Boss Next Door

I don’t know this piece of work so I’m not about to tell him that I have been married and yes it was hard because I got hitched to the wrong person, but violence never would have come into the equation. Not for me. Even when things were at their lowest with Molly, I wouldn’t have ever hit her. But I don’t think that me and David are exactly on the same level when it comes to love. He doesn’t have a clue what it is.

“It’s pointless, you know,” David continues smugly. “The police aren’t going to do anything. They never do. If Maria won’t press charges, which she never does, then they can’t do anything. Serena doesn’t get it because she always has her head in fucking lame ass fairy tale books, but this is what love looks like in real life.”

I can imagine Serena using her books as an escape from her miserable life if this is what it always looked like. I got in to reading as something added extra, to improve the happiness that I already have, but for Serena it was an escape, something that she needed to do to be away from everything. I can’t believe that this was the man who was supposed to come into Serena and Maria’s life to fill the hole that another idiot man left by walking away from his family, and this is what he’s done to them. Rather than enriching their lives, he’s destroyed them.

I don’t know if Serena will ever let me back into her life, but if she does, I will make sure that I spend every day making her life happier and better. I will show her that this isn’t love after all. Love can be uplifting.

“Just stop this, mate,” David finally pleads. “Get the fuck off me and stop this. It’s all so stupid. We can sort this out like real men rather than teenage boys who are shitting wrestling. This is stupid…”

“You are the one who came in and attacked me, remember?” I remind him with a warning tone.

“Yes, because I walked inside my house to find a strange man in my home. Of course, I attacked first. That’s what any sane human would have done. You could have been a monster for all I know.”

That’s laughable, and he says it so seriously. I don’t know if he’s fucking with me, using sarcasm as some form of wit, or if he has actually convinced himself that he isn’t a low life human being who doesn’t deserve the air that he breathes. He must be fucking deluded as well as a total scum bag. I could kick him in the head because I’m so angry at him. Luckily, I know that he isn’t worth it. He’s too shitty to deserve a kick.

“No, the only monster here is you. The one who has been in the house all along.”

The door flies open at that moment and the police burst inside with paramedics not far behind them. They have arrived much faster than I was expecting, but that can only be a good thing. It means that I have managed to keep David down for the entire time. I have to admit that I was a little worried he would find a way to slip out from underneath me, just because he’s obviously manipulative and used to violence, unlike me.

But now, I can slide off him with ease and watch as his smug face falls while he is put into hand cuffs. I really hope that this time around, Maria doesn’t let him get away with this. I hope this time she finds the much needed inner strength to put this man in jail, the place where he belongs and from where he can never hurt her again…

“It turns out that the operator I originally spoke to ordered the police to come along with the ambulance,” Serena tells me weakly. “I can’t remember what I said on the call exactly, I was in shock. But I guess I must have said enough about David for them to know that we needed help. So, my second call was needless…”

“I’m just glad that it’s all over for the time being,” I sigh back. “I gave my initial statement to the police, and I assume that you did as well.” She nods, clearly weary and overwhelmed by the whole thing. “And the paramedics have got your mom stabilized enough to go to the hospital. That’s good, right?”

“Very good.” But I can still see tears forming in her eyes. “She is okay for now. Hopefully she will live through this brutal attack.” Serena turns to look at me. “Thank you so much for everything that you did for me today. Driving me here, stopping David from attacking me, keeping him in place until he got arrested…I can’t tell you how grateful I am. We wouldn’t be here now without you. I dread to think what would have happened.”