What Lies Beneath

What Lies Beneath 17-20

~ADULT CONTENT, LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE~

Part 17

"Damnit." Tears formed in her eyes and she wiped at them and took a deep breath before heading back to the table.

Sav looked up from the menu he was reading when he saw Victoria pass by. Nudging Paige, he nodded his head toward the departing Victoria.

"I wonder what Victoria's doing here. I guess her and Joe came out for a late dinner." Sav thought but then those thoughts flew from his mind when he saw her sit down opposite a man around Joe's age he didn't recognize.

"I wonder who that is." Sav told Paige.

"Sav, don't let your imagination run wild. She's probably here on business." Paige pointed to the menu to get his mind back where it belonged.

"Yeah, you're probably right. What are you going to have for dinner?" Sav made up his mind to order the Steak Bayu with Cajun spices, pepper sauce, baked potato and salad.

"I think I'll have the Veal Oscar." Paige looked over at where Victoria was sitting and couldn't help but notice that she appeared upset. Paige imagined she would tell her if there was something worth worrying over. Once dinner was over Sav paid the bill and they headed home. As they were leaving Sav looked back at the table and noted with satisfaction that the other man was her boss because she had introduced them once when Joe and he had stopped by her work to take her home when the car was in the shop.

He hadn't seen him at first so he guessed it was because he was off in another part of the restaurant. Victoria sat down again and smiled hesitantly.

""Well Mr. McKenzie, do you find the layouts satisfactory?" She said pointing to the ads he now held in his hands looking at them.

"Yes, I believe we have a winner here. Marvelous work." Stephen smiled smugly.

Part 18

"Good, then I can go home. Randy, I will see you tomorrow as usual but just so you know, I am not working late tomorrow. Joe and I will be going out so don't get any ideas about keeping me again."

"You go home and get some rest. You deserve it. I'll even see to it you get out of work early tomorrow." Victoria rose and waved goodbye to them as she left the restaurant.

The closer she got to home, the more she panicked. Joe had been so angry on the telephone. All she could do was pray he was in bed asleep from having too much to drink. At least when he passed out, she didn't have to worry about him wanting sex.

She couldn't stand to have him touch her when he reeked of alcohol which had been getting more frequent lately. Entering the driveway she killed the lights since they shone right in the bedroom window and slid into the garage.

After shutting off the engine, she shut the door as quietly as she could and walked toward the house. Looking up, she saw the house was dark and a momentary sense of relief flooded through her.

Opening the door she stepped inside and shut the door softly. After putting her briefcase on the floor she was about to head upstairs when she heard a noise in the living room. She froze and felt a chill go up her spine when she heard Joe's voice emerging from the darkness.

"Where in the fuck have you been Victoria? You're four hours late." Victoria squinted when Joe snapped on the light. She swallowed hard when she saw the look in his eyes and she stood rooted to the spot she was in afraid to even breathe.

Joe slammed down the drink he was holding causing Victoria to jump. His eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred which told her that he had been drinking for some time and obviously very upset with her.

"ANSWER ME." Joe screamed rising from his chair and picking up the drink he had slammed down.

Part 19

"I...I was at a meeting. I told you that earlier Joe. I called to tell you I'd be late." Victoria said unable to look at him.

"You told me you would be home within the hour. THAT WAS 3 HOURS AGO VICTORIA." Joe crossed the room and took her by the arms and squeezed them hard. She whimpered and tried to break free but he only held her tighter.

"I told you I wanted your ass home immediately. What part of that didn't you understand Victoria?" Joe said getting within an inch of her face. His breath reeked of whiskey and he smelled of stale cigarettes.

"Joe you're hurting me. Please let go of me." She begged twisting her arm.

Joe shoved her back against the table where his glass of whiskey sat and the glass fell to the floor shattering on impact.

The corner of the table jammed her in the ribs and Victoria cried out in pain as she hit the floor her hand landing on a piece of jagged glass slicing her palm almost all the way across.

Victoria screamed holding her hand to keep the blood from gushing out. Joe's eyes glazed with regret and he went to her side gathering her in his arms while holding her palm and took her to the bathroom where he carefully washed the cut with cold water and then sanitized it with alcohol and bandaged it.

The cut wasn't that deep so she wouldn't need stitches but it would be painful for awhile. Victoria trembled in his arms as he walked her to the bed lying her down on the mattress where he removed her shoes and covered her with the down comforter and snapped off the light.

He removed his clothes and slipped in beside her and rolled to his side and closed his eyes still feeling the anger surging through his system without really knowing why.

Victoria lay there trembling afraid to move for fear of him waking and becoming angry again. She cried until she fell into a fitful sleep and when she woke the next morning the pillow next to her was empty.

Part 20

Padding softly to the master bath she flipped on the light and removed the bandage looking at her hand. If the cut had been any deeper she would have had to have stitches but luckily it was only a superficial cut and looked worse than it actually was.

Victoria removed her gown to take a shower and gasped when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Her ribcage was black and blue from where she had hit the table when Joe shoved her and there was a small cut in the center.

The bruise showed signs of spreading and if she moved too much it hurt like hell. She winced when the spray of the shower hit her ribs but somehow managed to finish it and get dressed for work. For once she was glad to be going to work because she didn't want to stay and face Joe's anger.

Victoria stopped sucking in her breath when she saw Joe at the counter with his back turned to her pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Joe paused briefly when he saw Victoria standing there with her hair in a French braid wearing her cream colored suit and black dress shoes. He lowered his eyes to his cup and then looked up at her again, his eyes regretful but flecked with anger.

He set his cup on the counter and drew her into his arms, stepping back only a little when he heard her wince in pain.

"I'm sorry Victoria. I was so angry with you. You've just been working so much lately. All I'm asking is to be able to spend time with my wife. We hardly get time with each other as it is with me on the road. I love you Victoria, please believe that." He planted a soft kiss on her forehead and stepped back brushing the tear that rolled down her cheek away with his thumb.

"I know Joe. I love you too. I should have called you again to let you know I would be later." Victoria choked, trying to keep her sobs at bay knowing it would only anger Joe.