Chapter 29 #2
“Yeah. Pathetic women who have this fairy tale Rose Colored Glasses idea of what their happy ending should look like without putting any work into achieving it.
If I was pathetic I would be the one standing here right now in the bathroom with tears staining my face…
looking in the eyes of a prettier and younger woman…
who's now currently fucking who used to be your man because you weren't good enough to keep him interested,” I say, well aware of my snobby tone and condescension.
Gabby purses her lips, trying hard to bite down the emotion. “You better fucking move. You better have enough money to pay for the ambulance they're going to call for you if you don't get the fuck up out of my face.”
“How important is your job to you Gabrielle? Hopefully you'll hold on to it a lot better than you did your man cuz you're shit at doing that.”
I know I'm prodding Gabby, but I want the woman to hit me. I want it so bad.
But Gabby doesn't take the bait.
Damn it.
The woman starts to walk away.
“Glad you understand your place. That's right, walk away. Calling me pathetic and desperate. Look at you. No wonder he left you. And it’s so funny because even if he got back with you…
I think we both know he'd leave you again. It’s only going to go down from here because you're only going to get uglier,” I laugh.
Gabby turns around with a smile. “I hope you fall in love with him and he does to you what he did to me.”
“Oh baby girl that could never happen. Like I said. I'm not you. I'm not stupid enough to give my heart to a man. You don't give a fucking newborn baby to a pitbull do you? God your mother should have taught you better… oh wait… kind of impossible since she's dead right?” I giggle.
The giggling honestly was an accident.
But I don't have time to process it because my head is being yanked to the side as Gabby grabs a fistful of my hair and slams me into the wall, causing me to see stars.
“Going to talk about my mother you fucking bitch!!!” Gabby screams, releasing all of the hell that was apparently pent up inside of her.
This is great. I don't want to get beat up, but I know the implication of what will happen.
I know that Gabby will lose her job. This is perfect, and so I do the only thing I can do in this moment.
“Go ahead, beat me up! Your mother's still dead and your husband still left you!” I scream as Gabby punches me in the face and in the stomach.
I do my best to shield my face, but the fists keep breaking past the barrier.
Not my nose.
That's the only thing I'm worried about.
I keep seeing stars, but my strength is knowing that I have the upper hand in the situation, even despite the pain.
I learned to take a beating, having been in a domestically abusive relationship with my ex, and the one before that, where we were both fist-fighting each other.
He wasn't a big fan of me going out and hanging out with other men.
And I wasn't a fan of him sleeping with women and calling them over as soon as I was gone.
Not that I cared that much about him, but it was downright disrespectful.
So this girl could take a beating, because even though Gabby hits hard, I’ve taken hits from men a lot harder.
So my laughter flows as Gabby continues assaulting me, while all I can do is shield my face as best as possible, not too much, because I want there to be marks on my face.
Maybe Lincoln will finally see his ex-wife for who she is.
Gabby’s breathing hard now, probably winded. Probably disappointed that she hasn’t knocked me out yet.
“Still going to go home and fuck him tonight though. Still get to suck his cock. He even admitted to me that while he was with you he was thinking about me. As guilty as it made him feel his mind was always on me. And the only thing you can do is physically hurt me and get yourself fired you dumb fuck hahahaha,” I laugh, almost maniacally, even surprising myself.
It’s the only defense I ever had against things like this. Most girls would cry and cower and run to battered women’s shelters.
Not me.
The early portion of my childhood, I grew up watching my dad beat the shit out of my mom, and my mom doing the same to my dad.
Commitment made them monsters to each other, and marriage would have made things worse, but now they’re the best of friends, probably because they went through all of that together.
I could fight back, but it will look better if I’m the victim.
“Are you ready?” I ask, my mouth filled with blood. “AAAAAAAAAAHHHH HELP ME!!!” I scream.
The sound is so loud it seems to catch Gabrielle off guard.
People charge in and pull the crazy bitch off me. I play the role, crying on command.
I pretend to stumble forward… until I realize wow, I really am hurt.
Adrenaline is one hell of a drug.
Jesus, look at all the blood.
There’s a big commotion, people yelling at Gabrielle. Lincoln eventually turns up at my side when everyone carries me outside.
“Should we call the ambulance or the police?” some person asks me.
I cry, still playing my role, and nod demurely.
“What the fuck happened?!” Lincoln asks.
“She attacked me. I was telling her that I was sorry about what happened.”
“That’s not what you fucking said you fucking bitch!” Gabrielle yells as someone puts her hands behind her back, holding her away from me.
“I didn’t do anything to you. All I asked you was how do you like waiting tables. Because it looks really stressful, and then you went berserk on me.”
I watch with glee as Gabrielle’s eyes go so wide they almost drop out of her skull. She turns to look at Lincoln, who looks at her.
Trying to struggle out of the guy’s grasp that’s holding her, Gabrielle screams like a maniac:
“Get off me! You liar you fucking liar!”
“Even if I did say something to offend you, why would you attack me like this? I didn’t touch you, I didn't do anything to you,” I start bawling.
There’s so much talking going on, and then there are cop lights, and then it’s a big deal, and oh the glory of it. I just bask in it.
Because I know what will follow once they find out who Gabrielle is.
Once they find out she’s the bitter ex-wife of Lincoln…
and since everyone wants Lincoln and me together…
They’re all going to have a feeding frenzy with Gabrielle.
Bitch should have left well enough alone.
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