Abandoned but Not Alone (15 page)

“
Steve you must believe me. Aviva you saw
him didn
’
t you, you tell him
what you saw.
”
Hope
screamed.

Aviva hesitated,
unsure of what was going on. She desperately wanted to go to the aid of her
friend, but she couldn
’
t tell the
people standing in the hall that she had seen Jason attack her when, in fact,
that had not been the case. What the hell was going on here.

By now,
members of the household staff who had also heard the commotion had come to
investigate. Her emotions still heightened, Aviva grew angry as Steve
relentlessly pulled at a struggling Hope. The only thing Aviva was clear about
in the swirling melee was there was no way she was about to stand back and
watch a grown ass man manhandle her friend. She may be small but she'd be
damned if she'd let Hope be treated this way.
“
Steve stop it, you
’
re hurting
her. If you don
’
t stop
pulling her, right this minute, I
’
m going to
brain you.
”
Aviva
cried removing her shoe.

Ignoring
her outburst, Steve dropped the suitcase, lifted Hope in his arms, pulling her
until she released the banister and marched her to the front door. Aviva sprang
into action; she rushed him, shoe over her head, fully prepared to carry out
her threat. Jason grabbed her before she reached the struggling couple,
snatching the dangerous looking shoe out of her hand, he lifted Aviva clean off
her feet.

Transferring
Hope to one side of his body, Steve held her under one arm, opened the front
door and deposited her outside, slamming the door shut in her astonished face.
Spinning around, Steve picked up Hope
’
s suitcase,
reopened the door and tossed it through not caring where it landed.

“
Where we come from, that
’
s how we deal with the trash. Now get the
hell away from this house and stay the hell away from me you lying bitch
”
Steve shouted through the closed door.

Hope could
be heard banging on the door, calling Steve
’
s name. His anger had been so great he hadn
’
t realized he had acquired such a big
audience.
“
What?
”
he yelled,
“
You people never seen the trash being put out before? Now I
’
m damn sure you all have something you
should be doing other than standing around here minding my business.
”
The staff scattered like ants
disappearing back to their duties.

A deathly
silence was all that remained in the hall once Steve
’
s words had floated away. Turning, he looked over at Jason and
Aviva. Jason, still holding Aviva at bay, slowly lowered her to her feet. Still
in shock at what had just taken place, she swayed from side to side, attempting
to gain her balance. Jason reached out a steadying hand, at her recoil he
dropped it to his side, uncertainty and concern appearing on his face. Aviva
stared at Steve and then at the door, Hope
’
s shouts still audible.
“
You don't believe her? Your fianc
é
e tells you she has just been attacked, and you don't believe
her, you just throw her out the house like she was a worthless piece of shit.
What the hell kind of people are you!
”
Aviva
ranted as she rushed towards the door, Steve blocked her path, grabbing hold of
her arm. Wrenching out of his grasp, she tried to go around him madder than
hell that he thought he had the right to touch her after the disgusting way he
had just treated Hope.

“
Aviva, she lied
–
it wasn
’
t true, all
the things she said upstairs, they were all lies.
”
Steve said as he again took hold of Aviva
’
s arm.
“
She made it all up, Jason turned down her advances, so she made
up the whole story.
”

“
You bloody liar; Hope wouldn
’
t do something like that. You
’
re just sticking up for him!
”
Aviva shouted as she threw a glance over
her shoulder at Jason.

“
It
’
s the truth Aviva, I heard the whole thing; I was standing
outside on the patio the whole time.  She lied to us both. Even when I told her
that I had heard everything she kept denying it, saying that you could vouch
for her, that you had seen everything that had happened.
”

“
But I didn
’
t.
”
Aviva
whispered, more to herself than to the two men. She had known Hope for a long
time, she knew she could be ruthless when she wanted something to go her way.
She had seen her in action before. But this, this was pushing it even for Hope.
Would she really be prepared to ruin a man
’
s life with such an outrageous lie? Was she really willing to
sever Steve and Jason
’
s
friendship in the way they were suggesting? She wasn
’
t prepared to believe that of Hope, or not to hear her out. How
could she, to do so would be a betrayal of their friendship. Hope was still
banging on the door, demanding entry so she could speak to Aviva.

“
Steve.
”
Jason said,
“
Open the
door.
”

“
What, no
–
hell no, she is not coming back in here.
”

“
Open the door.
”
Jason said again,
“
Now!
”

Jason
remained silent after his demand, a testament to his seriousness, knowing if they
denied Aviva the chance of speaking with Hope she would leave and he very much
doubted if he would see her again. Yes, Hope was a liar but, he had to believe
he and Steve, with truth on their side could convince her of Hope's lies. The
possibility of any other outcome was something he was unwilling to contemplate.
Jason knew with a deep felt certainty that in Aviva he had found something he
had subconsciously been searching for, someone good, and for those reasons he
was now taking the biggest gamble of his life.

“
Please open the door, Steve.
”

Steve
reluctantly opened the door as Hope fell forward into the entrance way, her
eyes immediately searching out Aviva, tears of desperation running down her
face. Throwing her arms around Aviva
’
s neck she
clutched her body close, whispering in her ear.
“
You know me, we
’
ve been
friends for so long, don
’
t believe
what they say. They're just sticking together. They're liars, you saw what
happened, tell Steve what you saw, what happened, he
’
ll believe you, it will be our word against Jason
’
s. Steve will believe you, he likes you,
please, please for my sake, make him believe you, for my sake.
”

Hope, in
her desperation didn
’
t realize
how her quickly spoken words damned her in Aviva
’
s eyes. By asking her to admit to seeing the deed, knowing that
she had not, was in itself an admission of guilt. Aviva took a step back as she
detached Hope
’
s arms from
around her neck.

“
Tell me what happened, Hope.
”
Aviva hoped her words would carry the
strength to convince her that she spoke the truth. But in her heart she already
knew that Hope had lied. She knew Steve loved Hope, and he would not have
thrown her out of the house if there had been any substance to her accusations
against Jason.

“
I was in the office with him,
”
Hope began, pointing at Jason. 
“…
and he attacked me. He kept staring at me
and the next thing I knew; he had hold of me and started kissing me. I begged
and pleaded with him to let me go, but he wouldn
’
t.
”

“
Why were you in his office?
”
Aviva asked softly.

Hope
hesitated for a moment as she looked at Aviva. 
“
I was there because he asked me to come and see him.
”
Hope finally said.

“
What did he want to see you about?
”

“
He said
…
he said it had something to do with Steve and the wedding.
”

“
Did he say what that
‘
something
’
was when you got to the office?
”

“
I told you already; as soon as I got
there he just pounced on me and started kissing me. You know how men are with
me; you know the effect I have on them. He just wouldn
’
t take no for an answer.
”
Seeing she had not yet convinced Aviva, Hope decided to
elaborate on her story, play on Jason
’
s size.
“
I fought and fought, but he was just too
strong.
”

“
Why did he stop
–
what made him stop, Hope?
”

“
I don
’
t know, maybe it finally dawned on him that I didn
’
t want him in that way, maybe he finally
understood that I was marrying his best friend in a matter of hours. I don
’
t know why he stopped
…
what the hell does it matter why he
stopped, all I know is he did, and I thank God he did.
”

Aviva didn
’
t know who to believe. One moment she
believed Hope, the next she was convinced she was lying. Who should she
believe, the two men standing silently behind her or her friend with so much
desperation written on her face?

Steve had
had enough.
“
Hope, an
hour ago I was ready to make you my wife, to spend the rest of my life with
you. I thought in you, I had found the woman I could spend the rest of my life
with. There are some facts you need to get into your delusional head: one, I
know Jason and he would never hurt a woman the way you accused him of doing:
two, I heard it all, you telling him you always wanted him, that this was his
last chance of getting a piece of you because I had gone to the store and that
Aviva was in the kitchen, speaking to the help, as you put it. You also said,
once you were married to me, he couldn
’
t have you as you wouldn
’
t cheat on your husband, as though a ring somehow miraculously
changes your concept of cheating. And Honey, this is really important, you are
a beautiful woman, but not every man wants you. You are not irresistible.
”

At Steve
’
s words, Aviva's internal battle to
believe in Hope
’
s story was
lost. How would Steve have known that she was in the kitchen and what he said
about cheating was a conversation she had also had with Hope in the past. Hope
had told her more than once that she would play the field until she had the
ring on her finger, only then would she be faithful. Aviva recalled Hope
’
s philosophy on faithfulness within a
relationship.
“…
I
’
m gonna have my cake
and eat it too. Until that ring is on my finger, I
’
m gonna have what I
want, when I want it. I
’
m too fine
to do anything else.
”

“
How could you Hope, how could you tell
such a repellent lie on anyone? That
’
s a man
’
s life and reputation you
’
re playing with. Women like you are the
reason so many real victims of sexual attack are not believed and their
perpetrators escape justice.
”

“
You
’
re taking their word against mine? What happened to the
sisterhood?
”
Hope
shouted.
“
Because he
…”
pointing at Jason
“…
pays you a bit of attention you think he
wants you, hell even your own daddy didn
’
t want you, he gave you away. Look at you little miss nothing,
little miss nobody, always hanging on to my shirt tails. Well if he didn
’
t want me what makes you think he
’
s gonna want you? When he
’
s finished with you, don
’
t even think about running back to me
because I already forgot about you
–
all of you
can kiss my ass, and you can take that to the bank!
”
Turning without a backwards glance, Hope glided through the
front door leaving three people stunned in her wake.