His to Command

Kate swung her head around to see Ellen standing in the laundry-room doorway.

“Oh, hi, Ellen.”

Kate dropped the folded blouse into the basket, then picked up a striped shirt. She felt a little guilty because she’d been avoiding Ellen, but she knew her friend would pick up on her mood and try to get her to talk about what was wrong. Kate had been nowhere near ready for that.

Ellen grabbed a shirt from Kate’s pile and began folding. “So I thought maybe we’d share a bottle of wine. I have the feeling you could use someone to talk to.”

“I don’t know. I’ve got to finish this laundry, then I was going to catch up on some paperwork.”

Ellen dropped the folded T-shirt into the basket. “Your laundry’s almost done and that paperwork is for the business, right?”

Kate shrugged.

“Business can wait until Monday. Especially since you had booked last week off, yet you came back from your trip early and went into the office anyway.” Ellen dropped another T-shirt into the basket. “So? What do you say?”

Kate sighed. Ellen was being a good friend. And Kate could use someone to talk to.

“Okay, but let’s make it my place.”

Ellen had pictures of her and her boyfriend around her place and the last thing Kate needed was images of a happy couple glowing at her all evening.

* * *

Kate sipped her glass of wine as she sat on the couch facing Ellen.

“So, he was the reason you had to move to Connecticut?” Ellen said. “Well, I guess I’ll have to thank him.”

“Ellen, he ruined my life.”

“Really? But you have a business you love, you’re your own boss”—she grinned—“and you’ve got me as a best friend. Is life really so bad?”

Kate’s heart ached. “It’s true that I’ve rebuilt my life in spite of what he did. But it doesn’t change the fact that he betrayed me. For revenge.”

“But think about it, Kate. Would you have been willing to give him a recommendation after what you thought he’d done to you? You said you left the project with his company.”

Kate nodded.

“The guy’s only human. And I bet he didn’t realize what it was doing to your life.”

Kate sighed. “I know. I’ve told myself the same thing. But it was so hard to have to leave everything behind. And it was his fault.”

Ellen leaned forward and placed her hand on Kate’s. “You know, I don’t think this has anything to do with what happened to your job. I think it has to do with the fact that he had control over your life and you think he abused it. I think this has to do with the fact your father was abusive and now you’re running scared that Matt will be the same kind of man as your father. But do you think he is?”

“Ellen, when I was a kid, my mom was totally under my dad’s control. He controlled what she wore, what money she had to spend, where she went, who she saw. And she let him. I hated that. When my aunt took sick and Mom’s family called her to come and see Aunt Lily before she died, Dad wouldn’t let her go. And the worst was, Mom didn’t fight back. Aunt Lily died and Mom was devastated. She didn’t get a chance to say good-bye, but she could have, if she hadn’t let Dad control her.”

“But you’re not like that, Kate. You’re stronger. You will never let a man control you like that.”

Kate shook her head. “How do you know that? I don’t know that. When I’m with Matt, I don’t know myself. This past week, I had started to believe…” A well of emotion flooded her and she sucked in a breath. “I thought that maybe we could make it work. But that was because I trusted him. I knew he would never abuse his control over me. But … I mean, now I’ve seen that, in the right circumstances, he can be selfish and would strike out.”

“Oh, Kate, who isn’t like that? When we’re pushed to the wall, we’re all capable of acting out. But think about it. If he’d really been trying to hurt you, he could have done better than that.”

“You mean he could have gotten me fired from my job? Oh, wait. He did.”

“Okay, I get it. But it wasn’t on purpose. He told you he didn’t realize the effect his actions were having on you. He

simply held back giving you a glowing recommendation. As I said, he’s human. I’m sure you wouldn’t have been up to telling people what a wonderful human being he was right then, either. On the other hand, if he’d really wanted to hurt you, he could have given you a bad review. He could have said you’re unreliable and that your work sucked. That you couldn’t be depended on to see a project through, et cetera. If he’d done that, would you even have gotten the job here?”

“I suppose you’re right.”