Tiffany is shopping for groceries when she hears her name called out.
"Tiffany!" a man's voice says. "Is that you?"
She turns around to see someone that looks vaguely familiar.
"It is you. Don't you remember me?"
She stares at him. He's average height, has a receding hairline and looks out of shape. His clothes are rumpled like he's slept in them. Then it slowly comes to her.
"Rick?" she asks as she moves her cart closer.
"Yeah, it's me!"
Rick, as in Rick Powers, gives Tiffany a hug as she stands there, slightly stunned.
"Wow, it's been a while, hon," he says as he steps back to look at her. "And you're still a knock-out!"
"Rick," she says, looking around quickly to see if anyone has noticed this reunion. "I didn't think I'd see you way up here in the Valley."
"I just got here today. Drove up from LA."
"Oh," she says, "what brings you up here?"
He smiles at her slyly. "A little business venture with some smart guys from UCSF." He winks and she feels uncomfortable. "No one has heard from you in ages."
"Yes, well I'm married now," she says. "Those days are over."
He looks at her appraisingly. "Too bad, I bet you could still-"
She cuts him off. "Rick, please, let's not talk about that, ok? I've been out of the business for a while now."
"Are you sure? Because what I'm working on now could make you some money." He's leering at her now and she becomes very uncomfortable. "And I just bought a place nearby."
"No thank you," she says and turns away, leaving her cart and flees from the store. When she slides into her car she realizes she is sweating and breathing heavy. She wills herself to calm down before she drives away.
On the way home she thinks that it was a close call and is glad no one else was with her. Rick Powers and she went way back to her small screen days. But those days are over and she doesn't want to think about the things she did. After years in the Valley she doesn't think she would ever run into anyone she knew from before. Seeing Rick reminded her that those days could haunt her.
She shivers in the air-conditioned car as she pulls into the driveway. Once inside the house she feels safe again.
The phone rings, it's Steph. They talk for a few minutes and Tiffany can tell something is wrong. She tells Steph to come right over.
Steph arrives minutes later and they sit on the big couch in the cool living room with a glass of iced tea each. Tiffany thinks her new friend looks a bit haggard.
"I'm sorry to intrude on you, Tiffany," the other woman says. "I need someone to talk to and you seem so understanding and patient."
Tiffany laughs nervously and sets her glass down.
"Well, I try. So what's on your mind?"
She watches Steph lower her eyes. Clearly the woman is distraught about something.
"I've never told anyone about this," Steph begins. "I thought that once we moved down here, things would change, but it's starting all over again."
"What is?"
"It's Adam. He..." her voice trails off and she searches for the right words, but Tiffany is beginning to understand.
"Does he abuse you?" Tiffany asks softly.
Steph looks up. "Yes, but not like you might think. He likes to, um, dominate me."
"Against your will?"
"Y-yes..."
Tiffany looks at her friend and is somewhat shocked that this woman would allow something like that to happen. Steph seems so intelligent and together.
"How long?" she asks.
"Several years now," Steph replies, her eyes still downcast. Her hands are restless; they constantly tug on the hem of her shorts. "It finally got me and I had to leave my job at the firm up in Seattle. I had a breakdown."
Finally Steph looks up at Tiffany. "I probably shouldn't be burdening you with this."
"Nonsense, you needed to tell someone. I guess that's me." Tiffany says a bit nervously. She isn't sure what she is in for. "How bad is this abuse? Did you try to leave him?"
"It didn't start out too bad. I guess he just liked it rough, you know, sexually. I just went along with it because it was, ah, interesting. Then he began to do things like spanking." She looks down again. "For some reason I just kept going along with him. But then sex got to be something that he wanted from me, not something we shared. Then it went beyond the bedroom. He was angry all the time; yelling and ordering me around. I don't know if it was his job or what."
"Did he hurt you?"
"Not that anyone could see. I never had broken bones or bruises, but he was damaging me psychologically. Before long, my job began to suffer. That's when I started to realize I liked what he was doing to me."
"Steph!"
"I know, I know. Something changed in me. It was like when he was dominating me it began to turn me on. The bastard knew it too and he would exploit it. That was my worst mistake because then he took it farther." Steph took a sip of her tea and set it down. "One night he brought a friend home from work. They both had some drinks and were a little buzzed. I tried to stay out of their way."
Tiffany tenses as she knows where this is going.
"But Adam, being Adam began to taunt me. When I wouldn't respond, he grabbed me and forced me to give his friend a blow job." Steph wrings her hands and continues. "I didn't want to, but once I did, it began to be exciting. It was like I wanted Adam to watch me and I wanted to do what he said. Of course his buddy didn't mind. So when it was over I disappeared into my room and, um, got myself off."
"Steph, I don't know what to say..."
"It's ok. But the worst thing is that it didn't end there. Another time he brought three friends home from the club and they took their turns fucking me until I was numb. And I came each time – I couldn't help it!"
The tears start to fall and Tiffany is shocked at what she is hearing. She barely knows this woman a month and she's hearing all this. She slides over on the couch and hugs Steph.
"I'm so sorry, Steph."
Steph hugs her back and continues to cry for a few more minutes. When she pulls away, her eyes are red.
"I have to figure out something, Tiff," she says. "I thought things were going to be ok and then when he found out I wanted to go back to work, it started again."
"You really need to get some help. First to get away from him and second to deal with all those issues in your head."
