She stared at the scales again, for the fifteenth time. Not that it made any difference, the reading was still the same, a hundred and twenty one pounds, a full pound over the acceptable limit. How had she gained it in one week? And what exactly was she now going to do, there was no doubt about it, he would kill her when he found out. Okay, that was extreme, but he would be displeased and she hated it when he was unhappy, it was like a knife slash to her heart when he frowned. However, there was nothing to do about it, and all she could do was hope that he did not notice, which was near impossible, he would know.'

It was no use pondering over that fact, she admonished herself, she would have to deal with it and all she could do was to hope that he would not be too angry. Stepping off the scales, she walked out of the gym, heading upstairs for a shower. 

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As the hot shower worked to ease her apprehensions, she thought back to the day it all started. To say that she had been swept off her feet was an understatement, she had been blown away. All her life she had been a wall flower and he was a tempting tempest, there was no way she could have resisted, especially when he had turned on his charm and set about winning her over. If she had misgivings as to what in her attracted him, she could not voice them; she was too lost in him.

She had been naive woman for all her twenty two years, a girl who lived a sheltered life and had not had a boyfriend till then. It was not surprising, her inherent shyness and fear of opening up ensured that she had few friends, which in a way helped her focus on her studies. Her grades had enabled her to land the prized position as his assistant, but nothing had prepared her for him.

He was every girl's and every woman fantasy come alive, devilishly handsome, charismatic and witty. He was polite to speak to and a pleasure to work for. It had taken her two weeks to completely fall for his charm, three weeks to be seduced by him and four weeks to end up in his bed.

He was attentive and gentle, teaching her pleasures she had never imagined, they left her breathless and craving for more; she just could not have enough of him or his touch. A virgin when she had met him, her knowledge about sex was only what she had heard from her friends, who were not many or gleaned from the few romantic stories she had read. Her body in his hands was a different story, he set her skin on fire and played her as though she was an instrument that could be tuned only by a maestro like him.

Pleasure filled nights and dreamy days, had been her routine for a couple of months and she never noticed the impact he had on her; subtle suggestions as to the way she should dress, walk or talk, gentle directives as to how she had to behave, delicate hints as to what interests she should have and skillful guidance as to who her friends, if she could call them that, should be. Reeling under the brilliance of his charm, she moulded herself accordingly, convinced that whatever he asked of her was because he loved her.

Her illusions had been slapped out of her though it did not bring her to her senses. 

Maria had been the first one to notice the change in her and had immediately guessed as to the reason for the same. Emma had not taken kindly to the whispered advice given, she was not ruining her life, Maria was simply being jealous. Emma ignored both Maria and her well intended advice, who was Maria to give her advice, Maria with her prim appearance, a husband, two children and a house with a picket fence? It could be a safe life, yet Emma scoffed at her, Maria might settle for the placid life, she craved for the excitement that Damien offered. However, when Maria had repeated her words, once too often, Emma decided to tell Damien, she did not want to complain against Maria but was not willing to let go without a fight, in the end she decided to just let Damien know that she would prefer not to work with Maria and would suggest that she be transferred to another department. Emma could very well take over Maria's role too.

Emma had never understood Maria's place in the organisation, Maria was a secretary to Damien, an efficient one and quite indispensable as his employee, there had never been any sexual attraction or tension between the two. Maria could disapproved of Damien's attitude towards women, she was privy to quite a few transactions as she dealt with his credit card bills, but knew her place and never stepped out of her limits. 

Emma, however, engrossed in her  love for him and secure in thinking that he loved her too, never noticed the danger in his eyes as she murmured her thoughts about Maria, considering his silence as acquiescence.

The next day, along with daylight, came misgivings, Emma regretted her suggestions to Damien, she had been hasty, for she was afraid that Damien might simply fire Maria. She must not have been thinking clearly, an usual state of mind she found herself in after the strenuous bouts of lovemaking. However, neither she nor Maria could have anticipated Damien's reaction. 

He had asked Emma what exactly her complaint was, in the privacy of his cabin and in Maria's presence. Emma, wanting to retract what she had said to him in bed, mumbled, "It is nothing, Damien, I think I was over reacting. I sure Maria did not mean..."

The back hand caught her by surprise and tears stung her, she would have fallen if he had not held her by her hair. Pulling her close to his face and ignoring the startled gasp that Maria had let out, Damien warned, "I am telling this once and only once. You have to learn to keep your personal and professional lives apart. Maybe this would would teach you a lesson, from today, from this moment itself, you will no longer work for me. Our living arrangements do not change, I shall have the driver drop you home."

A stunned Emma had left the room, too shocked to say a single word of protest, leaving an equally stunned Maria behind. It was also the start of their unlikely friendship. 

She had spent the day in a daze, wondering how a man who could be so tender when making love could be so violent so as to slap her, her lip had a cut that was bleeding and was also slightly swollen. Who was the real man, and which side of his was a pretense? She was furious and nervous, switching moods and alternating between humiliation, shame, embarrassment and anger. Towards evening, she decided that nothing was worth being slapped, she was going to have to walk out.

It was a rational decision, if only she could have followed it.

Damien came home late that night and she paced the floor of the living room, her modest belongings packed in a small bag, she refused to take anything that he had purchased for her, which left her only few clothes to carry. She wanted to see him once before she walked out, remembering the slap seemed to strengthen her resolve, which shattered when she saw him step inside. 

He seemed bowed and weighed down, more than the huge bouquet of baby roses warranted and at the sight of him, all her anger, frustration and resolutions vanished, especially when he sank onto his knees in front of her.

"I am sorry, Emma, I do not know what got into to me. I should not have...I just did not peg you to be the jealous kind and Maria is a good worker..." 

He looked up at her and her heart melted, how could she even think of walking away, everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves a second chance. And surely, since he was apologising, it would be alright to forgive him. She knelt down and gathered his head to her bosom, her decision to leave him forgotten. She did not regret it then, not even when his lovemaking turned rough and harsh, not even when he overrode all her mild protests against his hard handling. Even in the light of day, when she could see the purple bruises where he had held her did not make her think of the decision. She was in love with him and convinced that he loved her too, if he was rough with her, it was alright, one could take liberties only with the one you loved.

It was that moment that her downward spiral began, once Damien had noted how quickly and completely she would forgive him, he no longer saw the need to pretend to be charming. He could still be charming but now he was only when he wanted to. It also heralded his complete dominance over her, no more subtle suggestions, rather they were direct orders, which she obeyed, not following them would set in motion the cycle of anger, forgiveness and furious lovemaking. 

All her clothes were picked and selected by him, he would even decide when she had to wear what. Her diet and exercise was scheduled by him, she had her own personal dietitian and trainer, who helped keep her weight within the limits he determined suitable. She was free to do what she wanted as long as she stayed in their apartment, she could go out only to places which he deemed fit and only in his company. There were only two people she was allowed to speak to, her parents and Maria.

And since she had never been close to her parents, her only contact with the outside world was Maria.

Maria had started off by being the delivery service for the things that Damien would purchase or order for Emma and once Emma got over her embarrassment for that showdown in office, she could see that Maria had always meant well for her.

A part of her realised that she was losing her personality and her identity of self, that rather being held captive by his love, she was a prisoner of his passion, but each time her mind tried to reason with her, her treacherous body would succumb to his touches and her perfidious heart would follow suit, causing her mind to lapse into sullen silence.

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The shower turned from hot to warm and as the cold water ran down her body, she realised that she had spent a little too long in the under water and it could ruin the texture of her skin. She would need additional moisturiser if she hoped that Damien did not notice the change. She spent extra time to soak in the moisturiser and deliberated over the dress she could wear, it was Wednesday, hence it had to be yellow; she hated that shade but then when had she ever refused Damien? And today, she wanted to be at her best, it would not be a pretty scene if he learnt of the pound she gained.

The dinner setting and the menu were perfect, it did not matter that the menu was preselected by him, the effort she put in should count. And when he stepped in carrying a bunch of Lisianthus flowers, she gasped in joy, the flowers were beautiful with delicate, ruffled, wide petals and in a range of hues from blue violet, lavender, white, and pale purple. They were expensive but then when had money ever mattered to him. As she held the bouquet in her arms, she almost hoped that the evening would go well.

It did not. Or rather it lasted till they finished the soup. The moment she picked up the fork and knife, she felt his hand restrain her wrist, "No my darling, no eating of that. How else would you compensate for the weight gain?"

Shock kept her speechless as he continued, "You have not been a good girl, disobeying direct instructions, how is it that you never noticed the weight gain?"

She had no answer to that question nor any of the subsequent ones. Not did she have any words of protest for what followed, she was used to it. Damien never raised his voice but she could make out that he was livid and strangely that unsettled her. Six months ago, she would have been sympathetic and understanding, trying to find excused for his controlling behavior. Today, she felt the first frisson of fear, a feeling that maybe what she felt for him was not love, it was more of a morbid fascination, a fatal attraction that seemed to be destructive. She recalled having mentioned a similar thing to Maria a month ago, when Maria had mentioned that Damien definitely did not love Emma and had warned her to be careful of her feelings.

Those thoughts swirled in her head, making her numb to Damien's touch, almost oblivious to the pain he inflicted. It did not feel like love, it was more as though he was showing that he was the one in control, it was a way of reinforcing his dominance over her, his way of letting her know that he did not like her not obeying him. She wondered how she had thought it to be different all these days. 

Towards early morning, when she awoke, sore and tired, she found it difficult to get out of bed. She was surprised at the weakness that filled her, how was it that skipping one meal could leave her so frail? She lay in bed, uncaring that it would offend Damien, her body and mind, equally unwilling to move. 

Random thoughts flitted in her head and she started to slip into a haze. In that haze, she heard Maria's voice, "Maybe you are not a moth to be drawn towards the flame, on  a path of unstoppable self destruction. Maybe you should think you are a butterfly, then you could try to see your wings. You are not hurtling towards the fire as your moth wings draw you on, maybe your butterfly legs are refusing to allow you to fly towards the flame."

She clung to the voice, the words acting as a mantra, maybe that was all it was needed to break her fall. Maybe she could be a butterfly. As she thought that, her survival instinct took over; reaching out to her phone with trembling fingers, she texted to the only person she could now trust. One word that could save her.

"Help"

Word count - 2488

This is my entry for prompt by profile dangerouslove. The prompt was as follows:

"When love becomes darkness, when all you knew transforms in nothing and you aren't able to trust the people that matters the most to you, what do you do? Do you forgive or do you run? It started with a small misunderstanding, but the obstacle kept coming. They never stop. With every step you take towards him, the problems start to grow step by step, the misunderstandings, the fights, causing you to apart from the one whom you hold dearest. He says he loves you, but that love comes with pain, it comes with a price you are not sure you are willing to pay. The betrayal, the secrets and the disbelief surround you at every step. You've been through this before. You thought those feelings disappear in the darkness once you left your ex-lover. But that simple 5 minutes encounter was enough to prove you all wrong. The question is, are you willing to fight this time and risk it all for this dangerous yet tempting love or you run away and move on with your life? Risking your life, your time, trust and love again for something you are not sure it's gonna work. Tell us a story. Will these obstacles continue to keep you apart or will it become the reason for your deep, darkest, dangerous love?"

The story had to be written in 1500 to 3000 words.