Vera

Millicent's News

Sunshine crept through the white blinds covering the window in their bedroom.  Birds whistled a sweet melody from the oak tree outside.  It was the start of a brand new, beautiful day.  Sadly, Vera Graves would not be able to enjoy it. 

She woke up to the smell of her husband's saliva, which he never cleaned from her face, and it was followed by the scent of bacon. How ironic. He made a big fuss over how they only ate bacon and eggs every morning.  Now he was cooking it.

Vera thought back to the day her mother-in-law tried to make a way of escape for her.  If only she hadn't been foolish enough to think Victor would take care of her, despite everything he had done.

No wonder Millicent resented her.

She had no one to confide in. Her family was gone, her husband despised her, her father-in-law would probably take advantage of her, and the police would arrest her if she came forward and told the truth about what happened after lying to them.

There was no way to escape.  Even if she left in the middle of the night while he slept, she had nowhere to go. She would wind up homeless, begging for money, doing who knows what for a decent meal.

At least with Victor she had a roof over her head and three meals a day. Still, she was his prisoner. 

Nothing could change that.

Their bedroom door opened.  Victor stepped in with a tray of food in his hands.  There were scrambled eggs, two strips of bacon, a piece of plain toast, sliced in triangular halves, and a glass of orange juice.

He smiled at her and said, "Good morning, my dear.  Did you sleep well last night?"

She averted her gaze from his.

"I see you're giving me the silent treatment.  Can't say that I blame you.  You had a rough evening."

Vera forced herself to look at him.  "You hit me."

"Yes, I know."

"You promised that you wouldn't-"

"For crying out loud, are you going to give me that shit again?"  He set the tray on their dresser and sat on the bed next to her, cupping his hand over her cheek.  "You deserved what you got, darling.  You know how I feel about sassy-mouthed women."

"I wasn't trying to be sassy.  How was I supposed to react when I found out you cheated on me?"

"I'm not cheating on you.  I had a meaningless one night stand, nothing more."

"You said you were sick of me."

"I'm sorry, Vera," He gave her a tender kiss on her forehead, "Those were the words of a drunk fool. They meant absolutely nothing."

"You sounded sincere."

"I only said those things because I was angry with you for calling me out on my own bullshit. You have to believe that I love you with all of my heart."

"But-"

"Let's talk about it later. As soon as you finish this lovely breakfast I prepared for you, we're going to my parent's house. Ma wants us to come over, said she had something really important to tell us."

"She wants to see me?"

That was a surprise.

She thought Millicent hated her.

Victor chuckled. "Of course she does. Besides, she didn't sound like this was going to be a normal social visit. She said something was wrong."

"She didn't say what?"