Boss Next Door

by Mia Ford

  “Huh?” A guy beside me turns to face me with a drunken glaze covering his eyes. “Did you say something?”

  “Oh no, I didn’t say anything.” Shit, I really am acting like a crazy person. “Sorry, let me just…”

  He tries to grab me, to keep on talking to me, but I am not in the mood. Now that I have managed to escape the whole night club atmosphere, I don’t know if I will be able to force myself back inside. It’s only when I get a little bit of distance between myself and the noise that I realize my cell phone is ringing. I drag it out of my handbag in an instant, wondering if it’s going to be Alisha trying to find me, to get me to go to this after party. I will have to make some excuse as to why I’m not going, because that definitely won’t work now. I can’t do it.

  Oh! But it’s my mom. My mother hasn’t called me back all week long so this is strange, especially for this time of night as well. Immediately my heart stops beating, I can’t stop myself from freaking out.

  “Hello?” I press a finger in to my ear that isn’t on the phone to block the other sounds out. “Mom?”

  “Serena, help me,” she screams desperately. “Help me. It’s David. He has… he’s gone too far this time.”

  My blood runs ice cold and I instantly sober up. “Mom, what’s happened? What has he done?”

  I don’t know what she can possibly mean by ‘gone too far’. He has done all sorts of terrible things to Mom before so I don’t know what this can be about. All sort of terrible images flood my mind and make me feel sick to my stomach. I bend forwards, grabbing onto my knees, barely able to get my breath back.

  “I need your help,” Mom tells me, not giving me anything more than that. “I need your help, Serena, I’m scared.”

  I can hear that in her voice. I can tell there are tremors of terror which is too much. I want to immediately transport back home to be with her, to support and help her. Me going seems to have escalated David, he doesn’t have me in the way anymore so he can do whatever the fuck he wants to do to my mom without being called out on it.

  I left for selfish reasons, to get me away from that situation, and I justified why I left my mother behind in that mess, but now I can see that was a mistake of mine. I should have protected her better.

  “Mom, I’m on the way.” I don’t know how I will fulfill that promise, but I will somehow. “Just wait. Keep safe, keep together, don’t let him get you again. I will be there with you as soon as I can.”

  “I’m frightened, Serena. I’m so scared. He’s going to… to kill me. I might die here.”

  Fucking hell. The tears streaming down my cheeks are agonizing. If David kills my mom tonight then I will never be able to forgive myself. How dare I be out at a night club with friends in another city when my mother needs me? I feel utterly stupid in this short sparkly dress, with booze swirling around in my system, this is all so wrong.

  “Don’t, Mom. Don’t let him get to you. I am on the way. Hold on until I’m there. Please.”

  She hangs up the phone. Either that or David has found her and ripped the cell phone out of her hands, knowing that she is asking for help. He might not realize that she is calling me, but that doesn’t matter. For reaching out, he will hurt her even more. And she has already said that it’s the worst that he’s ever done and she’s afraid to die, which is terrifying. I need to get to her and I have to do it right now. As quickly as I can. But as I glance my eyes around my surroundings, I don’t know how to make that happen. Will was right when he suggested that there aren’t any cabs around this late at night. Not that I would even be able to afford that all the way home…

  Will. All of a sudden I remember that I have his cell phone number in my phone, and I have the offer from him to give me a ride home. This isn’t exactly that, but I know him well enough to understand that he will help me.

  I walk. I can’t stop moving, I am far too anxious to stand still while all of this is going on around me, and I put in the call. It seems to ring for far too long, but that could be my intense anxiety crushing down on me.

  “Hello?” He sounds a little sleepy as he picks up, but happy to hear from me as well. “Serena.”

  “I need you.” God, I didn’t quite realize how hysterical I had become until I started speaking. “Will, I need you. I am outside…” I glance up to see the name of the club so he can find me. “Erm, the Nightingale, do you know where that is?” He makes an agreeable sound, thank God because I don’t have a damn clue where I am. “Could you meet me? Please? I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t in a desperate situation. I… I need you so badly.”

  My body stiffens, I feel like I might explode as I wait for him to answer. For a split second, I fear that he might tell me he was only being polite with the offer of a ride and he isn’t keen on the idea at all. I don’t know what I will do then. There really aren’t any other option and I’m afraid that my mom will end up dead because of me.

  I should just tell Will all of that but I’m still processing it. I can’t form the words just yet.

  “I’m coming,” he confirms, sounding far more awake this time. “Just wait where you are. Don’t go anywhere. Make sure people can see you, so…” He gulps thickly, I guess assuming that the issue is with me. “Stay safe, okay?”

  As I hang up the phone, I feel a little more relieved that at least help is coming. I’m sure that Will is going to take me home to help my mother when he finally hears the mess that I find myself in, and I’m so grateful that he is in my life for that reason. Again, I find myself able to trust myself with him.

  But I need him here soon. The anxiety is killing me. I try to call my mom again while I wait but I get straight through to her voicemail. David has broken her phone. I want to call the cops as well, but I know how David always spins that to work for him and it makes things worse. I need to be the one to fix that. I have to help.

  Chapter 14 – William

  I don’t know what’s going on, the only thing that I could really glean from the phone call with Serena is that it’s bad, really bad. I never truly expected to hear from her tonight. I thought that she would be determined to make it home just to prove herself to me. But clearly, something has happened. The night has gotten wild, and it’s done something damaging to Serena. My poor sweet innocent Serena who doesn’t need this.

  As I speed along the road, probably far too quickly to be within the legal limit, my brain keeps coming up with the most awful possibilities for what could be happening here and it’s leaving me in a state of panic. I have spent enough time in nightclubs to know what cesspits they can become, what the guys are like in those clubs, the sorts of things that can happen, and I hate it. I keep thinking now that I shouldn’t have let her go out…

  “You couldn’t have stopped her,” I remind myself as I bang my hand angrily against the steering wheel. “She wanted to go out, she wanted to be with friends, she deserves to be in a place having fun… but someone has taken that away from her and I don’t know who. I might be ready to kill whoever did this to her.”

  “Fuck, get out the road,” I cry out to the car in front of me. “You don’t know what situation this is.”

  I don’t either, if I’m totally honest with myself. But it’s bad, that’s all I care about. It’s bad and I’m needed, I’m going to be the hero for the damsel in distress once more. Only this time, it isn’t just carrying a few boxes up the stairs. This is definitely going to be something that will involve a lot of me.

  “Nightingale.” God, I hate this place. Why the hell did Alisha want to come here of all the places? It’s known for being the sort of club where people take drugs as well as drink. I can’t imagine any of my staff members mixing in with that, so I don’t know why they would go to such a place, but it freaks me out more for Serena. “Where is she?”

  I have to drive much slower around this area of town because the Nightingale isn’t the only place with drinks on offer, so there are plenty of drunk people spilling out on to the road. I don’t want to run any of th
em over, I don’t need to involve myself in a hassle of paper work if I hit someone. I just need to find Serena. She is the only person who I am really bothered about. Once I see her and I know that she is okay, everything will be alright again…

  And if I find her and she isn’t alright… well, that is an issue that I will deal with when it comes around.

  “Serena.” I lean out of my car window and yell her name loudly. “Serena, where are you?”

  “Oh my God, Will.” All of a sudden, a sparkly dress flies out from the shadows and I see her panicked eyes as she dives inside on the passenger’s seat of my car. “Thank you so much for coming for me.”

  “What happened?” I demand as I run my eyes all over her. There isn’t any evidence of immediate distress, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Under the surface, something must be happening. “Did something happen to you? Did someone do something? Are they still here because I can kick some serious ass for you…”

  “No, nothing.” She shakes her head and I see tears flying off of her face. “Nothing to me anyway. I know that you only offered to give me a ride home but I need something else from you, Will.” There is some serious pleading in her eyes. “I have to go home, I need to help my mom. She called me in distress and I’m worried that something has happened to her. I will…” She rakes her fingers anxiously through her hair. “I will pay for gas and for your time. Whatever you need. You know that I wouldn’t ask if this wasn’t a real emergency. I’m scared for her, really scared.”

  Still, I have no information. Still, I don’t know what is going on. But I am willing to do whatever she needs to help her out. I start the car back up once more, and ask for the address so we can get there as quickly as possible. If Serena’s mother needs help and her family issues have come to a head, then I am there for her.

  “Okay, let’s go.” I drive, getting through the crowds of people easier than I thought I would. “Let’s help your mom. And please, don’t worry about money or anything like that. This is a favor, I care enough about you for that.”

  She falls back in the seat and cries some more. I would love to be able to hug her, to hold her, to get her through this, but I’m driving and that’s what she needs me to do. I feel like she needs this emotional moment to herself anyway. Well, whatever has happened in her life with her family, I don’t know anything about it.

  “Is there anything that you need to talk about?” I ask her softly as we drive. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, but I just want you to know that the offer is there if you want to…”

  Serena doesn’t give me anything for a while, she just continues to sob quietly to herself, leaving me hopeless. But I am content at least I’m driving her. I’m getting her to where she needs to be, which is something.

  “It’s my stepdad,” she finally rasps out while turning to face me. “He is a bad person, Will. You have no idea. He is the worst kind of human in the world. I couldn’t hate him more. I mean, I don’t know my father, he walked out when I was just a baby so I don’t even know who he is. He hasn’t ever been around to disappoint me. David is the only man that I have ever known and he is… he’s a pig, Will. I can’t explain it. He’s the worst.”

  A lump forms in my throat as I hear her words. This is the final layer, the one that I wasn’t sure that she would ever be able to open up about. It’s just a shame that the situation is so horrible when she finally lets it out.

  “He has always been mentally abusive when it comes to my mother. He has always treated her badly and made her feel like a lesser person. Me too, to some extent, but obviously I haven’t ever been the main target of his anger. She has. Eventually the mental abuse became physical abuse. He smacked her around a lot and she wouldn’t ever leave him. It frustrated me a lot, I begged her a lot to leave him, but she hasn’t ever been ready for it.”

  “Oh God.” I don’t know what to say to all of this. It’s a lot. “I’m so sorry that you have gone through all of this.”

  “Well, that’s why I worked so hard in high school and college, because I wanted to get away.” She slowly turns around to face me and her wet eyes break my heart. “I kinda held on to the belief that if my mother saw me blossoming and living a different life, then she would want to break away from it all. I wanted to be an inspiration for her. But it turns out that leaving was the worst thing that I could have done because…”

  I suck in and hold a breath. I’m unsure about what way this is going to go and it scares me.

  “Because now I don’t know what he’s done to her. She called me all hysterical and said that he has hurt her. Worse than he has ever done before which is hard because he’s always hurt her a lot. As far as I know, he hasn’t ever sent her to the hospital, so it could be that…” She chokes back a sob. “But she said that she’s frightened he’s going to kill her and then the phone went dead. I don’t know what he did to her, Will.”

  Woah, this is a lot. This is the sort of thing that I have never been through. Violence has never been an aspect in my life, so I don’t know what to say. This must be horrible. To have grown up in such a closed off horrible way must have been intense. No wonder she has been hesitant when it comes to me and her, because she has only ever seen the negative sides of a relationship. I definitely understand her better now.

  “Did you call the cops?” I ask immediately. “The police might be able to help things out.”

  “No they won’t. David has always managed to talk his way around things before and I don’t want to risk that now. Plus, once the cops turn up and he gets rid of them, his temper intensifies and then he really will kill her.”

  She called me because I offered her help and because she doesn’t really know anyone else, but I also feel like she’s trusting me with herself once more. She has given so much of herself to me, and I want to do the same for her.

  “Okay, well we will fix this,” I promise her. “One way or another, we will sort things out.”

  “You think so? Because I’m scared that it will all be a mess. That we will be too late.”

  I have to admit, but only to myself, that I’m scared of that as well. I’m terrified for what me and Serena are about to walk in to. Everything that she has told me so far has sounded like the plot of a gory horror movie that can only end with a lot of dead bodies. Of course, that’s not something I will express aloud because I don’t need to make this any worse than it already is, but I feel it deep within my chest. I’m terrified. But at least I can be there for Serena. I’m glad that she isn’t going through this alone. That would be a million times much worse. Even if I can’t be of much help, just knowing that I am here and doing my best for her, is better than nothing.

  “You aren’t by yourself,” I remind her as we drive. “I’m here for you. Okay?”

  She reaches out and holds my hand to thank me, and I can feel her shaking. She is absolutely terrified. “Thank you, I appreciate you coming with me, helping me, it means a lot. I shouldn’t drag anyone into my family mess, certainly not the man that I have had a thing with, and definitely not my boss, but I appreciate you.”

  Serena leans across and she rests her head on my shoulder, leaning on me for support. Now, I’m not only driving, but I can hold her as well. I can feel her and how afraid she is. I just hope that I can keep her strong, she can hold her head high up, and that we can somehow get through this together. Whatever this is.

  Guys who abuse women are cowards, they are just the worst, I have always felt that way. But I have never come face to face with one before, so this will be the first time ever. I don’t know how I will react, it will probably be even worse because this is a man who has made Serena’s life harder. I figured that I would end up kicking some ass tonight, I just didn’t think that her stepfather would be involved.

  Chapter 15 – Serena

  “We’re here.” I whip my head off of Will’s shoulder as soon as the area surrounding me becomes familiar. I know it all too well and it doesn’t have any good memori
es for me. And, tonight we aren’t about to make any good memories either. “This is it. That’s the house over there. God, it looks dark, doesn’t it? Why does it look so dark? I don’t like it.”

  A brand new fear overcomes me. Maybe we made it all the way here and Mom has gone somewhere with David. I wouldn’t stop to think that the asshole has taken her away so that I can’t find her. He has always wanted to be rid of me so his reign of terror can continue and get worse over time. Oh God, I won’t know what to do then.

  “Stop here.” I unclip myself rapidly. “Wait here. I’m going to go inside to check.”

  I leap out of the car before Will can argue. I know what he’s like. I’m sure that he will want to come with me, to save my day, because he’s a real hero. But I need him in the car, I don’t want him to see the mess of my family life. I’m sure that he will already look at me differently for what he knows about me now, but I don’t want to make it any worse. I don’t want him to really see it with his own eyes because that’s too much.

  I push on the front door with my heart thundering like crazy, and much to my shock and horror it opens much too easily. Sure, this isn’t the city and people are much less likely to always keep their doors locked, but with what’s going on around us, I’m frightened that this means my fears are correct and no one is here.

  “Mom?” I call out as I tiptoe inside. There isn’t any noise. No one has come to push me out the door. There isn’t any sign of David just yet. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. “Mom, are you here?”

  The house remains frighteningly silent, it chills me to the core. I want to run for the hills, I want to rush out of here and never look back, but that’s what I did before and it didn’t work out too well for Mom. If I hadn’t gone then she wouldn’t be in this mess now… whatever this damn mess looks like. So, I’m not going to run. I will check every damn room of this house until I’m sure that no one is here before I make my next move.