Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Three

'You're just being paranoid,' Ecie said. 'I don't even want to know some of the things you think.'

'So you'd be fine with me drooling over another girl in front of you?'

'You're spying on me now?'

'I just think you've got too many guy friends. Whatever happened to being one of the girls?'

'I forgot you were the jealous type,' Ecie scoffed. 'Even when we'd just hang out, you'd get completely psycho if a guy so much as smiled at me.'

'I'm not jealous or psycho...'

'You know what, whatever,' Ecie said switching off the TV with the remote and getting up. 'I'm tired and I'm having brunch with my dad tomorrow. We can finish this some other time when you're not all...'

'When I'm not all what?!'

'Ellis.'

He grabbed Ecie's wrist as she tried to get away. 'When I'm not all what...?! What were you going to say?!'

'Ellis,' Ecie said trying to sound as calm as she could. She saw his eyes change in an instant from green to black. 'Ellis.'

Ellis held tighter onto Ecie's wrist and pulled her close to him. He pushed her hard so that her back pounded against four shelves of books. Ecie fell to the floor, shielding her face with her hands. Ellis strode over to where she had landed and pulled her up from the floor by her light brown hair. He placed his hands, forcibly around her neck and squeezed it violently til Ecie began to choke. She tried clawing and smacking at his arms and hands.

'How about now?!' he said angrily. 'How is this for jealous and psycho?!' he knocked her head against the wall still holding tightly to her neck with both hands. He then threw her to his bed, where she lay motionless for a second. 'How about now, Ecie, dear?!'

Ellis looked at Ecie with eyes she had seen before, before climbing onto his bed and pinning her down. 'You told me that we were finished with all this; that all the stuff that happened with Denis was over. You promised you wouldn't hurt me like that again!'

Ecie looked up at Ellis. She looked into his empty black eyes and stared.

Ellis undid his pants and thrust himself into Ecie as she laid waiting for him to stop.

Ecie sat in a tub of cold water with her eyes closed and her head resting on the back of the bath.

She opened her eyes and felt her numb body throb painlessly. She sat in the tub for several moments later, with her legs outstretched and her arms floating just above the water.

Ecie ducked her whole head under water, so that her body was fully submerged, and lay like this for a few moments before rushing back up to the surface and reaching for a peach towel that she had left on the metal radiator. She stood up and felt as the water sped down her body and back into the tub, leaving her feeling heavy. She wrapped the warm towel around her body then stepped out of the cold bath.

'You can't treat me like that,' Ecie said staring at Ellis' back as he faced the window. 'You can't just do that to me, you can't do that to anyone. Nobody deserves that.'

Ellis didn't move.

'I don't know what you think you saw yesterday, but I did not sleep with him.'

'Then what took you two so long in the back room?'

'I told you a million times,' Ecie said. 'You just think that everything is some kind of conspiracy theory when it's not. I was working all through yesterday, and you should have been doing the same thing, instead of sitting in your car and stalking me.'

Ellis turned to Ecie.

'You can't hurt me anymore,' Ecie said before he could open his mouth. 'You can't do that to me anymore. I don't think I want to see you anymore. I can't see you when you're going to act like a complete and utter brute. I refuse to put myself through that anymore.'

Ellis got up and walked around the bed slowly staring at Ecie.

Ecie tried swallowing, but found her mouth was dry and her throat still painful. 'Ellis.'

Ellis stopped in front of Ecie and stroked her cheek softly. 'Ecie.'

Ecie's heart settled for a moment. 'Ellis.' She picked up her things before leaving Ellis and his apartment.