Chapter 32

Elle

It was just growing dark when Elle saw the headlights pull into the lot of the diner. She recognized them instantly as Gris’s. She knew those headlights intimately. She’d watched them, in despair, every night for the past few years as they pulled into the driveway of her home with Gris. He’d wasted no time getting his car fixed.

“He’s here,” she said.

Kelly and Grace both stopped what they were doing and looked up at her. There were no customers in the place.

“Don’t worry,” Grace said. “He can’t do anything to you. Not while we’re here.”

“You’re not alone,” Kelly said. “We’ve got your back, Elle.”

Elle nodded nervously. She prayed her friends were right. They didn’t know Gris like she did. They didn’t know the violence he was capable of. Her biggest fear wasn’t even for herself. Gris was her problem and she knew she’d have to deal with him. Her biggest fear was that she’d drag Kelly and Grace into her world, and that they’d end up getting hurt too. She couldn’t allow that to happen. Grace was getting on in years, and Kelly was looking after her brother.

Gris was alone. He pushed the door open forcefully and came inside. The three women watched him from the kitchen as he made his way to the counter and took his seat.

Kelly made to go serve him but Elle stopped her.

“No,” she said. “Leave this to me. He’s my burden to bear.”

“The hell he is,” Kelly said. “You left him. He’s got nothing to do with you anymore.”

Elle smiled but couldn’t let Kelly take the heat in her place.

“I’ll go,” she insisted, “but I’m more grateful than you can know.”

Elle walked up to the counter as confidently as she could.

“What can I get you?” she said, as if she’d never met Gris before in her life.

Gris just smiled at her.

“It’s nice to see you too, honey.”

“Don’t call me that,” Elle said.

“That’s not what you were saying a few days ago. Come on, babe. Don’t treat me like that.”

“Either order something, or leave,” Elle said. “I’m not your honey.”

“Fine, I’ll have a coffee,” Gris said.

Elle put a mug in front of him and poured the coffee. For a second, her mind flashed back to the time, just a few days earlier, when she’d been pouring Forrester his coffee. He’d reached out and touched her. It had been a real moment, something true and from the heart. This was nothing like that.

“So,” Gris said, his voice grating against Elle’s nerves. “When are you going to bring this little charade to an end and come back home where you belong?”

Elle shook her head. “Don’t you get it, Gris? This isn’t the dark ages. I’m not coming home with you, and you can’t make me.”

Gris just smiled. “Dark ages?” he said. “That’s very rich coming from someone like you. I mean, you’re the only person I ever heard of who was actually sold to another person.”

Elle’s cheeks flushed. Gris knew that was her most sensitive, most painful memory.

“Don’t do anything you’ll regret,” Elle said. “If anything happens to me, Gracie and Kelly will go straight to the police.”

“The police? The police in this town are a joke. I’ve got them wrapped around my finger.”

“What do you mean?”

Gris threw his hand up, as if brushing away her comment. He looked annoyed at himself. He’d made a mistake. He shouldn’t have mentioned the police. Elle made a mental note to go check with them about Forrester. Maybe they knew something she didn’t.

“Look,” he said. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about your little friends, Elle. You’re coming home with me, whether you like it or not. One way or another, it’s happening. Now, you can make it easy on yourself and come willingly, or you can chose to make it more difficult than it has to be. Either way is the same to me.”

“Gris, I’m never coming home with you.”

Gris looked her up and down. The way his eyes crept over her made her skin crawl.

“Why not? It was good enough for you for the last three years.”

“It’s not good enough anymore, Gris.”

“What do you know? You’ve only been gone a few days.”

“A lot has happened in those few days, Gris. I’m not the same person I was when I was with you. I’m different now.”

“How much could have happened in such a short time?”

Elle sighed. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me,” Gris said, forcefully.

“Well, I met someone, okay. I know there are better men then you out there. Men who don’t make me feel like shit. Men who don’t try to make me weaker all the time. I know I have options, Gris.”

“What options? You’re not talking about that little prick I saw hanging around the other day, are you?”

“Who?”

“You know who I mean? The pretty boy with the tattoos and that piece of shit pickup truck.”

“What do you know about him, Gris?”

“Nothing?”

“Don’t lie to me. You know something.”

Gris sipped his coffee. There was a leering smile on his face that gave Elle the creeps. “I know he’s never coming back for you, Elle. He had enough of you already.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Because I know you, you little whore. I know how worthless you are. I know how unloveable you are. You’re disgusting, Elle. No man in his right mind would want more than a quick fuck with you. You’ve never been loved, and you never will be loved. That guy you were with is proof. If he loved you so much, where is he? Why the hell did he skip town on you?”

Elle felt the blood rising to her cheeks. She tried to stay calm, she tried not to show emotion, but she knew she was letting Gris get to her, and she knew he could tell. She’d never been good at hiding her feelings. She wanted to cry, she wanted to burst into tears in despair, and Gris could read it on her face like a book.

“You know it’s true, Elle. Even your own mother gave you away. And she didn’t just put you into care like a normal person would, she didn’t give you over to child services. No. She sold you to some pimps who would make a sex slave out of you. If that’s not hate, then I don’t know what is, Elle. Hate. That’s what the world has in store for you. Not love. So get your head out of the clouds and stop trying to be something you’re not. You’re a sick little bitch. A worthless little whore. No one has ever loved you, and no one ever will. Even your new boyfriend has dumped you already.”

It was only then that Elle remembered Grace and Kelly were standing by her side.

“I think you’ve had enough coffee, mister,” Grace said.

“I agree,” Kelly said.

“Now get out of here before I kick you out.”

Gris laughed. He wasn’t afraid of them. Elle knew he’d spoken to the police already. That’s why he was so cocky. She’d seen him do things like that before. He was very adept at influencing, or blackmailing, people to do his bidding. Nevertheless, he got up from his seat. He’d said what he’d come to say.

Elle waited until the door slammed behind him before collapsing to the floor.

“Elle,” Kelly yelled. “Are you all right?”

Elle was on the tiled floor of the diner. She wasn’t sure how she’d gotten there.

“Come on, child,” Gracie said. “You had a little spin. You fainted. Let’s get you home to bed.”