Suits and Scars

Chapter Two: Before

I would love to say that I got to a point where I was able to over power my dad, Greg, but it never happened. I kept the secret my whole life and forced Madison to do the same. I never wore anything to expose my back and made sure no one ever saw my butt.

The scar on my side was a little harder to hide since it was so big but I just told people I got hurt playing in the woods behind my house. I was a rough and tough kid as far as anyone knew so it was believable. I left for college when I was seventeen and hadn't been home in ten years.

Madison and I both went to college and decided to get an apartment together after graduation. Mads got her degree in nutrition and worked with the school district, and some hospitals, to come up with healthy food menus for kids, and patients. I, on the other hand, got my degree in business administration and had been at the same office building for almost four years as their head secretary.

I walked out of my room dressed in a deep red pencil skirt that stopped right above my knee. The color reminded me of red wine. My long sleeve shirt was tucked in and tight to my abdomen. The sleeves were sheer and puffed out a little at my wrist. The sales lady told me the color was a light orange but I argued that it was really cream. My ash brown hair was pulled back into a low braided bun so that it didn't pull all day and give me a headache.

Our apartment was considered a high rise since we were on the twenty-seventh floor. We had pretty great views of the city around us but the inside of our apartment wasn't the lavish images I had always imagined when I'd look up at these tall buildings. We got lucky getting a corner apartment and truthfully it was all thanks to Mads' dad, Louis.

He had a lot of connections within the city that never made any sense to me. I never questioned the things did to help me throughout my life because nothing he did could ever be worse than what Greg did to me. But if I'm being completely honest he did everything to ensure I had the best chances in life once I left home.

Walking into our apartment you were in a small hallway. The walls were painted a dark teal green and the floors were covered in a dark, large plank, wood flooring. Madison and I had disagreed on whether or not we should have a rug in the hallway but decided not to hide the amazing floors.

To the left of the hall was a hallway table with gold legs and a white granite looking top. We tried to always have fresh flowers in a vase at the far end with a dish on the other end for our keys. At the end of the hallway, before it opened up to the rest of the space, there was a door on the right side that led to my room.

The walls were painted a soft grey to make the space feel more cozy. The far side of the room was home to both my bathroom and closet. I never did anything with the bathroom because I hated spending a lot of time in there for obvious reasons. I always kept the door shut unless I was in it. I did my hair and make up at a small vanity in my room and I got dressed either in my closet or in my bedroom. All the furniture in my room was white besides my sheets and the rug under my bed which were a very soft pink.

Back out in the living room, the walls were really just floor to ceiling windows with black trim. There was a grey rug on the left side of the room with a dark grey couch on the far side opposite of the tv. Two cream colored chairs were on each end of the couch with a natural light wood coffee table in the middle. In between the kitchen and living room was a small dining table big enough for four that matched the hallway table. The kitchen had all black stainless steel appliances, dark wooden cabinetry and white granite countertops.

Madison's room was off of the living room and was structurally the same as mine. Although hers had more of a dark bohemian style with dark walls, colorful pillows and rugs, and lots of natural wood accents.