Special thanks to the girls on Twitter for being supportive and encouraging me to just go for it.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable, CH owns them.
Chapter 1: If Someone Betrays You Once, It's Their FaultSPOVMy life had been uprooted and changed in the last four months. I don't know how I ended up sitting on a bench at a park in Foggia, Italy, with one suitcase, no plan, and feeling sorry for myself. Well, that's not accurate, I didn't feel sorry for myself, I felt disappointed in myself. My hero, Eleanor Roosevelt, once said "If someone betrays you once, it's their fault; if they betray you twice, it's your fault." How could I be so stupid to think that Bill, my fiancé would change? And why did I have to come all the way to Italy to realize the fact that Bill is the spawn of the devil? But I'm getting ahead of myself. I should really explain the events that have led up to me sitting on a bench, in Foggia, Italy feeling disappointed in myself, and wondering "what will I do now?"
I grew up in Bon Temps, Louisiana, and had lived there all my life. To say I lived a sheltered life would be an understatement. I had grown up with my brother, Jason, and my Gran, after my parents were killed in a freak car accident. I never really dated, because I had the "orphan" stigma, and in a small town, you can only deal with being pitied so much. After high school, I went to New Orleans and attended LSU where I received my degree in History Education, since Gran loved history more than anything, and she passed that along to me.
That's where I met Bill. Bill Compton, member of the Air Force ROTC, getting a business degree in computer engineering. He was the first guy to like me, the first guy to ask me out, my first kiss, my first everything. He was the perfect southern gentleman, and I fell in love almost immediately. He would take me on these amazing dates, and would tell me stories of boot camp. We were together for three months when I decided to lose my virginity to him, four months when everything went to hell the first time.
It was a Friday night, our typical date night, and I decided to surprise Bill by stopping by his apartment with food from our favorite restaurant. I pulled out my key he had given me once we consummated our relationship a month ago, and opened the door. I walked in and heard noises coming from the bedroom. Curious, I placed the food on the kitchen counter and headed towards the bedroom, hoping that my instinct was wrong. I pushed open the door and there, on Bill's bed was Bill and some skank whore having sex. I couldn't hold back my tears as ran out of the apartment, hopped in my car, and drove all the way back to Bon Temps.
Gran comforted me and told me that if a man cheats, he will do it again, and that he's not worth my time. I believed her, until Bill showed up on her doorstep, begging for my forgiveness. He said that it was a mistake, and that Lorena was his high school sweetheart, and that it was a one-time thing, blah blah blah. And was I smart enough to see through his bologna and kick his sorry ass to the curb? No siree Bob, I fell for his shit and took him back, as he promised that he would "never betray me again." My brain should have been listening to Jason as he shouted "Bull Shit" when I told him and Gran that I was going back with Bill, but my brain was clouded with "love." I think that's the moment my relationship with Jason and Gran kind of fell apart. They worried about me, and I ignored them.
One month later, Bill proposed and I said yes. Gran cried, but I don't think it was from happiness. Jason told me that I should reconsider, but I didn't listen to him, and "followed my heart." Bill didn't want his "wife" working, so when I graduated from LSU with my certification, I didn't find a job. Which was fine, because a month after graduation, Bill got notice that he was being stationed at Amendola Air Force Base in Foggia, Italy, so we would be moving there. I have to admit I panicked. For one thing, I had never been outside of Louisiana, for another, I didn't speak any Italian. Bill assured me that living on the Air Force base I wouldn't need to know Italian, so we moved to Italy.
Living in Italy was incredibly boring. Bill wouldn't let me leave the base without him, and he never left the base. We were 212 miles from Rome, and Bill could never find time to ask for a weekend pass to visit it. So I joined a book club with other military wives. But I still wasn't satisfied. I learned of a school in the area that taught all their classes in English. I longed to teach there. So I applied for a work permit, without Bill knowing.
We were living in Italy for four months when all hell broke loose for the second time in our relationship. And this time it was a doozey. I had stepped out of our tiny house on the base to go to the post office. I knew that my work permit would be coming soon, and I didn't want Bill to find it, until the time was right to tell him. He had been very harsh to me lately. He would come home and yell at me if I hadn't cooked dinner the right way, or if it wasn't ready. The other thing that was suffering was our sex life. Bill just didn't seem interested in me when I tried to initiate things, and then sometimes, when I wasn't really in the mood, he would say things like "it's my duty, so just suck it up," and he would get kind of rough. I kept telling myself that we just needed to adjust to life in Italy and things would go back to normal. Boy was I wrong.
I returned to the house, with my work permit in my purse, and groceries in my hands. I was walking with a spring in my step. This work permit could fix everything. I could get some sort of job, and maybe I'll be happy again. I opened the door to our house and had a strange sense of déjà vu. I heard noises from the bedroom, and this time they were very distinct.
"OH BILL! HARDER!" moaned a woman from MY bedroom. I through the groceries on the floor and ran to my bedroom and threw open the door. There in our bed was Bill and the same skank he cheated on me with before, Lorena. I was furious. This time, I wasn't going to leave quietly.
"What the HELL Bill?" I yelled tears threatening to spill.
Bill looked over at me, annoyance etched on his face. "Lorena, will you excuse us for a second?" Lorena climbed out of my bed, put on my bathrobe and sauntered into the adjoining bathroom, with a smirk on her face. "Sookie, how dare you raise your voice to me. What I do is none of your concern."
I looked at him and gaped. "None of my concern?? You're fucking another woman in OUR bed, Bill. How is this none of my concern?" I couldn't believe it, I felt like I had been slapped in the face.
Bill smirked. "Sookie, that language doesn't become a proper southern lady. You only need to concern yourself with cooking and cleaning and being the perfect wife, so that I can get promoted to an officer position. If you were better in bed, you could have had that job too, but alas, your inexperience really shows through."
I couldn't help the tears that flowed down my cheeks. He really knew how to make things hurt. "How long have you been sleeping with Lorena? And what is she even doing here, in Italy?"
Bill looked over at me while he was putting on his boxer shorts. "That's none of your business. Why don't you just run along and meet with some of the other women on the base and discuss our wedding plans or something. I want to go fuck Lorena in the shower, and she's not cool with you being here." He stood up off the bed, and made a shooing motion with his hands.
My mouth gaped. "HOW LONG, Bill!?!" I half screamed, half cried.
"The entirety of our relationship," Bill said nonchalantly. "You weren't putting out in the beginning, so I had to get it somewhere. And then when we finally did the deed, you proved that you weren't, shall we say, adequate enough to satisfy my needs. So I took a mistress. It's no big deal. I still love you and want to marry you."
I couldn't take it anymore, I felt like the world was crumbling around me. My fiancé didn't feel I was adequate enough in bed, so he took a mistress. He still wanted to marry me, and I think he kinda expected me to be okay with him having someone on the side. That's the moment that I woke up, and remembered that I owned my own life, and I had a work permit in my purse to remind me. I took the ring off my finger and threw it at Bill.
"We're over, Bill. I can't just stand here and have you insult me and treat me like dirt. If you want to fuck Lorena, then fuck Lorena all you want, but I won't stand around and let you treat me like shit. I'm out of here," I walked over to the closet and pulled out my suitcase and threw everything that I could fit in it and shoved it closed. I dragged it into the living room where I had dropped my purse. Bill followed me.
"Sookie, don't be ridiculous. Where are you going to go? And who's ever going to want you? You're terrible in bed, you cook like shit, and you don't obey very well. You should stay if you know what's good for you."
That was the last straw. I didn't even turn around as I walked out the door. Before I slammed the door shut, I yelled, "Go to Hell, Bill." I stormed off the base and walked towards the center of the city. I found a bench and I sat down, and began crying, hard. What if Bill was right, and no one would want me? And where the hell would I go now? I felt so disappointed in myself. I remembered Eleanor Roosevelt, my idol, the ultimate independent woman, and realized that I lost a lot of myself when I started dating Bill. I remembered one of Eleanor's sayings, and it was as if she was gently chastising me. "If someone betrays you once, it's their fault; if they betray you twice, it's your fault." Eleanor was right, it was all my fault. I should have listened to Jason and Gran when they warned me about Bill. I shouldn't have blindly followed Bill to another fucking country without listening to what other people had to say.
That's how I ended up here, on the park bench in Foggia, Italy, feeling sorry for myself. Wondering what the hell I did now. Do I go back to the States with my tail between my legs? Or do I stay in Italy? If I stayed, what would I do? And then, I remembered my work permit, my one stand against Bill, the one thing I did to go against him. My one salvation. It was in my purse, my ticket to my future.
AN: So what do you think??? Please press the green button and review. Constructive criticism is welcome. But I 3 reviews. Eric will kinda appear in the next chapter, be patient, I have an outline, I know where I'm going with this.