"Please what? I'll only stay for a little while. Besides the house looks empty." He stood there, waiting for an answer.
That was just it: it wasn't. Georgie was upstairs and if Warren got angry suddenly, Georgie would witness everything. "It's not. My daughter is home. Please, Warren, come back another time. I promise we'll make it work. We'll head out to the dude ranch, you and I can have a relaxing dinner—"
"Why not here and why not now?" He let out angrily.
Lou stopped in her tracks. She had to be careful with what she said now. "Okay, you know what, forget I said anything. Let's go in, I can pour us a glass."
"But you did say something. I wanna know why you said it, Lou." The way he said her name made Lou uncomfortable. He put an emphasis on it, and at the end of his speech.
"I didn't mean anything by it, but—"
Suddenly he had Lou by her throat. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear. "I don't like to fight, Lou. Never say no again, and everything will be fine."
Lou struggled to speak. Her voice came out muffled. Warren suddenly let her go and she stumbled back, catching her breath. Her hand was at her throat. She tried to rub it better where he had grabbed her, hoping to somehow eradicate any bruising that may occur.
The stairs suddenly creaked and Georgie came downstairs. Lou turned around, her eyes wide. "Sweetie, go upstairs. I'll be up in a minute."
Georgie sensed something was wrong. Lou seemed very frightened…Georgie knew she couldn't leave the room. And was that a bruise on her chest? "Mom?" Georgie looked from Lou, then to the man standing in front of her mother. He looked angry, his breathing heavy. Georgie didn't know what she was supposed to say or do in this situation…eventually she spoke to him. "Who are you?"
"Warren Bennett." He said coldly.
"Well, Warren, my mom and I were just about to head out into town…and we can't just leave you in an empty house. Maybe you should leave." Georgie asserted.
Lou stole a glance at Georgie, then turned to Warren. "We were headed into Calgary. Don't suppose you'd like to come with us?" Lou played along.
"No." He said abruptly. "Ah…I mean- I should get going." He said gruffly.
Lou nodded. She watched as Warren walked out the door and made his way to his truck. He got in and drove away.
Lou and Georgie were alone in the house now. Lou held her hands loosely together, fidgeting a little. She turned around to face Georgie, only to find her as confused and scared as Lou was herself.
"Mom. Who was that?"
"He's a friend."
"You mean…boy…friend?"
Lou nodded rigidly. She was shaken up by Georgie's encounter with Warren. She had hoped they hadn't met as soon as they did…she wasn't sure how long this would last. Involving her daughters would only complicate things.
"Okay, and if you're- together, why did the both of you look so tensed up? Is everything okay?"
"Yes!" Lou said with a little too much excitement in her voice.
There was a pause. Then, "Is he hurting you?"