Once Upon a Comic Con

05 / Bonnie

One minute, I'd been happy enjoying the company of my online friendship group and sharing the new content that dropped today. The next moment, I'd heard keys in the front door and immediately tore myself away from that happiness.

Why was I so concerned about Vincent returning home?

My heart was wrecked from the guilt I felt from keeping the outcome of the interview from him. I didn't want to give him the news over text message, I felt it'd be better if we had the conversation in person.

The computer was still warm when he walked through the door, but I'd positioned myself in the armchair with a book in hand, pretending not to notice he'd walked in. A strong stench of alcohol wafted in behind him. He must've got for drinks after work, and then the 'don't wait up comment,' from this morning finally clicked into place.

'Did you have a good evening?' I asked, glancing up from my book.

Vincent walked past me like he hadn't heard me and headed straight for the kitchen, where he found a stray bottle of beer in the fridge and wasted no time putting it to his lips.

I set down my book and walked over to him, 'I put aside some leftovers from dinner, would you like me to warm them up or I could pack them for your lunch tomorrow.' I added.

But still he continued to ignore me and focused only on draining his bottle.

Why was he refusing to talk to me? Did he know about me failing at the job interview? No, that was impossible, only Harley, Nahla'li and myself knew about that, and none of them would've spilled, at least not to someone they didn't even know.

Vincent discarded his empty bottle on the kitchen side, before slamming his hands down on the counter. 'I've had a long day, so unless you've got anything important to talk to me about, back off.' His tone was unlike anything I'd heard before, borderline aggressive.

I didn't recognise the man who stood before me. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pestered you the moment you walked in. I hope you had a good evening, help yourself to the leftovers.' I said, turning away from him, biting my lip to hold back tears but he grabbed my wrist and yanked me back.

'Did I say we were finished talking?' He demanded.

I shook my head, but all he could've seen was a deer caught in headlights. A burning sensation heated up where he was grabbing me.

'You didn't get the job, did you?' Vincent asked, but without me giving any indication he added, 'Course you didn't. Silly little Bonnie would rather live in fantasyland than in the real world like the rest of us.' He shoved me away.

I looked down at my wrist and noticed a red mark brandishing my wrist. 'But I really did try,' I said, just as the first of my tears began to fall.

Vincent snarled, 'I'm sure you tried harder at that game though. You were playing it before I came home, weren't you?'

I didn't dare meet his glare, we both knew the answer. He wasn't stupid.

'Thought as much,' he spat.

A silence fell between us, with him calculating his next vicious move and me wondering what was about to happen. For the first time, I felt scared of my boyfriend, scared of what he might do to me. He'd never grabbed me like that, never once marked me before. Everything had always been verbal, and in time I found I could get over it. But there was a hesitation in the back of my mind that told me something wasn't right with this situation.

Vincent sighed, shattering the silence like glass. 'I've had enough, Bonnie. I'm tired of always being the one to defend you, when you can't even help yourself. It's pathetic,' he said, his tone shifting back to something I recognised. 'Yeah, tonight was good. One of the best nights I've had in a long time, but that's probably because you weren't there to spoil my fun.'