Her eyes darted left and right as she reached for her purse. The fight or flight instinct was strong. She would escape out the back.
“I should have known,” she hissed, the fear she thought had been banished bubbled up with renewed vigor, making her palms sweat and her knees feel weak.
She reached for the back door and pushed it open, ready to make her escape before coming to a halt. She couldn’t leave Talia to deal with him. She knew what Tim could get like when he was angry, and by the sound of his voice, he was pissed. There was no way she would let Talia take a beating meant for her.
With a deep breath, she squeezed her eyes closed and prayed for strength before putting her purse down on the table with the trays of baked goods and walked out front.
“Tell me where she is you stupid bitch! I know she works here! I’m not leaving until I see her!” Tim was shouting at Talia.
Her friend was standing stalwart as ever, facing off against her evil husband.
“Leave her alone, Tim,” she said, stepping into the open counter area.
“Katherine, no,” Talia said, in a voice filled with fear.
Katherine shook her head and stepped close to where Talia was standing in front of Tim.
Tim glared at her. “How dare you try and hide from me. Didn’t I tell you I would always find you?” he spat.
“Tim, just leave.”
He shook his head. “No way. You and I have unfinished business.”
“Get out of here!” Talia shouted.
Katherine gently pulled Talia back and stepped in front of her, shielding her from Tim even though the counter was between them.
“You’re coming home with me. I’m not leaving without you,” his menacing voice sent goosebumps spreading over her body.
“Tim, I don’t want to go with you. You need to leave.”
One of the female customers had her phone in her hand and was actually recording the scene. Katherine looked at her and glared, disgusted by her actions. The woman quickly put the phone away and rushed out of the bakery. Another older woman, one Katherine knew to be a librarian, stepped forward. Katherine shook her head, trying to stop the woman from intervening. The gray-haired woman was not going to be told what not to do.
“Look, big guy, you need to get out of here and leave these ladies alone,” she said in a firm voice.
Tim turned to look at her. “Mind your own business, Grandma.”
The woman puffed up her chest. “I said, you need to leave.”
Tim took a step towards her and fear froze Katherine in place. “Tim, don’t,” she whispered.
His body loomed over the smaller woman. Katherine saw real fear in the woman’s eyes as she looked from Tim to Katherine and silently apologized before backing away. Tim smirked, used to getting his way through intimidation, then turned back to face her.
“Get your shit and let’s go,” he growled.
“Just go. You don’t need her. She’s staying here,” Talia insisted.
Tim looked at her with utter disgust. “Shut. Up.”
“It’s okay, Talia,” Katherine assured her, gently pushing her back a few more steps.
Talia grabbed her arm. “Don’t you go with him,” she whispered.
“Bitch, I don’t know who you are, and I really don’t care, but you need to mind your own business. She’s coming home with me. We have a home and our own life to get back to. Don’t we, Kat?”
Katherine turned to glare at him. “I haven’t been ‘home’ in two years! There’s nothing for me there.”
“I’m not leaving here without you. You can decide how you want this to go down. You know I’m serious,” he said in a voice that stirred up memories of his fists pummeling her body.