Murphy stood in front of her condo door with her key in her hand. She was not sure what she was going to find there. She didn't think that Robert would hurt her but she was afraid of his verbal abuse and did not want to face his wrath. Her life with The General had been comfortable from a physical standpoint but not from an emotional one. His constant ordering her around and condescending attitude, especially in public, had always made her feel insecure and inadequate.
She knew that she was an intelligent and useful woman but at times his endless badgering had left her crying and emotionally drained and life without him was something that she frequently considered as an option. The financial part would be no problem because of his philandering she felt that she could prove his infidelity and that he would cave in without a fight if she got a good divorce lawyer.
Up until yesterday her decision to stay with him was based upon complacency. His frequent days and even weeks away from home gave her a chance to live her own life and get out from under his thumb for a while. Each time he returned it became a little harder to go back to living with his attempts to humiliate her and keep her down like a pet dog.
The one saving grace was his lack of interest in sex with her. It was not unwelcome since he never treated her in a really loving way. He rarely even kissed her unless he was drunk and his idea of love was to tell her to use KY jelly instead of trying to arouse her. His big belly made it difficult but it was always over rather quickly and she could put up with it in order to maintain the outward appearance of compatibility and a loving marriage that she exhibited to the world.
Several of her closest friends knew otherwise and they would know when he had succeeded in emotionally bruising her to the point where she withdrew from the world and waited for the next blow to come from him. They frequently hinted that maybe counseling would help or even divorce was the answer. Two of them were already divorced and one was a widow and the four of them often were together for shopping or gabfests where they felt safe enough to share their secrets.
Gathering her strength, Murphy inserted the key into the lock and slowly opened the door. She didn't know what to expect as she carefully let herself in and quietly closed the door behind her. Leaving her shoes at the door, she tiptoed down the hall past the kitchen and peered into the open door of the bedroom. The bed he had slept in was empty and she could not hear anything that would lead her to believe that he was still there.
