Page 2 of Taking Control
I can feel Michael watching me and I know that he is looking for any signs that I may not be firmly on his side, but I’m not going to give him any reason to doubt me. I’m going to act out the role of my fucking life to make sure that he can’t come after me in the future.
“Cal, Michael and I have a lot of stuff to work through, but I’m prepared to fight. Believe me when I say that I will be okay, and that you need to trust me. Michael loves me,” I repeat, reiterating this to show Michael that I know that he loves me. Let Michael think that I am naïve and completely at his mercy.
“I fucking love you, Lucy,” Cal says, shocking the hell out of me. “Doesn’t that count for anything?”
Yes, I want to scream. Of course it counts, but I can’t drag you into this any further.
I want to tell him this so badly, but I don’t.
Instead, I shrug my shoulders and feel pain sear through my heart like never before.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, blinking back the tears that threaten to fall. The crestfallen look on Cal’s face nearly breaks me.
I know that he will think I’ve lost my damn mind, and so will Kim, but I’ll be damned if I am going to let Michael do this to another woman.
“Goodbye, Cal,” I say before I turn and walk back to the bedroom, ignoring Cal’s shouts as I close the bedroom door and let the tears fall.
Chapter Two
Two weeks
Two weeks have passed since I shattered my bond with Cal.
Two weeks and I can still picture his devastated face as I walked away from him.
Two weeks since I chose to stay with a man who has abused me from the moment that I let him into my life, even if I didn’t see what he was doing straight away.
In the last two weeks I haven’t left this apartment, or prison as I view it. I haven’t been to work or to the shops, and I haven’t spoken to anyone other than Michael. I thought that the best thing to do was to have some time by myself, in which to plan how I am going to get Michael out of my life for good. But no. Michael has had two weeks of compassionate leave due to my ‘illness.’ I dread to think what illness he has concocted to tell our boss, but it must have been bad enough for him to have been granted two weeks off, with full pay.
So, instead of planning my escape, I have played the part of the doting girlfriend. Michael hasn’t shouted at me, hit me or belittled me. In fact, he has reverted to the man that I first fell in love with, except this time I haven’t fallen.
I could never love him again, not in this lifetime or the next, but if he thinks that I can then I’m winning.
“Lucy, we need to talk,” Michael says as he sits next to me on the sofa, interrupting the film that I was watching.
These words used to fill me with dread, but now I sit here calmly, knowing that he doesn’t have a hold over me like he used to, even if he doesn’t realise it.
“What’s up?” I ask, plastering a fake-ass smile on my face. A distinct turnaround to the cowering that I used to do.
“I’ve had Mr Collinson on the phone, and he wants me to return to work on Monday. Apparently, I can’t have any more time off.” Michael looks miserable as he informs me of this, clearly expecting me to be as gutted as he is.
“Oh, that’s a shame,” I reply, giving him a sympathetic smile to make it seem like I give a damn. “Still, it will be nice to get back to normal, won’t it?”
I already know that he will be worrying about what he can do with me if he isn’t here to keep an eye on me. For me, the separation will be a welcome relief.
“I suppose, but I don’t want to leave you on your own.”
“I’ll be okay,” I say with a shrug, not wanting to make too big a deal out of it.
“I don’t think that you will, so I have arranged for you to come with me and we can have our own private office to work in.”
He looks as pleased as punch with this news, whereas I must look aghast. For months I have hated the fact that I work with Michael, because it means I never get a break from him. Working together, living together, sleeping next to a man that has become my enemy.
But I have never hated it as much as I do in this moment.
“It’s a bit soon, isn’t it?” I say hurriedly. “I mean, I’m still not feeling great.”
I feel fine, but I have to think of something. I need him to think that I am still suffering.
