Chapter 153

Icheck my phone again. It’s ten minutes after five, and there’s still no sign of him. I’m sitting at our usual table in our place in Greenwich. Also as usual, it is completely empty apart from me. Aaron, the manager, brought me a bottle of pinot, but I’m only a few sips in. I haven’t eaten, and I still feel jumpy from my encounter with Freddie. Encounter … That’s not the right word for it. I need to call it what it is. Sexual assault. It may not have gone as far as it could have, but it was still an assault. I shiver when I remember it, the way he forced my hand onto his groin. The look of ecstasy on his face. It was disgusting, and there is no way I could have eaten after that. I have been sick several times, and it was with a huge sense of relief that I arrived here. Knowing that I would be with Elijah soon gave me the strength to get through the last couple hours at home. I still can’t believe I let it get so far. Why did I let him back me into that corner? Why didn’t I trust my in