It was finally closing time and I’m about to tell Callie my story. I won’t be telling her my real name because I can’t afford her to accidentally call me by my real name on accident. I have to be careful in case Charlie or his buddies come looking for me. We finished cleaning up and everyone has already left for the night. We sat down at the bar and she poured us a glass of red wine. Her favorite. Red wine was always my dad’s favorite as well and that makes me miss him more.
“So, tell me what’s going on. Where are you from originally?”
“I’m from Cincinnati, Ohio. West Chester if you wanted specifics.”
“What made you what to move here exactly?”
“Charlie is what made me want to move here. My mom grew up in the house I’m at right now and I always wanted to come here and fix it up. Things just got pushed ahead more than normal.”
“Who’s Charlie?” she asked and I took a big sip of my wine knowing it’s going to be a really long night.
“He’s my ex-boyfriend. He tried to kill me so I ran away with the help of my mom.”
“He was abusive wasn’t he?” she asked with a worried look on her face. Almost as if she was remembering something from the past or something.
“Yes he did. He abused me for a couple years but it recently got worse.”
“How long were you two together?”
“We were together for four years but didn’t start hurting me until about two years ago. It wasn’t that bad until six months ago.”
“He took things way too far and you almost died?”
“Yes, but how did you know?” I asked with confusion on my face. There’s no way she knew about it before I even told her.
“Because a few years ago I was in your shoes. It was with my ex-fiancé to be exact. That was all before I met my amazing husband, Sam. But that’s a story for a different time.” She said with a smile when she mentioned his name.
“What was his name? Your ex I mean?”
“His name was Roger. We were together not as long as you but he abused me longer. I was a fool for staying with him longer even after he first hit me.”
“How long were you with him?”
“Two years. We met in high school and knew each other but we never dated or anything until a few years after I graduated college. He was a football player of course. Typical I know,” she said chuckling to herself. “But he was different then and even when we dated as well. He wasn’t an asshole like most guys were who played football. He was kind, sweet, caring, funny, and really smart. So I had no idea he was this abusive type of guy until I was in too deep.”
“Was he abusive when you were engaged to him?”
“No, he wasn’t. He was very loving and then something in him snapped. He changed and became a whole different person. I realized I couldn’t be with him anymore and I knew I had to get out before it got too bad. Even though I loved him I couldn’t be with him anymore after everything he had done to me.”
“Who helped you out?”
“Jayson. He’s really my only family besides my now husband, Sam. He was there for me through it all. He knew something was wrong and wanted me to tell him what was wrong but I kept making up excuses for Roger. It didn’t take until Roger hit me, who knows how many times, and ending up in the hospital, that I finally realized I needed to ask Jayson for help.”
