TITLE: Behind This Façade – Chapter 17
AUTHOR: Kerry
RATING: PG-17
CONTENT: Attempted rape in later chapters
CATEGORY: Angst/Adult
SPOILERS: None
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, no one.
DISTRIBUTION: yahoo groups. Please ask

CHARACTERS: Vince, Linda, Shane, Stephanie, Paul, Marissa, Declan. David is my own creation.

Chapter 17

Linda waked in to her apartment and locked the door behind her, she looked around and put her head in her hands, it had been a long day and the conversation she had with Vince certainly had not made it any easier. She took her coat off and walked into the kitchen and put the kettle on, she needed a cup of tea and time to think.

She down at the kitchen table and was waiting for the kettle to boil, a knock at the front door interrupted her thoughts. She sighed and got up.

"David!" Linda said, surprised to see him.

"Hi, can I come in?"

"Yeah sure," Linda said with some hesitation in her voice.

"What's wrong?" He asked walking into the kitchen.

She shook her head, "nothing, it's just been a long day."

"Oh okay," he said softly, "so you're not in the mood to watch a movie then?" he asked.

"Not really David, sorry."

The kettle boiled and David got up, "well, at least let me get you some tea then."

She smiled, "thanks," she said absentmindedly.

"You're not really here are you?" He asked as he poured the tea.

"No," she said honestly. "I'm sorry, there's just a lot going on at work, that's all. But why don't you try and distract me, tell me about your day." She smiled.

He started talking about his day in detail and Linda kept her eyes on him, she wasn't really looking at him though, she was thinking about Vince and what he said to her earlier and back at Titan Towers, Vince was doing exactly the same thing.

TitanTowers

Vince was sitting there leaning back in his chair and just looking into space. The numbers and words on the computer screen was a blur and he had given up trying to make sense of them. He was too busy thinking about her, had he done the right thing by telling her how he really felt? Or should he have just shut up and let her move on with her life?

His eyes shifted to the clock on the wall, 11:30pm. He knew there was no point going home, he wouldn't be able to sleep. He thought about going to Linda's, he had her address, all he had to do was find the place and that shouldn't be hard as it wasn't far from the office. But another part of him said she was probably asleep and it would be a shame to wake her, but after their conversation earlier he very much doubted it. She was probably thinking, just as he was. Suddenly his mind was decided; he had to see her, even if it was just for a minute. He got, put on his jacket and headed off…

Linda's apartment

"Linda? Hello?" David said, waving his hand in front of her face.

Linda snapped out of it. "What?"

He sighed, "You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?"

Linda shook her head, "I'm so sorry David, it's just that I'm not in the mood for company at the moment."

He nodded, "It's not just work is it?"

Linda looked at him and slowly shook her head. "David, I've had a lot of fun with you," she began slowly, "but I don't think it would be very wise of me to enter another relationship at the moment. I'm just, I'm still in love with Vince and it wouldn't be fair of me to get really involved with you at the moment, I can't offer you anything and I don't want to hurt you. I'm so sorry."

He stood up and nodded, "well, I appreciate your honesty." He said stiffly.

She looked up at him; she had never heard that tone of voice from him before.

"David…"

He cut her off, "don't worry about it."

"I never meant to hurt you and I'm sorry if I have."

He laughed out loud, "Hurt!" He shouted, "You have no idea!"

Linda stood up and backed away from him, she was scared, he was angry and she had never seen him like this before.

He turned to her and his eyes were wide, "he'll never love you like you deserve to be loved. You deserve everything you get if you go back to him!" He came towards her, "I was falling in love with you, I could love you like he never did!"

"David, please… I'm so sorry." Linda whispered, backing away from him until her back hit the wall.

"Sorry!? You're sorry! I'll give you something to be sorry about you stupid cow!" David said, coming towards her menacingly.

Linda cowered, "David, please, you're… you're scaring me…"

He grabbed her round the waist and pulled her towards him roughly, suddenly his mouth was on hers and it was nothing like the kiss they had shared less than twenty four hours before…

Meanwhile…

Vince entered the apartment building; her apartment was right on the top floor. All the things were going through his head that he wanted to say, he got into the elevator and pressed the button, the doors shut and the lift went up.

The elevator bell rang as it hit the top floor, the doors opened; Vince took a deep breath and walked out. He looked down both sides of the corridor and looked at the sign apartment 8 – 12 on the right. He looked to his right and began walking, butterflies were going around his stomach, he had never felt quite so nervous and before he knew it, he was at the front door. He was about to knock, when he heard a scream, he creased his brow in confusion, he couldn't work out if it had come from Linda's apartment or from somewhere else.

Another scream rang in his ears and he immediately knew it was Linda, he didn't waste time knocking, within two kicks, the front door was down and he rushed into the apartment, he ran into the living room and there was no one there, he then went on to the next room – the kitchen and found Linda screaming and crying beneath a man who was tearing at her clothes.

Like a man possessed he bounded across the kitchen and grabbed hold of the man, he pulled him off her. "What are you doing to her you son-of-bitch?!" Vince roared at him before he punched him right in the mouth, David fell to the floor and looked to be in shock. "Come on!" Vince shouted, pulling him up by the scruff of his neck, "you want to hurt her? You'll have to get through me first!" Vince kneed him in the gut and David groaned in pain, he then pinned David to the wall and kneed him in his balls before he gave him another punch in the face. "No one hurts her, have you got that?!" He roared, "No one!" Vince then banged David's head against the wall and let him fall to a heap on the floor, his face was bleeding and he was in obvious pain.

Vince then walked over to Linda who was sitting down on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest; she was crying and struggling for breath. Vince knelt down next to her and slowly put his arms around her, she virtually collapsed into his chest.

"Sshh, it's okay Lin, I'm here now. He's not going to hurt you. Ssshh." He whispered, he tried to look at her but it was difficult, it was unclear to Vince if he'd actually managed to rape her or not. Her clothes were torn and she had scratch marks over parts of her exposed body. "It's okay baby, it's okay, I'm not going to let him hurt you." He swallowed the lump in his throat back down, he had to know. "Linda, honey, did he… did he…" Vince hated using the word rape, it was so cold and he wasn't sure if the word would even come out of his mouth. "Did he r…"

Linda knew exactly what he was going to say and before he said it, she managed to speak, "No…" she sobbed.

Vince breathed, at least that was something, he held her tightly and tried not to think about what would have happened if he hadn't shown up when he did. "Linda… we need to phone the police,"

David was still in a heap on the floor. Vince slowly released her from his grasp and walked over to the phone, he then walked back to her and put his arms around her again as he dialled the number…