Fresh Temptation

patiently as she paused, her face taking on a solemn expression.
    She took a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing. “I was a poor student back then. I didn’t want more student loans than I already had, so I worked my way through school to pay for living expenses. That semester, the restaurant where I’d waited tables for two years suddenly shut down. Like, overnight. No warning.” She sighed. “I really didn’t wanna ask Mom for money and get her all worried and worked up. So, I moved in with Marcus after we’d only known each other about a week.”
    Victor nodded. “Okay.”
    “At the time I thought it was romantic that he wanted me around so much.” She shrugged. “Marcus was so different from any guy I’d ever dated. Very attentive. He’d go out of his way to walk me to class. Take me anywhere I wanted to go, as long as he was with me.” She let out a short groan. “He had to know where I was, all the time. And he slowly isolated me from everyone. I couldn’t even go to my old roommate’s apartment for a girls’ night. At first he was sweet about it. He’d talk me into staying home, telling me he wanted to have a romantic evening together. I was the last one to see what was really going on. I felt so stupid. I think it was the fourth time I tried to go out alone, he threw a fit. Broke a chair and told me it was my fault. I made him throw that wooden chair against the wall because I was being so mean to him, you know?”
    “That’s terrible!”
    “Yeah. The guys from upstairs came down to see what the problem was. Marcus calmed right down and told them we were having an argument but we were already making up. I don’t know what I said. I think I just stood there in shock. I’d never been scared like that before.”
    “Did you call the cops?”
    Her eyes welled up. “No.”
    “No? What about your mom? Your friends?”
    Cara sniffled, shaking her head. In a thin voice she said, “No.”
    “You moved out after that, right?”
    Tears fell down her face and she wiped them away. “I wish I could say yes. But no. I let another two months go by. What was I supposed to do?” She looked at Victor. “I didn’t have a job and he was paying all the bills. If I could just hold on for a little while longer and put up with his temper till graduation I’d never have to see him again.”
    “But you didn’t deserve that. Not for a second. Certainly not for an entire semester.”
    “I know.” Cara turned away from him and took a deep breath to calm down. “I was so ashamed of myself for letting him trick me. I thought he was so nice. I bragged to all my friends about what a great guy I found and then he…” Her voice trailed off. She blinked profusely until her tears were gone, and waited until she could speak without crying. “I remember one night I was in bed, trying to sleep after he’d screamed at me for an hour, accusing me of cheating on him. It was the first time he raised his hand to me. He didn’t hit me. He just drew his hand back and acted like he might. He wanted me to be terrified. It reminded me of something my dad told me. He was a cop. He had to deal with domestic violence every day. It really affected him. Especially the women who just didn’t wanna leave those men. Sometimes he’d sit me down and have long talks with me, telling me to watch out for these sleaze balls. That’s what he’d call ‘em, to me. When he didn’t know I was listening, he’d call them something much worse.”
    Victor nodded.
    Cara continued. “He’d tell me to always stand up for myself. Never let a man intimidate me. I told him if a man ever hit me I’d kill him. Nothing to worry about. But he explained to me that these guys don’t hit their women right away. They wear them down first.” She breathed in and out, deeply, trying to keep her tears at bay. “I realized that’s what Marcus was doing to me. I can’t tell you how stupid I felt. By then, it was hard to get away because he already had so much control over me. He’d check my cell phone all the time to see who I called, who called me. I gave him my email passwords because he blew up at me, accusing me of emailing other guys. I should’ve just told Mom. She was the one person I was allowed to speak to once in a while without him listening. But I didn’t. I wanted her to think everything was okay with me and my nice boyfriend.”
    “How’d you finally get away?”
    “I got sick with a nasty sinus infection and