Blue Comes Through

Chapter Twenty Four

He walks towards me, doing a slow hand cap, the sneering smirk still smeared across his face. He's casually dressed in black jeans and a wine coloured jumper. His fine black hair is blowing in the breeze. He's not shaved. His stubble gives him an unkempt look; it's dark against his pale skin. I don't find it attractive. I wonder what I ever found attractive.

"How fucking touching! Dumped you has he? Realised what a fucking disaster you are?" His voice is as sneering as his smirk.

I say nothing. I take a few steps away from the cliff edge and walk towards him. My heart may be hammering, but I keep my head up and my eyes on his and the only clue that I'm terrified is my shaking hands, which I clench into tight fists.

"What are you doing here?" My voice is calm and level.

"Well, now you've been dumped by lover boy, it's time you came home, don't you think? It's time for you to get my son and my fucking money and get in the car and come home."

I actually laugh; it's a short hoarse laugh but a laugh nonetheless.

"You are deluded if you think I'm coming back to you. I've left you. I'm not coming back. Ever!"

There's conviction in my voice and although my heart is beating like a steam train, a confrontation out in the open is no bad thing. Its early afternoon on a Tuesday. There are people around. Somebody will walk by. He always kept the violence behind closed doors. Maybe Finn will come back. I immediately dismiss that. I can't think about Finn right now.

"Well Finn fucking Armstrong certainly doesn't want you. It's obvious; someone like him would shag you and dump you. I bet he's already moved on to better things." I shake my head. It seems his stalking knows no limits. I'm not discussing Finn with him.

"You need to go. You need to accept that it's over." I'm still holding his gaze. His eyes are blue. They have none of Finn's shimmering warmth though. They're a cold steel blue. I want to knock the smirk off his face.

He advances towards me and although my instinct is to step back, I don't. I hold my ground and his eyes and hope he can see the contempt I feel. He gets close enough so I feel crowded and I get a scent of that horrible cheap aftershave. I swallow a wave of nausea.

"You're fucking coming home with me." His face is in mine and I smell cheap aftershave and stale body odour. I swallow on a gag but I still don't flinch.

"I'm not." He grabs my arm with biting fingers and I angrily shake his hand off and then he raises his arm. "You can hit me, Dom." I say quickly. "You can punch me and kick me and knock me senseless. It won't change anything. This is over for me. Go back to Reading and move on!" There is a flicker in his eyes. He was expecting compliance. Still, after more than six weeks, he was expecting me to dutifully comply.

I shake my head in disbelief and with a last glare, I sidle past him and start to walk up to the cliff path; my heart beating in my ears. I'm praying he will just let me go. Who am I kidding though? There's a split second and I've managed three steps.

"Don't you dare fucking walk away from me!" He roars and I'm grabbed by the arm and yanked backwards. I gasp and stumble and am pressed against the back of Albert and Elsie. I brace my arms on the back of the wooden seat and my hands grip so hard, I feel the grain of the wood on my fingers. I raise my eyes to his and his face is contorted and furious and I stop hearing the words; that familiar white noise fills my ears. His weight is pinning me. I watch his arm lift. I close my eyes.

I'm braced for pain. Instead I hear a roar and a scream and the white noise lifts and the oppressive weight is gone. The scream is not mine though. It's his. I open my eyes and it takes me a few seconds to process what I see. He is writhing on the ground, squealing like a little girl as Wilf, adorable, clever, docile Wilf, grips his arm, snarling and growling. Dom is rolling and Wilf is on top of him and I process that and then for an indulgent wicked second, I do nothing.