The System

Chapter 12

Benjamin didn't so much as look at me until he joined me in bed. I don't know what was going on in his head and, after my discussion with Peter, I didn't really care. I knew that I had a powerful ally and that was what mattered in the long run. Ben could do as he pleased.

The lights were out and our new curtains blocked out the light from outside, giving me the most amazing darkness that I had ever experienced. I had never slept in a completely blacked-out room before. Even at the Home there were soft night lights in every room. The bed was so comfortable that I practically sank into it, snuggling into the plush covers and creating my own little cocoon. If this was how I was to spend the rest of my life until we left Eriton, I think I could deal with it.

Benjamin joined me about a half hour after I had already gone to bed. I was just starting to drift off when he woke me up by slipping in beside me. I felt myself drift again before he spoke.

"Why didn't you tell me you were meeting Peter Lawton tonight?" He asked, feigning indifference, but still sounding sulky.

"I didn't know," I replied honestly. I hadn't known he was going to be there. I would never have dreamed that it would be his house that I was headed to. "Sharon never mentioned it."

"You told me it was going to be all women. I would have come-"

"I just told you that I didn't know. It wasn't my decision to even invite you," I snapped at Ben. I couldn't help it.

"Don't talk to me like that, Emily," Ben warned me, his voice dropping lower. I don't know what was wrong with me, but for some reason I didn't take the hint.

"Or what, Ben?" I laughed, mocking him. I got out of bed, turning the light on. "What are you going to do?"

"Emily, I am your partner. I am the one who earns money. You will show me some respect." Ben was practically growling, getting out of bed to match my stance. He towered over me by quite a bit, but I wouldn't be threatened by that. Ben had made it clear that he loved me – or at least he thought he did – and he would never hurt me. A verbal argument was all that I would expect.

"You are an ass, Ben. You bring home the money because you won't let me work. You expect me to stay chained in this house and cook and clean for you and respect you for that? Because I don't. I hate living with you. I hate doing everything you ask me to do and pretending to be happy about it. Do you seriously think that I won't go out and have fun and enjoy the fact that you're not there?"

Before I even knew what he was doing, Ben was in front of me, his hands colliding with my chest, pushing me forcefully against the closet doors which, unfortunately, I had left open. I fell in, pulling down shelves and clothes and tangling myself among the debris. My right elbow was throbbing and I could feel something warm and sticky start to trickle down my arm. My head had hid the edge of a shelf, and the disorientation was the only thing that was overpowering the humiliation.

I could hear Ben breathing heavily as I sat there. That was the only thing I could hear for a few minutes before I heard the bedsheets rustle. Had he climbed back into bed, ignoring me? Untangling myself, and trying not to cry, I got out of the closet. Indeed, he was lying in bed, facing the windows, his back to me.

In shock, I moved, turning out the bedroom light, and navigating the house. I headed to the kitchen first, grabbing a few towels and bandaging my arm as best as I could. The cut wasn't too bad, but I wanted to get it checked, just in case. Which meant driving – something I was never very good at.

I don't know what came over me, whether I was really in shock or just a strange daze, but I drove to the hospital and the next thing I knew I was telling a doctor about how I "tripped" and fell into my closet. I got quite a few quizzical looks, but no one said anything. Nobody truly cared.