Page 12 of Escape

I offered to go to work to help him pay for all the unexpected expenses. The last thing I wanted to do was give him anything I worked hard to make, but I believed it was my only hope.

At first, Kurt wasn’t on board. He didn’t want me working, and I was convinced that was because he knew it had the potential to lead me toward freedom. He wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t tell him that.

Instead, I promised him he had nothing to worry about, that we were in this fight together. I insisted it was my duty to help him with this, because he’d been taking care of me on his own for so long. This was how I could show my gratitude.

He bought it.

And fortunately, there was a relatively new diner called Betty’s in town that was hiring.

So, I got a job.

But Kurt wanted every dollar I made. I had no choice but to give him the majority of it if I was going to stand a chance at saving myself. Every shift I worked, though, I kept a portion of my tips and hid them.

Now that there had been six weeks’ worth of income from my job, Kurt’s mood seemed to have shifted. He wasn’t nearly as stressed as he’d been.

Kurt finally finished his breakfast, getting up from the table and leaving his empty plate and mug sitting there for me to clean up. As much as I wanted to tell him to clean up after himself, I didn’t. Not only would he not react well to it, but the more compliant I was, the sooner he’d be out the front door and on his way to work. The way I saw it, the less time I had to spend in his presence, the better.

It wasn’t even a full five minutes after he’d stood from the table when Kurt finally left for work. I cleaned up the dishes, got myself ready for work, and left.

Since his truck, which was just barely hanging on, was the only vehicle we had between the two of us—mine had gotten sold when I left my last job—I had to walk to work. There was the option for me to take the bus, which would have significantly reduced my walk time, but for now, since it was the end of June and the start of summer, I decided to walk the entire way there. It wasn’t an unreasonably far distance in this weather, so any money I could save by not taking the bus was worth the walk.

I made it to Betty’s with ten minutes to spare before my shift. As I got myself ready in the back, putting my apron on and grabbing an order pad and a pen, Lori approached me. “Hey, Josie, how’s it going?”

“I’m good. Did you open today?” I asked.

I hesitated to ask my coworkers any specific questions about themselves. I never wanted to extend that olive branch, because I didn’t want to risk having them attempt to foster friendships that I’d never be able to maintain. Maybe once I got out from under Kurt, things could be different.

God, I hoped I’d be able to find a way. I just didn’t know how I’d make it happen without serious consequences. There was no chance Kurt would just accept me walking away. If there was one thing I was certain of, Kurt would come after me, and he’d see to it that I suffered tremendously if I ever thought about leaving him. Since I couldn’t be sure how far his rage would go, I thought it was best to protect the people I worked with by not allowing myself to get close to them. The last thing I’d want was for anyone else to be hurt by him.

Of course, I couldn’t just ignore them. Instead, I kept all the conversations I could focused on work.

But that didn’t mean they didn’t make the attempt to turn it into something more, which is precisely what happened this morning.

“I did. It’s been pretty busy, so as soon as you can get out there, it’ll be a huge help,” Lori replied.

“I’m ready to go,” I told her.

“Great. Hey, by the way, I was talking to some of the other girls, and we’re looking to do a little something fun for Jessica before the baby comes, since she’s doing this on her own now that her baby’s dad left her. We thought we’d get together one night and have a small celebration with her. Kerri suggested we take her out for a nice dinner at The Ridge, and we can all go in on a single big gift or just get smaller individual ones,” she shared.

I would have loved nothing more than to do that. I wanted to be able to have a night out with some girlfriends. Granted, I hadn’t known Lori, Jessica, Kerri, and the other two girls for long, but I wanted the friendship they were offering.

Unfortunately, I knew I wouldn’t be able to go with them, but I didn’t want to come right out and decline the invitation. “When are you planning to do it?”

“Well, since we don’t want it to impact the rest of the staff here, Kerri thought it would be wise to plan it for some time in August. This way, we can all request that same night off in advance, and the guys can be on the schedule that evening.”

If only I knew exactly how the next few weeks would play out. I desperately wanted to go, to forge some friendships, and to be there for a woman who was about to embark on a journey that had to be a mix of scary, difficult, and joyous.

But I couldn’t be sure I’d be where I needed to be by then. I didn’t know if I would have enough saved up to move out and get away from Kurt. “Oh, um, well, I know my fiancé has a coworker who’s getting married in August, but I don’t remember the date,” I lied. “Can you let me know when you have a specific date figured out, and I can confirm if it’ll work?”

“Of course. We could just wait for you to check on the date before setting anything in stone,” Lori offered.

I tensed. If I did that, it’d be worse for me to cancel at the last minute. I didn’t want to ruin their plans. “No. No, don’t do that. I’m going to do my best to come, but if not, I’m happy to chip in for whatever gift everyone decides on. And if you all decide to just get your own thing, I’ll get Jessica something on my own and give it to her here afterward.”

Lori nodded her understanding. “Okay. I’ll let Kerri know to set it up, and once it’s all squared away, we’ll make sure everyone knows the details.”

“Sounds great.”

She stopped at the double doors that would lead out into the dining room and inhaled and exhaled deeply. “It’s been a zoo out there. Are you ready?”