Starting Over 💙

Chapter 1

I can't breathe, he squeezes too tight. How could I have gotten myself in this situation again? Will this be the final time? Will this be the time that he kills me? I hate the way his touch feels on my skin, it makes me want to set fire to myself to rid me of him for good. I wish he would just finish so I could go to sleep. Oh no, I wasn't paying enough attention to him. He's angry. Searing pain in my stomach as his fists land on me. Please not the face, not the face this time. He brings his arm up...

Ellie bolts up out of bed; it had been the third nightmare just that week. She didn't know why she still let him haunt her dreams. He was thousands of miles away in another country. And she was back home, or close enough. She wanted to start over, make something new. She was lucky to have gotten her new job, she had been looking forward to it. She looks at the clock, 5 am. Might as well get up and get a run in before her first day. She made a mental note of trying to find a new gym.

Ellie spent what seemed like forever in her closet trying to find an outfit for the day after returning from her run and a shower. She finally decided on a black pencil skirt and a red blouse tucked in neatly at the band. She glanced at herself in the mirror, she had her brown hair pulled tightly back out of her face. She begins to run her fingers across her cheeks where just months prior was all red and swollen. She could still see it, but knew it was just another thing haunting her. It had long since healed; on the outside that is. That had been the final straw, that last night. She woke up in the hospital. He had beat her so hard, he made her miscarry her first child. She was almost 4 months along. She never even got to know what the sex of the baby was. She wipes a silent tear from her face as she berates herself quietly, "pull yourself together." She lets out a nervous sigh and enters the office of her new boss.

"Oh. Ms. Spencer, come in." Her new boss was nice as far as she could tell. She was happy to be working for a woman for a change, having had her fill of men for a while.

"Mrs. Murray, hi. It's good to see you again." Ellie shakes her new boss's hand politely and sits down in the chair across from her desk.

"Up. Up. Ms. Spencer, let me introduce you to Tara. She will be your go to until you get situated." Ellie climbs back to her feet quickly and follows Mrs. Murray out of the office to another office. Mrs. Murray knocks on the door and lets herself in without waiting for a response, "Tara, you ready?"

"Of course!" Ellie enters as Mrs. Murray disappears. She sees a beautiful brunette come out from behind her desk to greet her, "Hi, I'm Tara Testa. Nice to meet you. Elizabeth Spencer right?"

Ellie shakes her hand with a smile, "you can call me Ellie. I prefer it. And thanks."

"Great, if you follow me, I will show you to your office." Ellie follows Tara to the office next door to her own. "I have printed off all the listings I have at the moment. I have a few this afternoon if you would like to go with me. After lunch?"

Ellie turns back to the brunette and smiles, "That sounds great. Thank you so much."

~~~

"So how long have you lived in Boston?" Tara decided to take Ellie out for lunch on her first day. Ellie was thankful for the kindness since she had literally zero friends in the area.

"I just moved here actually. I used to sell real estate in London."

"London?" Tara chuckled, "wow. What made you come here?"

Ellie shrugged, pushing her food around her plate nervously, "I needed a fresh start. I'm actually from New York, so I didn't want to stray too far from the East coast. I was thankful when I found there was an opening in your office."

Tara is about to say something but is interrupted by her phone. "I'm so sorry. One sec."

Ellie sits there eating her salad, listening to the one sided conversation. After a few minutes Tara hangs up and turns back to her. "Sorry. It's my friend Chris, he has had some bad luck in the love department."

"Haven't we all." Tara laughs at her joke, not knowing the full extent of just how bad of luck Ellie had.

At the end of the lunch Ellie grabs her purse to leave some money, but Tara motions her away. "Please, let me. You can pay next time." She notices something dangling on the side of Ellie's bag, "What's that?"

Ellie looks down and laughs, showing Tara the keychain, "My sister sent it to me. 'With you til the end of the line'. It's a Captain America quote. We are both Marvel nerds. Anyways, I was going through a rough time and she sent it to me. I keep it on my bag to remind me that someone out there is on my side."

Tara laughs, "Yeah I know what it is."

"Oh, you a Marvel fan too?"

"Something like that." Tara smirks at her as she gathers her own purse to leave the restaurant. Ellie couldn't figure out for the life of her what Tara found so funny.

~~~

Ellie sighs loudly as she plops into her chair in her office.

"Another bad date?" Ellie looks up to find Tara leaning on the doorframe of her office. She had been a great friend over the last few months. Tara was the only friend she had managed to make so far.

"Yeah. Guys are.." She throws her hands up, not even really knowing what to say.

"Well, my friend Chris has a New Years Eve party every year. Do you want to go with me next week?"

Ellie scoffs and shakes her head, "are you sure he wants some random person at his party?"

"It's totally fine. He doesn't care. And besides, you aren't random, you're my friend. So?"

"I guess so." Ellie shrugs, giving into her new friend, "who needs an excuse to eat somebody else's food, and drink their booze?"

"That's the spirit Ellie!"

Ellie laughs, "does this mean I finally get to meet your friend Chris that you talk about all the time?"

Tara winks at her, "You bet you do." Tara turns to leave Ellie alone in her office wondering about the wink. Why does she feel like she just got herself into something over her head?