Eyes Wide Open pt 3
In the elevator on the way up to their apartment Meryl fought the overwhelming feeling she had to hurl. She was terrified of seeing her children; afraid that they would look at her and see a broken woman. She had worked so hard over the last 33 years at being someone her children could depend on, someone they would be comfortable confiding in and sharing their thoughts and feelings with. What would happen when they saw her covered in bruises and noticeably weak and frail from the events that she had endured while in Jack’s home? Everything in her was screaming to run, to go somewhere where she could recover and heal and then face her children. But she knew that would simply be a smoke screen if she was ever going to face her kids it was now or never.
Reaching the floor that their apartment was located on Don could notice her apprehension, the tension was radiating off of her. He knew how nervous she was but he also knew that the kids needed to see her if only to ensure themselves that she was okay, at least physically okay. Holding the elevator door until she finally exited he wanted to give her a hug and assure her everything would be okay and yet something stopped him.
Before he knew it they were walking through the door and now there was no turning back.
The second the kids saw their mother they immediately stopped the conversation they were having in order to kill the time until their parents arrived and with one look at her the 4 children became deathly silent.
It was impossible to look at her and not know she had been through hell in the last few weeks. She was noticeably thinner and on top of that she looked like a wounded animal. Her face was covered with bruises, her lip was busted, she had a black eye, there were marks around her neck that were unmistakably hand print marks as though she had been chocked. To top it off she looked frightened standing near the door not wanting to walk to far inside in case she decided to leave.
The children knew she was coming home but that was the extent of their knowledge. Their father had called them and told them that he had found her and was bringing her home but that had been it, he had not mentioned how physically hurt she was and looking at her they understood why.
The four grown children along with Ben stood there not knowing what to say or how to react, the last thing any of them wanted was to make her uncomfortable, luckily one of them was about to break the tension.
Henry was the first of the children to approach her.
The entire time he was walking toward her he never took his eyes off of her. Something had changed.
She wasn’t the same “mom” he remembered, there had always been a distinct spark in her eye that he knew she reserved for him, his sisters and their father and looking at her now he didn’t see it. It was the spark that said everything all the words in the world never could; the world and the public would always have a significant part of her but the five of them, well now six, would always get the best of her. Stopping a couple of feet away from her he couldn’t stop himself.
Without thinking he grabbed her and pulled her into the tightest bear hug possible. Wrapping his arms around her waist he noticed she was thinner than she appeared as he could feel the bones protruding through her sweeter, and he also couldn’t help but notice how she tensed up upon him hugging her.
There were so many things he wanted to say, so many things he wanted to ask and yet holding her it was impossible to not notice how much smaller she appeared.
For the first time in his life he couldn’t help but feel something or someone had made his mother fragile. She had always been larger than life; she walked into a room and her mere presence forced you to notice her, the way she walked, the way she carried herself, the way she articulated her thoughts and opinions. Even when she would have preferred to walk through life as a ‘private person’ she would never be granted that freedom, because just one look at her and you knew you were in the presence of someone extraordinary and now holding her he didn’t see any of those things, he saw a woman who had been beaten and broken and that made the grown man want to break down and cry.
Standing a few feet away the girls stood motionless. Watching their mother and brother hug, Henry holding on to their mom in a way he never had before and their mom… It was a hard thing to explain but in that moment, unbeknownst to them, she was there but she wasn’t at the same time. Like Henry they couldn’t help but feel that something significant had changed in their mother.
The four of them were speechless and noticing the drained look on their fathers face and how even he was at a loss for words they began to get scared beyond the point that they already were.
Their father had always been a pillar of strength, he had always been the one who knew exactly what to say and what to do when things seemed to be falling apart and now here they were and no one knew what to do.
Finally Henry released his mother from the hug and placing both hands on either side of her face he said the only thing he could say.
“I missed you.”
That was all it took for Meryl to start crying. Not in the out of control way she had at the house shortly after Don had arrived but in a way that broke her heart just a little more than it had been before, if that was possible.
Here was her son, her first baby, now a grown man and yet the way he looked at her was still so much like the way he had when he was a little boy. The relationship she had with Henry was different than the one’s she had with her daughters. Something about a mother and a son is a powerful thing. Other than Don Henry was her guy, the first time she had ever experienced love at first sight was the day she had laid eyes on her little Gippy.
She wanted to say something, anything, to make him feel better to assure him that she was okay but she knew that would be a lie.
She had never felt so alone or so disconnected in her life. She was looking at her son, one of her favorite people in the world, and yet she couldn’t say a word. The entire time in the car this had been what she feared.
She feared she would return to her home, her life, her family and yet still not be able to participate. Jack had completely ruined her and she feared she would never again be who she used to be.
Placing her hand on her sons cheek she softly kissed him and was able to muster up a sad smile and then walked over to the girls and mechanically kissed each of them on the cheek as well, followed finally by a quick kiss she placed on Ben’s cheek, and without a word she walked off into the kitchen.
She felt horrible but she had to get out of there. It felt suffocating to stand in the same room as her children and husband, to have them look at her the way they had with such pity and sadness. She had been alone for over three weeks except for the horrifying company Jack granted her with, she just couldn’t handle it.
Meanwhile in the living room Henry asked what the girls couldn’t.
“He attacked her didn’t he?” Henry had noticed the way she flinched when he hugged her and the reaction had not gone unnoticed by the girls or Don either, not to mention the unmistakable evidence on her face and neck and that was only the areas of her body that they knew for sure had been attacked, they each suspected the rest of her body told an even more horrifying story.
Don knew what Henry was asking. One look at Meryl and it was clear that physically she had been tortured; Henry was asking if he had attacked her in other ways as well and the hidden meaning in his question was not lost on any of them
“She hasn’t said much since I arrived at the house and she hasn’t told me yet exactly what went on while Jack had her locked up but I would be willing to bet that he attacked her in every way possible in the last 2 weeks.”
Mamie finally finding her voice, fighting back the overwhelming need to cry. “Was she checked out by a doctor?”
“Yes. On the way home we stopped at the ER. They examined her and there is severe scarring that leaves little doubt she was raped. Three of her ribs are broken and her back and shoulders are badly bruised along with the injury’s you noticed on her face and neck.”
The girls started to cry once there father confirmed that she had been raped. Henry being the take charge type that he was. “Little doubt that she was rapped meaning what?”
“Your mom said that in the final days Jack had her locked up he made a trip to Canada to see his mother, keeping up appearances sort of thing, so there was no DNA but the scarring and bruises leave little indication that it could be anything other than proof that she was rapped.”
Henry almost wanted to start laughing. This man, no monster, who had attacked his mom went off to Canada to visit with his mommy while Meryl was chained up? If he didn’t already know Jack was a twisted son of a bitch now there was little doubt that he was anything but.
For the next 15 minutes Don sat in the living room answering the kids questions while Ben went into the kitchen to check on Meryl
Straight away he noticed the back door was open that led out to the balcony. Noticing Meryl standing there smoking a cigarette he decided to go and check on her. Making as much noise as he could to avoid startling her.
Meryl lost in thought and shivering against the cold couldn’t stop thinking about Jack.
How could she have been so wrong about the man?
What the hell had happened to him to turn him into such a monster?
Had he always been like that and she just hadn’t noticed?
Hearing someone walking out on to the balcony she pulled herself together not wanting to give any one any more reason than they already had to feel sorry for her.
Noticing it was Ben she couldn’t help but give him a small smile.
She had really grown to love Ben like he was one of her own. He was good to Mamie, respectful and kind a true gentleman just like Don.
“How you doing gorgeous?”
She smiled at his words “I’m okay what’s going on with you?”
He knew she was making small talk not to mention lying about being okay. Yet he decided to go along with it, thinking if she had something else to focus on if even for a few minutes it might make her fell a little better.
He proceeded to tell her about the last few weeks while she was gone, the premier of Mamie’s show Emily Owens M.D., different projects he was considering even making her laugh a little by mentioning a recent interview he did where the main topic of discussion had been her.
“You know some people think it bothers me… going in to give an interview about a project I’m involved with and yet the only thing the reporter really wants to talk about is my mother in law. But it doesn’t I’m really proud to be a part of this family.”
She was genuinely touched by what he had just said, yet she knew that on some level it had to bother him at least a little. “That’s really sweet honey. I’m going to tell you what I told Mamie and Grace as well as Henry when they decided to get involved in the business. Never let anyone compare you to anyone else, and never ever try to compare yourself to anyone else. The last thing you need is to change. You are a terrific actor and that should be good enough and if you decide that it is good enough than everyone else will have no choice but to accept that as well.
This whole ‘greatest living actress’ shit is nonsense, every time I take on a script I make a decision that I’m going to give the part everything I have that way for better or worse, weather it succeeds or fails I can walk away knowing that there was nothing more I could have done to make it better because I gave it 110%. As long as you can say that at the end of every project you take on than you’re going to be just fine.”
Ben was moved that she would share the same advice with him that she had shared with her own children but he was also surprised. “You remember that? You must have said that to Mames, Grace and Henry years ago…”
She could see the confusion in his face and went on to explain what had happened. Not able to look Ben in the eye while she spoke, she looked out over the view of the city. “It was the night before Jack took me from the cabin. On my way up to Maine I stopped at a book store and bought a few books on memory loss, different techniques you could try, tips, things like that. For the first few days it didn’t work and then I started to have a few dreams, bits and pieces nothing concrete. Than the night before Jack showed up I was reading one of the books and I fell asleep and it came back almost like the highlight reel of my life; my parents, my brothers, meeting Don, the day the kids were born, my first Oscar, and I woke up and I remembered everything. i don’t know how or why but it was back, I remembered…
I thought about calling Don to tell him but then I decided I would just come home and tell him. It was late but I was too excited to sleep I put my stuff in the car and I was about to back out of the driveway when I looked in my rearview mirror and there was Jack in his car right behind me. I got out of the car to see what was going on, wanting to know why he was at the cabin. Something was off but I decided to take him inside, it was so cold out and I thought if I could get him to talk about whatever it was that made him come up to the cabin he would leave and then I could come back here. He spent an hour jabbering on and on, mostly nonsense, trying to confuse me thinking I still hadn’t regained my memory.
Finally he left and once I was certain he was gone I left. I was locking the door and then something hit me on the back of the head and I was out like a light. The next thing I knew I was waking up chained to a wall in a room that was pitch black…”
She almost kept going but stopped herself. It was like vomit of the mouth; as much as she didn’t want to talk about it once she started she couldn’t stop herself. Turning her face so she was looking at Ben she noticed Don and the kids standing in the door way. She knew they had been listing…
TBC...
sorry for the long delay in updating since the last chapter. hope it was worth the wait.
no matter your thoughts let me know what you're thinking, good/bad, all comments are welcomed.
Reaching the floor that their apartment was located on Don could notice her apprehension, the tension was radiating off of her. He knew how nervous she was but he also knew that the kids needed to see her if only to ensure themselves that she was okay, at least physically okay. Holding the elevator door until she finally exited he wanted to give her a hug and assure her everything would be okay and yet something stopped him.
Before he knew it they were walking through the door and now there was no turning back.
The second the kids saw their mother they immediately stopped the conversation they were having in order to kill the time until their parents arrived and with one look at her the 4 children became deathly silent.
It was impossible to look at her and not know she had been through hell in the last few weeks. She was noticeably thinner and on top of that she looked like a wounded animal. Her face was covered with bruises, her lip was busted, she had a black eye, there were marks around her neck that were unmistakably hand print marks as though she had been chocked. To top it off she looked frightened standing near the door not wanting to walk to far inside in case she decided to leave.
The children knew she was coming home but that was the extent of their knowledge. Their father had called them and told them that he had found her and was bringing her home but that had been it, he had not mentioned how physically hurt she was and looking at her they understood why.
The four grown children along with Ben stood there not knowing what to say or how to react, the last thing any of them wanted was to make her uncomfortable, luckily one of them was about to break the tension.
Henry was the first of the children to approach her.
The entire time he was walking toward her he never took his eyes off of her. Something had changed.
She wasn’t the same “mom” he remembered, there had always been a distinct spark in her eye that he knew she reserved for him, his sisters and their father and looking at her now he didn’t see it. It was the spark that said everything all the words in the world never could; the world and the public would always have a significant part of her but the five of them, well now six, would always get the best of her. Stopping a couple of feet away from her he couldn’t stop himself.
Without thinking he grabbed her and pulled her into the tightest bear hug possible. Wrapping his arms around her waist he noticed she was thinner than she appeared as he could feel the bones protruding through her sweeter, and he also couldn’t help but notice how she tensed up upon him hugging her.
There were so many things he wanted to say, so many things he wanted to ask and yet holding her it was impossible to not notice how much smaller she appeared.
For the first time in his life he couldn’t help but feel something or someone had made his mother fragile. She had always been larger than life; she walked into a room and her mere presence forced you to notice her, the way she walked, the way she carried herself, the way she articulated her thoughts and opinions. Even when she would have preferred to walk through life as a ‘private person’ she would never be granted that freedom, because just one look at her and you knew you were in the presence of someone extraordinary and now holding her he didn’t see any of those things, he saw a woman who had been beaten and broken and that made the grown man want to break down and cry.
Standing a few feet away the girls stood motionless. Watching their mother and brother hug, Henry holding on to their mom in a way he never had before and their mom… It was a hard thing to explain but in that moment, unbeknownst to them, she was there but she wasn’t at the same time. Like Henry they couldn’t help but feel that something significant had changed in their mother.
The four of them were speechless and noticing the drained look on their fathers face and how even he was at a loss for words they began to get scared beyond the point that they already were.
Their father had always been a pillar of strength, he had always been the one who knew exactly what to say and what to do when things seemed to be falling apart and now here they were and no one knew what to do.
Finally Henry released his mother from the hug and placing both hands on either side of her face he said the only thing he could say.
“I missed you.”
That was all it took for Meryl to start crying. Not in the out of control way she had at the house shortly after Don had arrived but in a way that broke her heart just a little more than it had been before, if that was possible.
Here was her son, her first baby, now a grown man and yet the way he looked at her was still so much like the way he had when he was a little boy. The relationship she had with Henry was different than the one’s she had with her daughters. Something about a mother and a son is a powerful thing. Other than Don Henry was her guy, the first time she had ever experienced love at first sight was the day she had laid eyes on her little Gippy.
She wanted to say something, anything, to make him feel better to assure him that she was okay but she knew that would be a lie.
She had never felt so alone or so disconnected in her life. She was looking at her son, one of her favorite people in the world, and yet she couldn’t say a word. The entire time in the car this had been what she feared.
She feared she would return to her home, her life, her family and yet still not be able to participate. Jack had completely ruined her and she feared she would never again be who she used to be.
Placing her hand on her sons cheek she softly kissed him and was able to muster up a sad smile and then walked over to the girls and mechanically kissed each of them on the cheek as well, followed finally by a quick kiss she placed on Ben’s cheek, and without a word she walked off into the kitchen.
She felt horrible but she had to get out of there. It felt suffocating to stand in the same room as her children and husband, to have them look at her the way they had with such pity and sadness. She had been alone for over three weeks except for the horrifying company Jack granted her with, she just couldn’t handle it.
Meanwhile in the living room Henry asked what the girls couldn’t.
“He attacked her didn’t he?” Henry had noticed the way she flinched when he hugged her and the reaction had not gone unnoticed by the girls or Don either, not to mention the unmistakable evidence on her face and neck and that was only the areas of her body that they knew for sure had been attacked, they each suspected the rest of her body told an even more horrifying story.
Don knew what Henry was asking. One look at Meryl and it was clear that physically she had been tortured; Henry was asking if he had attacked her in other ways as well and the hidden meaning in his question was not lost on any of them
“She hasn’t said much since I arrived at the house and she hasn’t told me yet exactly what went on while Jack had her locked up but I would be willing to bet that he attacked her in every way possible in the last 2 weeks.”
Mamie finally finding her voice, fighting back the overwhelming need to cry. “Was she checked out by a doctor?”
“Yes. On the way home we stopped at the ER. They examined her and there is severe scarring that leaves little doubt she was raped. Three of her ribs are broken and her back and shoulders are badly bruised along with the injury’s you noticed on her face and neck.”
The girls started to cry once there father confirmed that she had been raped. Henry being the take charge type that he was. “Little doubt that she was rapped meaning what?”
“Your mom said that in the final days Jack had her locked up he made a trip to Canada to see his mother, keeping up appearances sort of thing, so there was no DNA but the scarring and bruises leave little indication that it could be anything other than proof that she was rapped.”
Henry almost wanted to start laughing. This man, no monster, who had attacked his mom went off to Canada to visit with his mommy while Meryl was chained up? If he didn’t already know Jack was a twisted son of a bitch now there was little doubt that he was anything but.
For the next 15 minutes Don sat in the living room answering the kids questions while Ben went into the kitchen to check on Meryl
Straight away he noticed the back door was open that led out to the balcony. Noticing Meryl standing there smoking a cigarette he decided to go and check on her. Making as much noise as he could to avoid startling her.
Meryl lost in thought and shivering against the cold couldn’t stop thinking about Jack.
How could she have been so wrong about the man?
What the hell had happened to him to turn him into such a monster?
Had he always been like that and she just hadn’t noticed?
Hearing someone walking out on to the balcony she pulled herself together not wanting to give any one any more reason than they already had to feel sorry for her.
Noticing it was Ben she couldn’t help but give him a small smile.
She had really grown to love Ben like he was one of her own. He was good to Mamie, respectful and kind a true gentleman just like Don.
“How you doing gorgeous?”
She smiled at his words “I’m okay what’s going on with you?”
He knew she was making small talk not to mention lying about being okay. Yet he decided to go along with it, thinking if she had something else to focus on if even for a few minutes it might make her fell a little better.
He proceeded to tell her about the last few weeks while she was gone, the premier of Mamie’s show Emily Owens M.D., different projects he was considering even making her laugh a little by mentioning a recent interview he did where the main topic of discussion had been her.
“You know some people think it bothers me… going in to give an interview about a project I’m involved with and yet the only thing the reporter really wants to talk about is my mother in law. But it doesn’t I’m really proud to be a part of this family.”
She was genuinely touched by what he had just said, yet she knew that on some level it had to bother him at least a little. “That’s really sweet honey. I’m going to tell you what I told Mamie and Grace as well as Henry when they decided to get involved in the business. Never let anyone compare you to anyone else, and never ever try to compare yourself to anyone else. The last thing you need is to change. You are a terrific actor and that should be good enough and if you decide that it is good enough than everyone else will have no choice but to accept that as well.
This whole ‘greatest living actress’ shit is nonsense, every time I take on a script I make a decision that I’m going to give the part everything I have that way for better or worse, weather it succeeds or fails I can walk away knowing that there was nothing more I could have done to make it better because I gave it 110%. As long as you can say that at the end of every project you take on than you’re going to be just fine.”
Ben was moved that she would share the same advice with him that she had shared with her own children but he was also surprised. “You remember that? You must have said that to Mames, Grace and Henry years ago…”
She could see the confusion in his face and went on to explain what had happened. Not able to look Ben in the eye while she spoke, she looked out over the view of the city. “It was the night before Jack took me from the cabin. On my way up to Maine I stopped at a book store and bought a few books on memory loss, different techniques you could try, tips, things like that. For the first few days it didn’t work and then I started to have a few dreams, bits and pieces nothing concrete. Than the night before Jack showed up I was reading one of the books and I fell asleep and it came back almost like the highlight reel of my life; my parents, my brothers, meeting Don, the day the kids were born, my first Oscar, and I woke up and I remembered everything. i don’t know how or why but it was back, I remembered…
I thought about calling Don to tell him but then I decided I would just come home and tell him. It was late but I was too excited to sleep I put my stuff in the car and I was about to back out of the driveway when I looked in my rearview mirror and there was Jack in his car right behind me. I got out of the car to see what was going on, wanting to know why he was at the cabin. Something was off but I decided to take him inside, it was so cold out and I thought if I could get him to talk about whatever it was that made him come up to the cabin he would leave and then I could come back here. He spent an hour jabbering on and on, mostly nonsense, trying to confuse me thinking I still hadn’t regained my memory.
Finally he left and once I was certain he was gone I left. I was locking the door and then something hit me on the back of the head and I was out like a light. The next thing I knew I was waking up chained to a wall in a room that was pitch black…”
She almost kept going but stopped herself. It was like vomit of the mouth; as much as she didn’t want to talk about it once she started she couldn’t stop herself. Turning her face so she was looking at Ben she noticed Don and the kids standing in the door way. She knew they had been listing…
TBC...
sorry for the long delay in updating since the last chapter. hope it was worth the wait.
no matter your thoughts let me know what you're thinking, good/bad, all comments are welcomed.