Free Love and Lies by Jennifer Duffey Page B

wore that outfit. At first it was all in jest. We went back and forth for a little while; I'd ask him about this or that, and he'd respond.”
    Eric came and stood next to me. Hesitantly , he rested his hands on my shoulders. I felt his lips on the back of my neck. “You don't have to finish this, princess.”
    “I do. It will help you understand.” I turned to look at him. “Right now, you think I'm crazy. When I finish you will know exactly why I loathe them.” There was no way I could finish the story if I found pity in Eric's eyes as I continued, so I looked out the window again. “Anyway, our jokes kept going. Before long, Igor was leading the conversation down a path that made me really uncomfortable. We weren't talking about clothes anymore; he'd moved onto lingerie. He wanted to know what color bra and panties I was wearing. I laughed it off and ignored the question. Knowing I'd made a bad decision, I put some distance between us as we walked down the strip where we were shopping.
    “ It was the start of swim season, so I was looking for a new swim suit. The last store of the day had a couple that caught my attention, so I tried them on. While I was sliding out of one and into another, the door behind me creaked open. I turned to stop the person coming in, just to find out it was Igor. With one hand holding up my top, I tried to push him out. I yelled for one of the attendants, but no one answered. Igor chuckled and reached for my arm, the one I was using to keep my top on. I hunkered down in a corner and told him to stop. When he didn't stop, I stood up. There was no way I was going to let him touch me without fighting back. In a knee jerk reaction, I balled up my fist and lunged toward him, no longer caring about the damn suit. I wanted him to hurt. To leave me alone.
    “Unfortunately, I suck as a boxer, so all I did was graze his cheek. He tossed his head back and laughed. His attention shifted from my face down my body, lingering at times. When he made his way back up after getting his fill of everything else, I kicked straight up and nailed him in the crotch. Igor fell like a rock, grunting and calling me a bitch. Quickly, I grabbed my clothes and ran out the dressing room door. Of course, that's when the attendant finally came to see what was going on. Ignoring her, I fumbled to dress and hurried to the entrance. I hailed a cab and went home by myself.
    “ On the way home, feeling a little safer, I called Dad to tell him what had happened. He didn't believe me and told me that Igor would never do anything like that. They'd done background checks on all the assistants, and none of them had a record.
    “ When Dad refused to hear anything I said, I hung up on him and tried Mom. She defended Igor, too. Except she went one step further. She blamed me. She said I shouldn't have flirted with him. Mom actually had the balls to say I deserved it. And to think, I had some misguided notion that a mother should care about her daughter, listen to her, not push aside the daughter’s accusations when she was nearly raped.” I rotated to face Eric again and sat on the windowsill. I jabbed myself in the chest with my finger. “She blamed me.”
    Eric pulled me from the ledge and molded our bodies together, but didn't say anything. I kept talking.
    “ I called Alec and told him I was leaving that night. When he asked why, I didn't answer. He never pushed me, just packed his bags and met me at the airport. At home, I was alone. Apparently, Mom was out socializing and Dad was at the office. At least that's what the maid told me. I packed my bags, called my parents, and told them I was leaving for school. Now, I only talk to them when absolutely necessary, which is once a month. When we talk, it's simply to assure them I'm alive and not breaking any laws. Fuck them. I don't care. They were wrong, not me. They should have had my back. If they really cared, they would have fired Igor then and there. No questions