Chapter 10: 1970s
You can hear a pin drop in the silence of the office, I know I have not been working here for long, but I can say with confidence that this was the very first time I have experienced this kind of stillness, this silence inside this office. I watched in the sidelines as the numbers against Sarah Beth and her friends stacked against them. Hope and realization in their eyes as more and more joined their ranks, realization that they were not alone, and that together they can stand up against the oppression they have endured at the hands of the legion of blondes. The editor in chief removed his glasses so his can massage his forehead to his temple, bowing his head in frustration, before ultimately sighing and looking back at people around him.
“This has gone far enough, mark my words, I will get to the bottom of this. Jay, Mary Anne, Laura, and Sarah Beth, pack your bags for the day and the weekend. I don’t care what you do with your time, but I do not want to see your faces in this office until Monday” the editor’s command sent the four of us scrambling to collect our belongings. In the background, we can here the editor send for HR, he then instructed all the secretaries of the entire building to write down any sort of experience with bullying or any sort of harassment. The three of us were already walking our way to the elevators when Mary Anne just stopped walking behind us.
“May?” Jay turned back to Mary Anne who stood frozen in her place, bag and Zander’s suit jacket in her hands.
“I can’t do this, when I go back, I don’t want to be afraid anymore, I have to do this” Mary Anne began. Zander walked towards her and hugged her.
“Hey, it’s alright to be afraid”
“No, you guys go on ahead, I-I want to write a letter too” Mary Anne said and pushed Zander, pressing his jacket to his chest before running down the hall and chasing after the editor who was retreating to his office. Zander dropped his jacket and bag on the table beside us, tried to run after his cousin.
“Zander wait!” My hand instinctively reached to hold onto his wrists.
“I think you should let her do this, you can’t keep protecting her, you know it, and she knows it, this is something she has to do, without you” I looked into his eyes as he stared right back at mine. He must let her be strong, he must let her stand up for herself. He has to let her learn all these things now before it’s too late for her to learn them. But I could not tell him, I did not know how to without sound so desperate to stop him. If I give him a peek into my life, questions will be asked, and I don’t think I am ready to answer them, not yet, even after all these years.
Zander looked at me solemnly, his face unreadable and devoid of any emotion. My heart dropped when he slipped his hand free from my hold. But he was quick to catch it when he wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace.
“I know, I’m just, I don’t want her to get hurt” Zander explained.
“I know, and don’t worry she knows it too, that’s why she wants to do this” I hugged him back.
“Are you sure you’re alright, I saw what happened,” Zander asked again for what seemed like the hundredth time as we rode the elevator down.
“I’m alright, I promise” I assured, holding, and squeezing it tighter to make a point. Zander smiled back and raised my hand to his lips to press a kiss on the back of my hand, his lips hot and tender against my skin. I could not help myself, but smile back him.
“Let’s get you home” he said as the elevator doors opened and he walked forward, not letting go of his hold on my hand, and I let him hold me as we walked towards the building’s exit.
“Jay wait! please wait for me!” a shrill voice sliced across the building lobby. Zander and I looked to each other before looking behind us to see a vision of pink running towards us, her heels clicking against the pristine marble of the floors, people waiting in the lobby or passing by stared at us, as she continued to scream at us, or rather at Zander to wait for her. Zander acted quick and stood in front of me protectively.
“What do you want?” Zander asked not a moment to waste as Sarah Beth stopped in front of us. She looked like a wreck, her blonde curls flying all over the place, her cheeks stained with mascara coated tears, bright red lipstick smeared on her cheeks, her usually perfect no fold out of place clothes was ruffled and all over the place.
“Please you have to believe me, they attacked me, me Sarah Beth, you know me I wouldn’t hurt a fly. It was all her fault, please you have to believe me Jay, please” Sarah Beth let go of her coat and her bag dumping it all on the floor and latched her manicured claws to hold on to Zander. She gripped on his arm and tried to caress his face, trying to hug him and throw herself on him. Zander caught both of Sarah Beth’s wrists, and as gently as he could pushed her at arm’s lengths away from him. The people who were already in the lobby by chance began to gather around us, to watch the commotion of the hysterical woman.
“Please, I am the victim here, it’s her it’s all that high classed escort’s fault, she’s trying to steal you from me, you have to believe me” Sarah Beth insisted, both trying to push her words and herself onto Zander. Her long nails scratching his face and neck as he tried as much as he can to keep Sarah Beth away from him without hurting her. People around us gasped when one swing of Sarah Beth’s hand managed to claw across Zander’s face. Zander let to go of Sarah Beth’s arms and stepped back, and on his eyes.
“That’s enough, security!” I yelled out placing a hand on Zander’s face, face to check the damage. There were red angry scratches littering on his neck and jaw and cheeks, but the worst one is around his eye, where even though he kept it covered, I can still see the angry line where it began and ended. Two security guards pushed past the crowds and began to pull a disturbed Sarah Beth away from us.
“No, I didn’t mean to, she made me do it, I could never hurt you, I love you Jay, I love you” Sarah Beth muttered in disbelief, watching Zander as he is still clutching on his face.
“We’re going to have to ask you to leave ma’am” the advised standing next to Sarah Beth.
“No, no he needs me, I can’t just leave him, he’s hurt he needs me.” Sarah Beth said, once again Sarah Beth was asked to leave the premises.
“No don’t you see it? I can’t leave him with her, she’s going to take him from me” Sarah Beth argued once again. Uncompliant, the guards took to physical measures and held on to Sarah Beth to manually escort her off the building. Thankfully half the crowd dispersed to their own businesses and the other half followed the screams of Sarah Beth out the door.
“No, NO NO, he needs me, Jay, I love you Jay don’t let them take me from you I LOVE YOU” Sarah Beth screamed from the top of her lungs as she jumped and pushed and tackled as the guards dragged her away. I placed Zander’s arm around my shoulder and assisted him to the lounge sofa.
“Let me see, Jay, please let me see” I kneeled on the sofa next to me and coaxed him into showing me the scratch as a caressed his cheeks. He looked at me with his free eye and stared at me for a while before finally letting me see the angry red mark starting from his forehead going through his eyelids and unto his cheeks. It did not look bad, but it was worse than the others. Inspected the wound, pressing around the area for soreness. I was so preoccupied with making sure nothing hurt when I looked back down at him and find him still staring at me, our face a few centimeters apart as I towered over him.
“You know, this is the first time you called me by my name” he smiled cheekily, in an instant the temperature rose, and the collected around my neck and my face.
“Well, it looks like you have no problem seeing so I’ll be leaving you on your own, good day” I stood away from him as fast as I can, collecting my things in a hurry to get away from him and his dastardly good looks and his charming smile and his hundred-watt smile.
“Don’t be like that, come on let me take you home” Zander grabbed his things in a hurry and caught up to me, his hand catching my hand in his before kissing the back of my hand and leading me to the parking space to his car.
“I guess I’ll let you, but just this once”
“Just this once, for now”