Lead me From the Darkness

September 6th, 2011
Tuesday
The Julien Household, Lexington, MA
8:00 P.M.

Henry pulled Donna to the front door as people were beginning to leave. The party was over and Henry wanted to get out as quickly as possible. Donna would have preferred to stay behind a bit and say goodbye to everyone but Henry wouldn’t let her. She searched for Greg in the crowd of people also heading for the front door and spotted him walking with one of his teammates. Forgetting Henry was pulling at her arm she smiled and said

“Greg!” He looked up at her and she waved. “Bye,”

“I’ll see you later,” he said. Henry gave her a painful tug forward making her almost trip over and face plant into the floor. After regaining her footing she looked up at him and said

“What was that for?”

“Keep walking,” he said in a low voice. They walked into the parking lot and found out it was raining. They hurried to their car and got in. When they had both door shut Henry said

“You won’t get close with my teammates. That’s not a request that’s an order.” Donna kept her mouth shut as he turned away from her and started the car. She felt strangely rebellious as she leaned her head against the window and watched other people getting into their cars. She wanted to lash out at him but wasn’t brave enough. Not yet. They pulled out of the driveway and onto the street. Like the ride there the ride home was silent. Donna focused on the noise of the windshield wipers still staring out the window at the passing landscape.

Greg said goodbye to his teammates and got into his car. Despite being tipsy he decided to drive home and not ask for a ride. He drove onto the main road and headed to home to Boston. His thoughts went back to Donna. So now he knew her. He wouldn’t have to look out into the crowd anymore wondering who she was. There was no denying she’d caught his attention. There was something strange about the way she acted. She seemed like a very sweet girl but she seemed jumpy and fearful of something.

Greg got home and walked into his apartment feeling loneliness set in. He went into his bathroom and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. He was still dressed in a nice suit from the Julien’s house. He undid his tie and then took off his vest leaving him with just the white undershirt. Why had Vicky broken up with him? They had been together for so long and he had even thought about proposing the week before they’d broken up. What had gone so wrong?

Greg had just finished his day with the cup. The sun was going down and he was back in his condo that he owned in Tilsonburg, the town he’d grown up in. He sat on his couch watching a re-run of the winning Stanley Cup game against Vancouver. He was expecting his girlfriend Victoria to get home from shopping. She’d been there that morning to see the cup but had gone out to shop with a few friends later on. He wanted to surprise her when she came through the door. He’d set up a week long cruise in the Caribbean Sea for them. They would be leaving next week on Monday. When he heard the front door click open he got up and left the living room to go see her. She stood there holding a few shopping bags. He smiled at the sight of her and said

“Vicky I’m so glad you’re home, I have to tell you something.” She kept a blank expression and said

“Greg, I have to tell you something,”

“Me first,” he said reaching into his pocket. “I got something for us. I know you wanted a vacation this summer and a chance to escape for a bit so I got these.” He handed her the two first class cruise tickets. She looked down at them and then looked back up at him, unsmiling. He frowned and said “What’s wrong?”

“Greg, I can’t accept these,” She handed them back to him. “I’m leaving,” At first he was confused.

“Leaving? To where?”

“I’m breaking up with you.” It was like the Earth had stopped turning.

“What?” he said in shock.

“I’m breaking up with you,” she said still with a blank expression. “I just feel like we’ve lost our connection and I can’t stand pretending any longer that we are still the same we were last year or the year before.” She paused for a moment and then said “This relationship has run its course.” She stood there waiting for his response. He was shocked and then the hurt began to sink in. He wanted to beg her not to go.

“Vicky please don’t do this, I love you. We’ve been together for almost five years. You can’t just leave.” Her blank expression broke and turned sympathetic.

“I can’t just stay because I feel bad anymore. I’ve made my final decision. I’ve thought about this long and hard.”

“I love you Victoria,” he said hoping it was all a nightmare and he’d wake up next to Vicky like he did every morning.

“Please Vicky, please stay. I love you so much. We’ll work on whatever it is you feel is making us loose our connection. I’d give up anything for you.”

“I can’t Greg, its over.”

The words “It’s over,” had echoed in his head since the day she left. Lost in thought he jumped when the phone rang loudly from his bedroom. Slightly shaken, he picked up the phone and said

“Hello?”

“Hey Greg, how’s it going?” it was his dad. He suddenly wished that he hadn’t picked up the phone. Colin Campbell was the Director of Hockey Operations. The Campbell family was one of the most respected and highly valued families in the hockey business. Colin had played hockey himself and now Greg was there to carry on the family name. His dad had pushed him hard to play hockey as a kid. He enjoyed hockey and loved playing on the NHL but as a kid and a teen his father had pushed him unbelievably hard and expected so much of him. There was never a time he wanted to quit hockey but his father had taken the fun out of it, making everything a competition, monitoring his status and training like he was some sort of prized race horse. Now he was overjoyed his son had his name on the Stanley Cup. His next goal was to get his name out there and make him the next Sidney Crosby.

“Just got home from a party at the Julien’s.”

“A formal party?”

“Ya,” he said. His dad was always making sure he didn’t go out anywhere and get drunk or act unruly to damage the Campbell’s reputation.

“How have practices been? What has Claude told you guys about the new season?” Greg sighed knowing it had been coming. He started to explain what Claude had talked to them about and then his dad began to go on about what the Bruins needed to do in order to win the cup again. His mind wandered off as his father continued to talk. He put the phone on speaker and began undressing to get in the shower. His dad finally stopped talking a few minutes later and Greg said

“Ya dad that sounds good,” not giving away that he hadn’t been listening.

“So have you and Vicky been reconnecting?’ he asked. His father had loved Vicky. She also had come from a well known hockey family in the NHL and his father had loved the idea of she and Greg getting married and joining the two together. Luckily he and Vicky had really loved each other and it wasn’t an arranged relationship he’d been pushed into by his father for his own personal gain. When the two had broken up his father had continuously told Greg to try and re-connect with her. Greg knew it wasn’t going to happen. Vicky hadn’t been a dumb gold digger. She had been perfect. His father expected nothing less then a high profile marriage to a Canadian girl who had NHL connections through her family.

“No she’s done with me. There’s nothing I can do,” he said sadly.

“Well maybe eventually she’ll come back,” said his dad hopefully. Greg didn’t answer and his dad said “Well I gotta go; your mom and I are going out to eat. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye dad,” He hung up and went back into the bathroom.

Donna lay in bed wide awake in the dark room. She listened to Henry’s heavy breathing as he lay next to her asleep. She felt stiff and uncomfortable lying on her side and tried to get comfortable tossing and turning. Finally, she gave up and slowly got out of bed. She stood up and walked into the living room. She looked out the big window that gave her a view of the park next door. The full moon lit up the outside showing an empty street and an empty park. No kids were there playing on the swing set or the see-saw, all of the houses around her were completely dark with no one awake. She felt like the last person in the world. She sat down onto the couch, wishing that she was someone else. She did love Henry, no matter how much he hurt her. It was why she had never been able to leave him. The beginning of their relationship was good. They liked each other from the minute they met. They had been set up by a couple of friends who they both knew. She had just arrived at the Rhode Island University while he had just started playing for the Providence Bruins. He had been sweet to her at first and then after a few months had become abusive. Donna remembered the first time he’d hit her.

Donna walked down the street other apartment building. It had been a great night; she’d gone out dancing with friends while Henry had gone to a hockey meeting. She went into her apartment building and upstairs. She unlocked her door and went inside. She saw Henry sitting on the couch. Despite the cold gaze he gave her she said cheerfully

“Hey what’s up?”

“Where the hell have you been?” he asked in a venomous voice. She was surprised at his attitude and said

“I was out with the girls, you went to the meeting. Lauren called and asked me to go out for a bit.”

“Where’d he go?” he said again in the same voice.

“Just out to the club,” she said. She felt a flash of fear as he stood up in front of her and grabbed her purse, yanking it from her grip. “Why are you acting like this?!” she said in fear. He didn’t answer and was digging through her purse, throwing her make up and cell phone onto the ground. He took out her camera and began to look through all of the pictures she’d taken that night.

“What the fuck is this?!” he yelled showing the picture to her. It was of her and a man together smiling.

“That’s Lauren’s brother,” she said not believing what Henry was doing. “It was his twenty first birthday and he wanted to come out drinking for the first time.”

“Bullshit!” yelled Henry. He threw her camera to the ground, breaking it. He advanced towards her.

“Henry please stop,” she said in a quite scared voice. “I would never cheat on you.”

“You’re a lying whore Donna!” he yelled. She saw him raise his hand and she didn’t think that he would hurt her, so she didn’t turn her face away. She had been wrong. He brought his hand down across her face. Donna was so shocked at what had happened she stayed bent over away from him. She felt her cheek painfully stinging. Tears came to her eyes from the pain and the realization of what Henry had just done. She straightened up to look at him, holding her cheek, still in shock. She hoped that she would see regret in his eyes but instead she saw cold rage. She choked back tears and began to try to talk.

“Henry-” He cut her off and said

“Shut up Donna,” He walked past her and down the hall to their room, slamming the door. She let out a sob as she was left in the living room alone, completely stunned at what had just happened.

Donna used to be a happy confident person until Henry had come into her life. He’d made her miserable and nervous. But she loved him, she felt like she couldn’t cut him out of her life, and even if she did he wouldn’t let her escape. If she tried to end it he’d keep harassing her and threatening her.
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