"Hey beautiful, can I buy you a drink?" The brunette asked as she leaned into Stef's personal space teasingly as Stef set up the balls of the pool table.

"Oh thank you but I'm out with my buddies tonight" Stef smiled apologetically.

"Are you sure I can't tear you away from them for just a moment" The stranger smiled a seductive smile that normally would have Stef tossing the pool cue to one of her mates and disappearing with the beautiful woman, but even as the thought flitted through her brain, two chocolate colored eyes swam into her vision and soured her mood.

"Thank you but not tonight" Stef smiled politely before turning her back on the stranger who shrugged her shoulders and walked away dejectedly.

"What's crawled up your ass tonight?" Bennet, one of her friends and collegues, asked in shock as he watched the female womanizer knock back a sure lay.

"I'm just not in the mood" Stef shrugged as she put the last ball in the triangle and rolled the balls into position.

"You haven't been in the mood since what... Thursday? Is everything ok Stef?" Mike asked carefully.

"What, are you keeping tabs on me now?" The blonde said with a bit of a bite to her tone.

"No of course not, but when you take a new woman home every night it kind of stands out when you start knocking women back" Mike offered his explanation carefully knowing that he could be stepping on a hypothetical mine with each word he spoke.

"Jesus Mike... you make me sound like a whore" Stef grimaced.

"Not a whore, just a lucky lady who likes to love a lot of ladies" Mike offered a calming smile to show he wasn't trying to attack her. "So, tell me, what's up?"

"Do you ever think that there has to be more to life than this? We work, we drink, we get laid... rinse and repeat" She rubbed her forehead soothingly to try and fend off the headache threatening to start. It had been like this for three days now, ever since her, she couldn't help but get stuck in her head, questioning every life choice she had ever made.

"Why don't you find a nice woman and settle down?" Bennet asked as he handed over a bottle of Corona to the female cop.

"If only it were that simple, if it were we would have all done it" Mike scoffed.

"No, he's right" Stef said interrupting Mike's laughter that he choked on at her words. "No seriously, maybe it's time to stop all the games and the playing around and look for something more substantial. Something more meaningful, something worthwhile"

"I put a tenner on this lasting the week" Mike joked which resulted in Stef glaring at him. "Oh, come on Stef, a leopard doesn't change its spots"

"No but I'm not an animal. I'm a human being and I'm sick of all the meaningless sex" Stef sighed.

"Well, if this is how you feel then perhaps it's time to change" Bennet threw a glare at Mike before offering a supportive smile to his blonde friend. "Small steps though, you don't have to turn into a nun overnight. Maybe start with finding a woman you like enough to want to take on an actual date... you know, nice food, wine... maybe some candlelight"

"I have been on a date before" Stef scoffed.

"I can imagine, but how about you go on a date that doesn't end in you doing the horizontal dance before parting ways" Bennet laughed good naturedly.

"Do you think that's possible, have you seen this body Bennet?" Mike grinned as he playfully grabbed the blonde and motioned from her head to her toes.

"Oh stop it" Stef laughed as she swatted Mikes hands away from her body much to the amusement of Bennet.

-oOo-

"Happy birthday Mariana, happy birthday to you" Lena sang as she felt Christina's hand tighten around her waist, a move which their friends would assume was affectionate, but the Latina hadn't been affectionate with her for years, not since the birth of Mariana.

And now on her fifth birthday, marked five years since things had changed between the married couple and what was once a fairly loving and affectionate relationship. Lena would be the first to admit that the beginning of their time together was never a great love story, but they did love each other until sweet Mariana was born and things began to change.

It started with small things like Christina being short and snippy with her over the smallest of things, then it escalated to arguments over things that they normally would let go. The arguments turned into Christina throwing screaming fits and slanging matches towards Lena who started off defending herself until she got too tired and drained of the same arguments and insults to fight back and gave up, allowing the Latina to go on and on and on until she fell asleep or stormed out. Eventually the fights turned physical. It started out with a slap here, a push there and before long it spiraled into Lena wearing long sleeves and skirts or trousers to cover the bruises on her body.

So far there was only one occasion where Christina had slapped her so hard that a bruise had formed over Lena's mocha colored cheek. Thankfully that bruise only lasted a week, a week of which Lena was hidden away at home out of sight of everyone.

But it wasn't just physical abuse, oh Lena wished it was just physical abuse. In their courting days Lena had been an aspiring teacher, she had attended a good university one in which she met Christina who was studying business, and in their days of being engaged to marry and before Mariana she had been a teacher of various grades and ages. That all changed when their relationship changed, full time hours were reduced to part time hours, which was reduced to being a substitute teacher, which was then reduced to being a stay-at-home mum full time all the while Christina flourished in the hotel chain she had apprenticed at until she was Chief Executive Officer of National Hotels. With the power increase at work came the power increase at home, it was as if Christina thrived on power and the more she got the more she had to have.

But still, that wasn't the worst that poor Lena had it, she could take the punches and kicks, the slaps and choking, she could even stand to be stripped of her confidence and identity and being forced to stay home in an empty nest and stare at the walls all day now that Mariana was in preschool. What really beat Lena down and made her unable to look at herself in the mirror was the sexual abuse.

Christina had always been on the rougher, more adventurous side, but ever since the change she was out of control. She didn't care whether Lena was willing anymore, or compliant. She didn't care if there was foreplay or whether Lena was even wet. And it wasn't just her hands that she assaulted Lena with, it was the toys. Christina took a sick pleasure in making Lena cry during sex, if she grimaced in pain even better but the one thing she loved most was degrading Lena, making the curly haired brunette feel disgusted in herself.

"Keep smiling, you don't want your daughter to see you unhappy do you?" Christina whispered through her teeth next to Lena's ear.

"Of course not dear" Lena said, pushing her face to smile a little harder as the photographer snapped pictures of the 'happy' family.