Five Minutes

Come Sail Away

The article wouldn't be released for another few weeks - scheduled to closely coincide with the premier date of Extraneous. Veronica would be forced to spend the upcoming months fretting over the publication. She thought it had gone well, but journalists were always playing a charismatic role to weed out an enticing story. Veronica had read enough articles to know that.

She attempted to shove the article to the back of her mind and fixate on the present.

For a while now, she had stood back and listened to other survivors in her support group. But now it was her turn to disclose without being deliberately vague.

As with every meeting, the chairs were arranged in a circle so the women all faced each other. It made everyone more vulnerable, with twenty different pairs of eyes on them.

The room was wide open space of white walls and clean, glistening floorboards. It provided minimal necessities that evaded too much clutter with a larger crowd. Even so, it still felt small and sometimes suffocating.

Veronica sat with her feet firmly against the ground, her arms on her lap, twiddling her thumbs rather nervously.

"He seemed like a nice guy. He's one of those men that people think is... I guess overly friendly is the right word? Anyway, I never really took that much notice if it. Sometimes he'd put his hand on my arm or my back - little things like that - so it was easy to dismiss.

"But... he was really helpful. He put time aside for me when he didn't have to and I really appreciated that. I always thought I was being annoying, but he never said anything. He was smiling almost all the time and acted like it was the greatest thing in the world when I wanted his advice.

"So... over time I started to see him as a friend. I didn't feel scared around him or anything. When he came into my hotel room I didn't think anything. I lost my shoe and he found it. He just wanted to give it back to me. This was after a party and I'd had way too much to drink, more than I'm used to. I got sick after I let him in... he tried to take care of me, gave me water, helped me lie down on my bed.

"He told told me to do this thing, where you lie down and put one leg on the floor so you won't feel as dizzy. It actually worked too. My eyes were closed when I did and the floor wasn't spinning anymore."

She stopped. This was the difficult part. She glanced around the room. No one said anything. They stared, waiting for the conclusion of her story.

For a moment, she glimpsed down at her hands, uncertain whether she should continue. Rather quickly, however, she swallowed that hesitation and opened her mouth again.

"I felt him on top of me. My eyes were closed the entire time. I told him to stop. "Another pause. "When he was done he said You're welcome and left."

One of the woman's faces crinkled in obvious disgust.

"He kept texting me after that, at first with his own phone, then when I blocked him, he messaged me with numbers I didn't recognize. He acted like nothing had happened and wanted to go on like we were friends. After a while he did give up. The last text I got from him was from back in July.

She omitted what he did after, spinning untrue stories about her clinginess and obsessive behaviour. She hadn't provided any specific details to clue them in on who she was speaking of. But if they followed her career it was glaringly obvious.

"I'm glad you finally decided to share your story with us," Linda finally said. "It's very brave of you. I hope that this helps you move forward."

"I hope so too," Veronica said. "I haven't told anyone else besides my husband and one of my friends. This whole time I was too scared. I wanted to act like it didn't happen to me."

"Opening up to people won't make you weaker. It makes you stronger, because you're confronting your fears."

"I know. I just... I know you guys understand but... " She didn't want to say what she was afraid of. It seemed easier to tell her story to strangers rather than people she knew. They could turn a blind eye, or vacillate when it concerned actually believing her. Then what?

Linda leaned forward in her seat, her eyes fully set on Veronica. "We shouldn't ever focus on the possibilities of what may happen. It can do nothing but hold us back from living our lives. And from being content with ourselves. Those worries aren't rational."

Veronica knew Linda was right. Her paranoia might have been illogical and likely not even the outcome. Though it was hard to put her trust in most people.

"You have us," Shayna spoke up. "We'll always have your back, even if most other people don't. If your friends don't believe you, they're not your real friends and they're not worth being upset over."

They were comforting words. And they made Veronica smile. "Thanks."