Waiting For Superman

Broken Promises

Kara put her key in the lock and hurriedly let herself into the apartment. She was running late for a meeting with Glenn and Calvin and had forgotten to grab her laptop on the way out this morning. She quickly grabbed her laptop from the room and was on the way out when she bumped into Johnny.

“Watch where you’re going bitch,” Johnny snarled at her as he pushed her out of his way. Kara’s heart sank as she stumbled backwards. She had honestly thought that after the talk they had, things would’ve been better between them, but she was very wrong. The two of them had been arguing often and Kara was getting a little frustrated.

“Where’s breakfast Kara?” Johnny demanded. Kara sighed and said, “Get your own Johnny. I didn’t make any this morning because I woke up late.” “Come on Kara, you couldn’t even make breakfast for me?” Johnny said angrily.

Kara ignored him and pushed past him but he grabbed her by the shirt and yanked her backwards. “Let me go Johnny,” Kara said loudly. “I have to go to work.” “That’s all you ever do Kara,” Johnny said as he hit her across the face.

“You knew from the beginning that I work long hours,” she said, shielding herself from him. He continued hitting her and she could feel tears rolling down her face. “You can’t even set aside some time for us? What kind of pathetic girlfriend are you bitch?” Johnny growled as he pushed her into the wall.

“Johnny, you said you’ll stop. Please Johnny,” Kara whimpered. “I need to go to work.” She could feel blood on her lips and she tried to make him let her go. “That’s right you asshole, just go to work. Don’t even bother coming back alright? Just stay there forever,” he said as he punched her across the face before pushing her away and storming off.

Kara picked up her stuff and slowly made her way to the toilet. She looked at herself in the mirror and carefully reapplied her make up before rushing out of the house. Just as she got back in the car, her phone rang and she felt her heart drop as she glanced at the caller ID. 

“Hello?” Calvin’s voice came through the speaker phone. “Hi Calvin. So sorry I’m late, I’ll be there in 10 minutes,” she said, her voice shaky. There was a long silence before Calvin asked, “Are you alright Kara?” “Yes Calvin. I’ll be there soon,” she whispered before hanging up the phone.

All the way there, her hands continued to shake and even after she had gotten in the lift, her hands were still shaking. Looking at herself in the mirror, she realized that one of her eyes was starting to swell, and her lip was bleeding. She started digging through her bag frantically for a tissue but couldn’t find one.

“Come on, there has to be a pack in here somewhere,” she said frustrated. Just then the lift door opened and she rushed out, not even bothering to dodge the people trying to get in the lift. She didn’t bother dumping her handbag in her office but ran straight to the meeting room and pushed open the door.

“So sorry I’m late,” Kara said as she stumbled into the room. “It’s alright,” Calvin said reassuringly. “We’re not in a hurry anyway.” Kara gave him a small smile before sliding into the seat next to him, taking her laptop out of her bag.

“Erm… Kara? Your lip’s bleeding,” Glenn said quietly as he looked at her curiously. Kara stiffened and pretended to brush it off saying with a laugh, “I bit my lip during breakfast just now.” Calvin gave her a confused smile before clearing his throat.

“Alright then, I’d just thought I’d let you two know that we’re officially launching Team Epsilon in three days time. So for now, you’ll be in charge of settling the team down and briefing them on the case they’ll be starting with. I emailed you the notes for that case and placed a copy on each of your tables,” Calvin said. Kara nodded and glanced at Glenn who was staring at her. “Okay then, meeting over,” Calvin said as he stood up and walked out of the room.

Without even saying a word, Kara ran out of the room and headed straight for the toilet, locking herself in a cubicle. She looked down at her hands and saw that they were still shaking, and she could feel her eyes getting wet. “Deep breaths Kara, it’s gonna be okay,” she whispered to herself as she ripped off a piece of toilet paper and dabbed at her eyes.

Stepping out of the cubicle, she walked up to the mirror and realized that the concealer she applied to hide her bruises were faded due to her tears and she sighed. She had run through an incredible amount of concealer recently. Realizing she didn’t have her handbag with her, it dawned on her she would have to walk out of the toilet like this.

Kara turned back and looked at the cubicle before slowly walking back in and locking the door. She sat on the toilet and as she closed her eyes, she held back a sob. “Why me again?” she whispered to no one as ran her fingers up and down the thin scars on her wrists. Leaning her head and the cool wall, she stared blankly at the door, her body shaking with sobs.