Cooperation or Not?

Helen fights with Kevin over the promotion for her show

Cooperation or Not?

 

 

 

Helen was under the gun to get her girls and her husband to cooperate.  Marco’s video of her in that redneck bar was more than enough ammunition for Kevin to divorce her and make sure the girls would be out of her life forever.  It also held enough power to ruin her reputation as a respected broadcast journalist forever.  As much as she really feared for the safety of the girls, she could not think of any way out of this mess.  Marco had her, and had her cold.

            “Kevin”, she was pleading, “we can get their coaches to inspect everything if it will make you all feel better.  Marco is set on this idea and really I believe he will make every effort to take care of the girls.”

            “I’m not sure it is a good idea.  The very idea of having the girls promote the regional by doing dual routines on the bars is not good.  The uneven bars just happen to be Stacy’s weakest event.  She doesn’t need the distraction of another routine this close to Regionals and besides, I have to cover some daredevil stunt thing at the Texas Commerce Tower that day and the girls won’t have a way to get to the shoot.  Why would he think this would do anything good for gymnastics at all?  It may feather his nest with some publicity, it will get you some more recognition, but the sport itself gets nothing.”

            “The sport gets the entire spotlight.  This is the first time the Regionals have been held here in Texas and it’s also the first time a small gym like Shannon’s Dance and Gymnastics has had anyone qualify, much less three competitors.  This is a first and should really put the spotlight on their sport.  Besides, I can take the girls for the promo.  I have to be there to cover the event anyway.  Have you had a chance to talk to the girls about the idea?”

            “Kimberly is very excited about the whole thing, but here lately she’s always excited about gymnastics. Stacy was just okay with it until she found out Marco was behind this promotional ad.  She would rather see Marco fall off a ledge somewhere rather than do anything that he has dreamed up.” 

            “She really said that?”

            “Not in so many words.  It was more like, “Why doesn’t he just fall off a cliff somewhere”.  I have never known her to be so dead set against any one person in her life.  She really hates Marco for some reason sending the girls flowers to their school the other day did not help his position with Stacy at all.”

            With a brief flash of remembrance, Helen knew why Stacy hated Marco.  She had not known which child came into the den that night, but she had been afraid one of them would.  That night, Marco had had way too much to drink.  Helen had ordered the limo driver to take her home.  She was totally fed up with Marco.  He had been trying to make moves on her all night during the party which had been thrown to celebrate the station’s new success under his lead, and in his drunken state, he was getting more and more aggressive.

            As Helen turned her key in the front door, Marco crashed into her from behind.  He was so intensely intoxicated and staggered into the foyer. 

            “Gotta piss” he slurred. 

            Helen helped him to the hall bathroom where he took care of nature’s business induced by the massive amounts of Spanish wine he had consumed.  Helen was disgusted with him and his vulgar mouth.  She was hoping the girls would not hear this and wake up.  She did not want them to be exposed to this side of adult life just yet, it was ugly, and it stank.

            Marco staggered back into the hallway and could barely keep his feet beneath him.  Helen was leading him to the door when she realized the limo had left.  She could not remember whether it was the station’s rental or Marco’s limo, but it didn’t matter at this point.  It was gone and this drunken man was something she did not want to deal with right now. 

            Helen had helped him to the sofa and covered him with a blanket when he grabbed her and pulled her onto the sofa.  He was forcing a kiss on her that was way too rough, far too aggressive for Helen’s taste.  She managed to pull away from him, but he had a very tight grip on her blouse and it caused her to trip over the ottoman.  Her fall made way too much noise. The front of her blouse was torn open and Helen tried to cover herself and get to her feet.

            Marco took advantage of that move and grabbed her again, this time more tightly than before.  His embrace was more forceful, but he kissed her with more passion than she had felt in a long time, but he was much less gentle. His hands found their way onto her chest and with rather deft and subtle moves Marco had removed her torn blouse and exposed her breasts.  The alcohol was affecting Helen as well and she was beginning to melt from his touch, but she still felt very wrong about where they were and what was happening.  She had not minded the innocent flirtations at the office, but she was in her home and her girls were home as well.  

            Marco was doing his drunken best to forcefully have sex with her.  His advances were not welcome by Helen and she fought against all of his attempts get her into a position suitable for sex.  This wasn’t about passion any more.  This was about control and domination.  During the struggle Helen’s skirt had been mostly removed and was somewhere between her knees and ankles.  Her body was feeling the effects of the alcohol she had ingested earlier that evening and a small part of her started longing for sex, but a quick reality check made her rethink what was happening.  She now wished she had worn regular underwear rather than this tiny almost nothing thong, but she had to live with her choices in more ways than one.   That thin barrier might have slowed the drunken advances Marco was making into her body.

            She heard the startled gasp from the hallway and knew immediately one of the girls had been awakened by the noise and had seen this horrible ugly scene.  The realization that one or both of the girls had seen her with this man made Helen even more determined to break free from him and get as far away as she could.  Before she could get free of the drunken man on her sofa, he grabbed her private area and squeezed the soft tissue between his fingers as hard as he could.  The intense pain caused Helen to recover quickly from the alcoholic daze and gave her added strength to fight off Marco’s attempts to control her body.

            Helen forced her way out of Marco’s grasp, gathered her clothes and ran to her bedroom.  Marco did not try to follow for some reason, and Helen did not question her luck at that point.  She had been very close to being raped and now wanted nothing more than to get rid of him.  She actually wished Kevin would come home early and rescue her from the man she thought would further her career even more than she had been able to do for herself. 

        In her bathroom, she had examined herself for any bruises to her face or arms that would have to be explained away and found none.  That was a relief, but she was very sore in her private areas and she suffered some very noticeable bruises there as well from Marco’s abuse, and she was not happy with that at all.  She put on shorts and a shirt and went out to call Marco a cab.  She had sent him away that night, but the damage to her child had been done.

            Helen did not know that Stacy had been hiding under the covers of her bed that night, and she didn’t know that she could see the injury to her genitalia as well.  Had she known, maybe the explanation would have been easier.

            She had to turn to the matter at hand now, and that was making sure that the girls would be doing the routine for Marco and her reputation would be spared.  She knew Marco would definitely carry out his threats against her, and that was a fact.

            “Listen, Kevin, I know that you are worried about this, but hasn’t Laura seen the routine?  Doesn’t she think it’s safe?”

            “Laura has seen the routine and she said it looked very safe, fun and exciting. What concerns me the most is Marco using our girls to further his own future.”

            “Well, I’m concerned about that too.  Marco is an ambitious man and this promo could launch him right out of here, and out of our lives.”

            “I couldn’t be so lucky.  Look, the girls have the day off from school tomorrow and I know you are off all day also.  My calendar is clear so let’s talk about this when I get home.  All four of us will decide on this together.”

            “Okay, Kevin we can do that.  Maybe we can at least do this as a family.”