firm. She glanced at her watch and noticed the time she’d told Jason she’d be home had come and gone. She wrenched her lips into a smile, feigning calm, but her voice shook as she spoke. “You know I probably should finish up with my shopping. The ice cream’s going to melt.” It was either lie or confess a psychotic man waited for her at home.

Michaela briefly glanced at the items in her cart and frowned. “Well it was great seeing you.”

“Great to see you, too.” Bunny had considered asking Michaela for help. But admitting her uncertain circumstances felt even more embarrassing than being caught in her little lie.

When Bunny stepped through the front door laden with groceries, fast footfalls echoed across the tile. She raised an elbow to keep one of the bags from slipping. “I’m about to lose this bag—can you grab it from me?”

Instead of unburdening her load, Jason knocked the groceries from her hands. “Where the hell have you been?”

She lost her balance and stumbled into an end table. Produce, cans and jars bounced and rolled across the tile. A broken jar of spaghetti sauce spattered the white walls. “Jason, what’s the matter with you?”

He rushed toward her, his facial muscles tense, spit bubbling around the corners of his mouth.

Oh no.
Bunny raised her hands to protect her face and cowered.

He shoved her against the wall. She cried out the instant her shoulder blades punched through the drywall. “Ouch. Stop that—you’re hurting me.”

“I don’t give a shit. I asked you a question and I want an answer.” He walked back toward her, his eyes flashing crazily.

“Isn’t it pretty obvious?” She bit back a laugh. For some reason whenever she was most afraid, she felt compelled to laugh. It was her mind’s way of denying the peril she was in.

“So you think its funny, you worthless whore? Well you better stop laughing. I’ll fucking kill you if you don’t tell me who you’ve been with.” Spit flew from his lips. His jaw clenched, he grabbed her around the throat and squeezed.

Bunny grabbed his hands and tried to loosen them from her neck. Her voice came out high-pitched as she gasped for breath. “I saw a high school friend at the store and stopped to talk with her.”

“Her? You really expect me to believe that? I bet you were out fucking someone, weren’t you, you little slut?” His hands still fastened around her neck, he shoved her head against the wall.

The room swam and Bunny struggled to bring her surroundings back into focus. Maybe I should just let him kill me, she thought.
Then this suffering will end once and for all.
But a tiny flicker of strength—the only strength she had left after four years of constant abuse—urged her to fight back. Masking her terror, she offered up her most convincing puppy dog eyes expression while thinking she’d never hated anyone more in her life. “Come on Jason, you know I wasn’t with another man. I would never want to be with anyone except you. I promise I won’t be late again.”

He released his vise grip hold and gave her one last shove. “You better hope for your sake, you keep that promise.”

An hour later, Kent’s email message had popped into her in box, luring her to do something crazy. She knew she shouldn’t have lied about every single one of her credentials, but the trip provided the quick out she desperately needed.

Two days later, plane tickets had arrived at her mom’s house, where Jason couldn’t intercept them. And four days later—after telling her mom she planned to tour Asia with friends—she’d boarded a flight to Vietnam. Her mom’s last words before she left had been, “I can’t believe you’re going without that nice young man of yours. You’re really lucky he puts up with you.”

Bunny sighed. The thought of returning to North Carolina filled her with dread. She wondered how she’d ever heal when Jason had managed to get everyone to see through his distorted lens.
Back there, I’ll never be able to turn things around.

A muffled voice on the speaker system broke into her thoughts. Since she hadn’t heard the announcement, Bunny looked around to see what others were doing. People were standing up and reaching for their bags. A woman a row behind her said, “The flight’s been cancelled.”

As they stepped out of the restroom, Rebecca saw a line of people deplaning from the flight they’d been slated to leave on. “What’s up with that?”

“Maybe the flight got cancelled. If it did, you know what that means.”

Oh no.
A moment later she spotted Bunny walking across the tarmac. Rebecca bit back her frustration. The woman had cried and complained constantly during their jungle adventure. As much as Rebecca pitied the desperate woman who had signed on as an assistant to escape her abusive boyfriend, she’d been ecstatic to see her go.