Eyes Wide Shut

Chapter 6

I run up the entry way to her house, the brick path leading me to the door. I don’t even bother knocking and barge straight into her house.

            “Mollie?!” I yell as I walk through the doorway of the house.

            The house was a mess with all of her clothes lying everywhere, parts of broken dishes scattered all over the floor, and a glass vase shattered on the floor with the lifeless flowers dying next to it. Mollie sits directly across from the destroyed vase, her back up against the wall with her knees tucked to her chest and her face buried in between them. Soft sobs break the silence in the room. I rush to her side, lifting her head up, so her swollen eyes meet mine. They are full of pain; the site broke my heart.

            “What the hell happened?” I ask her softly as I cup her face with my hands.

Her eyes fell and she shook her head, almost ashamed of what her answer was. I rub my hands up and down her arms, Mollie twinging at the touch. I slightly lift the right sleeve of her over sized button down shirt, presumably one of David’s, to find a fresh bruise, red with hints of purple beginning to fill in. I lifted the other sleeve to find a similar mark.

“Mollie…” I muttered in disbelief. She dug her head into my chest and continued to cry, my hands cradling her head as she wept. What the hell did he do?

***

She settled down after about an hour and fell asleep in my lap. I moved her to the couch, where she continued to sleep; Alfie lying near her head. It was so dark in the house, so I decided to light some candles so I had enough light to see, but also not enough to wake her. I began to sweep the mess on the floor, carefully picking up the innocent flowers in the midst of the shards of glass. I ventured around the house, gathering up all of her clothes lying around and folded them into assorted piles. Assuming she would awake soon, I made my way back into the kitchen to make some decaf coffee for her and tea for me.

Mollie shifted her weight around on the couch as I was pouring the tea into my cup. She sat up, looking around, confused at the site.

“Did you… did you clean?”

“I might have,” I replied as I greeted her with a cup of coffee, sitting myself next to her on the couch. She looked worn down and exhausted. She steadily brought the cup to her lip, letting the warm liquid sooth her.

“Better?” I asked.

“A little,” she shrugged.

She scooted closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder and wrapping her leg loosely around mine. I placed my hand on her thigh and titled my head to the side so it laid on top of hers. We sat in silence for a few moments.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?”

There was a shift in her breathing and her body tensed up. It was clear it had all come back to her. It was not a dream as much as she hoped it would be. She let the question sink in and then slowly sat upright. Her head hung low, avoiding my gaze.

“David got replaced for his shoot in Paris, so he came home early from Vienna. I wasn’t expecting him so I just didn’t unpack and left everything laying around,” she swallowed and took a breath.            

“He was already pretty upset, but when he came home, he immediately started getting worked up about how messy it was and all these things that didn’t matter. He never got like that, except for the last time he visited his friends in Vienna. There was something off about him, he was so… edgy. He just got angrier and angrier. He started shouting things at me. About the messiness, about not returning his calls… about you.”

Me? Why would he be yelling at Mollie because of me?

“He started throwing the plates that were on the counter and stomped around the house throwing my clothes everywhere. He just kept yelling about these absurd things.” She had a to take a big breath before she spoke again. “And then he started accusing me of cheating because I hadn’t been calling him as much this past month. And that’s when he pinned me to the wall, gripping my shoulders so hard… I thought he was going to kill me. I kept yelling at him to please stop, but he kept screaming and just gripped me tighter.”

I took both of Mollie’s hands in mine, running my thumbs over the top of her hands.

“That’s when he threw the flowers he got me at the wall. And then he just… left.”

I didn’t say anything for a moment. What was I supposed to say? Your boyfriend is a psychopath, told you so?

“Did he hurt you anywhere else?”

“No.”

“Have you heard from him?”

“No.”

She got up and wondered behind the couch to another area of the couch. She shortly returned back to her spot holding something in her hand.

“This fell out of his pocket when he was leaving,” she disclosed as she held out a tiny bag with white powder just filling the bottom of it.

I grabbed it from her. Coke? David was on coke?

“Do you think this is what made him so angry?” I asked, examining the bag.

“It has to be.”

I looked at it a little more, so intrigued to see it up close. I put the bag back on the table. Mollie hung her head again, looking as if she was running it all through her mind once more.

“Hey…” I uttered, lifting her head up with my finger. “You know he would never try to hurt you. It’s the drugs, babe. That’s what they do to people.”

I wanted to go off on how much I hated David, but I bit my tongue. That was not what she needed right now.

“What if he does it again, Frank?” She quietly questioned, her eyes full of worry.

I gripped her hands again, tightly this time.

“He won’t.”

Her eyes drifted down to where my hand held hers, still not convinced.

“And if he does, I’ll kick em’ where it hurts,” I joked and she began to giggle. “And if that doesn’t work, I’m going to have to let Pix and Pres get on his ass.”

Her bright smile shined over her face as she busted up in laughter. I reached my arms out to her and brought her in for a hug. We faced each other for a few seconds, my gaze assuring her that everything would be okay and I carefully swept the remaining tears off of her face. I looked at her once more, smiling at the sight of her smiling.

“I gotta get going,” I remarked as I stood off of the couch.

“No,” she demanded, grabbing my hand. I turned towards her to see her eyes still full of worry and fear. How could I ever leave a face like that?

“Stay.”