Page 92 of Very Special Forces

"But ifI don't, does it seem like I'm accepting what he said as the truth?Yet, if I do reply, it could be seen as an effort to start aconversation and why would I do that if I'm afraid of him? It'struly a no-win situation." Julia sighed.

"You caninsist the police prosecute him," said Jas. "We saw you when heopened the door. You were bleeding and we both saw the marks aroundyour neck. We can be your eyewitnesses." She looked to me forconfirmation and I nodded.

"But you didn't actuallyseeanything. It's my word against his. He's soconvincing." Julia reached for a tissue and dabbed at the tear thatrolled from her eye. She tucked the tissue in her hand and adjustedthe blanket over her knees. "I fell for it. I believed everythinghe told me and then he did this to me."

"Youweren't the first. You shouldn't feel bad about believing the manyou loved," said Jas. "I thought he was terrific in the beginningtoo."

"You sawthrough him faster than I did."

"Atleast you did see him eventually," I said. Between us lay the fileI compiled. I hadn't the heart to give it to Julia the day she'dbeen taken to hospital but she read it now. What she thought of it,however, was a mystery. She read it silently while Jas and I sippedhot tea and then she closed it and placed it on the coffeetable.

"I hatethat he'll probably get away with this," said Julia. "I hate that Ibelieved him when he said his exes made stuff up. Lana. Angie.Jessica. How could I believe that many women were lying about thesame man? I would have done anything for him. I even had my haircut because he said he liked it short better. I don't even like itthis way!"

"I canput you in touch with a lawyer. Even if you don't want to pursue itwith the police, you can have a notarized statement kept on filejust in case he ever tries anything again. I can ask a couple offriendly detectives to scare him off too," I suggested. "But Ithink you should reconsider filing charges. You have the hospitalreport. That's your evidence right there."

"I'llthink about it." Julia reached for her mug and sipped. "This is themost liberated I've felt in weeks," she admitted. "I didn't realizehow wound up I was all the time. Bryce's behavior become so slowlyabhorrent that I didn't even realize how bad it really was. Itseemed like his behavior was normal. All the horrible things hesaid his exes did, he accused me of and I knew I wasn't doing anyof them. I'd tell him to stop and he'd say he never said thingslike that. I knew he did. I couldn't understand it. Then he wouldbuy me flowers or take me to dinner and everything would bewonderful, but only for a little while."

"It'scalled gaslighting," I told her. "Bryce messed with your reality.He made you doubt yourself."

"Is thatreally such a thing?"

"It is,"I confirmed. "And the escalation of abuse? That's from normalizingbad behavior."

"What'sthat mean?" asked Jas.

"Hepushes the boundaries of what's okay. When no one calls him on it,he continues and then that escalates to something else. Then, thatbecomes normal so he escalates again."

"Thedrinking. The name calling. The pushing... I was the only personwho saw it." said Julia. "It's going to take me a long time to getover this. I thought I had everything I wanted in Bryce and really,I had nothing. He wasn't the great guy I thought he was. He was atotal phony."

"Youhave everything. You have a lovely home and friends and family whocare about you. He's the one with nothing," I said. "One day, I'lltell you about my ex-fiancé and we can laugh about the luckyescapes we've both had."

"I thinkthat's some way off," said Julia. Then she smiled. "But I'd likethat."

"AndI'll be there every step of the way," said Jas. She reached out toJulia and they held hands, smiling at each other. Then Julia beganto cry again and so did Jas and I felt my eyes getting wet. So itwasn't exactly the outcome I was looking for, but Julia was safeand that was the best thing.

"I haveto go," I said, checking my watch as a knock sounded at the door."I have my rehearsal dinner to get to."

Jas wentto answer the door and when she returned, several of her friendswere with her.

"Sothere is life after the crazy ex?" said Julia hopefully as herfriends fanned around her, fussing and exclaimingendearments.

"Abetter life than you can even imagine," I told her as I stood toleave. "Just you wait and see."

~

I wasthe last one to arrive for the rehearsal, which was fine, becauseif there was one time in my life I could legitimately be a diva, itwas for anything to do with my wedding.

Solomonwaited at the altar and next to him stood Delgado in best man duty.Both were in jeans and t-shirts and I could hardly imagine them intheir finery tomorrow.

Solomon's sister Anastasia and Lily were there, along withChloe and Rachel, my two older nieces. My younger nieces, Victoriaand Poppy, would both be dressed in flower girl dresses but sincethey couldn't walk, they would be held inside the congregation.Garrett's son, Sam and Daniel's son, Ben were pageboys and theydidn't crack one joke or pull a single prank as we practicedwalking the aisle. I never saw them looking more serious. Garrett'soldest son, Patrick opted to be an usher but mostly he made googlyeyes at Anastasia and I couldn't blame him. She looked stunningeven in her jeans and button-down shirt.

Myparents didn't need to be there but they came anyway. The onlyperson really missing from our families was Solomon's brother,Damian but he was in witness protection and couldn't join us. Iwasn't sure Solomon would want him there anyway although he hadn'tmentioned Damien much since we last saw him. Perhaps that was atopic for therapy too.

"How areyour nerves?" asked Lily after the celebrant directed us to walkthrough our positions and timings while she checked to be sure wewere happy with the readings.

"I feelokay," I said. "I don't feel nervous at all."

"Waituntil everyone is watching you tomorrow," said Mom.

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