The man put his hand up to her hair and for a second Pete thought the worst must be over, but then he grabbed it hard in his fist and he could see Jenny buckling beneath him.
Charging outside, Pete’s head was in another place, in another time. Rage was coursing through his gut, along with fear and hate and so much pain it terrified him. He was on the man in seconds. Grabbing his other hand and twisting it back until it seemed as though it might break. “Leave her alone,” he hissed. Teeth bared, his eyes held the shadows of night. The man dropped his hold of Jenny, doubling over at Pete’s feet. He tried, unsuccessfully, to free himself and Pete wrenched at him all the harder. “Do you know this guy, Jen?” Pete asked, not taking his eyes off him for a second.
Jenny sounded shaken. “H-he’s my boyfriend.”
“Your boyfriend?” When would these women ever learn? “And you let him treat you like this?”
“No.”
“Has he ever hurt you before?” He still had the man whimpering in his grasp. Please let her not be a victim. He couldn’t bear it. He’d thought her stronger than that.
“No. Well. Yes. Only once, though.”
Shit.
From behind him, someone was calling his name. Daylight crept inside his darkened shell. He let his gaze sweep over Jenny to make sure she was okay. She was looking at him as she would a mad man. He had to get out of this, get himself away.
He turned to the man, busy struggling in his grip, the contemptible bully now squirming on his knees. “She doesn’t want to go out with you any more,” he said. “So leave. Now. And don’t ever think of coming back. She won’t be seeing you again.” He let the man go, pushing him away and then stood between him and Jen, who was by now busy picking herself up off the floor. Pete stood his ground as the man looked from one to the other. “Isn’t that right, Jen?” he called back.
Her voice was shaky, but adamant. “Yes.”
The man shot one last dirty look towards him and then, rubbing his hand and swearing under his breath, he turned and stomped away.
Pete turned around to Jen and noticed she was shaking. “Are you okay?” he asked. Her frightened eyes looked back at him, like a child’s. He quickly shrugged out of his suit jacket and placed it around her shoulders. It swamped her and something about that picture appealed to him, making his heart quiver. “Come with me.”
He walked with Jenny to a bench he spotted further down the lawn; it was tucked into a border of high flowers, partially obscuring it from view. He sat her down and then, sitting next to her, he tried to talk some sense into her. “Let me see your wrist.”
Jenny was reluctant, so he carefully reached down and took it. Pink marks were rising all around it, making Pete’s scalp prickle with anger. This girl loved attention. That much he did know about her. Surely she didn’t have to put up with scumbags like that just to get it? “Why did you go out with him?” he asked.
“He seemed like a nice guy… at first,” she told him. “Only yesterday he told me he thought he was falling in love with me.”
Pete pointed at her wrist, now cradled back in her lap. “This isn’t love, Jen,” he said. He was trying to sound calm, although every fibre in his body was screaming.
Her reply was a soft, barely audible, “No.”
He turned to face her, willing her to understand. “You’re a gorgeous woman, Jen. Why haven’t you found yourself a good man yet? You’re stunning and kind and fun. So what is it? Am I missing something? Because from where I’m sitting, I can’t see anything to complain about.”
Her expression was turning misty. Big, round, emotional eyes poured into him, penetrating deep into his guts. Adrenaline flared again. What did she want from him? No. He didn’t do this. He was no good at emotional. He wanted to run from the need he saw in her then. He had said too much. Damn, but how to get himself out of this now? He had only been trying to settle her, to reassure himself that she was all right. That was all. He could do fun, he could do pleasure; emotions were off limits for him.
Pete stood up and searched for some means of escape. With relief, he noticed Soph and her boyfriend hurrying towards them.
“Guys.”
“I know. We saw everything. How are you, Jen? Did that bastard hurt you?”
Pete remembered to breathe and gratefully seized the opportunity to get away. “You’ll be all right now?” he asked her.
Soph put her hand on Jen’s arm. “We’ll take care of her.”
“Great.” What else could he say? Those mysterious grey eyes, now pink-rimmed with tears, looked up at him from the bench. They were studying him, as if they could see inside his soul. Like they could read every thought in his head. He needed to run.
Pete did his best to smile and then made for the cover of the party. Now what he needed was a shag. He needed escape. Mindless sex to take him away from all that was closing in on him.
He searched the dance floor. Who was still available?
*
That was where it had all begun, according to Pete, anyway. Jenny sat at her writing desk and tried to remember the order of things. She wanted to tell the story exactly as it had happened and had interrogated Pete long and hard (or that was how he had seen it) to this effect. She wanted to show how it had really been, not just how people had seen it. It was important. She had to get this right.
Jenny looked up at the paperwork from the hospital, pinned to the notice board in front of her desk. She was on a tight schedule. If she was to get this all down in time, she was going to have to push herself.
She opened up her laptop and logged in. Listening to the hustle and bustle of life outside her window, Jenny let her mind wander back to a time when she had been less contented and she searched for a place to begin. In the end, she decided on five years later, after Pete’s return to her life. That was where her story would open, because that was when the pining had stopped and action had set in motion the storm that swept in…
I saw him again today, standing there, leaning against the wall. A set of notes hung casually in his hands, as he talked with the nurse whose patient he’d come to see. Did he see me? I don’t think so. He looked, but I don’t think he saw. His smile, as always, lit up the corners of my heart, but nothing was said, not to me. He must have asked out every nurse in the hospital at some point, either when he was here before, or since his return, but he never wanted me, not any more.
Am I that unattractive? Is it his reluctance to want me that’s making me think about him all the more? I hope not. I hope I’m not that shallow; maybe I am. Kate seems convinced there’s a decent guy lurking inside there, just waiting for someone to help him break out and I have to hope that she’s right. Because I saw something in his eyes the day of the wedding, just for a moment. It may be buried a long way down, but I can hear its voice.
Jenny’s brow crinkled as she let out a deep sigh and bit down on the end of her pen.
Whilst before he used to treat me like a little sister, now he barely acknowledges me. So here I remain, in limbo, waiting for him to notice me. And not in that wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am way he does with most women, but with something more, something deeper. I’m not a fool. I