TW: mentions of abuse
Lulu Spencer stood in line at the Port Charles airport kissing this part of her life goodbye, her wedding ring felt like it weighed a ton burning in her jacket pocket. Lulu had left in the middle of the night without so much as leaving a note for her estranged husband, why give him the satisfaction? After packing all of her things she has called her best friend Maxie so she could say her goodbyes, the two ended up spending the last hours of the morning together before Maxie dropped her at the airport. Tears had been shed, laughter had been shared along with the blessing of the promise of a better life. Lulu's husband was probably just now waking up to go to work drunkenly stumbling over his boots over to the closet bathroom to wretch out the bile he'd been holding in since last night, Logan had always loved to throw up on her or near her every morning he woke up. Logan was a sick man who needed more help than Lulu cared to give, their marriage had been pure torture. A cold shiver ran across her body at the thought of her husband, Logan would never be getting anywhere near her ever again.
"Ma'am you can step through now." Slapping her back to reality, Lulu smiled politely before placing her bag on the table and stepping through the metal detector.
"Are you moving? Seems like a lot of bags for just a trip." The TSA agent comments going through her bags.
"I am! Thanks for noticing." Lulu gave a light chuckle, actually excited about starting a new chapter of her life.
"I hope you have a safe trip, you're good to go."He nods at her as she grabs her bags, Lulu pasted on a smile.
"Thank you, have a good day." Lulu continues her walk through the airport looking at all the shops and restaurants compiled into the tiny airport as her stomach growls.
"I wonder how much time I have before takeoff." Lulu checks her ticket for when they'd be boarding, 9:30. It was only 8:01 right now.
"I have time to get something to eat, let's see...what do I want?" Lulu glanced over to the shops finally deciding on a Starbucks. Why not get her coffee fix too? Coffee is another thing that reminded her of Maxie because they had worked together for a couple of years and their pain of a boss had made them go out for coffee every single morning. There were memories of Maxie mocking Kate Howard playing in her brain, Lulu fought the urge to laugh as she walked into Starbucks. There was a line but it wasn't terrible, it's not like she was in a rush so she didn't mind it. Lulu allows herself to glance at the wall her eyes scraping over the employee of the month wall and the abstract paintings hung neatly on the wall.
"Welcome to Starbucks! What can I get for you this morning?" An energetic girl with fire engine red hair smiled brightly at Lulu, she couldn't have been more than sixteen.
"I'll have a Cinnamon caramel creme cold brew and a spinach, feta and egg white wrap. " Lulu smiled as the young girl tapped her order on the screen and her total popped up on the screen.
"That'll be $15.25!" She says, Lulu inserted her card into the machine thankful it went through. Lulu knew Logan liked to steal her money which is why she withdrew all the cash in their joint account and get personal account. Lulu waited to the side for her iced coffee and food checking the time it was now 8:25, she got her food and coffee walking to one of the chairs to sit down and eat. Lulu was going to be staying in Manhattan she knew that she could have driven but, Lulu didn't have a car or license so she figured flying would be easier. As she took the last bite of her wrap and took a sip of her coffee, she relished the fact that she'd never have to wake up covered in bile or have her head smashed into a wall for saying the wrong thing.
~ Couple of days after Lulu's been in the city~
"Anthony, what the fuck are you doing here? You need to go home. Go home AWAY FROM ME! I left Port Charles for a good damn reason, to get away from all of YOU! Get out you have no right to be here." Johnny Zacchara was pissed to find his father and sister in his living room when he came home from work that day, seething. Johnny had walked out on his family and the lifestyle they lived years ago, he didn't want any parts of it. Johnny had moved his mom and himself out to the city so they would never have to suffer the abuse again.
"John, I need my son." Anthony's old age hadn't been so kind to him but, Johnny didn't care.
"Claudia, you and Anthony have no business being here. I want you two out, I have nothing to say to either of you." Johnny had finality in his tone as there was a knock on the door, it was probably Ethan back from the store. As Johnny jerked the door open he was surprised to not see his best friend and roommate but, a beautiful blonde woman with bright hazel eyes standing on the other side.
"Oh. I was expecting Ethan, I guess he's not back yet." Lulu blurted out wishing she would have called, at this point she was looking like an ass to his roommate.
"You must be Johnny, I'm Ethan's sister. Lulu." Lulu cleared her throat, trying not to be weird.
"Oh, that's why you look familiar! I've seen pictures of you and Lovett. Come in I'm sure he'll be back in a minute." The last picture he had seen of Lulu had to be before she got married, if it was possible she looked even more beautiful in person. Claudia and Anthony glowered at the two, before slamming the door shut behind them.
"What was that all about?" Lulu quirked a brow finding the whole thing weird.
"Just family." Johnny didn't know how else to put it.
"Makes sense." Lulu nods before taking a seat on the couch.
"Are you in town visiting?" Johnny asked, Ethan said his sister never left Port Charles.
"No, I'm living in Manhattan. I just got in a few days ago, I could have driven but I don't have a car or a license so I figured it was safer to fly. I'm not the type of woman to call my brother up in the middle of the night to come pick me up because my life sucked. I know Ethan would have done it but, I'd feel bad about interrupting his life like that." Lulu explained, she hadn't even told Ethan what she'd done.
"You left in the middle of the night?" Johnny was stuck on that part and, Lulu gave a light chuckle.
"I did. I am...in the process of divorcing my husband. Our marriage was...a real shit show.I just left without saying anything or leaving a note. Logan was a bad drinker and he would save all his puke from that night just so he could vomit on me or near me the next morning, I just couldn't take anymore of that or the abuse that followed. I'm always thinking I can save people like that but then I think to myself, who's gonna save me? Exactly, they'd murder me blind. I have no clue what I'm doing with my life, I just know that I can't be in Port Charles anymore. I'm never going to get away from him if I'm there." Lulu didn't know what it was about Johnny but, she was instantly spilling her guts to a perfect stranger.
"Wow. That sounds awful, your husband puked on you? That's one of the biggest signs of abuse I've ever heard. I'm sorry you had to go through that but, I don't think any of us knows what we're doing." Johnny was shocked to hear her confession, had Lulu been suffering in a loveless marriage this whole time?
"Sadly yes, I felt like I could fix Logan so I stayed for way longer than I should have. There were days I didn't think that I'd make it out alive. Logan used to be in the army so I guess he had a lot of PTSD and was using me as a punching bag. I moved here without a place to live, a job, I got nothing but the few clothes and items in my bags. I have money I'm not a complete scatterbrain but, I need to get my shit together. I guess I've kind of been in a daze since I got here, maybe it's from having my head bashed against the wall so many times I've probably lost some brain cells." Lulu had been having trouble getting her head straight since leaving but, knew she had to get this employment thing straight.
"It still didn't give him the right to hurt you but, you'll figure it out. I know that you've got a good head on your shoulders, your just in shock. My father used to abuse my mother I saw her go through the shock of living an abuse free life trying to function in society, it can be hard. Give yourself time it's gonna be hard at first but, eventually you'll be okay."