Falling Down Under (I) #Wattys2016

Part 17

After a warm shower I felt better and decided not to bother my friends with any more of my issues. They had enough to deal with themselves. Still shaking, I double checked the doors were closed and the alarm set. I'd quickly sent Kate a text from the taxi, telling her I wasn't feeling well. There was no way I could possibly return to work, but I needed a cool head in order to officially quit.

When texting Kate from the taxi, my phone opened to the voice recorder.  The recording stopped at three minutes. My phone has run out of space. None of the assault would have been recorded.

It wasn't even noon and I felt like going insane. Michael assaulted me. I couldn't believe this had actually happened to me. My own boss, who paid me to help victims of exactly that, had turned against me. Everything I worked for, gone. Soon, I'd be without a house and without a job. 

Not knowing how else to pass my time, l gave my real estate agent a call. The ad for the property advertising campaign had been finished two weeks earlier. We had discussed to wait another week before commencing a four week campaign, as the following weeks were expected to be extra busy at work. Now, I just wanted to get everything over and done with. I needed a fresh start.

To my relief, my agent Donna was able to include my house in the next day's publications and managed to find a junior agent to run the two open house dates for the first week. Initially discussed, we'd take the house to auction after the four week campaign, I now informed Donna that I'd be keen on selling earlier for the right price. The thought of eight inspections over the next month was too overwhelming. With the first open house now scheduled for Saturday, I had a lot to do and started packing. It was good to be busy, but I was unable to get rid of that terrible feeling deep inside me.

I had purchased moving boxes a few weeks earlier, having stored them in the garage. Now, I shoved things into them like I was obsessed. I plugged my iPhone in and turned on the music, loud, trying to switch off everything else. The songs I chose soon got increasingly depressing and after two hours I was lying on the floor, in a pile of mess, crying my eyes out.

I cringed when there was a loud knock on the door. Michael, it shot through my head. Who else would look for me at home on a work day? I was in the living room, which was surrounded by large French doors, opening up to the patio. It couldn't be seen from the front door. Separated by only a bamboo dividing screen though, one could easily look through by walking around the divider. Shaking with fear, I crawled behind the sofa. Just then, my phone rang. It had already several times before, but I had kept on ignoring the calls, which were mainly from Dave. It was him again, but like all the times before I declined the call. I hadn't been ready to talk to anyone yet, and now I was simply scared of Michael hearing the phone ring. Cowering behind the sofa, my fears became true. Quick knocks on the glass doors hammered through my ears. I didn't dare look, too afraid to be discovered. The pictures of earlier raced through my mind: Michael intimidating and exposing himself to me. I stayed absolutely still, only taking low breaths to minimise noise and movement.

"I know you're home, Lisa. I heard your phone. Let me in!" Dave's voice was like a melody in my ears. I crocked up. Sobbing loudly, I came out of hiding. Dave stared at me with wide eyes through the French doors. Getting up, I ran to one of the doors, opening it and collapsed in his arms. Dave pulled me tightly into him.

"What happened, darling?" But I couldn't talk. A mix of tears and snot ran down my face, smudging on to his sport shirt. He held my head pressed against his chest, petting the back of it. Slowly, Dave walked inside, pushing me gently in front of him. He closed the door and sat down with me on the sofa.

"What happened, Lisa?" he asked softly, but he was unable to hide his shock when looking around my living room. When I didn't answer, he added, "Did someone break in?"