Once Upon a Lifetime – By Kazza

Part 4

WARNING – I apologise if this part disturbs anyone that is not my

intention, but It is a vital part of the story.  Once again, I am sorry if this

offends anyone.

The film was nearly over and Liz was dozing beside Robin on the sofa.  He gently moved a piece of her hair that had fallen over her face to one side.  She looked sweet and peaceful as she rested, and sexy, he thought to himself.  She had a vulnerability and naivety about her that got him excited just thinking about it.  He knew he was out of order but he couldn’t help it, he *had* to have her, he couldn’t let his ego take another bashing from her.

“Mmm, is the film nearly over?”  She asked sleepily.

“Nearly.”  He replied stoking her face.

“Sorry, I guess I’m just tired.”  She replied giving him a lazy smile.

“That’s ok.”  He replied huskily, leaning in to kiss her lips.  As before, he pushed her back along the sofa and crept along her tiny body.  The hunger in his eyes was there for Liz to see, but this was all still new to her, and she believed he had listened when she’d said she needed to take things slowly earlier that night.  Taking her hands, he placed them above her head and covered her lips with his once more.  This time he didn’t need to tell her to open her mouth, it became instinctive.  The kiss deepened quickly, the fire inside him needing to be extinguished.  She revelled in the feel of his tongue searching out the crevices of her mouth, never having been kissed like that before.

With one hand holding her arms above her head, his other hand moved down her body.  She had worn black jeans with a fairly low cut cream top, exposing just a hint of the breasts she hid beneath it.  His hand moved over one of her breasts, moulding it in his hand through her top, loving the feel of her in his fingers.  He refused to break the kiss that was binding them, even though he could tell Liz wasn’t happy with his actions.  He pushed his luck even further as he moved his hand further down to rest just below the end of the zip on her jeans.  Knowing this was going to be the spot where he’d make her change her mind about wanting him, he carefully move his hand over her and touched her though the jean material, all the while continuing to fuse his lips with hers.

Liz squirmed underneath him, desperately trying to force him off her.  He was way too strong, her hands pinned tightly by his, his lips crushing her own.  She could feel his desire growing, pressing hard into her leg, then as he moved his hand from her jeans and shifted his body, he laid flush on top of her, and moved his hips into her body. 

He was totally unaware of how Liz was feeling, or if he did know he didn’t care.  All he cared about was releasing the sexual pressure he had inside him, he needed her no matter what.  Grinding his hips into her small body, he moved his spare hand towards the button on her jeans and proceeded to undo it.

“No!”  A voice inside her head screamed out.  “He will not violate my body like this!”  Another added.  Using all the strength she could muster, more than she thought she ever possessed, Liz wrenched her hands free of his and slapped him hard across the face.  Then, as he laid startled by her actions, she used the opportunity to squirm out from underneath his heavy body.

“Bitch!”  He yelled, rubbing his face to rid it of the sting of her hand.

“Get out of here!”  She yelled, pointing at the door.

“No way, you can’t lead me on and then say no!”  He shouted, jumping to his feet.

“I didn’t lead you on!  Get the hell away from me, get out of my house!”  She screamed.

“No chance bitch!”  He added, grabbing her, pushing her and pinning her against the nearby wall.  “Nobody leads me on and gets away with it.”  He hissed, forming a ball with his fist and punching her hard in the face. 

Momentarily she was stunned, and as she regained her senses, he had ripped her top open, forced her legs apart and was pushing his body against hers once again.  Taking his hand to her expose bust, he roughly moulded her breast in his hand, to the point where Liz nearly cried out in pain.  Her hands were pinned above her head by her wrists, and with his free hand he reached for the open zipper on her jeans and thrusted his hand inside the material.  Pain ragged through her body as he violated her, moving his hand and ramming his hips into her body, crushing her lower body once again.  Desperate to stop him from doing anything more to her ravished body, she pulled on every ounce of strength she possessed to halt him.

“I said no you bastard!”  She screamed, lifting her leg and ramming it hard into his groin. 

“Ahhhhhh!”  He yelled, placing his hands on where she had connected, trying to stem the pain that was rapidly forming there.  As he reeled around on the floor trying to catch his breath, he forced out the words from his mouth.

“You’ll pay for this bitch!”  He said breathlessly, dragging himself to his feet and running out the door.

Crumbling into a heap on the floor, Liz allowed her tears to drench her face, pouring out  all the pain and fear as she cried.  Hugging her knees up to her body, Liz cuddled herself tightly trying to regain her composure and self respect.  She couldn’t believe what had just happened.  They’d had a really nice evening, she had told him she wanted to take things slowly and he’d accepted that, or at least that’s what she thought.  The pain in her face was barely distinguishable from the rest of the pain flooding her body.  She felt dirty, violated, like she was soiled goods, he hadn’t actually got away with doing anything properly physical to her, but Liz didn’t feel that way.  She didn’t think she could have felt any worse if he’d of actually raped her, in her eyes she felt he had. 

The tears kept coming all night, she barely slept at all.  Each time she closed her eyes the images of what Robin had done came flooding back with vengeance.  His kisses that locked her mouth and stopped her from screaming, his hands that had bound her wrists, his hips that had ground into her own until it had physically hurt.  She felt so ill, so disgusted with herself that she could have let him do that.  Just before morning broke outside, she crawled to the bathroom and threw up everything she had in the stomach, and the kept retching until there was nothing left.  Lying in a heap on the floor of the bathroom, she closed her eyes and allowed the tears to stream down her face all over again.

She eventually dragged herself off the floor around 7.30 that morning, having only got a couple of hours sleep.  The first thing she felt as she lifted her head from the floor was the intense pain she felt in her head, and the amazing burning and throbbing that was filling her face.  Getting up very slowly, Liz looked at her reflection in the mirror, totally shocked by what stared back in front of her.  Placing her hand just below her eye, she gingerly touched it.  Pain shot through her face bringing tears of stinging and smarting to her eyes.

“Oh god, now what do I do?”  She said to herself as she stared at her face.  Robin had given her a lasting, if only superficial reminder of what he had done the night before.  A large black bruise was prominent under her left eye, her cheek was also slightly puffed up.  Each time she blinked her face throbbed with pain, every tear that landed on the bruise scorched her skin.  Walking slowly to the shower, Liz stepped inside, turning the water on as hot as she could take it, and tried to scrub her skin clean.  Trying, without success, to remove the feeling of dirtiness that his hands had left on her body.  The hot water pouring on her bruised face hurt more than she could calculate, she took in the pain, allowing it to seep into her blood, believing it was her punishment for leading him on.  She had convinced herself over the night that he had been right, she must have lead her on, albeit subconsciously, and that she had deserved everything that had happened.  It was a totally illogical and highly irrational thought, but logic and rationale weren’t something Liz possessed much of that morning.

After stepping out of the shower Liz headed into her bedroom to dry off.  As she looked, she saw more scars from the night before on her body.  Around her wrists there were small bruises that had been caused by his tight grip.  Around her pelvis, although no physical evidence, the pain was intense.  He had ground into her so hard the bruising had been caused on the inside, and it didn’t yet show.  After roughly drying her hair with a towel, she pulled out her black trousers and put them on.  Realising she would need a long sleeve top to hide her wrists, she took out her black polo neck top and pulled it over her head.  Now, the only visible sign of the attack was the huge bruise under her eye.

Heading back to the bathroom, Liz sought out her foundation and began furiously applying it around her eye, hoping it would be dark enough to cover it up.  Five minutes later and Liz was just about happy with the results.  It wasn’t perfect, industrial foundation wouldn’t hide it completely, but as long as she didn’t look at anyone in the eye, kept her head down all day, she might just about get away with it.  Finding her jacket from the closet, Liz picked up her bag and headed downstairs.  She skipped breakfast, food was the last thing she could stomach, and started the fifteen minute walk to work.  The cool air helped to keep her tears at bay, she was determined to make it though the day without crying again.  As she walked, Liz felt like everyone was staring at her, it felt as if they knew what had happened the previous night, laughing at her, blaming her, sniggering that she’d got what she deserved.  Of course it wasn’t true, but Robin had messed with her head as well as her body that night, and she wasn’t thinking judiciously at all.

Before she entered the building of Evans’ Associates, Liz took several deep breaths.  She assumed Robin would be there, there was no reason for him not to be, and she wasn’t sure how she’d react around him.

“No, be strong, I can do this.  I won’t let him win!”  She talked to herself, trying to get the confidence to push open the door and walk in.

“Hi Liz.”  Maria said cheerily as she saw her friend enter the office.

“Hi.”  Liz mumbled, looking at the ground.  She felt fortunate that her hair was long, it meant it fell across her eye perfectly.

“You ok Liz?”  Maria asked looking at her.

“Yeah fine.”  She replied, turning away from her friend and switching on her computer.  Thinking Liz was just having a bad morning, Maria didn’t press the issue, instead she nattered on about what she had done the previous night, assuming Liz was listening, but not actually getting any response from her.

Hearing the girls, or more precisely Maria nattering outside his room, Max assumed Liz had arrived.

“Good.”  He thought, “My morning cup of stimulation should be here soon.”  He added.  No matter what he did, he just couldn’t seem to function properly until he’d had his first hot cup of steaming coffee.  Sometimes it seemed to be an age before Liz came in with his hot beverage each morning.  Of course he knew he could very easily switch the coffee machine on himself when he got in, but somewhere inside his brain a little voice always shouted out that the coffee wasn’t so indulgent and bad for him if someone else made it.  He knew it was strange and somewhat irrational, but hey who was he to argue with his mind.

Feeling his blood start to bubble due to lack of caffeine, he decided he’d waited long enough for Liz and needed to give her a small reminder.

“Erm Liz, could I have some coffee please.”  Max asked over the intercom.  He wondered if she was ok.  Ever since she had started at the firm she had never forgotten his coffee; it was always brought into him as soon as she had prepared it in the morning.

“Oh, I’m really sorry Mr Evans, I’ll be right in with it.”  Liz stumbled, realising she hadn’t even put it on.

“It’s no problem Liz, just when you’re ready.”  He replied kindly.  Mr Evans?  She hadn’t called him that since her first day when he told her his rules.  What was going on, this wasn’t like Liz.  Making a mental note to check with her when she brought in the coffee, Max went back to writing some notes from a meeting the previous day.

As she poured Max’s cup of coffee, she saw him walk into the office and froze.  He turned his head to look at her; throwing an evil grin her way. 

“Liz, the coffee, it’s overflowing!”  Maria called from across the office.

“What?  Oh god, sorry, thanks Maria, I was miles away.”  She replied trying to hide her true motive.

“Yeah, I could see that, you sure you’re ok?”

“Yeah, just a lot on my mind.”  Liz replied mopping up the spilt liquid with a cloth. 

His eyes bored holes in her body as she cleaned up the mess.  As she lifted her head, their eyes locked, and she could see the pure evil running through his veins.  Anyone not looking into his eyes would think he was just appreciating her, the smile across his face looking friendly, but his eyes were anything but that.  There was a warning in them, an unspoken signal not to say a word to anyone about what had happened.  A shiver ran down her spine as she tore her eyes away, and tried to concentrate on the coffee.  Pouring in some milk, she absentmindedly stirred it with a metal spoon, every so often lifting her eyes to glance at him, his eyes still intently locked on her.  Dumping the spoon in the sink with a clunk, she took a deep breath and headed towards Max’s office.  Knocking once, Liz walked in and placed Max’s coffee on his desk before turning and starting to walk away.

“Hi Liz, how’s your morning been?”  Max asked glancing at the cup of coffee on his desk.

“Erm, fine, thanks.”  She replied not turning back to face him.

“You sure Liz, because for the past 2 weeks you’ve brought me a coffee first thing each morning, and today I had to remind you.”  He said picking it up.  “And for some reason you’ve decided to put milk in it today, for the first time ever, and I don’t take it with milk.”  He replied, as she stood frozen in his office.  “Liz?”  He asked getting up. 

No matter what she did, she couldn’t move, she felt her feet routed to the spot.  She thought she had done a good job keeping a low profile and not making anyone suspicious, and in one foul swoop she had shattered that profile, with Max no less.

“Liz?”  He said again, reaching her side and taking hold of her arm.  She flinched, and shook his hand away from her arm quickly, memories of the previous night coming flooding back far too quickly for her liking.

“Hey, it’s ok.  I’m sorry I won’t touch you, just face me, please?”  He asked softly, realising she was very jumpy.  As she turned to face him she kept her head down and eyes low.

“What is it Liz?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.  I’m sorry about your coffee Mr Evans, I’ll get you another cup right away.”  She said quietly.  There she said it again, he though, Mr Evans, what was going on? 

Carefully making sure he hardly touched her, Max put his smallest finger under her chin and tilted it up so he could see into her eyes.  They were so sad, so dead with no feelings at all, no sparkle nothing.  It was then that he saw the bruise she’d so valiantly tried to cover up with make up.  Brushing his finger over it ever so gently, he noted her flinch away and instantly knew it was a fresh injury.

“What happened Liz?  Who did this to you?”  He asked firmly.

“Nobody did this to me, it was an accident.  I slipped last night at home and caught my face on the coffee table.”  She lied, remembering Robin’s chilling look outside.

“Then why did you try to cover it up?”  Max quizzed.

“I just didn’t want anyone to make a fuss over it.  I was clumsy, I wasn’t looking where I was going, Tabby my cat was caught up around my feet and I fell.  It’s nothing more sinister.”  She said adamantly.

“Are you sure?”  He asked not convinced.

“Yes I’m sure.  Please can I go now, I have an awful lot of work to get though this morning, and if I don’t finish Isabelle won’t be pleased.”  She said dropping her eyes from his.  His concern for her had been written all over his face, and it touched her inside.  He was a great boss, and a very caring person, inside she found herself wishing it had been Max she was with last night and not Robin, she knew Max would never have done that do her.

“Ok …….. if you’re sure.”  Max replied, reluctantly letting her disappear from his office. 

As he sat back down, Max was extremely troubled by his secretary.  He was a lawyer and he’d tried cases in his time for girls who had been abused, he knew the signs, the flinching when touched, the inability to look people in the eye, the mountain of foundation on a face that was normally make up free.  There was no way a coffee table had caused the extensive damage to her face.  Yet if she wouldn’t open up and tell him what could he do?

Part 5

As she walked out of Max’s office, Liz wasn’t aware of the shadow that was staring at her.  He had seen her go into Max’s office with his coffee, but she had lingered in there way too long for his liking.  She’d had no writing pad with her so she couldn’t have been taking any dictation from her boss.  No, he decided, there was no other explanation but that she had told him everything.

After going to her desk, Liz found some papers that Isabelle needed photocopying.  Grateful for the distraction from her desk, she picked up the pile and walked to the photocopier room that was almost opposite Max’s office.  As she stacked the papers in the feeder and pressed copy, Liz was suddenly aware she wasn’t alone in the room.  Spinning round on the spot, Liz was shocked and very afraid to see Robin standing only a few feet away.

“What do you want?”  She said confidently.

“You bitch, how could you!”  He hissed.

“What?  I haven’t done anything.”  She said pleading her innocence.

“You know exactly what.  Him, Mr Smoothy, Mr Wonderful, Mr Control Freak, you just couldn’t help yourself could you.  You just had to spill your guts out to him didn’t you, had to tell him how awful I was.  Well I bet you missed out the part where you lead me on didn’t you!”  He said, his voice full on contempt.

“No Robin, I didn’t say anything.  For some stupid reason I decided to protect you, thought maybe you’d be feeling sorry this morning, regretting what you did.  But I can see I was wrong.”

“Feeling sorry?  Regretting?  I did nothing wrong bitch!  I only did what you were gagging for.  So, you say you didn’t tell him.  Well you’d better make sure it stays that way ‘cause if I find out you’ve told absolutely anybody I’ll …………”  Robin hissed grabbing her wrist and leaning in to Liz so she could feel his breath on her cheeks.  Fear flooded her face as all the confidence she had previously had drained rapidly from her body.  She tried vainly to wrench her wrist from his vice like grip, desperately needing to get away from him, but he held on even tighter, making her wrist pound with pain underneath his touch.

“You’ll do what Robin?”  A voice behind him asked calmly.  Letting go of Liz’s wrist quickly, Robin hastily spun round, as Liz looked over his shoulder to her white knight who had rescued her.

“Err ……..”  Robin stuttered trying to think of a way out of the situation he was now in.

“I said, you will do what Robin?”  The relatively calm voice asked again.

“It’s just a misunderstanding.”  Robin replied.  As Liz looked at him, she realised he wasn’t the forceful, overpowering attacker she knew him as, because when faced with an equal or greater sized being, Robin was just a timid person.

“A misunderstanding huh?  I’m not particularly big on misunderstandings!”  Max replied, anger rising inside him.  He knew enough of the situation to know what was going on, and to know that Robin wasn’t going to get away with it.

“Look we’ll just leave it at that, it was nothing.”  Robin added, starting to walk out of the small room.

“I don’t think so!”  Max hissed, grabbing Robin’s shirt and pinning him against the filing cabinet.

“I don’t much like bastards like you, and moreover, there is no way I want someone like you working for my law firm.”  Max insisted.   It took every last drop of self control not to thump his fist right into Robin’s face, but he was determined not to stoop to that animal’s level.
”I …….. said I was sorry.”  Robin stammered.

“No, it doesn’t work like that!”  Max hollered.  “Now, I think you should leave immediately.  And when I say leave, I also mean never come back.  Your things from your desk will be packed up and sent to you by post, but I never, ever want to see you anywhere near this office or Liz ever again.  Do I make myself clear?”  Max bellowed.  Robin flinched under the sound of his voice, and suddenly lost his own voice all together.

“I said, do I make myself clear!”  Max repeated forcefully.  Inside he could feel his blood boiling with anger and venom.  The overwhelming urge to aim a few hefty punches Robin’s way still consumed his body, but common sense prevailed, he knew the last thing Liz needed was a punch-up.  No, he needed to use his head and not his fists in this circumstance.

“Yes” Robin squeaked, visibly shrinking under the weight of Max’s words.

“Good, I’ll show you to the door.”  Max insisted, grabbing Robin’s arm and pushing him out the room.  “Go to my office, shut the door and wait in there for me.”  He added softly as Liz nodded.

As he escorted Robin from the Firm’s premises, Max pushed him out into the street with force, making Robin stumble and fall in to a heap on the sidewalk.  Consumed with feelings of being frightened by Max’s mood, and humiliation at everyone staring at him lying on the pavement, Robin dragged himself to his feet and bolted down the street.

Max waited outside for a moment trying to clear his head.  He had known Liz’s story about the coffee table was weak to say the least, but never had the thought of Robin being the culprit crossed his mind.  He struggled to come to terms with the fact he’d been so wrong about the junior lawyer.  He’d thought Robin was a decent, hard working guy.  Thoughts of him being the type of guy who would prey on and attack young, innocent girls hadn’t even come into the equation.

Banging his fist hard against the brick wall of the outside of the office, Max tried to take his anger and aggression out on something that wouldn’t object or hit back.   After taking several deep breaths, Max disappeared back inside and headed towards his office.

“Maria, hold my calls and no visitors.  I don’t want to be interrupted for anything, and I mean anything.”  Max insisted as he hurried through the open plan area of the office.

“Certainly.  Erm …… is everything ok?”  She asked tentatively.  No one in the office could fail to hear the commotion that had taken place in the photocopier room.  Everyone was wondering what the hell was going on, the shouting and yelling, and then Robin being practically dragged out by Max and all, but Maria had been the only one with the guts to ask him.

“Everything is fine, please just get back to work.”  He added before slowly opening the room to his office and disappearing inside.  After pulling the blinds down on the window that was exposed to the office, he slowly turned to face her.

“Liz?”  He said, seeing her curled up on the far corner of the black leather sofa in his office.  Her knees were brought up to her chest; she bit her lip continuously as she trembled uncontrollably.  She felt like her vocal chords had been severed, she couldn’t breath a word, all she could do was feel the tears she had promised herself not to shed tumble down her face.  His heart broke into a million pieces as he watched her.  She was so scared, had been hurt so badly, he knew no matter what he did he wouldn’t be able to take that pain away from her and he felt part of him die inside at what she was going through.

“It’s ok.”  He said softy, sitting down beside her and gently pulling her into his strong arms.  Earlier that morning, when he had touched her she had flinched and pulled away, but this time she was more than grateful to allow his arms to envelope her damaged and broken body.  She sobbed uncontrollably as he pulled her close to him, trying to pass his strength though to her.  They stayed together in the clinch for what seemed like an age, Liz afraid to break it, knowing he would need an explanation when she did.

“It’s ok, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”  He whispered.

“How much did you hear?”  She asked, her voice thick with tears.

“Enough.  Enough to know you didn’t fall on a coffee table to get that bruise.  I don’t need to know any more if you don’t want to talk about it.  But I am here if you do Liz.”

“I can’t cry on your shoulder, let you sack a good employee, disrupt your work and then not give you an explanation.”  She said lifting her tear-drenched face from his chest.

“You owe me no explanation Liz.  I don’t want you to have to relive anything you’re not ready to.”  He replied pulling her close to him once again.  Closing his eyes, Max took a deep breath, and prayed her nightmare would end soon.

“It was last night, he came round so we could watch a video.  We’ve been out a few times before and he was really nice, a perfect gentleman.  Last night though he seemed a bit different.  We’d only ever kissed, but last night that didn’t seem enough.  I pushed him away, I told him I wasn’t ready for anything more …….”  She said, pausing to swallow a lump that was forming in her throat and blinking back tears.

“You don’t have to do this Liz ……..”  He started, hating the sound of the pain that filled her voice.

“I want to Max.”  She whispered, swallowing once again before continuing.  “He said he understood, accepted that I wasn’t ready to take the relationship further.  But when the film came to an end he started kissing me again.  He was forceful; he pushed me backwards and trapped my hands.  He wouldn’t stop kissing me …….. I……… I couldn’t scream, I wanted to but I couldn’t ……….. Then he squashed me with his body, pushing against me, I couldn’t get him off me ……….”  She trailed off, tears engulfing her once more.

“Liz please, this is too painful for you.”  Max insisted, kissing the top of her head as she laid against his chest.  Yet for Liz, talking about it was helping, as she played it out in her head she realised that maybe she hadn’t lead him on.

“I ……. I don’t know how, but somehow I managed to get him off me …... I screamed at him to get out ……. but he grabbed me and pushed me against the wall.  Then he punched me.”  She said, her hand instinctively going to the evidence on her face.  “He ripped open my top ……… tried to rip my trousers open ……… but I couldn’t let him, I wouldn’t let him.  So …… I …… I kneed him in the groin.  It wasn’t until then that he took off ………..  Oh god, did I ask for it? ……….. Did I make him do that to me?”  She asked through her tears.  His heart broke once again as she asked if she’d invited for any of it.  She was so young, so naïve, she didn’t deserve any of the pain she was feeling.  Not for the first time that day, Max wished he could kill Robin for what he’d done to her.  Hanging was way too good for him!

“No Liz!  There is no way you asked him to violate you like that.  Nobody has the right to attack you.  You have all the right to say no at any time and he should have respected that and walked away.  He’s an animal Liz, plain and simple, you can’t, you mustn’t think that any of this was in any way your fault.”  Max insisted.

“Oh god I know, I keep trying to tell myself that it was all him, but I just can’t help it.  I spent all last night going over it in my head, trying to think if it was my fault, perhaps I did lead him on.”

“I know you wouldn’t.  But it doesn’t matter if you did or not.  The moment you said stop or no he should have ceased immediately.  He attacked you plain and simple Liz, there’s no other reason.”  Max said adamantly.

“Oh everyone is going to know, they must have heard it.”

“Don’t worry about that now.  I will make sure everyone knows only what they need to.  That Robin had to leave, that’s it nothing else, you don’t have to tell anyone anything you don’t want to.”

“Thank you.  It doesn’t seem to be enough just to say the words, but I don’t know what else to say.  Thank you so much Max. “ She said quietly.

“Hush, there is no thank you needed.  I’m just glad I walked into the photocopier room when I did.”  He replied, secretly commending himself for not believing her ‘coffee table tale”, and for trusting his instincts when he’d seen Robin follow her into the small room opposite his office.

“Why did you come in?”  She asked suddenly realising he never did his own photocopying.

“Ok, I admit, your excuse about the coffee table was pretty lame.  I’m not stupid Liz, I can see when someone’s been hit, and that bruise is a classic example.  So, when I saw Robin follow you into the room, I put my head out my door just to make sure you were ok.  When I heard his raised voice, I knew something was up.”

“You don’t know how grateful I am that you did.”

“I think I know.”  He replied quietly savouring every moment of her huddled in his arms.

As they sat together, there was a knock at the door.

“I told Maria not to interrupt.  Stay here, I’ll get rid of them.”  He replied, reluctantly relinquishing his grip on the scared girl.

“Yes?”  He asked abruptly as he opened the door.

“Max, is everything ok?”  Isabelle asked

“It’s fine, anything else?”

“Yeah, where’s Robin, he’s supposed to be sourcing some information for my case next week.”  She asked trying to peer round her brother’s shoulder and into his office.

“Reassign Alex to it, Robin won’t be coming back.”  Max replied sharply.

“What?  Why not?”

“This isn’t the time or place Isabelle.  We’ll talk later, just accept my words for now.”  He insisted, before closing the door to his office. 

“Now, I think you should go home.  You look shattered Liz, you need some rest.  It’ll be lunch time soon and the others will be going out.  You can stay here till then and I’ll take you home.”  Max said.

“I don’t think I want to go back home just yet, there’re too many memories.”
”Ok, then you can come back to my place.  Isabelle is going out tonight so she won’t be coming home.”

“I can’t impose on you Max, you’ve done too much for me already.”  Liz started.

“Nonsense, I won’t take no for an answer Liz.”  Max insisted.

Once Max was sure everyone had gone to lunch, and that Michael and Isabelle were in their offices, Max put his suit jacket around her shoulders and escorted her out of his office.

“Max?  Liz?”  A voice called behind them.

“Go on down to my car, I’ll be down shortly.”  He said quietly before turning to face Michael.

“What’s going on?”  Michael asked, confused.

“It’s a long story.”  Max replied once Liz was out of earshot.  “Basically, Robin tried to attack Liz last night.” 

“What!  Oh my god is she ok?”

“I guess so, at least as ok as she can be right now.  I’m taking her back to my place I don’t think she should be alone.  You should probably know Robin isn’t coming back either.”
”Hey no problem, I totally agree.  I wouldn’t want anyone who’d attack defenceless girls working for me anyway.  Tell Liz I hope she’s ok.”  Michael said visibly shocked.

“Don’t say anything to anyone else though, Liz doesn’t want the whole office to know.”

“Sure, I won’t tell anyone.”  Michael added before Max followed Liz down to the underground car park. 

The twenty minute journey to Max’s apartment was quiet, Liz dozed fitfully on the passenger seat, as Max concentrated on driving, glancing occasionally at her.  As he pulled into the drive way, Liz stirred and opened her eyes.  He was glad, the last thing he had wanted to do was have to wake her up.

“We’re here.”  He said gently, pulling on the handbrake of the car.

“Thanks.”  She replied, unbuckling the seatbelt and climbing out of the car.

“Wow, this place is really nice.” Liz said as they walked inside.

“Thanks, the decorating is Issy’s taste, I think the blue in the bathroom is a little overpowering, but in general it’s not bad.”  He replied, dropping his keys on the table in the hall.  “Go ahead, take a look round.”  He added.

“Oh no, I don’t want to impose.”  She replied.

“Come on, I’ll show you.”  He said taking her hand.  “This is the lounge, fairly basic, Isabelle likes the minimal look.”

“It’s really nice.”  Liz commented.  In the room, the only ornaments or personal object were a collection of photos on a shelf above the TV.  Pictures of Max, Isabelle and what Liz assumed were their parents although she had yet to meet Mr and Mrs Evans. 

“Next we have the kitchen.  Help yourself to what ever you want.  There’s juice in the fridge or soda in the cupboard, sorry the soda isn’t cold.” 

“That’s fine.”  She insisted.

“Right, next we have the bathroom.”

“Ok, maybe I’ll agree with you about the blue!”  Liz replied giggling.  The bathroom was a royal blue colour, with white ceramic bath, basin and toilet.  Liz was quite pleased to leave the room and move onto the next, that colour would take a lot of getting used to.

“This is my room.”  He said turning the handle and pushing open the door.  Liz had expected to see a rather messy room, it wasn’t as if there was anyone to chase after him to get him to clear up, but as she stared in, she saw totally the opposite.  His large double bed was neatly made, his desk heaped with paper in neat piles, clothes obviously neatly put away because she didn’t see any except for a tie that was draped over a chair.

“You’re really tidy, you should see my house!”  Liz joked.

“Well when you live with Isabelle, you learn to be tidy.  If I ever want to get her back up, all I have to do is leave a dirty dish in the sink or my shoes in the lounge.  It’s a sure fire way to see her nasty side!”  He replied smiling.  “Right, and this room is Isabelle’s, also very tidy.”  Again Liz was surprised by Isabelle’s room.  It was a lilac colour teamed with yellow curtains and accessories, making it very bright and breezy.  There were a few personal items, a stuffed toy on the bedside table, a large picture of Isabelle and a good looking guy on the wall, but very little else.  Her room gave away very little into the real personality of her other boss.

“Right, well that’s the grand tour.  Now, I think you should get some rest, you look dead on your feet.”
”Really, I’m fine.”  She insisted, not wanting to burden him.

“Not a good enough argument, sorry but counsel rule that it’s time for you to catch up on the sleep you missed last night.  Come on, get a couple of hours rest, then we’ll talk.”  He insisted, leading her back to his room. 

After getting her settled on his bed, Max headed out to the kitchen.  Calling Maria, he let her know that he had sent Liz home and that he wouldn’t be back that afternoon and to plug any important calls to his home number.  Then, after getting a glass of cold juice, he headed back to his room.  Liz was sound asleep on his bed when he walked in, her arms resting above her head, showing the bruising around her wrists.  Anger ran through his veins, not for the first time that day, as he again thought about what she had been through.  He quietly sat down in his chair, grateful in the knowledge that she was safe now, lying in his bed in his room.

“Wow, I didn’t expect that to happen when I got up today!”  He thought to himself.  As he watched her chest rise and fall at regular intervals, he marvelled at how beautiful she was.  Her face, minus the bruise, was so pretty, her lips so soft, her hair so silky. 

“God, there is no way I’m gonna get any work done while this beauty sleeps so close to me.”  He thought as a shiver of excitement ran through his body, causing the uncontrollable part of his body to react. 

“No, this isn’t the time or the place.  Liz needs comfort, I’m her boss, nothing’s gonna happen.”  He scolded himself, struggling to get his body back under control.

That evening, Liz woke up to find Max quietly typing away on his laptop.

“Hi, feel any better?”  He asked.

“Mmm, much thank you.”  She replied standing up.

“Right, how about dinner?  Isabelle isn’t coming home tonight so it’s just us.  What would you like?”

“Oh no, please let me cook.”  Liz offered.

“No, I couldn’t possibly.”

“Please, it’s the least I can do, dragging you away from the office, I bet you’ve got loads of work to catch up on.”

“I always have loads of work, it goes with the job, a bit extra won’t hurt.”  He replied

“Please.”  She pleaded.

“Ok, if you’re sure.”  He replied, realising she needed something to occupy herself with.  After showing Liz where everything was in the kitchen, Max headed back to his room to give her some space in which to create her concoction. 

The meal went down perfectly, both enjoying the light chit chat that also took place.  Anyone looking in would have thought they were a loving couple who had been together since the beginning of time.  They were so relaxed in each other’s company, the shy smiles, the odd glances through dancing eyes.  Yet in the end it was nothing more sinister than two friends, a boss and his secretary, enjoying a meal.  He noticed she seemed a lot happier after her rest, less jumpy, more able to put the previous night’s events behind her.  He was full of awe and admiration for the way she didn’t allow it to get her down, instead buried it deep inside and carried on smiling.  The only time that smile dropped, was after dinner when Max bridged the subject of going to the police.

“No.”  She said adamantly.

“Why not Liz?”
“Because I don’t want to.  I can’t stand up in a witness box and tell everyone what he did to me, only to have my words twisted around and thrown back at me by some hotshot lawyer.”

“It doesn’t have to be like that.  I’d help you.”  He offered.

“I can’t do it Max, your offer is very kind, but I can’t do it.”

“Ok, you won’t do it for yourself.  Then how about doing it for his next victim?  Somewhere along the line he’s going to do it again Liz, and you have the power to stop it.”  He replied.  Max knew his line of persuasion was out of order; using emotional blackmail wasn’t something he usually stooped to.  But this was important to him; he didn’t like the thought of that animal prowling the streets looking for the next unsuspecting young girl. 

“That’s not fair Max!”  She complained, visibly upset by his words.

“I know, you’re right.  I’m sorry Liz, I was out of order saying that.”  He replied backing down.

“I would love to report Robin and have him prosecuted for what he did to me but I can’t.   I don’t have the physical and mental strength to go through a court case.  How many people do you see rushing to help and support me through something like that?  No Max, I know I should but I just can’t, please.”  She replied as tears stung her eyes

He could see how scared and petrified she was feeling just at the thought of prosecuting her attacker.  In his heart he knew she was right, he’d had instances where attackers had gone free because they’d had a good lawyer, it was part of the reason why he had given up that sort of law in favour of business law.  It had hit him way too hard when those animals had walked free, and emotionally he couldn’t take looking at another victim’s distraught face knowing they would have to carry on their life knowing the person was still out there.  He knew he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he persuaded Liz to prosecute, only for Robin to walk free, it would shatter the small remaining part of sanity she possessed.

That night, like the gentleman he was, Max gave up his bed for Liz, and went to sleep out on the lounge on the sofa.  At first she had protested, it was his bed and his house after all, but he wouldn’t even hear of her not taking it.  It had taken him quite a while to get to sleep.  Sleep was something that didn’t normally come easily to him, cases often swirled around in his head when he tried to get some REM, but that night it was even more harder than normal.  Partly due to the fact he was used to a large double bed and not a three seater sofa, but also because of the thought of Liz sleeping in the next room. 

Curled up in a ball in the centre of his large bed, Liz’s sleeping form shook.  Inside her head, in her own dream world, she found herself reliving the previous night’s terrifying ordeal.

“No!  No!”  She mumbled in her sleep.  Thrashing her arms and head around, she tried to connect with the dream version of Robin imbedded in her head.  Shaking violently, Liz suddenly sprung awake and found her lungs exercising their own freewill through an ear-piercing scream.

Just as he slipped into a fairly deep sleep, a loud, piercing scream woke him from his slumbers.  Bolting up off the sofa, he dashed into his bedroom, to find Liz sitting up in bed, tears streaming down her pale face, shaking and trembling with fear.

“It’s ok Liz, I’m here.”  He said calmly, putting his strong arms around her shoulders.  She sobbed uncontrollably as she collapsed against his body, still shaking violently as the memories of her nightmare raced through her mind.

“Shhhh, it was just a dream.”  He whispered comfortingly, stroking her head and holding her tight, trying to calm her fears. 

After about ten minutes, he felt her ridged body start to relax, and her sobbing slow cease.

“I’m sorry.”  She whispered, realising she had woken him up and feeling guilty.

“No sorry needed, it’s ok Liz.”  He replied as he continued to stroke her hair.  Inside a few minutes sleepiness began to wash over her.

“Please, stay, don’t leave me.”  She whispered fighting her tiredness.  Her mind wasn’t even thinking what she was saying, if it had of it would have screamed out “this is your boss, what on earth are you doing!”, but she needed to feel safe no matter whose arms she was lying in.

“I won’t go anywhere, I promise.”  He replied softly, lying them backwards and placing his head on the pillow behind him.  Inside ten minutes, he felt her fall into a deep, more peaceful sleep, her head lying on his chest, her arm resting on his stomach. 

He on the other hand knew that sleeping would be near impossible that night.  His heart was pounding so hard it hurt; he knew his thoughts were wrong, she needed comforting; but he couldn’t believe she was actually lying in his arms as she slept.  This was a bigger fantasy than he’d ever allowed his mind to think about.  His beautiful secretary sleeping soundly beside him, encased in strong arms that never wanted to ever relinquish her.  He watched her sleep for a while, her body relaxing eventually and a calm washed over her slightly pale face.  Stroking her cheek with the pad of his finger, he marvelled at the velvety softness of her skin.  Inside he was grateful she was here with him, grateful that he could keep her safe and comfort her from the demons she was fighting in her subconsciousness.

Eventually his mind gave in to his body’s insistent need for sleep and he drifted into his own dream world, never once wavering in his tight hold of her.

Quietly slipping her key into the lock, Isabelle entered the apartment she shared with her brother.  Closing the door behind her, she hung up her jacket and slipped her feet out of the silver strappy sandals she was wearing.  As she walked quietly past her brother’s room, she paused for a moment placing her hand on the door handle, trying to decide whether to check on him or not.  She normally did when she came in late; it was purely for her own peace of mind; she liked to know he was safe before going to sleep.  As she was about to turn the handle of his door, Isabelle heard the faint noise of Max snoring softly.  Content that her brother was fast asleep, Isabelle continued on to her room, closing the door quietly and falling into bed. 

TBC ...........................!

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