January 1975

"Little Mary Richards is going away for the weekend with a man after he's only been courting her four weeks?" Rhoda asked in mock surprise.

"Oh Rhoda, don't patronize me," she whispered back, her cheeks reddening, clearly embarrassed.

"No, I think it's sweet. You want him to be your first."

"I am not that innocent!"

"When was the last time? Tommy Wilkins kissing you on the teeter totter in elementary?"

Mary silently seethed. Why did everyone constantly have to make fun of her lack of experience in the area of men? She had had numerous boyfriends, but they just didn't stick, and the older she became, the more she would rather date only a select few, and she didn't see anything wrong with that.

"Oh Mare, you know I'm just giving you a hard time. I hope you have fun and kid?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful, alright?"

"Of course. Don't worry about me," she laughed and gave her friend a hug. "Oh, I have to leave in half an hour!" She exclaimed and ran into her closet and frantically started throwing items into a suitcase.

Rhoda sighed and flopped back onto the sofa. She couldn't help but worry about her friend. Mary was the first real and true friend she had ever had, and there was just something about that Tom guy that she didn't like. Maybe it was the way he always had to be in charge of their arrival and departure or maybe it was because he would talk about long term plans like they were certain and not up for discussion. Perhaps she was again just being jealous, but she couldn't see how Mary was just so crazy about him.

Promptly thirty minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and Mary practically sprinted to answer it.

"Are you ready?" Tom asked, giving her a once over.
Rhoda thought that she detected a hint of disapproval in his eyes, and she was completely dumbfounded as to why.

"Just a minute, Tom. I'm just going to tell Rhoda goodbye," she said and shot her friend a grin.

"I'll be in the car," he said somewhat harshly.

"What was that all about?" Rhoda asked once the man had left the room.

"Huh? Oh. It's no big deal. I just know that he's on a time crunch. We only have the weekend after all," she said, a far-off look in her eyes.

The woman who normally had an answer or at least a sarcastic remark for everything was completely dumbfounded. She didn't understand why Mary was with someone who had such a big ego.
"Mare, are you sure you still want to go? Did you see how he just treated you?"

"Oh honestly, he was just a little over-eager. Now I really have to go," she said and tossed her bag over her shoulder, not even giving her friend a second look before leaving, shutting the door sharply behind her.

Rhoda sat there almost in tears. Mary had never tossed her feelings aside like that before. She always valued her opinion and asked for it. She just couldn't figure out what it was about Tom that made Mary forget who she was. The brunette was hurt and upset and decided that she would confront Mary about it when she returned whether she wanted to or not. Friends were supposed to do those kinds of things weren't they?

Rhoda knocked on the door not even two minutes after she heard Mary get back on Sunday night.
"Go away," Mary called, chin quivering, making her words sound pathetic.
The tone of her friend's voice was all it took for Rhoda to try to pound the door down.

"Mare?!" She asked. "What's wrong? Talk to me."

"It's nothing," she said back, though it was clearly something.

"Just let me in."
There were a few minutes of silence before the door opened to reveal a disheveled looking Mary with a black eye to boot.
"Oh, kid…" It was an almost breathless whisper. At first it was disbelief, but that quickly turned to anger.
"I'll kill him."

"No, Rhoda, I was stupid. I was doing the laundry, and I hit my head on the dryer," Mary fibbed at record speed.

"Do you think I was born yesterday? I grew up in the Bronx, and I know that your 'boyfriend' got mad at you for some reason. Mare, tell me you ended it," she pleaded.

"I hit my head on the dryer," Mary repeated her story.

"How could you do this to yourself, kid? And all along I thought you were the sensible one!" Rhoda started to pace, but Mary remained aloof, her expression verging on docile for a moment before it was replaced with annoyance.
Rhoda paced around a bit more before she stopped and just stared at her friend. "I'm not going to be your friend anymore if you continue to see him. He's clearly hurt you, and either he told you to lie or you decided to do that yourself, but I love you too much to see you this way. You know where to find me when you come to terms with the fact that you're in an abusive relationship and end it."

Mary was stunned as her friend left the room. Everything she had said was true, but she was in too much of a fog to realize it.

The next few weeks were some of the worst Mary had ever experienced since she moved to Minneapolis. Though they lived in the same building, she had not seen Rhoda once. She had tried to limit her contact with Tom, but he always seemed to show up no matter what she said to him, and she was too afraid to tell him to leave.

Mr. Grant noticed a change in Mary and called her into his office one afternoon.
"Mary?"

"Yes, Mr. Grant?"

"Now, this Tom guy…how's he treatin' you?"

"Fine, Mr. Grant, but I do wish that we wouldn't bring our personal lives into the workplace."

Lou raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? I thought we were friends. What's going on, Mary? If you won't talk to me then…at least talk to Murray. We're all-I mean, we worry about ya," he took a long sip of his scotch.

"Oh Mr. Grant, you have nothing to worry about."

"Why isn't your friend Rhoda in here all the time anymore? I haven't had to kick her out in a month or two."

"I don't know, Mr. Grant. She's just been busy with her job I guess." She couldn't meet her boss's eyes, knowing that he would see right through her.

"Well, Charlene and I were thinking about going to the bar later tonight. Why don't you and Tom join us?" He questioned.

"Oh uh well, Mr. Grant," Mary cleared her throat several times. "I've gone on an alcohol fast. I read in Reader's Digest that it really packs on the pounds and I just decided to up and quit it cold turkey."

Lou Grant wasn't dumb by any means, but he didn't exactly know what to say. "Mary, you know I've gone through it three times. If-if you ever need anything, I'll be here."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Grant," she replied indignantly before walking from the room, the door slamming shut behind her.

Rhoda was who she really needed to talk to, but she was too blind to think about anyone but Tom. This would change things, and he'd be happy. He'd just had a bad few months was all, and it had been partially her fault she convinced herself.

That night, she had it all planned out. They'd start off in the restaurant that Tom was taking her to, and then he'd make a point of ordering wine which she wouldn't drink. If he couldn't figure out what she meant then she'd tell him, but she didn't think that she'd have to. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan because she had felt sick for an hour or two and tried to call him several times to cancel, but he didn't pick up and knocked loudly on her door when he arrived promptly at six.
Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, her sweatpants were stained, and her sleeveless shirt was too loose.

"What the hell are you doing? Our reservation's for six thirty!" Tom yelled at her.

"I tried to call you. I've been sick all afternoon," she told him, but he wouldn't have it.

"You get dressed right now," he demanded.

"Tom, I can't…" she trailed off before he slapped her.

She sat down on the floor, the wind knocked out of her. "I think you better leave."

"We have a dinner reservation, and you're not going to disappoint me again," he said coldly before leaving the apartment.
She practically sprinted to the door and locked it behind him before calling her friend.

"Rhoda?! You were right-I was wrong. Please, please do something. He's outside my door, and he's not going to leave until-until I get ready for our date, but I…"

"Kid, don't worry. I'll get him out, and you can explain everything later."
Rhoda hung up the phone, and a minute later, Mary heard the fire alarm go off.

Just as Rhoda had suspected, Tom bolted from the place with no thought to anyone's safety but his own. Rhoda locked the door after him, deciding that she would have a talk with Phyllis about hiring a security man or at least getting Mary a restraining order. She was just so glad that her friend had finally come to her senses.
A few minutes later, she was outside her friend's door. "Kid? It's me. Will you let me in?"
She heard shuffling around in the apartment before Mary tentatively came to the door.
"Oh Mare. What did he do to you?" She breathed.
Mary was trembling and sniffling too hard to be understood.
"Come on, let's get you a good strong drink," Rhoda insisted, but Mary shook her head vigorously.

"I-I can't." Her eyes were focused on the floor, and the New Yorker didn't need to be drawn a picture. Her arms wrapped around her friend, and she held her close.

"It's okay, Mare. I'm not going anywhere."

Reviews are encouraged as always. Thank you for bearing with me :)