“You could put your arm around me.”
I sat beside her on the sofa and put my arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. Her hair smelt like some kind of fancy flowers and I wanted to stroke it but couldn’t without removing my arm from her shoulder.
“I had to do it,” she said. “I couldn’t let you fight him. I couldn’t let you risk hurting yourself more.”
“You did well,” I said. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her having to fight my battle for me but it was more important that she felt okay. My male pride could stand being knocked down a bit anyway.
“It’s not good. Every time I fight for myself, something bad happens.” She sniffed.
“Nothing bad is going to happen, I promise.” I rubbed her shoulder, hoping to comfort her, but her words shocked me.
Poor girl. All this time, I’d never known something so basic about her. Carlie had said she wouldn’t fight but I’d not realized she was so scared of sticking up for herself. No wonder she’d walked away from me.
“It’s going to be okay,” I told her. “He’s been kicked out. He won’t be coming back here.”
She sobbed gently and I pulled her tighter. I’d hold her all night if it made her feel better.
“I lost my job today. I stood up for myself, for once, and that’s what happened.”
“The people you work for are jerks. You’re better off without them.”
Then I realized that was easy for me to say. I had money, I didn’t need to work. It wasn’t so easy when you needed to pay bills every month and support yourself. I’d happily support Gina too. It was only money and I’d offer her whatever she wanted, but I knew she wouldn’t take it from me.
‘You fought tonight, you fought to protect me.”
She gave a little laugh. “He did look funny, rolling on the ground, screaming.”
I grinned. “You did well.”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She nodded. “I’m a fighter now.”
“You’re not fine but you will be,” I said, with a grin that I hoped would make her relax.
“If you want to get back to the club, I’ll be fine on my own. You don’t want to miss Alex play. Or maybe you can call me a cab and I’ll go home.”
Even though she said that, she still trembled a little. She’d twisted her fingers tightly around the blanket, gathering it around her even though the office was hot. She did not look like someone who wanted to be alone. There was no way I was leaving her like this.
“I shouldn’t have encouraged him. He bought me a drink and I said took it from him. I didn’t think it’d hurt but he followed me into the toilet and said I owed him...”
“That’s bullshit. You let him buy you a drink? That’s nothing. Losers like that, they aren’t worth the air they breathe. You did nothing wrong. He needs to learn a few manners. I buy you drinks, even Drew buys you drinks. You think we want something for it? Anyway, where was Drew?”
“He went to run some errand for Alex. That guy had me up against the wall, I didn’t think I could get away. I froze inside. I always do. I just want to shrink up and disappear so that they go away. But when I thought you’d get hurt. I couldn’t let you do that for me.”
She had her head on my shoulder. I wanted her to feel safe but I wasn’t sure how to do that.
“You did it,” I said. “You fought for yourself and nothing bad will happen this time.”
Someone knocked on the door. Carlie put her head in. She had a drink for Gina.
“Hell, your top is torn. That bastard. I saw him being dragged out and figured something like this had happened. There’s probably some clothes of Violet’s still around here somewhere. I’ll find them and you can change.”
She sat at the desk and opened the drawers, then looked up at the computer screen and gave a snort.
“Sally has Alex’s picture as her screensaver. Ha, you’d think she’d be worried he’d see it. Hey, there are a bunch of band t-shirts here. Pick one and you can have it. There’s a bottle of vodka too if you need a top up and hey, this is my lipstick. I loaned it to Violet like six months ago and when I asked for it back, she said she didn’t have it. Bitch.”
Carlie handed the t-shirts to Gina.