Just a one night stand

Suspicion

I wake up on Monday, after two days of recovery from what James did to me. As soon as he was sober, he apologized over and over again. I ignored him and told him to leave me alone. He did, knowing he would have to go to work anyways.

I groan and sit up in bed, feeling my sore body still hurting me, but I need to go to work. I quickly run over to my mirror and shake my head at my reflection. I wipe a tear away from my face and walk into the shower. A cold shower, it is.

After that I tried my best to cover up the bruises that were visible. It took me a while to cover up my blue eyes, but I managed. My busted lip will have to stay and if anybody asks, I'll tell them I accidentally bit my lip while eating. When did I become that person? When did I become so weak?

"Good morning." I say, stepping out of the elevator. Mister Haynes' back is facing me and I just wanted him to know that I'm in time, so I don't have to work longer than I should. He turns around, frowning at my face, before nodding.

His frown made me self conscious and I quickly walk towards my office to look into my mirror. I do look different from the previous week, because of the amount of make up I needed to cover up the bruises. But it's still in place, making me sigh in relief.

"Hey, how was- oh." Rina says as soon as she sees me and closes my office door. I sigh and look down ashamed. She knows I never wear that much make up, only when stuff happened between me and James. She sighs and comes over to me.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't there." She says, hugging me and I hug her back, fighting the tears that are forming in my eyes. It can't go on like this. I know I need to break up, but I'm too weak. I'm too weak to break up with my abusive boyfriend.

"It's not your fault." I sob, wiping a tear away and quickly looking into the mirror again.
"Your lip is busted." She states and I nod. No shit, Sherlock.
"How are you going to hide that?" She asks.

"I'll say I accidentally bit my lip while eating." I shrug and she shakes her head. She's about to say something when my door opens. We both look towards Mister Haynes, who looks at us in confusion, before quickly covering it up with a strict look.

"There was mail for you in the lobby. You weren't there yet so I took it up with me. It's in my office. Get it whenever you want it." He says and leaves again. I frown and shrug at Rina when she throws me a questioning look.

"He really is rude to you. And he didn't even greet me. Wow, good luck." She says and I laugh.
"I told you he was. Whatever, I'll just go take my mail." I roll my eyes. I know what sort of mail it is and I don't want it, but it would look weird if I just let it stay in my boss' office.

"Fine, I'm at my desk if you need me." She says and I nod. I knock on Mister Haynes' door and open it after he told me to come in. I smile at him, not really expecting him to smile back, but he does.

I quickly take the bouquet of roses and the attached card. I nod at him and leave the office again. Well, that was weird. I immediately throw the roses and the card into the trashcan and sit back down on my desk. I don't need to read it to know it's from James.

Every time after he hits me, he buys me flowers and cards and chocolate and stuff like that. Just so he can write that he'll change and that he regrets everything he's done. I don't care anymore. The first time he said that I really believed him. But after the third time, I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up.

Why am I not breaking up with him? Why? Maybe because I'm already broken. I'm already numb. I just let him do whatever he wants, because I don't have the energy to break up with him. He's always coming back, so why bothering?

"Miss Hampshire?" I jump slightly at Mister Haynes' voice and look at our attached door, to see him lean against the doorway.
"I knocked, but you didn't say anything." He tells me and I shake my head.

"Sorry, I didn't hear it." Also a side effect of being punched against the temple.
"Uh, well. I got a few paperwork for you. Please finish them by the end of the day." He says, placing a pile of paper on my desk. I gulp, but nod.

"Anything else, sir?" I ask him, when he doesn't make a move to leave. He shrugs and places his hands into his suit pants. His jacket is opened, so I get a peek of his defined chest and quickly look away. Not the right time to check out your boss.

"No, I just realized I didn't say thank you for inviting me on Friday. James was right, your chicken Parmesan was amazing." He tells me, surprising me. I smile at him when he nods impressed.

"Thank you, sir." I say and he shrugs.
"I enjoyed that evening. I hope you did too. I mean I'm your boss and I know we didn't have the best start." He continues and I nod.

"It was nice having you." I say, trying to end this awkward conversation and he nods, a skeptical look grazing his face. I wait for him to leave, but he just stands there, looking around the room. When his eyes land on my trash can, he frowns. I need to come up with something.

"There was a spider on them." I say, rolling my eyes at my stupid excuse. His head snaps to me, his mouth forming an o-shape.
"So you threw them in the trash?" He asks. If I didn't know better I'd say, he was bemused.

"I guess." I shrug and he nods. Can he just leave? I mean any other day I would be glad to get his attention, but not this day.
"Is there any-"

"What happened to your lip? If you don't mind me asking." He interrupts me. Besides the fact that he just interrupted me, I put on a fake smile.

"Oh, I accidentally bit myself when I ate a sandwich. I'm really clumsy." I play it off and he nods slowly, a look on his face that tells me he doesn't believe one word I say.

"Well, I'm glad you're able to work today." He jokes, making me laugh and him smile, before leaving the room. I shake my head at his weird behaviour. There is no way he knows, but at the same time, James hasn't been hiding the fact that he had control over me on Friday.