troubled teachers

Chapter 7

This is an IMPORTANT chapter!

She slid the key into the lock slowly, trying as hard as she could not to make a sound. The mechanism clicked lightly as she turned the key and stepped into the dark entrance hall. Toeing off her heels, Regina placed them neatly in the shoe rack before tip toeing further into the dark mansion.

The feeling had settled over her as soon as she reached the gate. The lightness, the happiness, the contentment, the confidence, all those wonderful things she had felt all evening when she was with Emma and her friends, evaporated. Instead, her shoulders sagged and her body grew heavy with the weary sense of foreboding.

She knew. She had known for years what their relationship had become. But that didn't make it any easier to get out. Their marriage hadn't always been bad. The first few years had been happy enough. But then Robin's work had drawn him in deeper, consumed him, changed him. And so too, their marriage. It was gradual, small things that one wouldn't notice immediately. A harsher tone, a more insistent request, a forceful command. Before Regina knew what was happening, it was too late. Robin had, over time, destroyed the vibrant, confident, independent woman he had married twelve years ago, replacing her with a docile, obedient shell of her old self.

But that old Regina still existed. She was resurrected on the drive to work every morning, emerging in all her glory as she became a teacher, not a possession. Regina relished her time at work because she felt free. Not only did she love her job and enjoy teaching the children, but it was the only part of her life in which she was able to be herself. Because as soon as she drove away from the school gates in the afternoon, old Regina crawled back inside her, replaced by Robin's damaged, broken, controlled version.

In many ways Regina felt grateful that Robin allowed her to work. In doing so he allowed her some semblance of a normal life, some piece of her true self to remain. She owed him thanks for that so she told him as regularly as he required her to. Thank you, Robin, thank you. And the way he treated her: living in luxury, always taking her out for meals and gifting her jewellery. Robin never knew that the necklaces and bracelets she left the house wearing spent the day in the glovebox of her car, otherwise they weighed her impossibly down. She felt guilty about that too as she re-clasped them in the afternoons. If he spent money on beautiful things for her, the least she could do would be to show them off. That was the new Regina talking though. The old Regina was the one who unclasped them each morning and shed the burden of his control for the teaching day.

No, Regina Mills knew her husband was abusing her. The problem was, he was too good at it to allow her to escape.

She paused outside the master bedroom, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves. And that's when she smelt it. Perfume. The unfamiliar, flowery scent made her gut twist. She knew what it meant. She always knew. Opening the door, she saw the shape of Robin lying on his side of the bed. He was facing away from her but she was sure he was awake. She stepped into the room and placed her handbag down before moving to their ensuite and getting ready for bed.

Robin said nothing until Regina slipped beneath the covers ten minutes later.

"You're late."

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice reedy and tired in the dark room. "I had to leave my car at Emma's because I drank a little more than I planned. I walked back so it took longer than expected. I'm very sorry, Robin."

She heard him shift in the bed, the mattress bouncing slightly as he rolled over to face her.

"I let you go to that party as a courtesy. I'd expect a little respect when it comes to abiding by my rules if I allow you a treat like that," Robin growled.