Escape

Mia

"Where is the damn light switch?" Mia grumbles as she stumbles into the first floor study of the large five bedroom house she shared with her husband, Rick. She sighs in relief as the light flickers to life, illuminating the immaculately clean room. She doesn't have long to finish packing her things since Rick will be home within the hour, and if she is still here when he gets home . . . Mia shudders at the thought, her hand absently moving to the jagged scar that lingered on her forehead from the last time Rick decided to have a night out with the guys.

"Alright, Mia. You can do this," her hands shake as she unlocks the drawer to the antique oak desk that had been hers for the past four years, ever since she married her high school sweetheart. What a mistake that had been.

They had met in freshman Algebra the first week of classes and had fallen for one another in a whirlwind romance. They dated all through high school and into college. But when Rick started drinking, Mia knew that something dark had awakened inside of him, but was too naïve to see how violent that side of him could be. As time passed, his drinking got worse and so did his temper. But Mia had already been with him for six years, so she felt like she couldn't leave him now.

A picture from their sophomore year at Toronto High stood by the blue stapler that was filled with metallic staples of the same color. Warmth filled her body as her mind drifted to the perfect moment that the picture displayed.  It was taken just moments after Rick had first told Mia that he loved her. Their grins spread across their entire faces as they gazed adoringly into each other's eyes. Click! And then Mia was back in the present day, back to the task at hand, and back to the chilling reality of who that sweet, innocent boy had turned out to be and how now she was left with no alternative but to leave him with no further explanation than her wedding band left on the bedside table.

Hastily Mia tears through the contents of the drawer until she pulls out a bright pink envelope. A bead of sweat trickles its way down her forehead until it splatters on the paper, causing the R in Richmond to smear into an unrecognizable inky mess. That's where she is headed after she meets Paul at the train station. He had found an attorney for her that was stationed there. His name was Mark Greene, and he was going to help her escape from her shattered marriage without any further risk to her safety. She had tried to leave Rick before, but when she served him with the divorce papers he grew angrier than he had ever been before and pulled a gun on her. The year and a half since hadn't gotten any better, and she lived in constant fear of what his next drunken binge would entail. That was when she met Paul.

Paul Bradstreet was from a small town just outside of the D.C. area in the U.S. He had moved to Toronto three years ago for his job and now he was going to be relocated so that they could escape together. They had met eight months ago when Mia went on a walk to clear her head and had quite literally run into him. She clutched the letter containing the details of her escape to her chest, Paul's sloppy handwriting imprinting faintly onto the bare part of her neck that was visible above the collar of her snow-white sweater. Her eyes flashed to the calendar she had hung on the beige wall behind her large black leather chair.  Today's date, November 13th, was circled with P.B. 0778746 written in her neat, scrolly handwriting above it. Her confirmation number for the train stood out, causing her heart to sink with anticipation. She exhales loudly, looking at the clock: 11:47, Rick will be home by noon. Mia turnsthe picture of her and Rick face down and leaves the study without a second look.