The next thing I knew, I felt a hand connect with my cheek. The bastard had slapped me. Who the fuck was he?

“You’re mine, Juliette.” His voice was rough and his eyes were almost black with a hatred I’d never seen before.

I took a few calming breaths as I watched his arrogant face smile in satisfaction at his perceived dominance. Banking on the element of surprise, I went for the sucker punch. My clenched fist, propelled by anger and resentment, landed in the solar plexus—the soft tissue between the middle portion of the chest and the abdominal muscles. I was quietly thrilled by his shocked expression and his struggle to draw breath. I had successfully winded him.

“Don’t ever touch me again, Dick.” I knew I should’ve run, but I took up a defensive stance and waited for him to recover.

He slowly stood up, rubbing his chest. “Your mother is right. You’re unstable.”

I took a step towards him and he took one back, glancing over his shoulder back up the alleyway. I hoped he was scared. He should’ve been. I had a lifetime of suppressed anger rising to the surface and I had self-defence training to back it up.

“I’ll pack up anything that’s yours in my apartment and have it delivered to your place.”

“This isn’t over.” He motioned between us.

“This should never have started,” I replied, incredulous he would still want anything to do with me.

He began walking away from me towards the busy street. Halfway, he turned and spoke with a quiet confidence. “Watch your back, my love.” He said my love with such hatred; the irony wasn’t lost on me.

I stood in the dark alley and watched Richard retreat. I was sure his ominous words were just about him wanting the last word.

Checking my watch to make sure it wasn’t too late, I called my father. Mum played Bridge on Monday nights, so I knew he’d be home alone.

“Juliette. Is everything okay?”

“Hi, Dad. I… I need you to keep an eye on Mum.”

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s going to be angry with me and I don’t want her overreacting.”

“Why will she be angry with you?”

“I just broke up with Richard.”

“Oh.”

I hated having this conversation with my father. It was awkward, but he was the best placed to know if she was going into meltdown territory.

“I’ll give her a call tomorrow, but just in case she speaks to Richard tonight, I wanted to let you know she might not take it well.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

“Okay, Dad. Just giving you a heads up. She was really invested in our relationship.”

“Okay. If there’s nothing else, I really need to get back to work. Thanks for calling though.”

I rolled my eyes and said goodbye.

Chapter Nineteen

Juliette

“Holy shit, Jules. You look awful. Are you okay?”

Sia’s greeting in the office lobby the next morning reinforced the reason I knew I should avoid all reflective surfaces for the next few hours at least. “Thanks. I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

When the lift doors opened, too many people pushed forward to get in. Sia and I found ourselves jammed into the back corner like sardines.

“Too much crazy sex with your hot man,” she whispered, trying to stifle a giggle.

I just smiled and shook my head. She couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“Are you okay?” she asked, sounding concerned.

“Lunch today?” I asked as we got out on the fifth floor before going our separate ways.

“Of course. I’ll meet back here around one?”

I nodded, making a mental note to ask her why she didn’t want to come to my desk, then watched her saunter away, swaying her hips in an exaggerated fashion.

Crazy girl, I thought to myself.

Heath was in the morning meeting when I got to my desk, so I took the opportunity to call Mum. Even though I had finally done the right thing breaking up with Richard, I knew she would think otherwise and I was worried about her.

“Yes?”

“Hi, Mum. How are you?” I said through clenched teeth.

“Fine.”

“I presume you heard.”

“Yes.”

“Are you okay?”

“Look, Juliette. I’m a bit busy at the moment. The world doesn’t revolve around you and your dramas, you know.”

I shook my head. I really couldn’t win.

“Okay, Mum. I’ll speak to you soon, then.”

She hung up, and I swallowed the lump in my throat. I would’ve preferred her to yell and scream at me.

***

“So what’s up with you?” Sia asked when we were settled at a lunch table several hours later.

I looked down at my laksa and stirred slowly. When I looked up, I could see genuine concern and I knew I needed to be honest with her. I wanted to be honest with someone.

“I broke up with Richard last night.”

Sia’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. “What? Are you serious? Why? What happened?”

“The short story is I met someone else.”

Sia nearly choked on her noodles and had to take a swig from her water bottle.

“Are you serious? Who? Where?” She leant forward and rested her elbows on the table. “Did you cheat on Richard?”

“No!” I was a little offended. “Nothing has happened. I just met someone who made me feel something I’ve never felt before, and it made me reassess a lot of things in my life.”

“Sounds like you need to tell me the long story.”

“We just want different things. I wasn’t as happy as you thought I was with him.”

Shaking her head, she paused for a minute. “So how did Richard take the breakup?” Did he have any idea?”

“He actually took it far worse than I expected. I’ve seen him get angry before, but he really flipped out when I insisted we were over. He got quite aggressive. At first I thought it was because I embarrassed him in front of his friends, but then he got angrier when we were alone. I don’t get it.”

“How aggressive are we talking?”

I instinctively cradled my cheek. It had been a limp slap and the slight redness had faded. I’d managed to hide what was left of the mark with makeup. “Nothing I couldn’t handle, but it was a wakeup call. I saw a whole new side to him.”

“You know that’s why a lot of people insist on a prenup before they get married? It’s impossible to foresee how anyone will behave when things go sour. It’s so easy to think both of you will be rational and fair if it doesn’t work out, but if one party feels slighted, shit can hit the fan.”

“Lucky we’re not married I guess.” I laughed humourlessly.

“Hey, speaking of weddings, it’s Zac and Juniper’s this weekend. I’ll let them know Richard won’t be coming.”

“Thank you. Hope that’s not a big inconvenience.”

Richard didn’t like Sia. He’d only met her once but had deemed her beneath us because her family was working class. I was ashamed of how long I’d stayed with him.

“It’ll be absolutely fine. As long as you’re okay. I’m here for you. I hope you know that.”

“I do. Thank you.” I pointed at her with my fork. “Now tell me how it’s going with Heath.” I scrunched up my nose. “Spare me any details from the bedroom though.”

“Oh, we called it quits. You were right. Total workaholic, but we had some fun. He has the most enormous penis.”

It was then my turn to choke on my lunch before laughing so hard Laksa came out my nose. When I’d recovered, Sia filled me in on her short-lived raunchy affair with Heath. It was far too much information for me, but she appeared happy. I wasn’t sure how I was going to look my boss in the eye.

The next few days passed in a blur of rollercoaster emotions and too much work. By the time Thursday evening rolled around, I was ready to take out some of my frustrations.

“Steady on, Jules.” Zac put one hand on my shoulder and stilled the swinging bag with the other. “Take it easy.”

I’d been letting loose on the punching bag suspended from the ceiling. I was already dripping with sweat and our session hadn’t even started yet.