Page 13 of Formula Freedom
“Mum,” I say, and my voice breaks.
Her tone changes instantly. “Lara? What’s happened?”
I grip the edge of the table with one hand, knuckles white. “I’m okay. But something happened last night, and I need to tell you everything. I need you to promise to just listen until I’m done.”
“Of course,” she says, concern in her voice. “Is Lance there with you?”
“Actually… no. I’m here with Reid.”
Hesitantly she says, “Okay, go on.”
I inhale, and then I let it all out. “I left Lance last night.”
“Oh, honey,” she coos, sorrow evident, but I don’t hear disappointment and that’s relieving. “What happened?”
“He slapped me,” I say, deciding to rip off the Band-Aid.
“What?” she exclaims, a slight bit of disbelief, but I hear mostly a mother’s anger.
“It’s not been good between us for months. Since we got engaged, really. He’s been… controlling. He checks my phone, tells me where I can go, who I can see. At first it was subtle. Easy to brush off. But after we got engaged, it escalated. He didn’t want me traveling for work, said it was unnecessary. He started getting angry about the smallest things. Said I was embarrassing him if I spoke too much at events. Said I didn’t act like a proper fiancée, said I didn’t dress right.”
Reid’s eyes darken but he sits still, elbows resting on his knees, head down as he listens closely.
“And then I found texts on his phone,” I continue. “He left it unlocked one night, and I saw messages from another woman. I confronted him about it last night after the party. We had a huge fight, and he… he hit me.”
My mum gasps. “Oh my god.”
“I packed a bag and left while he was in the shower.”
“Sweetheart…” Mum’s voice wavers, thick with emotion. “And you’re with Reid?”
“He offered me a place to stay last night. I didn’t know where else to go, Mum.”
There’s a pause. And then, softly, “Of course you went to Reid.” She clears her throat and composes herself. “Are you safe?”
Reid bends over the phone. “Hi, Margot. It’s Reid.”
“Tell me she’s safe,” my mum demands, as only a mother can do when protecting her child.
“She’s totally safe,” he says firmly. “She can stay here as long as she needs to. No pressure. No questions. I’ll do everything I can to make sure she’s protected.”
There’s a soft sob from the other end. “Thank you, Reid. Thank you so much.”
“You don’t need to thank me,” he says. “I care about her too.”
I look over at him, startled by the way he said it—so simple, so honest.
“We’re going to figure this out,” Reid continues. “I’m going to talk to my parents next, but we wanted to call you first.”
“And where’s Lance?” she asks.
“We don’t know,” Reid says, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “He sent some nasty texts last night, demanding Lara return to their place so he might be headed there this morning, but I doubt it since he’s here trying to land some accounts.”
There’s a beat of silence and then my mother muses, “I’ll need to call your dad right away. He’s at the store.”
With Reid and Lance’s dad. This is where things will become difficult.
“He’s going to be furious at Lance,” she warns. “But that can’t be helped.”
