said. “A little hand holding. A PG-13 good night kiss. Innocent stuff.”
“Until?”
“We went out to eat one night and then to a movie. When we got out of the theater it was pouring rain. It took a while to snag a cab and neither of us had an umbrella. We were both drenched by the time we got to my place. I invited Kent up, to dry off a bit, and I was going to loan him a rain slicker for his trip home.”
“But something went wrong.”
“Yes. I sent Kent into my bathroom to towel off. When he came out, he was wearing my oversized spa robe. I hadn’t meant for him to take off his clothes but, since he apparently had, I offered to pop them in the dryer. He gathered them from the bathroom and followed me to my little laundry room, off the kitchen. He stood behind me while I put his clothes in the drier and when I turned around, he wasn’t wearing my robe. I was shocked. I said the first thing that came into my mind, which was something like, what do you think you’re doing. He laughed, pointed to his erection and said, ‘that’s what I’m doing.’ I told him most definitely not and turned my back to retrieve his clothes from the drier.”
Tessa’s voice started to shake, and snot begin to dribble from her nose. “I was bent over, reaching for his clothes when Kent slammed me against the drier. I yelped, and Kent put his big hand over my mouth. He kept saying that quiet girls like me couldn’t ask for it, even when they wanted it. He said he could tell I wanted it. I tried to wiggle away from him. I tried to scream. I didn’t do either very well.”
Tessa stopped, even though there was more to tell. Shawntay give her a long moment, and remained silent until Tessa continued.
“I was still wearing the dress I’d worn to the movies. It was wet, and sticking to my backside. Kent said something about getting me out of my wet things so I wouldn’t catch a cold. Then he laughed, like he’d said something funny. He lifted me up a couple of inches, bent me over the top of the drier, and pinned me face down. He pulled my dress up and ripped my panties off. I could feel his erection against my backside, but when he used force to remove my underwear, I could feel it throbbing. Shawntay, he got off on violence, so I stopped fighting.” Tessa stopped talking. She felt frozen, as if she was once again pressed face down on her drier, waiting for something awful to rip her world even further apart.
“Tessa?” Shawntay gently prodded.
“He raped me.” Tessa began to cry again, but she spoke between sobs. “It felt like a knife, inside, and he kept at it and at it. He pushed into me so hard he knocked the drier all the way against the wall. As soon as he came, he pulled his clothes out of the drier, put them on and left.”
“And you never reported him?”
“That’s the thing I’m truly ashamed of,” Tessa said. “I should have called the cops. But I was so humiliated. I scrubbed myself with soap and water as soon as he left. And I stopped seeing men.” Tessa thought about David, and made a small correction. “At least face-to-face.”
-4-
Tessa,
I’ll be in New York for business next week. How about meeting someplace for a drink? Wine. Coffee. Gatorade…whatever. I really enjoy our email chats and would love to meet the person behind the computer. What do you say?
David
PS: no pressure : - )
Tessa read the email a second time. If the mouse in her hand had been an animate object instead of plastic and microchips, it’d be dead now, strangled by the white-knuckle grip of the very nervous woman holding it.
Since meeting men in the ‘real world’ was way out of Tessa’s comfort zone, and walling herself away like a celibate nun was incredibly lonely, Tessa dipped her toe in the brave world of online “dating.” In the last six months she “met” a lot of men and like Goldilocks, had little success until she found David, who seemed to be ‘just right.’ He was smart and funny and
“Until?”
“We went out to eat one night and then to a movie. When we got out of the theater it was pouring rain. It took a while to snag a cab and neither of us had an umbrella. We were both drenched by the time we got to my place. I invited Kent up, to dry off a bit, and I was going to loan him a rain slicker for his trip home.”
“But something went wrong.”
“Yes. I sent Kent into my bathroom to towel off. When he came out, he was wearing my oversized spa robe. I hadn’t meant for him to take off his clothes but, since he apparently had, I offered to pop them in the dryer. He gathered them from the bathroom and followed me to my little laundry room, off the kitchen. He stood behind me while I put his clothes in the drier and when I turned around, he wasn’t wearing my robe. I was shocked. I said the first thing that came into my mind, which was something like, what do you think you’re doing. He laughed, pointed to his erection and said, ‘that’s what I’m doing.’ I told him most definitely not and turned my back to retrieve his clothes from the drier.”
Tessa’s voice started to shake, and snot begin to dribble from her nose. “I was bent over, reaching for his clothes when Kent slammed me against the drier. I yelped, and Kent put his big hand over my mouth. He kept saying that quiet girls like me couldn’t ask for it, even when they wanted it. He said he could tell I wanted it. I tried to wiggle away from him. I tried to scream. I didn’t do either very well.”
Tessa stopped, even though there was more to tell. Shawntay give her a long moment, and remained silent until Tessa continued.
“I was still wearing the dress I’d worn to the movies. It was wet, and sticking to my backside. Kent said something about getting me out of my wet things so I wouldn’t catch a cold. Then he laughed, like he’d said something funny. He lifted me up a couple of inches, bent me over the top of the drier, and pinned me face down. He pulled my dress up and ripped my panties off. I could feel his erection against my backside, but when he used force to remove my underwear, I could feel it throbbing. Shawntay, he got off on violence, so I stopped fighting.” Tessa stopped talking. She felt frozen, as if she was once again pressed face down on her drier, waiting for something awful to rip her world even further apart.
“Tessa?” Shawntay gently prodded.
“He raped me.” Tessa began to cry again, but she spoke between sobs. “It felt like a knife, inside, and he kept at it and at it. He pushed into me so hard he knocked the drier all the way against the wall. As soon as he came, he pulled his clothes out of the drier, put them on and left.”
“And you never reported him?”
“That’s the thing I’m truly ashamed of,” Tessa said. “I should have called the cops. But I was so humiliated. I scrubbed myself with soap and water as soon as he left. And I stopped seeing men.” Tessa thought about David, and made a small correction. “At least face-to-face.”
-4-
Tessa,
I’ll be in New York for business next week. How about meeting someplace for a drink? Wine. Coffee. Gatorade…whatever. I really enjoy our email chats and would love to meet the person behind the computer. What do you say?
David
PS: no pressure : - )
Tessa read the email a second time. If the mouse in her hand had been an animate object instead of plastic and microchips, it’d be dead now, strangled by the white-knuckle grip of the very nervous woman holding it.
Since meeting men in the ‘real world’ was way out of Tessa’s comfort zone, and walling herself away like a celibate nun was incredibly lonely, Tessa dipped her toe in the brave world of online “dating.” In the last six months she “met” a lot of men and like Goldilocks, had little success until she found David, who seemed to be ‘just right.’ He was smart and funny and
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