Touch Me (You & Me 2)

Like the time when she brought up the idea of going to culinary school. With Tim busy at work all the time, she was left alone so much that she thought she should pick up a hobby. Cooking had always been a passion of hers, but when she told her husband, he laughed in her face.

After telling her that she couldn’t cut it in any type of school, he arrogantly asked how she planned to put herself through school, even joking that she could see if the local diner was hiring. In addition to his emotional and physical abuse, Tim was financially abusive to Katherine. He used his money as a tool to control her, dangling her allowance like a carrot every month.

He didn’t want to empower Katherine, because he liked her to be dependent on him, it was what gave him the confidence to treat her so poorly. If she thought she needed him, she would continue to accept his behavior. But Katherine had smartened up.

For months, Katherine set money aside in a private account, saving a nice nest egg before she ventured out. Tim was known for giving her lavish gifts and large sums of cash to overcompensate for his abuse, but Katherine had chosen to stash it away rather than splurging. When she finally left him, she had more than enough saved for a comfortable life.

Straining to swallow the cries begging to be heard, Katherine slowly made her way out of bed to tip toe across the bedroom, watching Tim with every step. He had warned her about leaving the suite without his permission, and she didn’t want to face him, or his fist, again.

Tim might have fooled Katherine into believing she wasn’t capable of achieving her dreams when she was under his thumb in their marriage, but now that she had traveled and loved alone, she knew what she was capable of.

There was no way she could go back to living in the abusive prison Tim had created in their home. Not after experiencing true freedom. With her own place to call home, Katherine had flourished, and she wasn’t willing to give that up.

Glancing around the suite, she tried to think of a plan. Since Tim had taken her from the charity event, all Katherine had to wear was the beautiful purple gown Ben had given her. The cap shoulder had been torn, and a few of the jewels were splattered around on the floor as a result of Tim’s violence.

Unable to look at herself, Katherine avoided the mirror in the bathroom as she gathered a few things she could take with her. She didn’t have much, so it didn’t take long. Slowly, she stepped into her gown as she tried not to cry out as the fabric touched her sore skin.

When she refused to give Tim her address, he had shoved her into a wall, leaving her in fear of breaking a rib or two. He was rough and overly powerful when it came to demonstrating his strength to Katherine. It was like he had something to prove, reminding her that he was in control.

Regardless of how much it hurt, Katherine was happy she had refused to share the address of her apartment, because he would have demanded they go there immediately. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to leave Katherine alone to live her life in peace, so she couldn’t trust him with any information.

In the back of her mind, Katherine always hoped that with time, Tim would also grow and change, as she had. She hoped they could both move past their life together so they could each go on to lead separate lives. Sometimes she imagined that he regretted his behavior and wondered when it all went wrong.

She was sadly mistaken to think that Tim had evolved, but it was the only thing that gave her any peace, thinking that he had given up. Now, as she watched

him sleeping with heinous thoughts running through her mind, Katherine wondered if she would ever be free of his hold on her.

As an accomplished attorney with seemingly unlimited resources, Tim knew no limits when it came to tracking her down. And from the dark bruises Katherine could see on her wrist and the various pains in her body, she doubted he would ever come around to being less ruthless.

Tim was an evil person, and for the first time, Katherine felt she could see him for who he truly was. There was no way she could ever go back to living a life with him. They were beyond incompatible. Tim had no respect for her, and that would never change. She made a decision then and there—in the hotel suite where he paid for one night an amount equal to her rent for a month.

She had to break free of him, whatever the cost, because if she didn’t she feared for her life. Tim’s unexpected arrival and public display last night was all the proof she needed that her husband was worse than ever, and willing to risk far more than his money or reputation to get her back.

She thought he had too much going for him to behave the way he did. As a criminal defense lawyer, she expected him to care too much about his reputation to behave the way he did at the charity event. It was more than unprofessional, but she assumed he must not care since he was away from his home turf.

People often said that Los Angeles was like a high school, with everyone gossiping like teenagers. Katherine was certain that Tim would have never embarrassed himself in LA the way he had in San Francisco. He was far from home, away from the watchful eye of his competitors as well as his clients. Free to misbehave in public the way he always had in private.

Three soft beeps from the alarm clock prompted Katherine’s heart to slow to a stop, terrified Tim would be awakened by the sound. Glancing towards the nightstand, Katherine noticed the time as Tim rolled over on his side. She could barely move, too afraid of making a noise that would wake him.

When she was finally confident that he wouldn’t wake up, Katherine tiptoed to the door, looking over her shoulder only once to make sure opening the door didn’t disturb him. She knew she would need a few minutes head start if she was to have any chance of getting away.

It was sad how terrible things had gotten between Tim and Katherine. It wasn’t always that way between the two, especially when they first were married. After a wedding fit for a fairy tale, Tim surprised Katherine with a home that could easily make the pages of Architectural Digest.

It was supposed to be the start of a wonderful life together, and for several months Katherine believed it was possible. She was a devoted wife, head over heels for Tim, and trying her best to be the wife of his dreams. But Tim was never interested in their relationship, only in what it looked like to people on the outside.

He didn’t want to be a family man, but knew the politics of law in LA meant that what you looked like was almost as important as how well you did the job, so he was doing what he needed to do in order to reach the status he wanted so badly. Success was the only thing Tim cared about, and Katherine was nothing more than a piece of the puzzle, on his way to an empire.

When Katherine reached the elevator, relief rushed through her. It was time to fight for the life she had built if there was any way of maintaining her independence. For the first time since Tim exploded into her life last night, a tear slowly rolled down her cheek.

It wasn’t sadness, but joy for the life she had created for herself. Things had finally started to come together and she had begun to feel like herself again. It wasn’t easy to pick up and start a new life somewhere, and Katherine done it over and over. In the past two years, she had lived more places than she could remember.

But San Francisco had been the new beginning she so desperately wanted. In her first day in her new apartment, she found a job, which led to her very first friendship since she left Tim. More than what she had accomplished, San Francisco had become her home because of how it made her feel. Whether she was walking to and from work, or mindlessly exploring, Katherine felt comfortable whenever she was in wandering around her new city.

The doors to the elevator opened to an empty lobby. There wasn’t much foot traffic in the middle of the night, which made Katherine stand out even more in the bright purple gown hanging off her bruised body.

When the receptionist turned to see Katherine, she gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth as she looked her up and down. The pity reached her eyes as she stood silently, gawking. Katherine knew the look of sympathy, and wasn’t interested in it at all.

Without a word, she walked through the lobby with her head high, refusing to pay any attention to the workers watching her every move. The humiliation was gone, and the only thing Katherine felt rushing through her veins was adrenaline. She was back on the run, with more to lose than ever.