Katherine
WITH THE LEFT SIDE of her body pressed against the car door, Katherine fought for as much space as she could find in the backseat of the taxi. Thankfully, Tim had been able to hail a driver pretty quickly, adding a quick ending to the worst night of her life.
It was surreal, watching the city she had grown to love fading by as Tim hurled profanities in her direction. In the darkness, San Francisco looked gloomier than usual, and Katherine wondered to herself if it was a sign. Could she have been wrong in thinking this city was for her?
Just when she began to doubt herself, the concern in Ben’s green eyes burned into the forefront of her memory. When Tim led her out of the charity event, squeezing her arm in a way that was sure to leave a bruise, she glanced back to see Ben standing like a statue, watching with a fiery gaze.
It was a new emotion she hadn’t seen him wear, but it was enough to help her remember that something strong was growing between them. Leaving with Tim was the best way for Katherine to put an end to his outburst, but she knew that getting away from him was now her top priority.
As if on cue, Tim tugged at her arm, pulling her body towards him. “I know you hear me, bitch,” he yelled, as the taxi driver looked up at his rearview mirror. “This ain’t got shit to do with you!” He continued to shout profanities at the worried driver, who immediately returned his attention to the road.
“What do you want, Tim?” Katherine asked yet again, a question that continued to ring true in her head.
For the life of her, she couldn’t understand his thinking. He went through so much trouble, spending his time and money to humiliate her, as if he treasured his wife so much that he would do anything to have her. Then, once she was with him, all he wanted to do was degrade her. It wasn’t enough for their marriage to fail.
No, Tim wanted to make sure Katherine would never be happy again. As far as he was concerned, she should be punished for all eternity for walking out on him. Tim was the type of man who sought revenge until the death, and the way Katherine had walked away from him was an ultimate betrayal, despite the torture he put her through.
Like many abusers, accountability wasn’t one of Tim’s strong points. Never did he consider Katherine’s reasons for wanting to escape, only the fact that she had deserted him. Leaving him behind in the house he had built especially for his perfect wife. There was an image he wanted to present to the world, and Katherine’s disappearance had made that nearly impossible, and that was a defeat he wasn’t willing to accept.
“What do I want? I want my wife, Katherine! Isn’t that obvious?” His tone was laced with annoyance, and was as condescending as ever.
Tim was the only person who had ever made her feel small, like she didn’t know a thing in the world. He considered her beneath him because she had no higher education, and the longer Katherine spent around him, the more she found herself believing it, all over again.
“You don’t want me, Tim,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
Katherine hated when Tim got so upset he was beside himself with anger. There was no reasoning with a man consumed by rage. Early on in their marriage, when he first began to scream and yell at her, she learned that silence was her best defense.
Her survival instincts for dealing with Tim were rapidly returning, and she was grateful but still ashamed. Her thoughts kept returning to Ben, as she wondered what he must think after the night’s events. He had looked so shocked when Tim so callously announced himself as her husband.
She was so caught off guard that words escaped her, so when Ben looked to her for an explanation, she had nothing to offer and stood there, mute. She cringed at the memory, wishing again she had told Ben everything before it was publicly thrown in his face.
“Tomorrow, we’ll go to whatever little shit hole you’ve been living in to get your things. You’re coming back to LA with me, but for now I need some rest. I can’t believe you’ve had me chasing you around again,” Tim huffed, bumping Katherine’s arm roughly as he ruffled his shoulders in frustration.
Pressing harder against the car door, Katherine focused on the window, hoping they would be wherever they were going soon. While she was in no rush to be alone with Tim, any space had to be better than the back seat she was currently cornered in.
When the taxi finally pulled into the circular driveway of Tim’s hotel, Katherine was thrilled to climb from the backseat, then carefully followed him to the reception counter. As always, he had booked the very best room in the nicest hotel in the city. Tim never cared much about prices, instead demanding the top of the line in everything he did.
“Hello, Mr. Marshall,” the receptionist greeted him as they walked through the lobby. “Oh, and is this Mrs. Marshall? I didn’t know you would be joining your husband tonight.” The blonde hostess was more than overzealous.
It was standard practice for the hotel staff to learn the faces and names of their elite clientele, but it was often intrusive when the façade was further from reality than they could imagine. It was true that technically speaking, Katherine was Mrs. Tim Marshall. She could only imagine what the hostess would think if she knew that Katherine had been on the run from him for two years, finally establishing a new life for herself without him.
The blonde only saw Tim’s account with the hotel, so when she led them to the large wooden desk at the back of the room, she didn’t notice any of Katherine’s silent attempts to gain her attention.
“I have the presidential suite all set up with your favorite beverages, and your dinner will be served shortly,” the woman spoke cheerily as she typed away on the keyboard of her computer.
“Sounds great,” Tim nodded, shocking Katherine.
Just that quickly, he was back to being the likable professional everyone wanted to be around, smiling and shaking hands as he chatted with the young blonde woman, asking for recommendations on restaurants and things to do in the city.
For Katherine, it was like the twilight zone, watching the man who had just threatened and humiliated her be treated with so much dignity and clout. For a second, she wished she possessed the level of selfishness necessary to destroy someone else’s life, because if she screamed at the top of her lungs in the hotel lobby the way Tim did at the charity event, he would instantly lose his mind.
The mechanical cries of a printer began chiming and the hostess bent to retrieve a print out before asking Tim for his signature. “If you need anything at all, just give me a call,” the woman said, far too suggestively. Tim thanked her for her help before extending his arm towards the elevator, as if Katherine had any choice but to follow him.
It was all an act; her old life was like a Broadway play. And as soon as the doors to the elevator shut, Katherine was thrust into another character, back to the victim being berated by her abusive husband.
“You need to be more like that hot receptionist. She knew her place.” Tim grunted as he flashed the keycard over the sensor. The presidential suite opened to a special floor, so you had to have a special key just to gain access to that level of the hotel.
Too afraid she would start an argument if she responded, Katherine remained mute. The stench of alcohol was strong on Tim and she knew it was only a matter of time before things got worse. She had to try her best to calm him down, and steer clear of anything that would set him off, like talking back.