Hi everyone! So I broke my laptop and haven't gotten it fixed yet which is why this took so long (story in itself and not one as interesting as this). Anyways this is the long awaited next chapter, which I decided to split up because it was kind of getting out of hand. I just kept adding to it until I realized it was twelve pages and was like "why not just post half as a chapter? Idiot". Ahh my sarcastic, critical self. I love the reviews by the way! They kept making me go "oh shittttttt finish that chapter!" Let me know how you like this one.

Warning, contains sex and abuse, slightly.

In the Eye of the Storm

For a long time the next day Jack stayed starring up at the ceiling. He was glad it was Saturday. Not that he would have gone to work anyway. He even had come up with an excuse the night before"yeah Dave, can't come in today, they want me in the hospital for some tests, might take all day", before remembering it was Friday night.

It seemed his days passed by him in a blur, he hurried to get to work earlier, hoping to catch her on her way into the office and calm his anxiety from the previous dream. He'd stare down the hallway waiting for her to come in, sometimes not even bothering to turn his computer on until he'd see her. Around seven she'd come in, and his heart would start beating faster. Quickly she'd make her way down the hall, one of her many pairs of heels clicking down the hall. They were expensive he knew. He had found a new pair on her kitchen table one day while she was showering. The price tag said they were $850. He'd never known woman's shoes could be that expensive, never considered that the woman he slept almost every night besides had that type of money. Then again she always dressed well. Her wardrobe itself must be a small fortune. Not that he himself didn't have money, but he suspected she probably didn't have to work when he remembered who her father was, his boss. The man was a seasoned politician, as was his father almost everyone was successful, from lawyers to doctors. They had vacation houses and estates, not to mention the planes and jets. They were like the Kennedy's, but without the popularity and the scandal.

She always kept her head down as she went into her office. He thought it was to keep people from talking with her. Once she had glanced up and caught him starring. Throughout the day they would talk only if necessary about their projects, but Jack loved the days when they'd be confined in the room together working on something. At his apartment he would make himself dinner and fall to sleep, more often than not waking in the middle of the night after some horrible dream, reaching for her in bed, calling her name. By the time six am came he was excited to get to work and start the process all over again.

It was different back when they started going out. He'd wake up in her bed to her caressing his chest, her nails going across his skin softly, tickling him, usually before the alarm had gone off. His morning hard on was always worse with her around. Always had to be solved one way or another. Opening his eyes he'd see her grin, her eyes sparkle. "Good morning" she'd whisper before kissing him softly, her hand beginning to stray lower, under the sheets. Sometimes he'd keep his eyes shut, wondering what she'd do but she always knew he was awake and played along. By the time he'd open his eyes she'd be on top of him, naked giving him that look that said "what are you going to do now?" Sometimes he'd wake up before her, listen to the sound of her breathing. That's when he felt the most insecure being with her, when she wasn't looking at him. When he could stop and think how lucky he was she wanted him. He couldn't help but wonder if she really knew what he was like if she would still be with him.

Sometimes they'd continue into the shower, the water falling over both of them. They hardly ever talked then, busy either with washing each other or getting lost in each other. Then came getting dressed. He'd watch her dress, laughing sometimes as she would try on four or five things before finally settling on something and shrugging in the mirror. By the end of the six months he had moved most of his clothing to her house, and some of hers was at his apartment but they almost never went there. Unless of course she happened to be hiding out from her father or husband.

At work there was always the glances, sometimes a touch. They worked extremely well together, even if they didn't agree which was often. In fact those first few weeks he had a hard time being around her without wanting to take her right in that spot. There had been a few times when the heat between them was too much, once when he was sitting at his office chair and she had come in, locked the door behind her, shut the blades in a second stratling him. Another time he had lost it in the parking garage, and once even found a spare conference room.

At night they lived a different life, dating and going out, acting like the normal couple. By eight am the next morning they played their part again.

The thought of them getting caught made her laugh."Gee I think the Secretary would stop sending us on those trips together huh?" They did a lot of traveling for conferences, New York, Boston, Michigan. His least favorite trips were the ones to New York, where her husband lived, where her real house was. He liked to keep her confined to one of their hotel rooms while they were there, not wanting to risk being out in public in case they ran into him. Even though the guy had cheated on Audrey, he still felt guilty now for being with her. She was after all still married to him. Their separation was supposed to be for thinking about their future and little did he know she was spending that time with another man. Not that Paul probably wasn't screwing around also, but Jack could tell the guy wanted her back. The phone calls were consistent. They spoken of Paul only once out of all those trips to New York. He had asked her what she thought he'd do if he found out. She just shook her head and stared out the window of the car they were driving in. "I honestly don't know. I hadn't thought of it." At least it was good she wasn't thinking of him, but maybe she should have thought that her father wouldn't mind telling Paul she was in town because that's what he did on that trip.

Sure enough one night as they were laying in bed watching the news, the hotel phone rang. Her head was laying on his chest, her arm draped over him when she looked up at him first startled, confused at who would be calling so late. She reached over him to pick it up, kissing him on the lips as she did. His hand went to her lower back as she was now on top of him. He might have imagined her grip his shirt a little tighter as she answered the phone. Her look told him exactly who it was, always those same eyes that watched him, maybe to make sure he wouldn't leave.

One time he had left. They were all over each other on the couch, things starting to get hot when the phone started ringing and wouldn't stop. As she answered the phone and found out who it was, Jack put his clothes on and left, needing the fresh air. She had shown up at his apartment that night, with a tear stained face and an apology. He hated she was apologizing to him for talking to her own husband, ashamed he had left. They had passionately made love for hours without another word.

At the hotel that night he wasn't sure what to do thinking that that would be the night they would get caught and would have to make the decisions about their relationship neither of them had yet made.

Would she leave Paul? Where they going to stay together? When were they going to tell Heller? Four months, he thought it was like yesterday and yet felt being with her the most natural thing in the world. It sounded like Paul was coming to visit his wife, no matter how much she was telling him to go screw. She finally put the phone down, shaking her head. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked. To his surprise she shook her head. "You want me to stay?" She bit her lip "I... I don't want you to do either, I don't know." She was still on top of him, looking down on him worriedly. He pulled her down, kissing her softly, his tongue just barely warming her mouth, making her groan softly. "How about I go hide out on the porch? You can come get me when he's gone." She nodded "He's not coming in though" she said more he thought to convince herself. She was already gearing up for battle, preparing herself for the oncoming fight. He wanted to do something to help her, remembering how bad it would sometimes be with him and Teri.

He waited outside with a beer in his hands, staring out into the city lights. Audrey had drawn the curtains behind him just as the knock had come on the door. Occasionally he could hear loud voices, standing straighter whenever he heard the man's voice, ready to run inside and save her if need be. The longer he waited the more anxious he became, wanting her back in her arms, before her husband could do any more damage, or convince her to take him back. When finally she had come and let him back in, he was surprised it had only been about five minutes. Five minutes, and yet he was pushing her against the wall in a second, his mouth claiming hers. Her legs went around his waist and he pushed up one of his old shirts she wore to bed every night. He wondered if she thought about the fact she was just talking to her husband, wearing his shirt. It was almost like they had flaunted their relationship out in front of him, and the son of a bitch didn't even notice, or care. As he removed it and started in on kissing down her neck, her hands found the zipper to his pants. Soon her own were on the floor along with her underwear and he was inside her. All those words left unspoken, this was how they dealt with them. This was what they did best.

Last night he had been pissed at her, first for having slept with Mike, and then finding out about Paul. So pissed he had put his hand through a wall probably breaking it. It still stung, even after Renee had done her best to bandage it. When he thought about it though it was the fact that she had never told him, but had told this guy she had just met, who she was now fucking. Nothing had changed, all these years later and they still weren't talking about these things. Not that she would talk to him anyways.

He thought it was more than the old wounds though, the reason he blew up on her. Every time he saw one of her scars from China, knowing what she had endured because of him for him, sent him into his own private rage. It made him feel lethal finding out someone else had hurt her, even if it was all those years ago. He felt almost out of control when he thought she was in any sort of danger.

He wanted to get up and get the aspirin to take some of the pain away from his hand but he was too lazy to move.

…...

"Tell me what happened with Paul… from the beginning" Sue asked. They met on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturday mornings. This Saturday, Sue had arrived at her office, (a rented room in a building with ten other psychologists) to find Audrey already waiting by the door. She was wearing a dark blue v-neck sweater that on her slight frame seemed to engulf her, and jeans. Her arms were wrapped around herself tightly, and two cups of coffee sat by her feet. It was going to be one of those days then.

They had walked down to Sue's office and as soon as the door was shut and both were seated with a coffee in her hands, Audrey began to talk about what had happened the night before, the fight.

"He let Mike hit him, and his hands... they were shaking so bad. Worse than mine ever do. I thought he was going to really hurt Mike. And then..."

Audrey seemed shaken up by all this, worried even. It was interesting to see the effect Jack getting hurt had on her so immediate. After all that was a huge part of the therapy. It was even more interesting however when Audrey had told her about Paul having abused her, prompting Sue to delve deeper into her relationship with her former husband.

Audrey's face tinged with pain but only for a moment. She felt the spot where a ring used to be on her wedding finger.

"Things with Paul were good at first. We met in college, dated for a year then broke it off, but we ended up getting back together. A year after college he proposed to me" Audrey looked down at her now bear finger. "We were living in this small apartment in New York. He was working with his father at his company, and I was trying to get my foot in the door in Washington. Even then we were so busy…"

Audrey opened the door to her apartment finding it dark and empty. She sighed shaking her head as she took off her black pea coat hanging it in the closet. She turned on the lights to their small apartment, and patted down her hair, getting rid of the remaining flurries of snow that hadn't melted yet. A stack of bills were on the table, dishes were still in the sink, and it was already nine o'clock. Forgetting the bills and the dishes, Audrey got out the takeout menus and picked up the phone. She stared at the door for a minute as if she were waiting but there was still no sign of her soon to be husband.

She ordered Chinese for the both of them, grabbed a beer and sat down on the couch, flicking on the TV. It had been another long day and she was exhausted, but she was starting to really like the work. In fact everything in her life was going pretty good she thought as she stared down at the very large engagement ring Paul had given her.

An hour after the food had arrived, the front door opened and Paul finally came in wiping the snow from the top of his head. "Did you order something?" he asked picking up some of the bills. "in the fridge" she called.

After a few minutes Paul sat down on the opposite side of the couch, plate in hand. There was silence while he ate as the news played, and Audrey read one of her wedding magazines. She watched him while he stretched once he was done, wondering if now would be the time to bring up wedding details. "We need to set a date"

"I know, I'm working on it" he said with a twinge of irritability.

Audrey moved closer to him, her hand making soothing patterns on his chest "I was thinking sometime in the fall or winter" The smirk on her face as she messaged his neck with her other hand was enough to break his attitude.

"Alright alright, geez babe your persistent. How about this weekend we sit down and talk about it okay"

"Thank you" she said kissing him on the cheek. He smiled at her "I love you, you know" She moved so that her head was against his shoulder as they watched the rest of the news.

Sue looked up from her notes, a little surprised. "You were really happy with him"

"Well I didn't marry for money" Audrey said a bit sarcastically.

"I know but by the way you two sounded together, I wouldn't have expected it to end the way it did"

Audrey looked back down into her lap. "I didn't expect it either, but things change"

Audrey was in a meeting when she got the text from Jen saying to call her when she got the chance so they could meet for lunch. At one o'clock, she arrived at the small cafe they had agreed on. After some small talk, Jen decided to bring up the topic she had called Audrey here for.

"I've been hearing some things lately, some things about Paul" she said playing with her salad. She didn't want to be doing this, but Audrey was her best friend, she deserved to know.

"I'm glad someone knows what he's been doing, It's not like I ever see him anymore" Audrey replied dejectedly. Her husband had long ago stopped taking an interest in his wife, going on business trips, working even later than her at the office.

They hadn't talked in a week or two and even then it was about trivial things.

"Audrey" Jen said taking her hand in both of hers "this is serious"

"He's having an affair" Audrey said. It was so simple, so obvious, she had known it for weeks but had yet to say it out loud.

"A woman named Rachael, I saw them kiss the other night at the benefit so I asked around and found out that they've been spending a lot of time together." Jen said feeling bad for her; she could see the hurt in her eyes, the pain.

"Rachael" Audrey repeated, the name sounding dirty in her mouth.

"Do you know her?" Jen asked cautiously.

"I know who she is, I've met her a couple of times with Paul. God he introduced me to her" her voice quavered as she looked away.

"What are you going to do?"

Audrey shook her head "I have no idea"

….

A week later, Paul had just come home to their impressive New York brownstone. Dropping his brief case on the kitchen table, he looked around their immaculate house for his wife.

"Audrey where's dinner it's almost nine!"

She came down the stairs looking at him strangely. "I made some for myself, I didn't think you would be home. There might be something in the fridge"

Grumbling, Paul pulled stuff out of the fridge, banging the containers down on the counter top. Audrey sat on the stairs watching him, her head leaning against the banister, and her sweater wrapped around her.

After he had made his plate and sat down at the table, he looked up at her. "What?" he asked roughly.

"Who's Rachael?"

"Um Rachel Finn, she's A friend from work you've met her" Paul answered continuing to eat.

"Right… a friend" Audrey said pushing her hair back.

"What's your problem? I work over fifty hours a week, I pay for this place we're living in, and I come home and there's no dinner and you're asking me about some woman at work?"

"Who you're fucking" Audrey added.

Paul stood up, pushing his plate off the table and letting it smash on the kitchen floor, pieces going everywhere.

"Are you kidding me? You're accusing me of having an affair"

"Oh please Paul, everyone knows you're with her. Jen told me that today at lunch. She saw you kiss her at the benefit dinner last week"

Paul paced around the kitchen. "The dinner you dragged me to, that I never wanted to go to in the first place!"

"The dinner I was going to let you skip out on until, you found out your girlfriend was going to be there, and decided it would be would be worth it if you got to see her, is that it?" Audrey stood up, walking down the rest of the stairs into the kitchen, her arms crossed in front of her.

"She's not my girlfriend and I didn't kiss her. Of course Jen told you this she hates me. She'd tell you anything to have you divorce me, kick me out of my own house"

"It doesn't matter what Jen said Paul, I already knew you were having an affair. The late nights, the trips, come on do you think I'm stupid?"

"You work just as late as I do honey, and you take work trips. Should I assume you're sleeping with someone too?"

"After the way you've treated me maybe I should be"

"The way I treated you!" Paul said getting louder. "I've treated you like a fucking queen! You don't have to work, you choose to. I've provided for you, I've taken care of you, what more do you want you ungrateful bitch!"

"This is what matters to you, this house? The money? You care more about that than your wife!"

In the moments that followed Audrey couldn't be sure if she saw or heard it first but it was like in slow motion. Paul's hand smacked her across the cheek, hard, but the pain took what seemed like forever to reach her. She had fallen backwards onto the stairs she had just been sitting.

She sat there in shock, and she could almost see the shock in his eyes too before he straightened up, moving to clean up the broken dish off the floor. Audrey stood rooted to the spot and transfixed by what had just happened until he was done, walking past her to go into the living room.

As the TV turned on, the realization kicked in and suddenly she was moving upstairs, finding a traveling bag and throwing clothes into it. She grabbed a few pictures of her mom, and some of her jewelry, and packed those too. She took the check book and their credit cards out of her purse and left them on the bed.

Once she was done, she called a taxi to take her to Jen's for the night. A while later she brought her bag downstairs she let it thud against the steps, if only to irritate him. She heard the taxi honk outside and opened the door, putting her bag outside.

Turning back around, she found Paul standing there tears coming down his face. "Baby I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. I'll do anything I promise. Don't go." He reached out to try to grab her arm but she pulled away. "I love you, I love you so much, please, Audrey..."

She looked back at him angry, with a sort of tiredness in her eyes. It was over, this life they had been living. She needed a change, she deserved to be happy, to be with someone who loved her. She should have known that whatever feelings they had had for each other in the beginning, had long died out.

She left with a red mark already appearing on her face, Paul standing in the doorway watching her go.

"You felt that your marriage had already ended, so why not get a divorce right away" Sue asked.

"It didn't take long for Paul to call begging for me to come back. We had fought before and I had left but I always went back to him eventually, but not this time. This time I bought my own house in D.C., with some money I had saved. I started working with my father who thought that after a while Paul and I would get back together. Paul still kept calling, he came to see me once but we fought again. Finally we agreed to separate for a year to see if we could work it out."

"Did you want to work it out with him?"

"He was my husband for nine years; it was hard to picture myself without him, being on my own again. And a part of me did still care about him. Maybe if things had been different we would've gotten back together, but then who knows how long it would've been till the next fight, the next time I moved out"

"...and would've ended up with Jack?"

Audrey shifted uncomfortably "I thought we were talking about Paul?"

So potentially if I posted the next chapter within 24 hours, how would that sit with everyone?