She sits behind her desk, struggling with how she is going to present her findings to Jill in a manner that allows her to recognize the escalating dangers she faces in her relationship, yet not appear repulsed or judgmental of any of Jill’s past behaviors and sexual practices. Wendy is startled back into the present when Mona touches her arm.
“I’m sorry. I was lost in my thoughts,” Wendy says, feeling bad for scaring Mona by jumping.
“I can see that. Jill Rawlins is here for her appointment.”
“Oh, crap. Please give me a minute to gather my thoughts and tell her I’ll be right out.”
Mona nods and goes to relay the message.
Wendy takes a moment, then uses the intercom to buzz Jill in. When she enters, Wendy is stunned by her appearance. The last time they met, Jill was dressed nicely and put together. Today, Jill looks haggard, disheveled, and exhausted.
“Welcome back, Jill. Please, have a seat.”
She plops down on the couch, and before Wendy can say a thing to start the session, Jill bursts into tears, sobbing into her hands for several minutes before she contains herself and looks up at Wendy.
“Oh my,” Wendy says, handing her the tissues. “What’s happened since our last appointment?”
“I thought Zach was going to Florida, but he wasn’t. He went to Hillsboro and stayed with some woman he said fulfilled all his sexual needs. He kicked me out of my home, closed all our bank accounts, and forbade our mutual friends to speak with me. He threatened to ruin them with his power and political influence if they assist me in any manner whatsoever. Since I have no money, clothing, or friends willing to help me, I’ve been staying in a rescue mission and not sleeping at night. I’ve never been more ashamed of myself or my life.”
Wendy shakes her head. “You have nothing to be ashamed of, Jill.”
“Sure I do. I’m an educated woman who has spent a good portion of my life supporting the man I love, only to be tossed out of my house like old dirty laundry.”
“Please explain a little more. I’m not sure I follow.”
Jill sighs. “I worked for years while Zach didn’t; I put him through law school. I made sure he succeeded in his career, helped him with the correct political connections, and ran his first campaign. I was the one who got him elected to city council. After that first win, he developed his own friends and connections, and he made enough money in his law practice that I was able to quit my shitty job, stay home, and not worry about having to find other work. Up until now, he has always taken care of me. Now my employment skills are outdated, and my work-related experience is irrelevant since I’ve been out of the workforce for so long.”
“I see. Go on.”
“Shit, I don’t even have a car. I’ve been reduced to riding public transportation. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had to ride the frickin’ bus? I haven’t been on any type of public transportation in over ten years. Now I’m living in a rescue mission, trying to find a job, and applying for every type of public assistance I qualify for. It’s absolutely humiliating.” Jill hangs her head.
“Why don’t you let me put you up in a hotel here in San Diego, take you out for a good dinner, and then get you some decent clothes? I have a friend who is a fashion designer, and I’m sure she will help you out.”
“I can’t let you do that. I can’t even pay you for the services you have already rendered to me.”
“Don’t worry about any of that right now. Let’s just get you back on your feet, and then we can work something out for my services, OK? Besides, you look like hell, and you need some help. If I’m able to provide that help, then it would be inhumane of me not to. That’s what we’re going to do, and there will be no further discussion about it. In the meantime, we’ll continue our sessions and find you a great attorney here in San Diego or San Francisco; one who isn’t afraid of Zach Rawlins.”
“How am I going to pay for all that?” Jill asks, her voice wobbling.
“I said don’t worry about it. I have you covered, and I have plenty of friends who are rich whom I can get help from.”
“I may never be able to repay you, though.”
Wendy shrugs. “Well, as I see it, you’re not really in a position to argue, so just say thank you and let’s move on with our session. Many of us have been victims who have become survivors, and you will, too.”
Jill nods, tears streaming down her cheeks again. “Thank you,” she whispers.
Wendy smiles at her, then presses the button on the intercom and tells Mona to book a room for Jill at the hotel down the street on her credit card. “Tell them it will be for two weeks, and she is not to be moved,” Wendy says firmly. “Oh, and please put it in my name, not hers. We want to keep her whereabouts confidential.” She releases the intercom. “Now that that’s taken care of, I have a few things I need to share with you.”
“OK.”
Wendy sighs, unsure where to begin. “Well, it appears that what you are dealing with is a disturbing pattern of psychosexual deviance centered on humiliation and absolute power and control in order to nullify you as an equal partner in your relationship. What initially appeared to be an innocent and exciting adventure in sexual experimentation has either morphed into a sinister form of domestic abuse or has been Zach’s strategy from the beginning. At this point, I can’t tell you which one I believe it to be.” She pauses, giving Jill time to respond.
Jill shakes her head vigorously. “I can’t accept that about Zach at all. I was all for the experimentation.”
“OK, let’s examine my theory further, shall we? During your encounter with the other woman that Zach wanted to watch, was he commenting on what he was observing?”
“Yes.”
“What were some of his comments?”
Jill thinks for a moment. “Well, he said it was hot, and he told me he loved me being his dirty little slut wife.”
“You didn’t find that to be humiliating?”
“Not at all; I thought he just liked talking dirty to me.”
“OK, what about the threesome? Was the intercourse focused on you or the other woman?”
Jill swallows. “Well, of course, he spent the time having sex with the other woman, but that’s what happens during a threesome. That’s why he let me have sex with his best friend, to kind of equal out the discrepancy.”
“I see. And was he commenting during that encounter as well?”
“Yes, he was telling his friend to give it to me good and make me beg like a whore.”
“So, again, you thought he was just talking dirty to you?”
“Well, that was my impression, yes.” Doubt starting to tinge her voice.
“OK, then when you didn’t do what he wanted and he resorted to physical abuse, did he somehow make it your fault for upsetting him?”
“Well…yes. But he was so kind and remorseful in his apology, I didn’t think anything of it.”
Wendy nods. “Then came the sexual asphyxia during intercourse. I believe that was more about demonstrating his control over you, even to the point of possible death. I also believe it subconsciously got the message through to you.”
Jill is pale now. “I never looked at any of this in those terms.”
“Of course you didn’t. That’s what makes this form of abuse so insidious. It follows then that abuse gets more physical, like the urination and spiking requests, and when you refused, more physical abuse.”
Jill sits quietly for a few moments, eyes wide. “Am I really that stupid?”
“This has nothing to do with being stupid and everything to do with being deceived and manipulated. Now that you have refused the more deviant rituals he desires of you, he has levied the ultimate humiliation upon you. He’s trying to convince you that, without him, your life will be miserable, and he can always find someone to replace you. He is, in essence, demonstrating
to you that life must be lived in total submission to him or you’ll be ruined. It’s the culmination of ultimate control through power and domination by humiliation.”
Jill sits in complete silence for what seems like hours before she finally responds, asking quietly, “What’s next?”
Wendy ponders her question for quite a while before answering Jill’s question with a question. “What do you want for your life? Do you want to continue to live as you’ve been living, or are you ready to fight for yourself and take control of your own life?”
“Do you really think Zach is the type of person you just described?”
Wendy shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter what I think. It only matters what you think now that you’ve received this information.”
“It’s just so hard to imagine the person you love and have dedicated your life to would be so evil.”
“I understand the shock, but you have people in your life who will help you, and once they see Zach can’t control you, perhaps they will come around and start supporting you.”
“What if they don’t?” her voice choked.
“Then you move on, make new friends, and continue to live a healthy, renewed life without the excess baggage. There are people who have been through much worse who will be there to support you and assist you. I promise you will survive.”
“Everything seems so hopeless and uncertain right now.”
“That’s precisely how Zach wants you to feel: hopeless without him. I have to warn you that if you return to the relationship, you will give him control, and the physical abuse will only intensify. Frankly, I fear for your life at this point, because based on what you’ve told me, I believe Zach is capable of going too far. In his mind, you have been minimized to little more than an object for his own perverse sexual pleasure, and any refusal on your part to acquiesce will be dealt with swiftly and without mercy. I don’t tell many of my clients this, but I think you need to leave him immediately for your own safety.”
Jill looks horrified. “Do you really think he’d be capable of killing me?”
Wendy joins her on the couch and takes her hand. “Unfortunately, I do. It may or may not be intentional, but look how you have been treated. Not only did he abuse you physically and emotionally, but he reduced you to extreme poverty and helplessness in just a matter of weeks. This man won’t stop, even though you’ve loved and been devoted to him.”
“Then I guess it’s over, and I need to start taking control of my life again.” She stifles a sob. “But how do I begin?”
“We begin with a safety plan for you. We have you set up in the hotel under my name, and you cannot let anyone know where you are, especially Zach. He’s going to try to contact you in a few days if you don’t contact him first. When he does, you need to tell him you were really hurt by his actions, and you need some time to think about everything. He’s going to be remorseful and charming and will want to meet with you. Do not, under any circumstances, meet with him until you have had time to speak with an attorney. If he makes any kind of threat to you, we need to get a temporary restraining order in place, understand?”
Jill nods. “Yes, I do.”
“Also, let’s talk about some of the money he has taken out of your control. How much was in the accounts he closed?”
“Our joint checking account had around thirty thousand dollars, and our joint savings account exceeded two hundred seventy-five thousand dollars. The house is in joint tenancy, so he can’t sell it without my permission, and the last appraisal was just over one point eight million dollars. We owe just under two hundred thousand dollars on it. I intend to get every last dime that is due me, period.”
“Good. What about investments, life insurance, jewelry, and vehicles?”
“Our investments range around one million dollars in stocks and bonds. I’m not worried about the jewelry, but I’d like one of the vehicles. We each have one million dollars in term life insurance, and I think Zach put some additional insurance on himself.”
“Did you each name the other as beneficiary?”
“Yes, why?”
“That’s the one thing most overlooked after a divorce. You’ll just need to remember to change your beneficiary, that’s all. What about Zach’s business?”
“He can have it all. I don’t care about it.”
“Does he have a pension with the city or any other type of retirement?”
“I think so.”
“These are all things you need to start thinking about before we meet with the attorney.”
“Well, Zach always said he was worth more to me dead than alive,” Jill says, giving a harsh bark of laughter.
“Every guy says that to his wife. I wouldn’t put too much stock in it. Besides, the thought of something like that is just wrong.”
“Maybe for you, but as of today, I’m not so sure anymore.”
Wendy rolls her eyes. “You’re just stressed to the max. Let’s go get you set up in the hotel. In my professional opinion, you need to take a nice hot bath, then take a nap, and I’ll pick you up for dinner at six. Tonight we will go casual, then tomorrow I’ll take you to my friend’s store, Beauty Boutique Clothing, and we’ll get you some decent clothes to interview in, then we’ll have a nice dinner out. I’m going to check around for a really good attorney, and we’ll get you squared away there, too.”
“How can I ever thank you?” she asks incredulously.
“You can become a survivor and prosper in life however you deem best for you. That’s how.”
Jill nods, dabbing her eyes with the tissue in her hand.
Wendy takes her to the hotel and gets her settled in.
Walking back to her office, she ponders her intense, negative feelings toward Zach. She walks into her office, closes her door, and reaches for her TracFone. Quietly contemplating, she dials the direct number for Zach and exhales slowly when he answers.
“You don’t know me, Zach,” she purrs, “but we have some common interests, and I believe I would very much enjoy sharing some of my secret abilities and unique skills with you…” She hears his quick intake of breath and smiles, knowing this will be a meeting she truly enjoys.
A GLIMPSE OF
UNRESTRAINED BEHAVIOR
Book Three
Wendy ponders the compassion and peril of mercy as she slips into her black stiletto heels with the red soles. Knowing Zach will notice the heels the moment she enters the restaurant, Wendy is confident he will be unable to resist the possibility of seeing what these heels can do. The familiar rush of adrenaline from the mercy she is about to bestow has become an addiction.
In the third book of this “unmissable” series, Jerry Summers continues to build on the reader’s love/hate relationship with Wendy. While remaining supportively humorous with her friends and giving empathetically strategic counsel to her clients, Wendy devises ever more ingenious ways of working behind the scenes to return control to those suffering from abuse.
As Wendy’s macabre encounters with clients and victims continue, Jessica’s clothing business is flourishing. Jess and Sean continue to satisfy each other’s needs personally and professionally. All the while, the author continues to spin tales of marketing and relationship finesse, including Sean and Bonnie undermining Mother Earth Cooperative.
Will there be consequences for any of them?
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Unmerited Favor: The Compassion and Peril of Mercy ( Un missable Series Book 2) Page 24
