Home With You

Late

Natalie flipped over her phone checking for a message she knew wasn't going to be there. "Come on you bastards." she cursed under her breath, nervously bouncing her leg up and down without noticing. The bartender slid another lemon drop along the counter towards her, taking the drained glass that lay along side her phone. 

"Thanks Colin." Natalie uttered, raking a hand through her brown curls. 

He chucked. "Still no luck? You'd think they'd know better considering last time." He turned his back to clean out her empty glass as Natalie sighed. "You know.." Colin started "I could always charge them extra when they get here, say the prices went up cause of the new owners. We could split the profits."

Natalie chuckled in response. "No, no. You know I would never do that. As tempting as that does sound." The pub was recently taken over by a couple from the States who decided to move to Newfoundland and the new owners Tammy and Frank, decided running a pub would be their retirement adventure. 

"But hey" Colin expressed, snapping Natalie back to reality. "You know we kicked him out last time. Frank's in the back if we need him. He's not welcome here especially when he pulls that shit. So don't worry about it. We all got your back Nat." 

"Thanks" Natalie smiled.

 She shivered as the door opened letting a crowd of people in from the chilly evening, but she didn't shiver from the cold. Her mind was wrapped up in that awful night. She half turned looking to see if her friends were in the mix and sighed again when she did not recognize any of the people. 

"Chin up!" Colin said as he made his way toward the new guests, not noticing her sudden change in mood. "I bet you they'll be here in no time." and with that he was off to take the newcomers orders.

"Yeah.. I know." she spoke absentmindedly as her thoughts drifted to the last time she set foot inside the pub almost three months ago. 

It was a crisp fall evening when Natalie entered The Falcon, it was hands down one of her favorite pubs and she was a frequent customer, along with her friends Grace, Miles and Frankie. She was just about to sit in her usual seat at the bar when she felt the familiar hot, sticky breath on the back of her neck. She spun around backing up against the bar, knocking over the stool in her panic.

She was face to face with Parker. Not again she wished. Closing her eyes tight, praying it was another nightmare. He was a frequent visitor in them. Causing her to lose countless nights of sleep. She was used to them by now, constantly plagued by her nightmares ever since the night he landed her in the hospital last year. But this was no nightmare. This was real. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

Parker snickered at her reaction and slowly raked his eyes up and down her body. His eyes rested on hers while he sucked in his breath.

"Damn Nat. Looking even better than the last time I saw you." He grinned. Any woman who didn't know him would think it was an attractive smile. Maybe even sincere. But she knew the evil that lurked behind it. 

"Parker." She said through gritted teeth. No shit i'm looking better. Last time you saw me I was unconscious. Because of you. "What brings you to The Falcon?" 

"Hanging with my boys, having a few beers, the usual." He smirked. 

"I see.." Natalie responded. "As lovely as this is, i'm gonna head out. I'm meeting the guys for dinner and I was actually just leaving."

"Oh no you don't." He grabbed her arm and jerked her closer to him. "I saw you come in just now. You're staying here. With me." His nails digging into Natalies' arm. His breath ragged against her temple, she could smell the liquor with each word he spoke. He was wasted.

"Fuck off." Nat warned. "You know what happened last time. I didn't get a restraining order, but you know I would have no problem getting one if I wanted to."

His eyes narrowed testing her threat. She didn't even know if she would go through with it herself, so it was hard to see if he called her bluff. However, he loosened his grip ever so slightly. She took the opportunity to straighten up. Internally cursing herself, she always made her form appear smaller when she was in his presence. When things started to get violent in their relationship she dismissed it at first, he was drunk and he only grabbed her. It was only a one time thing, a drunken mistake she thought. But boy was she wrong. She was in a constant state of worry. Tip toeing around him after that first aggressive act, never certain which side of Parker would greet her when she got home. She hated the fact that he still had that affect on her. That he still made her want to curl up into a ball and disappear for good.

"Is everything okay over here?" Colin asked as he cautiously walked out from behind the bar. He eyed Natalie as he picked up the toppled bar stool and put his hand on Natalies shoulder in a silent attempt to ask if she was alright.

There was never anything romantic between them. Colin was like a brother to Natalie and to be entirely truthful she didn't even think about a man in a romantic way since her relationship with Parker. She was damaged and broken. Who would want that? Who could deal with her emotional baggage when she couldn't even find the courage to face it herself? But when Colin placed his hand on Natalies' shoulder, it was like a switch inside Parker was flipped. 

Much like the night when he beat her unconscious, he went into an all out rage. It was like he was a completely different person. But Nat knew this was just his true self emerging. Finally showing his true colors to the crowd in the bar much like he showed them to Natalie with his fists. The full force behind his punch was bad enough. The kicks were even worse. What's that saying about not kicking someone when they're down? That's something that was entirely foreign to him. 

By midnight the cops were called and Parker was hauled off in the back of a police cruiser. Natalie was absolutely horrified with the casualties. She was so used to being the only thing he caused damage to, and she was fine with that. She had come to terms with it, she was trying to deal with it. Therapy helped and her friends and family of course. But when he hurt three other people including Colin, she was never the same. She blamed herself.

It's not your fault, It's not your fault, It's not your fault.

The thoughts rang through her head. Her mantra. She shook her head, wiping the dreadful events from her mind. As much as she could repeat that phrase, she never truly believed it. If she were to get help sooner it probably wouldn't have escalated as it did last year. Or if she filed for the restraining order like so many of her friends and family told her she should do. There were too many what ifs, too many things that could of prevented that night from happening. Nat just wanted to move on, she thought his mandatory anger management classes would be enough. His AA meetings would promote change. But can you even truly change? Can someone who is full of darkness really find a way out? Natalie was certain change was possible. Although the person usually had to be willing to change, and with Parker she was convinced he would never want to.

Natalies' phone buzzed on the bar clearing her head. "Finally!" she exclaimed as she picked up her phone reading the message.

Frankie: Sorry babes. We're running late! See you soon and have another drink on us ;)

"Ah fuck me." Natalie uttered. Late as usual

"Pardon?" A voice beside her rang out. She noticed an accent, he wasn't from Newfoundland that's for sure. It was similar to a Newfie accent but much nicer. Irish maybe? 

"Oh sorry" she started. "My friends are basically ditching me that wasn't meant to— 

She turned to see who the soft spoken voice belonged to and when the individual came into view she stopped dead in her tracks. Natalie was frozen mid-sentence staring at the one person she truly idolized. The  man who currently dominated the lock screen on her phone. The one and only Andrew Hozier-Bryne.