Chapter 10
The following night Linney was in bed early and sound asleep when she suddenly jolted awake. There was a noise at her door. Was someone trying to get into her apartment? Then she heard a key in the lock and the door open. It was Mac.
“Anyone home? Linney? Where are you?” This did not sound good. She jammed on her glasses and saw the time. Two o’clock. Linney slid out of bed and tiptoed into the hall to see what state he was in just in time to watch him stumble into the console table. He put out his hand to steady himself and knocked over her mason jar of stones. It crashed to the floor with a loud noise and the glass shattered. The stones scattered and the largest, from the lake, bounced and landed on Mac’s foot. He swore and hopped around in pain. “Linney, why do you keep that stupid jar there?” he yelped.
“Stay still, I’ll get the broom,” she said, making her way quickly to the kitchen. “Seriously, don’t move. You’ll get hurt.”
Linney swept the entire mess into a dustpan and decided to deal with separating the glass from the stones in the morning. Mac went into the kitchen and poured himself a drink. Waving his glass around wildly he asked Linney if she wanted one too. Shaking her head, Linney quietly went back to bed.
When Mac joined her in the bedroom a few minutes later, she was curled away from him. “You asleep already?” Linney squeezed her eyes shut and stayed quiet. “Fine,” he muttered. “I can get better sex somewhere else.” Linney held her hand over her mouth to keep from sobbing. He left the bedroom and headed to the bathroom. When the shower was still running fifteen minutes later, Linney found him passed out on the floor. She turned off the water and roused him enough to put him into her bed. Then she spent what was left of the night on the couch.
As Linney painstakingly pulled her stones from the shards of glass the next morning from her stones, she sliced her hand open. Cursing under her breath, she ran water over the cut and wrapped it in a clean tea towel. When she couldn’t rouse Mac, she took herself to urgent care. Six stitches and a tetanus booster later, she returned to her flat. Mac was gone.
“Where did you go this morning?” Mac asked when she finally made it to the newsroom. He noticed her bandage. “What happened to you?”
Linney stared at him, open-jawed, seeing him critically with new eyes. Gone was the devastatingly handsome man she’d fallen for when she arrived in London. This man was dishevelled and both his face and midsection carried the weight gained from years of drinking. In a sudden moment of clarity, she knew, without a shadow of a doubt. It was time. Still, she answered him.
“You broke a jar last night. Don’t you remember? I cut myself cleaning it up. I had to take myself to hospital.” It was clear Mac had no recollection of the night before.
It was the final straw. With a quiet resolve she didn’t know she had, Linney called a locksmith and met him at her flat at lunchtime. He drilled out the old lock, put in a new one and handed her the keys. He left and she leaned against the door and then slid down to the floor. This was not going to be easy.
Pulling herself together, Linney splashed water on her face and headed back to work.
“Bonjour,” she greeted MJ, who instantly knew something was amiss.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
Linney shook her head. “Later. First, I have to talk to Gemma.”
Linney climbed the stairs and knocked on Gemma’s door. “Could I have a minute?” she asked seriously. Gemma waved her in with a premonition. Linney hadn’t looked well since she’d returned from Canada, but today, she looked awful.
Linney sat in one of the guest chairs. “I’m done,” she said flatly. “I’ve had the locks changed. Tonight I’m going to tell him.”
Gemma started to speak, but Linney put up her hand. “I know this isn’t great timing, but I have to do this now, while I still have the courage. I still haven’t even told MJ. But I thought you should know. Because I don’t know what will happen. How he’ll react. Or for that matter, what it means in the newsroom.” She looked Gemma straight in the eye. “You said you’re his friend. Maybe he’ll listen to you.”
Gemma chose her words carefully. “This is very brave of you. Don’t worry. I’ll figure out the newsroom. Thank you for telling me, so I can be ready.”
Linney nodded, not trusting her voice and stood up slowly. “Thank you for listening.”
She outlined the plan to MJ over a cup of tea. “Will you be there?” she asked, looking for support.
“Of course. You do not have to do this alone.”
Mac was busy in the editing suite all day. Linney texted him after she got home and asked if he could come by so they could talk. She and MJ ordered takeaway and sat quietly on the couch, eating it, yet tasking nothing. MJ finally turned on the television to break the silence—and the tension.
Seven. Eight. Nine o’clock. “Do you think he’ll come?” MJ finally asked.
Linney nodded and put her finger in her mouth to stop the bleeding. She’d been picking at her cuticles constantly. They finally heard him fumble with his key just before ten o’clock and Linney took a deep breath. Getting up from the couch, she walked slowly to the door and opened it.
“Yer lock’s broken,” Mac said, walking past her. He took a bottle of whiskey out of a paper bag and a glass from the cupboard. Then he saw the look on her face. He was confused for a moment and then he remembered. “Oh, yeah. You wanned to talk. Whazzo ‘mportant?” He leaned over to kiss her. She turned away. “Aw, c’mon, gimmie a kiss.” He saw MJ in the living room. “Whazz she doing here?”
“Mac, it’s over.”
“Whad’ya mean it’s over?”
“We’re done, Mac. I can’t do this anymore. You need help. Serious help. You’re a brilliant journalist and a wonderful man. The world should see all of that.”
“Wha’rya talkin’ about? I don’t have a problem. I got it all unner control.” Mac swayed and tried to take Linney’s hands. She pulled them away with tears in her eyes.
“No, you don’t,” she said quietly. “Maybe you did once, Mac, but you don’t anymore. I don’t want you to lose everything. Please get some help.”
Mac grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her hard against the wall. Alarm bells went off in Linney’s head as she shrank from him. It was one thing to put up with verbal abuse. It was another thing entirely for him to manhandle her. Time seemed to stand still and even when MJ jumped up to help it seemed to happen in slow motion.
But Mac wasn’t done yet. “You don’ mean that. I don’t have a problem.” His words were slurred, and he was getting worked up now. “An’ I don’t need you either.” He let go of her shoulders with one last shove. “I was gonna break up with you anyway. I don’t love you. Yer nothin’ special. The whole world will find out just how much you’re nothing without me,” he finished with a sneer.
Linney opened her mouth to speak, but Mac kept on talking as he turned away. “Stupid bitch. I’m outta here.” He took the bottle with him as he stumbled into the hallway.
MJ closed the door. “Good riddance,” she muttered under her breath while Linney rubbed her upper arms where he had gripped her. She started to shake, all her nervous energy collapsing and when she sank to the couch, she put her arms around her knees and rocked back and forth. MJ sat quietly with her—there were no words to say.
Eventually, the rocking stopped and Linney put her head on MJ’s shoulder. “Thank you for being here,” she said. MJ stood and held out her hands to help Linney up. Linney followed her robotically into the bedroom and climbed into bed fully clothed. MJ lay on top of the covers stroking Linney’s hair until they both fell asleep.
* * *
Linney calledin sick the next morning and left a message for Gemma that she’d followed through. MJ reluctantly left her for the newsroom. As soon as the door closed, Linney went back to bed until midafternoon, trying to process the past few days. Finally, she turned on the shower and stepped in, allowing the hot water to wash everything away. She pulled out her favourite leggings and sweatshirt and made a mug of tea and some toast. She was emotionally bruised and battered, but okay. Linney took a second sick day, still not ready to face her colleagues staring and whispering.
On the third day, she dragged herself into the newsroom, having used enough makeup to cover the dark circles under her eyes. Gemma called for her immediately.
“He’s gone to rehab.” Gemma didn’t waste time with pleasantries.
“What? How did you convince him?”
“Mac showed up yesterday afternoon, totally out of control and reeking of booze. He was dishevelled and ranting. I don’t think he’d slept. I gave him a choice. He could either take my offer of help, or I would fire him on the spot.”
“He must have hated that.” Linney looked at her recovering cuticles and resisted the urge to pick at them.
“Very much. But I knew there was room in a great program and told him he was leaving TCN one way or the other. He did not take kindly to that and tried to call my bluff. It did the trick, Linney. Somehow those words got through to him. I took him up to the rehab centre myself and got him checked in. He’s there for six months.”
Linney’s eyes flickered up to Gemma’s. Six months. This was a serious commitment.
“He knows how badly he screwed up this time. And not just here. With you too.” Gemma’s voice softened. “Leaving him was brave of you. But now you need to hold your head high out there and do your best work ever. Show the world what strong stuff Linney McDonnell is made of.”
Linney went back to her desk. It was hard to pull herself together, but she knew she had to.
That evening she texted her friends back home.
I did it. I left him. It’s too raw to talk about yet, so please understand if I don’t. MJ was with me. It was hard but I know I did the right thing. Gemma found him a rehab place. Thank you all for your support. ??
Linney put her phone on “do not disturb” and closed her eyes trying to gather her strength. A new chapter was about to begin.