Chance (15 page)

Logan was out on one of
his ‘jobs’ when she packed her things with the intention to leave him, for the
first time. They’d had a very bad argument that morning about something that
seemed so small and insignificant to her; make up. He couldn’t understand why
she'd only put her make up on when they were going out. He wanted her to wear
it all the time, even in the house.

Charlotte didn't realize
he was serious about the issue. It seemed so trivial to her. She'd initially
laughed at what he'd said. Of course, hindsight, that was not a good move. She just
couldn’t imagine why anyone would get up in the morning, go to the bathroom and
spend half an hour putting make up on just to lounge around the house in her pajamas.

Apparently, this was
exactly
what he expected of her. She later realized that he'd wanted her to look her
best for him, and him alone, all of the time, no matter where they were or what
they were doing. He felt it was her duty as his wife. She wasn't working, so she
had the time to do it.

“That’s another thing,”
he'd replied darkly; when she’d pointed out to him that it hardly seemed worth
getting dolled up to just sit around the house.

“You never wear anything
nice when you’re at home.”

“Nice? Like what?” she
asked.

“You only ever put your
sexy dresses and skirts on when we go out. The rest of the time, you just…lay
around in track pants or jeans…like a boring housewife, who doesn't care how
her husband sees her. You should
want
to look your best for me,” Logan
said, as if his feelings were hurt by this.

It was as if Logan
actually believed she was mistreating him somehow. He was wronged. She was neglecting
her poor husband by being comfortable in her own home.

She laughed again,
finding the whole idea ludicrous.

“So, you expect me to wear
makeup and dresses every day? Even when I'm just sitting alone in the house,
just waiting around for you?” she asked, playing along with the joke.

“Yes and those nice red
heels I bought you. And maybe some sexy underwear,” he responded, appearing
serious.

“Are you kidding me? Is
this a joke?” she asked with a little chuckle.

“Why the fuck would it be
a joke?” he snapped. “You’re my wife, and I want you to look sexy for me—
all
the time
!” he answered, getting irritated at her responses.

Normally, she would've just
given in to his demands, immediately doing anything in her power to end the conflict.
However, on this particular morning, she was pre-menstrual and not in the best
of moods. She didn't shy away or passively play dead. Therefore, the argument
quickly escalated. Logan was outraged that she laughed at him. He got angrier
by the minute.

The discussion finally ended
rather abruptly with him shoving her backwards onto her ass on the floor. Then
he grabbed one of their heavy dining room chairs, raised it above his head and
brought it down
hard
again and again on the arm of the sofa. He smashed
it to pieces like a child having a tantrum. He was a power to observe. He was
terrifying to behold; enraged and out of control.

Charlotte cowered, hiding
her head beneath her hands and arms, petrified he'd turn his makeshift weapon
on her. She didn't know how far he'd go in his enraged mindset. After destroying
the chair, he was left holding nothing but one of its legs. He hurled that
through the air. It smashed into the screen of their large wall-mounted TV as
he stormed out of the house and left in his car.

She remained on the floor
for some time, just shaking as tears silently snaked down her cheeks. Finally,
she pulled herself together enough to rise up slowly from the floor. She moved
through the house to the bedroom where she laid down on the bed and tucked her
knees into her chest. She couldn’t bring herself to do any work; she wasn’t in
the right frame of mind. She was a mess.

All Charlotte could do
was just lay there in the fetal position, trying to comfort herself. She let
her mind wander. She thought about Logan, his increasingly controlling ways and
his frightening temper. Had he always been so volatile and controlling? She felt
like his prisoner. She'd become so isolated and cut off from the outside world.
She was also totally dependent on him financially. That was scary for her. She
thought about the seemingly steady deterioration of their relationship.

Had our relationship
always been destined to turn out like this? Perhaps I’d just been blind to the
signs, seeing only what I wanted to see.

When they'd met, he was
so good looking, mysterious and strong. He was magnetic, charming and attentive.
He seemed to be just crazy about her. He'd been a force to be reckoned with, sweeping
her off her feet, so fast. Hell, he'd literally come to her rescue, saving her
from the group of rowdy teens. She wanted Logan to be her tall, dark and
handsome hero. She wanted him to whisk her away and shower her with affection. He
did, for a long while.

Logan had initially seemed
as if he was what she's wanted. He was so extremely attentive and he made her
feel so special. Sadly, as she lay there upset, depressed and scared, she
couldn’t remember the last time she'd felt any genuine love from him. She felt
only his control, paranoia and temper. They’d been together for less than a
year; yet it felt like a decade. She'd been so unhappy.

***

She'd spent the entire
day thinking. By the time he came home from work, she was ready. She’d made up
her mind that she wanted out—of both the marriage and the house. When he walked
in, he found her on the sofa. She had her coat on and her suitcase packed.
She’d been planning what she wanted to say.

Yet suddenly, as she got
unsteadily to her feet, her nerves kicked in and the words left her. For a
moment, the two of them just stood there, staring at each other in silence. In
the end, she didn’t need to say anything. He'd worked it all out for himself.

“Where do you think
you’re going?” he demanded, his eyes darkening as he took a step toward her.

 “I…” she began to say.

“You think you’re leaving
me?” he interrupted her.

She steeled herself
against her anxiety, “Yes Logan, I’m leaving you.”

She braced herself for
his rage and temper, thinking he might lose it totally and physically hurt her.
He'd shown her before that he was capable of that. However, instead, he took
her by surprise. A calm look fell over his face and he looked at her with a thoughtful
expression.

“If I were you,
Charlotte, I’d think
very carefully
before I made that decision,” Logan said
quietly.

Almost imperceptibly, he somehow
managed to move so slowly and gradually that she'd barely noticed he’d moved.
Logan strategically positioned himself so he was blocking the doorway. If she
wanted to leave the house, it would mean she'd have to pass him.  

Logan's dangerously calm demeanor
seemed somehow even more powerful and menacing to her than the rage she'd come
to expect, and had braced herself for. She didn't know what to anticipate from
him. His behavior was so unlike how he'd acted in the past when he was upset or
didn't get his way.

Charlotte just stood
there in silence. She didn't know what she was going to say or do. She was
suddenly so unsure of herself and of Logan, feeling like a deer caught in
headlights. She suddenly became very angry. She was through being controlled by
him as well as by her fear of him.

“I don’t need to
'think
very carefully'
about it
anymore
, Logan. Believe me, I already have.
We’re just not right for each other,” she said firmly.

“Oh no, Charlotte. You
DO
need to think
very carefully
, indeed. In fact, you need to think very
carefully before you even say another word,” he smiled, but it was more the evil
smile of a shark than of a human being.

“You see, you’re terribly
deluded if you think that you can
ever
leave me. I won’t allow it,” his
voice remained calm and on the quiet side but was firm with a hint of venom.

Charlotte felt a chill slither
down her spine just seeing him and hearing his deceptively calm demeanor,
knowing the rage that it held beneath it. She thought of him as a snake about
to pounce on its prey. Of course, she was the prey in this scenario and it
wasn't looking good for her.

“You don’t have a
choice,” she said, sounding stronger and way more sure of herself than she'd actually
felt inside. Charlotte was happy the quiver she felt inside of her didn't
surface in her voice.

“You’re the one without a
choice, Charlotte. How much do you love your family?” he asked calmly.

“What’s that got to do
with me leaving?” she asked, unsure of where he was going.

“Everything,” he said
confidently.

Her voice became strident,
“What are you talking about, Logan? You aren't making sense. Stop being so
cryptic!”

“All right, Charlotte. As
you wish, we'll cut to the chase, shall we? Your precious Daddy, he’s the Mayor
of your hometown, isn’t he? He has been for just over a year, right?”

Where the Hell is he
going with this?
Charlotte asked herself, but refused to be drawn any further into his strange game.

Unperturbed by her
silence, he continued, "It would be a terrible shame for anything bad to
happen that could…ruin…that bright future of his, wouldn’t it? Especially now,
midterm, when he’s doing such a good job and has everyone’s respect…”     

“What in the world are
you talking about?” Charlotte asked, still confused and unsure of what he was getting
at.

“I’ve got
information
about him. Dirt, actually. Dirt that could bring down your precious, upstanding
father, the pillar of the community.” he said with a smile.

She stood there
speechless with her eyes and mouth opened wide.

Logan just grinned at her,
knowing full well he'd already had his victory. He strode forward and grabbed
hold of her shoulders. He pulled her forward and up towards his face so she had
to stand on her tiptoes. His eyes stared malevolently into hers.

“I've got dirt on him you
wouldn’t believe, Charlotte. I could ruin his entire career…his entire
life
,
with a snap of my fingers.”

 He snapped his finger
and thumb together close to her ear, leaving the sound ringing.

Charlotte’s head was
spinning; she felt sick when she heard his words. When she realized what they
meant.

“You’re…you’re trying to
blackmail me?” she stammered.

“Not
trying
,
sweetheart. I
am
blackmailing you.” He let her go and stepped back, raising
his arm towards the front door.

“One phone call from me will
bring his world crashing down. Go on. Walk out. I don’t give a shit. But if you
do…know this. I'll make that phone call. I
will
destroy everything your
father's worked so hard to build. It'll take less than twenty-four hours to do
it. You won’t be able to stop me. Oh Charlotte, you're such a good girl, aren’t
you? You never ask about my job anymore.”  

She flinched as he used
the back of his hand to stroke down her cheek tenderly.

“You have no idea of how
powerful I am…of the extent of my organization,” he said to her, again
reminding her of a shark.

“
What?
You have an
organization
?” She whispered, repulsed by his touch.

He let out a low chuckle
and shook his head as he stepped aside.

“Now, now, Charlotte,” he
tsked. “Now’s not the time for questions, is it? Well, except for one. Are you
going to stay with me and be my pretty, sexy wife who does as she’s told?”

She silently stared at
the door, the path towards it was now clear. Then she looked back at Logan. She
had no idea whether he was bluffing or not. The thought crossed her mind he
could just be making this whole thing up, as a ruse to manipulate her and force
her to stay with him.

However, this is my
father's career on the line. Hell, I'd be gambling with both of my parent's lives.
Could I really risk that? What kind of information could he possibly have on my
dad? I know he never did anything wrong. He certainly wouldn't have done anything
that could 'destroy' him. He's a good man, isn’t he?

Then, Charlotte was
overwhelmed by doubt and a lack of confidence in herself and her father. She
realized she had no clue what she did or didn't know about her dad. Apparently,
she wasn't always the best judge of character. She'd proven that fact to
herself by choosing Logan. She was probably not as observant as she should be,
either. She initially believed Logan was a good man. She fell for his lies and
his charm like a complete idiot.

Biting her lip and
staring at the floor for a moment, she knew she had no other choice but to
accept what he said as fact. Perhaps, if she stayed a little longer, she could
investigate on her own; try and find out what dirt Logan claimed he had on her father.
Then maybe she could destroy it; destroy any evidence he had so he'd have
nothing to hold over her. She wanted to be free to leave him as she'd planned.