12. Strange

Lila

By morning, my face felt like a truck had repeatedly run over my face.

I winced at my reflection, gently pressing an ice pack to my cheek. The swelling had gone down a little, but the bruise itself was pretty ugly. It spread from my jaw to the base of my ear and looked completely  impossible to hide.

I smeared more of the expired concealer I found in the mess in one of Sera's drawers, hoping it would do the trick, but somehow the bruise still bled through .

“Great,” I muttered to myself. “Just perfect.”

Theo was looking for any excuse to do away with me so staying home was out of question. Showing up looking like I was, was not an option either. 

I grabbed my phone and texted Eve. In approximately thirty minutes she was supposed to be at my door. 

Let’s meet at work today. Running late.

What I meant was, Please don’t come see me. I can’t let you see this.

At work, I would just needed to avoid her, which would be easy since she could not exactly come to my floor.

I spent the next five minutes pacing the living room, praying she would just reply with Okay.

She didn’t.

Instead, I heard her voice outside the door. “Sera? Are you awake?”

I froze. Maybe if I stayed silent…

She knocked louder. “Sera, I know you’re in there. You never get ready before me.”

Damn! She was not going to leave. 

I cracked open the door a few inches and stuck only half my face out.

“Morning,” I squeaked.

Her brows rose instantly. “Why are you hiding like that?”

“No reason,” I lied, stepping back. She frowned, pushed the door open fully, and walked in.

I turned away from her, putting a hand to my cheek like I could cover the bruise with my fingers. But Eve wasn’t stupid. She walked right up to me, grabbed my chin gently but firmly, and turned my face toward her.

“Oh my God,” she whispered when she saw it. “Sera. What..what happened?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. The memory from last night hit me again. I had never been so scared in my life.

Eve’s voice sharpened. “Who did this to you?”

“I’m fine,” I replied.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Eve..” I sighed hoping she would just drop it.

“No, don’t even try it,” she snapped. “I knew something was wrong yesterday. You missed lunch and now this?” She gestured to my face, her eyes growing wide with worry and anger. “Tell me who did it. We are reporting them.”

“No!” My voice came out louder than intended.

She blinked at me. “No? Sera, look at you! Your face, God, it looks painful.”

“It is painful,” I admitted quietly. “But reporting them will only make it worse.”

“What do you mean worse?”

I took a shaky breath and decided to confess everything.

“They… said I owed them money,” I murmured.

Eve’s entire body went still.

“What money?”

“A loan.” My throat felt tight. “I had taken one.”

“And they’re coming after you now?” she asked and I nodded.

Eve dragged her hands through her hair, eyes glossing with frustration. “We need to go to the police. This isn’t normal. They threatened you, right? Sera, this is serious.”

“I know,” I whispered.

“Then.. what?”

“But I can’t,” I said, cutting her off. “Eve, I can’t go to the police. I can’t afford to miss work today. Theo  does not like me and I am lucky to even have a job at the moment.” There were some missing gaps in my story but she did not care for them.

Eve scowled. “I don’t care what he thinks. Your safety…”

“It is fine,” I said, even though it wasn’t. “I’ll pay them back.”

“How? With what money?” she snapped. “You barely have enough for groceries every month, and you’re pregnant, you can’t be stressed like this.”

“I’ll figure it out,” I said, hoping I convinced her. Eve stared at me, her  jaw tight. “You should  have  told me last night. I would have helped. I would have called someone.”

I felt a sudden sting behind my eyes. “I didn’t want to stress you.” My life was a sh.it show but I was thankful I had Eve.

“Too late,” she said, voice shaking as she stepped closer and brushed a thumb over the one part of my cheek that wasn’t bruised.

“We’ll fix this,” she whispered. “We’ll find a way.”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t want you worrying about me.”

“Then don’t do things that make me worry,” she snapped again, but her voice cracked at the end. “You scared me.” Before I could apologize, she sighed, grabbed her bag, and pointed at me. “ Let me finish your makeup.

Twenty minutes and layers of makeup later, the bruises still peeked through faintly, but at least I didn’t look like someone had tried to mug me.

.

.

When the office doors slid open, I felt small. More vulnerable than usual and as expected, Mara  was right there. “Wow, you really caked on that makeup today.”

Nothing got past her.

“Trying to hide something? Or is this just your new thing? Going for the clown look?”

I clenched my jaw.

“Is there anything you need, Mara?” I asked flatly.

She laughed a little too loudly. “Oh, no. It suits you though.” I just rolled my eyes not taking the bait. I just hoped that Theo was still insistent on me not ‘serving’ him.

I was down on my luck because it was only thirty minutes later that Mara informed me that Theo wanted to see me, not looking pleased. He could have easily called me but I did not understand his reason for going through Mara.

Great.

When I stepped inside his office, he  didn’t look up at first. I sat opposite him and after a few seconds he raised his head.

His eyes swept over me in one quick, dismissive glance. Our eyes met and I turned slightly to avoid his gaze.  That was when everything changed.

Theo’s gaze snapped back to my face and he rose from his seat and leaned forward.

I instinctively leaned back, but he stopped only a foot away, eyes fixed on my jaw.

“What is that?” he asked. His voice wasn’t loud or  gentle, either.

“What is what?” I asked, forcing a confused expression.

His jaw twitched. “The mark.”

I swallowed. “It’s just makeup..” I shrugged.

“Makeup doesn’t bruise,” he cut sharply.