four

                                    

                                          
After Tom's fight, Y/N was having a good night, until she walked through her apartment door, immediately regretting what had occurred earlier that day. She knew Raymond would be there waiting for her in her room to talk to her about what happened at the diner. She was right, he was sitting there on her bed, wearing a white tank top and old blue jeans that he stole from the Goodwill, his bare foot tapping on the hardwood floor, waiting for her to walk in the room. 
                          
"Where have you been?" He asked, standing from his seated place on the bed, he walked over her to try and intimidate her, it worked. All of her confidence flew out the window as soon as she saw his bruised knuckles and the multiple holes in the living room walls. 
                          
"Out." she said, walking to her closet to change into her pyjamas. 
                          
"Well fucking obviously, but where? Huh? Ivan said you quit your job at the diner. Where else are you at this time of night?" He yelled, grabbing Y/N's wrist too tightly, she felt her fingertips go numb at the grasp, but she knew better than to try to fidget her way out of it.
                          
"I went out to dinner with Yvonne and then we went to a bar, and I drove her home and then had to walk back because I don't have a car." Y/N tried to lie, she knew that Raymond knew Yvonne's house was over an hour to walk from. He let go of her wrist when she looked at him and his face softened at her a little.
                          
"I still have an issue with you not working, I'm not going to have some fucking freeloader living in my house. So either you get a job or you get the fuck out." He spat at her and walked out of the room. Y/N wanted nothing more than to be out of his apartment, but she had nowhere else to go. 

                          
As she got undressed in front of the bathroom mirror, she tilted her head to the left as her soft fingertips ran over her brown and yellow bruises, memories replaying themselves in her head as her hands skimmed over the skin, tears dripping off of her chin onto the white granite countertop. 
                          
The next morning, Y/N left the apartment at two o'clock in the afternoon, and headed to the gym that Tom trained at. Tom was already there when she showed up, and he smiled when he watched her walk through the doors of the gym in a pair of mid-rise ankle length black pants with a peach colored blouse tucked into them, she was confident and comfortable, and Tom thought she had never looked more beautiful. He smiled wider when she met his eyes and pulled at her ponytail, she looked to the ground as she felt her face heat up. 
                          
"You know, I didn't expect you to be here for another hour." Tom said as he walked toward her, biting his lip and wiping off the sweat from his forehead. 
                          
"My parents always used to say, if you're on time, you're late." She giggled which made Tom smile again.
                          
"Good to know." he laughed and smiled again and Y/N could only think about how Tom should smile more often, he had a wonderful smile and Y/N found it charming, in fact, it was one of his best qualities. "Do I have something in my teeth?" he smirked a little at her, she had been staring at Tom's mouth for too long and she was starting to get embarrassed of her thoughts. 
                          
"N-No, sorry I just spaced out a little." Y/N laughed a little and followed Tom as he lead her to his manager, Harrison, sitting on one of the workout benches on his phone, he looked very out of place dressed in a grey three-piece suit.
                          
"Y/N, this is Harrison, my manager. Harrison this is Y/N the assistant I was telling you about." Tom introduced the two of you as Harrison stood from his seat and put his phone in his blazer pocket. He held his hand out for you to shake, and you did, softer than you would have liked.
                          
"Nice to finally meet you Y/N, I have some things for you to get started on back at the office if you'd like to come with me." Harrison said as Y/N looked to Tom as if to ask him permission to go with Harrison, Tom sent her a quizzical look back, tilting his head at her a little. It was a force of habit, she never made decisions on her own without Raymond giving her the go-ahead. She shook her head a little bit in order to pull herself from the person she'd learned to be.