Lisa didn't wallow. She didn't cry, or feel sorry for herself. She'd thought she would. It was who she was. But somehow, she was changed.
Lisa no longer let herself believe that every man was a threat. She made friends, went on dates, and allowed herself sick days from work. She didn't let little things stress her out, and made time for herself, even when it seemed like there wasn't any left.
The incident on the Red Eye three years ago had, if anything, made her stronger. Not physically, but mentally. She knew in her mind that she could in fact beat Jack again.
He'd gone to the hospital for two weeks and then to jail. Recently the paper read that he'd been released.
Released, not escaped. Lisa tried to remain unfazed but her "female-driven emotions" kicked in every so often and she found herself carrying a pen in her purse every where she went. Just in case.
Lisa's phone rang late one night in mid-December. She glanced at the caller id and picked it up from her countertop.
"Hey, Leese," Lisa's happy-go-lucky cousin and best friend, Tanya. Lisa glanced around her apartment. It was small and modest, but a few charming pieces of furniture made it cute.
"Hey, Tanya," Lisa smiled through the phone.
"What are you doing tonight?" she bubbled.
"Um," Lisa laughed, glancing at the clock. "Seeing how it's ten o'clock, going to bed."
"No," Tanya corrected her. "Come to the movies with me."
"No, Tanya, it's too late," Lisa argued. "Tomorrow."
"Come on, Leese," Tanya begged. "I really want to see Date Movie. It's stopping showing tonight. Besides, going late is fun. Less people."
Lisa sighed. "I'm tired, Tanya. Go with Adam."
Adam was Tanya's boyfriend.
"You know as well as I that he's visiting his parents in Greece," Tanya whined. "I know for a fact that you don't have to work tomorrow. First day of your Christmas vacation." Lisa always got a week's vacation and it did start tomorrow.
Lisa surrendered. "Fine. When?"
"Half an hour," Tanya squealed and hung up.
Lisa pulled up in front of the cinema thirty minutes later dressed in jeans and a green Aero tshirt under her jean jacket.
Tanya hopped out of the ticket line waving two tickets in Lisa's face.
"Here," she said excitedly. "I paid your way."
"Thanks, hon," Lisa smiled at her.
They grabbed some food and went into the theatre. The dark room held only a handful of people as the previews played.
Lisa munched her popcorn as the movie began and a couple of late comers came in. A man and his daughter. Lisa looked a little closer at the girl. She looked pretty young to be in this movie, only about three or four years old. Parents these days.
Lisa laughed right along with Tanya at the exceedingly stupid film. She heard the man laughing next to her, a low, kind of hoarse laugh. Lisa did not hear the girl chuckle once. She's probably too young to get some of the jokes, Lisa predicted.
As the girl on the screen made her ugly-duckling transformation to now be played by Alyson Hannigan, Lisa accidentally bumped her arm on the man's on the armrest.
"Sorry," she whispered.
"It's fine," the man next to her answered.
The movie played on to the Kill Bill-esque scene. Lisa chuckled. The man leaned over to speak to her.
"This remind you of anything?" he whispered.
Lisa shook her head, a chill darting up her spine.
"Julia Jones' Ka-Bar doesn't ring a bell?"