Southern Bouquet

May's Story

May nodded, allowed her to walk past, and followed her out. Before she could shut the door, Anthony caught it with his hand. May turned to see the angry look on his face. His eyes were narrow, slitted, and dark. His face was a dark shade of red and his jaw muscles were flexing under the pressure of him clenching his teeth together.

"I own you, Maggie. You're nothing but a housekeeper without me. You have nowhere to go." He growled.

She was taken aback by his comment but didn't allow him to see.

"Don't worry Tony, I'll have my things out of your apartment tonight. And it's Magnolia." She glared, turning to walk away.

Anthony grabbed her by the arm tight enough to leave a handprint. There would be bruises tomorrow. He jerked her back into his office, slammed the door, and forced her to face him.

"You will do no such thing. You're mine and you will stay right where you are if you want to keep your job."

"Anthony, you're hurting me," she yanked her arm from his grip. "If you think I'm staying with you after you've been cheating, probably this entire time, you're out of your mind."

Anthony backed her against the door and was inches from her face. His eyes were dark and his jaw was clenched. He stared into May's eyes with a cold evil glare.

"I'll say it one more time. You are not going anywhere and you won't speak of this to anyone. What you are going to do is go back home, take a hot shower and go to bed. In the morning it will be as if none of this ever happened. And if you ever interrupt me at work again, you'll be sorry."

May looked at him, dumbfounded that he would even think she would stick around after this entire scene. She quickly turned and walked out of the room, jumping as the door slammed behind her.

She walked briskly through the dark halls, avoiding anyone that may still be there. As she made her way through the parking lot, she heard her name. Turning towards the voice, she finds the girl that was in Anthony's room.

"Magnolia, I want to apologize. He told me he wasn't seeing anyone anymore."

May held up her hand, gesturing for the girl to stop.

"There is no need for that. Just stay away from him. He's crazy."

***

A few hours later May was packing her things when she heard the front door open and close. She walked into the living room to find Anthony standing there looking down at her packed bags. He looked up with venom in his eyes and stormed towards her.

"I thought I told you that you weren't going anywhere." He exclaimed.

"And I told you that I wasn't staying after what I walked in on." May bit back.

Anthony pushed her against the hallway wall causing her to yelp as her head bounced off of it.

"You think this is a joke?" He screamed.

May tried to slide past him but he grabbed her arm and pushed her back into the wall. Feeling her anger rising, she pushed him away from her, but that only made his anger worse. He grabbed her arms, throwing her to the ground, and stood over her as he began threatening her. She scurried away from him and stood up to run but he caught the back of her shirt, yanking her back to him. Swinging her body around to push him away, she realized her mistake as he threw his weight into her. His hand was around her throat holding her against the wall as he used his other hand to smack her across the face.

"This is the last time I will say this. You. Are. Mine. You're not going anywhere. You will go to work, be happy in front of everyone, and come home. That's it." He demanded.

May couldn't speak. She was desperately clawing at his fingers trying to loosen his grip around her throat.

"Is that clear?" he yelled.

She closed her eyes and nodded her head as tears spilled from the corners of her eyes.

Anthony let her fall to the ground, leaving her laying there holding her throat sobbing into the carpet.

***

May's next few days at work were filled with eyes following her and whispers behind her. She wore turtle necks and scarves to cover the bruising around her neck and use makeup to cover the marks on her face as best as she could. She kept away from everyone and avoided Anthony as much as she could. When he was around, she smiled and allowed him to hug her but she quickly made excuses to have to get away.

The days seemed to drag on at work and the nights even longer, especially when Anthony showed up. Which were most nights just to make sure she was still there. He ended up installing security cameras with the excuse of recent robberies in the area but May knew better. They were to keep watch on her. Why else would they have been installed inside the apartment?

One night Anthony didn't show up. She called the studio to see if he was there. The guy who answered the phone said he had left on a business meeting and wouldn't be available until midnight. May looked at the clock, it was 11:30. If Anthony was at a meeting, he usually stays later than the meeting is expected.

She rushed through the bedroom grabbing any clothing and items she could and quickly threw them into a bag. She tugged on her shoes and headed for the front door. She opened it and ran right into Anthony. Wide-eyed, May slowly backed away as he forced his way into the apartment.

"Where are you headed?" he asked with an evil smirk.

May didn't answer. She continued to back away until she was at the hallway entrance. Anthony lunged for her, she grabbed a chair, throwing it down in front of him, running towards the bedroom. She slammed the door, locking it, and ran into the bathroom, locking it. Looking around, she tried to find anything she could use to defend herself. There was nothing. Anthony made sure to remove anything that could be used as a weapon. He turned her phone and cell phone off and removed any electronics that she could use to contact anyone. May had become his prisoner.