A Wifey for the Bad Boy(190)

Martin didn't like that. As she slapped away his hands his face contorted into a look of rage and he swung at her again with the full force of his strength. The back of his hand came slamming down against her cheek, sending her to the floor. Waves of pain rippled through her and her cheek stung. She looked up at him, hair strewn over her face as he stood over her, fists clenched, bristling with fury. She swallowed hard as he took a step forward. She crawled to the edge of the room but found herself up against a wall again. Nowhere to go again. Martin kept coming forward.

“You stupid bitch. All you had to do was what I said and I could have given you the perfect life. But you've ruined it and now you're going to pay,” he growled. Terror was written all over Carrie's face as he came towards her. She closed her eyes until he was almost on top of her and then she found within herself some deep, inner strength that she had never tapped into before. It rose within her like lava in a volcano that was ready to erupt after years of being dormant. All her desperate anguish that had built up over the years fueled her strength and when she curled her fists up into a tight ball and let fly a punch that cracked into Martin's jaw, it was a punch that was meant for not only all the bullies that had tormented her over the years, but also to her own inner doubts and fears, and as she watched Martin reel back in shock and pain all of the hurt inside her was vanquished.





Chapter 5

She knocked on Danny's door loudly. He was wearing a stained t-shirt and jeans, and he was looked rugged and unkempt, as though Carrie had just woken him up. As soon as he saw the bruise on her cheek he flew into a rage.

“I knew he was no good! I'm going to kill him,” he snarled, and went to pick up the keys to his bike. Carrie had to do all she could to stop him.

“No, look it's fine.”

“Don't try and defend him for this! I'm done. I don't care if it makes you hate me but I'm not letting this go on, and if it means the end of our friendship then fine, but this has to stop.”

“No, I mean I took care of it. Danny, this isn't about him it's about me. I've dealt with it, but I need my friend with me, here, now,” she said, and went to the couch. Danny looked her and the rage faded. He breathed deeply and made her a drink, then sat beside her on the couch. She told him all about the conversation that she overheard and everything that he told her, and then the truth about their relationship.

“I should have known something was wrong all this time but I was blind to it. I guess I just wanted something normal. I wanted to believe that someone could love me.”

“Carrie, why would you need Martin for that? You're the most amazing person I've ever known and you certainly deserve more than that piece of shit.”

“That's easy to say, harder to believe.”

“Did you ever even love him or were you just with him because it was comfortable?”

“Maybe there was a point when I thought I could have loved him, but that's all over now.”

“I don't know why you wanted that kind of life anyway. It wasn't you.”

“Because I was tired of the way my life was. I was tired of getting nowhere.”

“Why is everybody obsessed about getting anywhere? Is it not good enough just to be happy anymore? You were finally getting to a place where you were ready to send off your book and then you gave that all up to be with him and work in some crappy office.”

“Yeah, because I didn't want to spend my life regretting not making any changes, just like you are by working in that garage,” she said. Their voices were beginning to rise as the stress and frustrations boiled over. They hadn't seen each other for what seemed like an eternity and their bodies were charged with emotion.

“What the fuck do you mean by that?”

“I mean that you could be anything you want to be, but you waste your time working in that garage and I don't understand why? You never give yourself enough credit.”

“Like you do?”

“You know I've always struggled with things.”

“We all have our problems Carrie, and how do you think I felt? You're the one person I know that's always tried her best to survive and has always fought to do what she wants, and then the first time you meet a guy who you can get serious about you throw it all away for some generic job. If you can't chase your dreams then why should I? You were the one person I looked to for hope, the one person that I thought could actually show me how to live but at the first opportunity you just left it all behind, so don't act like you're better than me. I'm just doing what I can to survive, same as all of us,” he said.

Carrie was shocked and the two of them were staring at each other, breathing heavily, their chests heaving.