Chapter Thirty #2
“I can’t argue with that,” he said, “because you’re right, they did.
I was minding my own business, getting ready to take a hike to the waterfall one afternoon when the three women were sitting on the back deck, enjoying a drink.
They called me over and at first the conversation started off lovely.
They thanked me for their time here, told me that they had made some significant processes.
And then that’s when Rayna took it too far.
I knew from the start that she might have had a crush on me.
But I always kept it professional and never entertained the idea.
But she began talking to her two new business partners as though we were together.
A couple, and that was the reason that they had this place to have their strategic meetings.
She stood up and wrapped her arms around me and began speaking about how long that she had known me, and how long she had been waiting for this moment, the moment that I let her into my life.
I tried to pull away, but she placed a kiss on my lips.
” He shook his head. “I know it sounds stupid. To be a grown man and to have been taken advantage of by a woman. But I didn’t know what to do, I froze for the time being," he sighed. “She called her friends to join in, and before you know it, I had three women pinning me to the wall of my building. If I told any man this story, they would laugh at me and tell me that I should have made the most of it. But that was the last thing that I wanted to do. It’s far from my style and far from what I wanted. I knew deep down none of them wanted me either. They just loved the idea of me, they loved what I had, they loved my bank account and the very lifestyle that they thought that I could give them. I knew their type.” His voice scowled on the last two words.
I had no doubt that Henry would have faced a lot of that in his life, I saw it and felt it every single time that I was out with him in public back in the city.
The beading eyes of other women, looking me up and down.
And Henry was right, they thought they wanted him, but they knew nothing about who he really was. No one did. Well, almost no one.
“Like I said, I really can’t believe that I’m saying this, but it’s the truth.
I was then attacked by three women,” he said.
The words feel out of his mouth so seriously, with no emotion.
It was the same way he spoke when he had first told me about how his parents died.
It was like he was frozen still. Still in shock from the situation, the real emotions from the event were locked dormant inside of him, in a place that he couldn’t quite reach.
“I froze, I was still. None of my staff were anywhere to be seen, I told them to stop, but there was three of them against me, and still I didn’t want to hurt anyone.
So, it really was like I was a little kid again, I stood still, letting them undress me, kiss me, giggle and whisper bullshit in my ear as I stared up at the clouds, wishing that the stars were out to comfort me…
But I also knew that it was that very thought that switched something in me.
It was the moment when I was looking up at the sky, aching for some comfort, when one of them took it too far, pulling my pants completely down, not just exposing me but touching me.
And that was it, it was a single second where a part of me that I really hoped didn’t exist took over.
It was like I realized that I wasn’t a kid anymore, and I finally had the power to take over, to fight back.
I don’t want to go into the details and to be honest, I can’t remember too much about it myself.
It was all just a blur. All I can say is that I am glad that it was Jackie that found me first. She found me in the pool surrounded by their bodies. ”
“Henry, I am so sorry that, that happened to you,” I said, my heart sunk deeper into my stomach.
“No, don’t be. I’m sorry for what I did. I’m sorry that I have to sit here and tell you about all of the most horrific things that I have done.” Done, done, does that mean that this was past tense for him? That it was something that once existed in his life, but not anymore.
“And then each of those women became a vision on your AI system?”
Henry shook his head, “No, not at all. I knew what I did to them was much worse, but after what they did to me, there was no way that I ever wanted to see their faces again.”
“And then there were four,” I said. I had killed.
I had killed once. I knew how easily it was to do it once.
One single intrusive thought that never left your mind, never left your life once you acted on it.
But this… this was so much more. I may have been a killer in my past life. But he was a murderer.
“And then there were four,” he repeated, leaning back, he released my knees from his hold as he reached for the glass of sparkling on his side of the table.
“Are you hungry?” he said. And I instantly shook my head.
I could have easily downed another whole bottle of wine, but the idea of food after everything he had just told me made me want to be sick.
And I already felt sick. I already felt, sick, confused, unsure, mad.
Mad at myself for seeing what I did, for asking too many questions.
Mad at myself for wanting the truth because right now, I would do anything to go back to the moments before I knew all of this.
“No, I just want to know the end of this story. I need to know about the other girl underwater, and I need to know about the blonde. Then I want the truth and nothing but the truth of why I am here!”