Chapter Four
Maya
Jake – Answer the fucking phone, Maya! You’re pathetic.
Jake – You can’t hide from me. I’m at the cabin. Waiting.
Well, that’s me not going home tonight.
Tears well in my eyes, not knowing what to do. I went out for four hours, and this is the response I get. Don’t get me wrong, he has been controlling before, but never to this extent. Never to the point I’m scared to be near him.
I can’t go home.
But where else is there to go?
My full body is shaking as if I’m going into shock. I can’t have a panic attack in the back of a taxi; the poor driver doesn’t need this shit to deal with.
I decide to call Fallon, she is the one person that I know for a fact would drop whatever she is doing to be there for me.
She answers after the third ring, loud thumping music greets me as she speaks.
“Hey girl, what did you leave here?” She asks merrily, assuming that’s why I called.
“Oh, er, nothing. Fal, something happened. Do you mind if I crash at your place tonight? I don’t think it’s safe for me to go home.
” I try with all my might to keep the sound of anguish out of my tone.
I can see the driver eyeing me warily through the mirror.
The shake in my voice must be too noticeable to ignore.
“I’m on my way, I’ll meet you there.” All the humour has drained from her voice. She waits a breath, then whispers. “Are you safe now?”
“Yes, I’m fine for now. I’ll explain everything when we get to yours. I’ll see you in ten,” I tell her. Words can’t describe the gratitude I feel for my best friend. “And Fal… thank you for this.”
I hang up the phone and lean forward towards the driver to tell him the new address. Apologising repeatedly for messing him around.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your phone call, but will you be okay going here? I can take you to the police station if you want me to?” He asks as we pull up outside Fallon’s apartment.
Just the kindness in his voice has me tearing up again.
“Yes, I will be now that I’m here. Thank you so much, though. I really do appreciate it,” I say as I hand over the cash and then hop out of the taxi. I run straight up to Fallon’s front door and don’t stop until I see her, standing at the door with her arms wide open, ready to pull me in.
“Maya, what the hell has happened?” She leans back from our embrace to look me over. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Honestly, I don’t even know what the fuck is going on. It’s probably easier if I show you.” I grab a hold of her hand and drag her towards the couch, dropping down into it. I hand over my phone to her. “Read this and tell me if you’d be a little freaked out.”
I watch the roller coaster of emotions flicker across her face as she reads each message. Once she has read the last message, her expression fills with rage.
“Is he taking the piss? Who the hell does he think he is!” She fumes. Her own hands shake as she hands the phone back to me.
“I know. I couldn’t go home, Fal. After reading those messages… I have never been scared of a man before like that,” I end on a whisper. It’s a lie, though. I have feared men like that before, just not for a very long time. It’s something I have always kept from her.
Tears stream down my face that I didn’t even realise had started, and she leans over to hold me tight again, like I’m going to break any second.
“I knew we weren’t right together. I was going to end it tomorrow. I just never expected this.”
“Oh, Maymay. You’ve done the right thing coming here.
You aren’t going to see him again, and you’re staying here until we know he has definitely fucked off the scene.
” Her temper rises again with each word she says.
“I always knew there was something off about him. I should have mentioned it sooner.”
She looks so remorseful, like him treating me like crap is her fault.
“Hey, this isn’t on you. You can’t take the blame for him being a dick to me.
This is my own fault. I’m the one who jumped into a relationship with the first man who showed me an ounce of attention.
I knew he wasn’t the one from the start,” I tell her as I wipe at my eyes.
I lean back into all the soft decorative cushions she has scattered on her couch.
Her apartment is so modern and pristine, just like her.
I’m almost too scared to touch anything in case I make a mess.
I know she doesn’t care about any of that, though; she isn’t precious over anything, it’s just her style.
“What are we going to do?” she says, her kind eyes holding mine. I love how she takes on my issues like they’re her own. I just wish she didn’t have to. “You’re going to have to break things off with him.”
“I know,” I sigh, leaning my head back and staring up at the ceiling. Fallon slides up next to me, takes my hand in hers and does the same.
“Once you’ve told him to fuck off, I’ll be giving him a piece of my mind too,” and I do not doubt that she would.
Fallon has always been the friend I could fall back on.
The one I could call in the middle of the night, and she’d be there.
My ride or die. The rage radiating from her right now is the polar opposite of what I’m used to.
Usually, she is the happiest person in the room.
Spreading her joy to everyone she meets.
“I’m putting in an SOS with the sisters as a matter of urgency. I’ll see if they want to meet up for breakfast tomorrow to dissect this full situation.” She says as she grabs a hold of her phone to text the group chat. “After we’ve dealt with him, we’re working on getting your spark back, girl.”
If only she knew I felt some of that spark flare back to life tonight, with her brother. The way I felt for those few hours tonight with Tommy is the best I have felt in a while. Why does it need to be so complicated?
“Maybe let’s leave confronting him, I know I need to deal with him soon, though.
I can’t boycott my own home forever.” After all the struggles I had growing up in such a turbulent home, my cabin is a sanctuary to me.
That’s bothering me more than losing him.
“How bad is it if I do it by text?” I joke.
“I would usually be against the idea of breaking up by text, but under these circumstances, it might be your best bet,” Fallon says. Then laughs at whatever she’s thinking. “I would just send him a text saying fuck off personally.”
“I wish it were that easy,” I chuckle, knowing that it is actually something she would do.
Looking back over the past few months, I can’t believe how much shit I’ve let him get away with. When did I become this girl?
“Maya, we’re going out with my parents tonight, so make sure you wear the outfit I have laid out for you,” Jake demanded, not bothering to look at me.
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? We’re only going to their house for dinner,” I ask him, confused. I’m wearing mum jeans and a white shirt. What I’m wearing now feels overdressed for a house visit, in my opinion.
“I can’t have them thinking my girlfriend is common. Just go and change into the dress I’ve left out.” He looks me up and down as he says it. I sigh and go to change to save the aggravation. It would only cause another argument. Not that I bothered to argue back anymore.
“Don’t forget I’m meeting the girls at Harry’s bar after it.”
“No, you’re not,” He mocks.
“Excuse me?” I turn to him, shocked. How dare he?
“We’re going for dinner with my parents, then we're coming back here. You’re not a teenager anymore, Maya. Grow up.”
How did I never see it before?
Am I just so used to being treated badly that it has become normal to me?
I always gave in to him and followed along with whatever it was he wanted.
If he didn’t want to go out, then I couldn’t go out.
Even sex! If I wasn’t in the mood, he would convince me by guilting me into it and most of the time it was bad.
I mean, I had to fake the O almost every time, bad.
I always expected sex to be how they describe it in books. Earth-shattering, stars aligning, mind-blowing.
Nope. Not for me.
Especially not with him.
Why did I waste so much time?
“You know what. Fuck it. I’m ending it now. He wants to threaten me by text, then I can end it that way,” I announce, finally feeling my confidence begin to come back to me. I pick up my phone to do just that and notice the three dots bobbing along at the bottom of the screen, “Shit! He’s typing!”
“Oh my god, let me see!” Fallon leans in closer, our heads touching as we hover over the phone.
Jake – This isn’t a fucking game, Maya. I can see you’ve read my messages. Ring me now.
After about five seconds, before we have even had a chance to finish reading the text. He starts to call me. I whip my head up to look at Fallon, but she has already snatched the phone off me and pressed answer.
Shit!
She holds the phone away from her ear as he roars down the phone, assuming it’s me on the other end.
“Wow. Is this how you usually speak to your girlfriend? It’s Fallon, you wanker.
Listen, she isn’t coming back tonight, so I’d get your shit and get the hell out of there.
” She pauses to listen to something he says before continuing.
“Who the hell do you think you are? Treating someone like this is a form of abuse, you know,” She says in a condescending tone, provoking him more.
He has never hurt me with his touch, but his words can hit just as hard.
I feel so weak, sitting here shaking with nerves because of him.
Fallon’s eyes are brimming with tears with the anger and frustration she feels on my behalf, and seeing her get so upset over how he treats me makes a switch flip in my brain.
I can’t cope with this shit for another moment.
I’ve been a doormat for too long, and it’s time I put an end to it.
“Pass me the phone,” I said with deathly calmness. She eyes me warily, not sure what the best thing to do is. “It’s fine, Fal, I need to deal with this.”
Taking the phone off her, I listen to Jake ramble on about how much of a bitch she is and how she’s interfering in our lives.
“Jake,” I say, and he stops. Silence greeted me on the other end of the phone. “This isn’t going to work. I don’t know what’s got into you tonight, but I don’t deserve it. We’re over.”
Finally saying those words fills me with a relief so profound it takes my breath away. I should have done this bloody ages ago.
He scoffs before saying, “You think I would want to be with a dirty little whore like you? I know what you’ve been up to tonight, shagging around and avoiding me. Go fuck yourself, Maya.” I stare at the phone in horror.
“He hung up on me!” I tell Fallon, my voice high-pitched in shock.
“Shut up, he did not!”
“Oh, he did! Apparently, I’m a whore who’s been sleeping around instead of calling him back. He is a psycho!” My heart is racing from all of the adrenaline it took to speak to him.
“Wow. Well, at least it’s over with now. I do think you should stay here for a few more days, though, to be on the safe side. Something isn’t sitting right with me.” I nod, agreeing with her. This is low even for him. He sounded unstable.
I sink back down into the couch and take a minute to breathe after all the drama. Fallon grabs a hold of my hand again and looks over at me.
“I don’t know about you, but I could definitely use another drink.”