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“Good.” Lana nodded decisively. “Then I’ll take care of it. Now, I’ll get out of your hair, since you want time with the boss-man alone,” she added with a wink. “Just remember—body language!”
Molly couldn’t help laughing at her friend.
“What kind of body language am I supposed to look for?”
“Eye contact for one thing—lots of eye contact is good,” Lana ticked the points off on her fingers. “Oh, and if he bends down to get on your level when you talk, that’s another.”
“Commander Torus is nine feet tall!” Molly said in exasperation. “Of course he has to bend down sometimes!”
“He doesn’t usually, though,” Lana pointed out. “I’ve never seen him bend down once to get on Karen Geners’s level.”
“He doesn’t have to because she always wears those stripper heels to make herself taller for him,” Molly pointed out.
“True!” Lana made a face and giggled. “Isn’t she going to be pissed off when she finds out Commander Torus is into you instead of her?”
“Lana, he’s not ‘into’ me!” Molly exclaimed. “See, this is why I need you to leave. Things are awkward enough between us since he saw that video of me…doing what I was doing. I don’t need you making it worse.”
“All right, all right, I’m going!” Lana sighed and gathered her things. “But you have to promise to tell me everything later.”
Molly nodded.
“Fine, but there isn’t going to be anything to tell except that he came and checked on me. Tomorrow at work we’ll all be back to normal…I hope, anyway,” she added, remembering that she would have to face a roomful of people who had seen her naked and masturbating. But again, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d been in that situation.
For a moment, her heart burned with hate. Goddamn Zach for putting her in this humiliating position yet again! What kind of a sociopath got off on hurting and belittling someone else over and over and over? She’d been free of him for five years and yet she was never truly free.
He might not be able to throw things at her or shout in her face or corner her in the bathroom for hours while she cried and begged him to leave her alone or…or hurt her in the bedroom—(that was the closest she could come to thinking of the really bad times.) But though he couldn’t do any of those things to her anymore, he was still able to hurt her and he did so at every opportunity.
I’m just so tired of being hurt, she thought as she waved goodbye to Lana. I just want to be able to heal completely without the wound being opened again.
Well, maybe she would finally get the chance. Now that the worst had happened, and her boss had seen the video and decided not to fire her, she might have finally found a place where she could have peace, Molly thought.
She had no idea that the next few weeks were going to be the least peaceful of her life.
8
MOLLY
Lana hadn’t been gone long before the door chime sounded. When Molly opened the front door to her suite, she found Commander Torus standing outside. In his hand, was an enormous silver duffel bag.
“Hello, Molly,” he said, bending down from his great height to see her better. “May I come in?”
“Oh, of course!” Molly stepped out of the way hastily and he came in, turning sideways and ducking his head to get through the doorway.
“How are you?” he asked when he had settled on her couch after she offered him a seat. It was Kindred sized, but still a bit small for him. Molly settled gingerly beside him, sitting on the edge of the cushion while putting some distance between them.
“Er…fine, I’m fine,” she said quickly. “Look, I really want to apologize to you about earlier,” she added, before she lost her nerve.
“Apologize?” He raised his eyebrows in obvious confusion. “For what?”
“For…for losing it. For crying all over you like that.” Molly could feel her face heating up again. She cursed her fair complexion—no doubt her cheeks were going red and splotchy, betraying her embarrassment.
“Don’t apologize for that,” he rumbled. “Your pain was too great to bear alone—I’m glad you were willing to let me help you bear it.”
“You…you are?” Molly bit her lip, looking up at him. His silver-gray eyes were calm and serious. She found she couldn’t meet them for long without blushing even harder. Quickly, she dropped her gaze.
“I have something for you,” he said, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between them.
“Oh?” Molly eyed the enormous silver duffel bag with interest. Whatever was in there, it was bulky. The sides of the bag were distorted with all kinds of bumps and angles.
