“You have thirty seconds to explain yourself before I kick your ass,” she threatened as she let herself in. “My best friend is fucking beside herself right now.”
I shut the door and turned around to meet Holly’s merciless glare. Her arms crossed as she waited for my explanation, though I’m not sure if she’d even believe me. She looked absolutely livid, not that I could blame her.
“Holly, please it’s not what it seems. I didn’t want any of this to ever happen.”
“That’s not good enough. What the hell was going through your head when you did that?” she demanded. “You knew how Jessie had been cheated on before. You knew how fucking hard it is for her to trust anyone and I know that she’s in love with you.
“You know, she’s honestly the sweetest and most giving person ever but you fucked her over anyway. Why?! Why would you do something like that?”
I flinched at Holly’s words as I was struck by the truth of them. Jess didn’t deserve this. I knew that. And even though I was doing it for her safety, I still felt like the lowest scum of the earth right now.
“Holly, I wasn’t trying to cheat on Jess. I had no choice, I—“
“How the hell did you not have a choice?” Holly still sounded livid but her voice lowered slightly at my words. I at least had her attention.
I moved past her to take a sit on the couch, Holly mimicking my actions. I stared at my hands as I tried to form the words in my head. This would be the first time I’d be saying it out loud and putting everything out in the open.
“My boss has been forcing herself on me. I’ve had no choice. She makes me do those things and she abuses me,” I finally admitted. The images were invading my mind as I spoke about it but I kept the feelings of panic at bay. I needed to get this out.
“Wait,” Holly’s voice was now dramatically softer as she spoke now. “What exactly is going on? Why haven’t you quit? Or told anyone?”
“I can’t,” I told her, my voice breaking slightly. “She’s threatened to hurt Jess if I don’t do what she says. That’s how she ended up in the hospital last week. It was my fault because I refused her.”
I was full on crying by now. I know that I’ve well and truly fucked everything up. Literally, I just felt like such an idiot. If I would have told Jess when it first happened things would have turned out so much different.
Holly stood up then and moved so that she was sitting across from me on the coffee table. I watched her as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, looking deep in thought.
“Right, so we need to figure something out,” she announced.
“What do you mean?”
“Look. Jessica loves you more than anything. I know that. And it obvious that you love her too. So we need to fix this mess because I’m not letting you guys split because of some bitch. I’ve never seen Jess as happy as she is with you and I’ve known her longer than almost anyone.”
“I don’t want to give her up, Holly, but god I hurt her so bad. I wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to speak to me again,” I said sadly.
“All right. I’ll tell you what you’re gonna do,” she said, determination evident in her voice. “You’re going to take my car and drive over to her house right now. She’s expecting me back anyways. I told her I was just going to the shop and I’d be back. You’re going to go back there and you’re going to talk to her.”
“But what if she won’t listen?” I protested but Holly only shook her head.
“She’s stubborn but she’ll listen. She’s had plenty of time to calm down and I’m sure she does want to talk to you about it. She loves you,” Holly repeated once again.
