Twelve Days - The Beginning

by Reyner, Jade

  “I told you that, babe, a couple of days ago.” He replied. “We need to make some effort here, me more than you, and I thought that a good Christmas Day would be the perfect place to start. And don’t forget, I promised you presents. They’re under the tree but you’re not allowed to open them until after lunch.”

  Elise glanced across at the tree, still unaccustomed to seeing it in their living room and saw that sure enough, there were two small parcels underneath the tree. Immediately she began to feel guilty as she had not got Dale a present. She never did. The last present that she had bought him had ended up at the tip unopened so she’d not bothered since then.

  She looked back at him to see that he was watching her closely, no doubt gauging her reaction.

  “I’m sorry Dale but I’ve not got you anything. I didn’t get you a present because you usually don’t bother with Christmas at all. Now I feel really bad.”

  “Hey baby – don’t worry.” He said soothingly. “I’ve got the only present I need right here and that’s you. Nothing that you could wrap up for me would be any better than that.”

  Elise swallowed and took a sip of her orange juice; she had no idea how to reply to that. She had been unfaithful to her husband and was planning to leave him in the next few days, and he was spoiling her rotten, and telling her that she was the best Christmas present he could ever wish for.

  Everything, all of this, still felt just slightly unreal and Elise wondered how much of the perceived absence of reality was down to her profound feelings of guilt.

  “After breakfast,” Dale was talking again now, “I thought we could go for a walk, you know, blow away the cobwebs, and then when we get back, I’ll put the dinner on. Then it’s the best bit – presents. I can’t wait until you see what I got for you.”

  Elise was still silent – she really hadn’t got a clue how to deal with this side of Dale and she couldn’t help wondering for how long he was here to stay.

  “Sounds good,” she replied and carried on tucking into her fruit and yoghurt, which was delicious. Although Dale had dismissed it, he had certainly gone to a lot of trouble to put this together and she was flattered that he was making the effort.

  “How’s work been?” she asked, wanting to steer the conversation onto safe ground.

  “Pretty good actually.” He replied. “They’ve forgiven me for the whole drinking thing and I’m making sure that I’m putting in the hours and the dedication. Hopefully things will soon be all back on track and I can relax again for a while.”

  “That’s good” she replied, “I’m glad things are better. You’re too good at your job to let it all go to waste.”

  “Thanks, babe. That’s what I finally realised. There are some things in life that are more important than others.” He put added emphasis on the last sentence and threw her a pointed look which, although he smiled, had the effect of completely unnerving her. She looked away; she didn’t want to read the message in his eyes.

  “Well, thank you for breakfast. It was lovely. I’ll just go and have a shower and get dressed and then we can go for that walk if you like?” She began picking up her plates and clearing them into the kitchen.

  “Hey.” He said, walking round the table and taking the dishes from out of her hands. “I’ll do that; I’m already showered and dressed. You go and make yourself beautiful. Take your time, we’ve got all day.”

  Elise relinquished her hold on the plates and looked at him quizzically. Dale never did Christmas, Dale never cooked and Dale absolutely never washed dishes. She was really getting spooked by it all now, regardless of his reassurance that he was trying hard to make a new start.

  “Relax, babe.” He said as if reading her thoughts. “I just want you to have a lovely day. The last few Christmas Days have been crap and I really wanted to make up for that. Now go and have your shower.” He said, swatting her playfully on the backside as he pushed her towards the stairs.

  Back in the bedroom Elise took a moment to consider the sudden change in Dale’s behaviour and was frustrated that she could come up with no rational explanation for it. Perhaps she should give him the benefit of the doubt and accept that he just wanted to make a fresh start? It was so out of character though and she hated the fact that this new version of Dale appeared to be trying so hard to fix things when for her, the relationship was over, and she was really only interested in getting through Christmas and working out the best way to end it.

  The shower was hot and refreshing and Elise took her time, allowing the warmth to soak away all her aches and pains. She felt sad that hers and Dale’s relationship would soon be over but she was also completely certain that it was the right thing to do. The problem was finding the right time to tell him, and it was going to be all that much harder now.

  Whilst in the shower, Elise had also pondered what to wear as she still wanted to put on the beautiful lace hold ups that Vaughn had bought for her. Initially she had been going to wear them with the ‘killer’ dress that she had bought for the nightclub, as she knew that when Dale saw them he wouldn’t register that they weren’t her usual brand. When he had mentioned going for a walk however, she had realised that the dress wouldn’t be very practical and realistically Dale would be surprised if she wore anything other than jeans. Perhaps she could wear the hold ups underneath her jeans and put socks on over the top. Then if Dale did happen to notice and think it strange, she could just tell him that she wanted extra layers on so that she didn’t get cold.

  Decision made, Elise rummaged through her wardrobe until she found the jeans that she was looking for along with her favourite dark green chunky knit sweater. She then dug the stockings out of her handbag and eased them on, completely in awe at the delicacy of the lace and the material – they really were the most beautiful things that she had ever seen. It was an absolute travesty to pull her jeans on over the top, but needs must and so to complete the effect she added a pair of chunky socks and her hardwearing ankle boots. No one would ever know what she had on underneath her jeans and she looked perfectly presentable for a walk on a chilly winter’s morning. Arriving downstairs, she saw that Dale had found out their hats and gloves so she shrugged into her coat and followed him out of the door.

  It felt strange to be out walking with Dale. They hardly did anything together anymore and she couldn’t remember the last time that they had been for a walk. Thankfully their volume of chunky clothes put paid to any hand-holding but Dale did put his arm around her shoulders on a couple of occasions and Elise had to struggle not to flinch and shake it off.

  They chose a circuitous route which took about an hour and, surprisingly, they chatted easily throughout the walk. As it was Christmas day the roads and pavements were deserted and they enjoyed passing many houses and guessing what the people were up to inside. Some were heavily decorated, whilst others, like theirs, showed little sign of acknowledging the season at all, which made them all the more intriguing.

  When they got back home they were both frozen through so they huddled under blankets in the warmth of the lounge, drinking hot chocolate and reminiscing. It seemed like they had been doing a lot of reminiscing lately and it didn’t escape Elise’s notice that Dale seemed to be encouraging it. She didn’t know whether he was looking to rekindle what they had once had or whether he just found the past much easier to talk about than the present.

  True to his word, Dale prepared the turkey and the vegetables and they sat down to eat a traditional Christmas meal together for the first time in five years. In deference to the day, Dale had opened a bottle of wine but up until then, he had stayed clear of any alcohol and Elise was immensely proud of him. She herself indulged in a glass of wine, but decided to leave it at the one. She still didn’t trust this new side of Dale and she didn’t want to dull any of her senses in case she would have to draw on them later on in the day. She hated herself for doubting him – he had given her no cause to today – but there’s was such a long and complicated past that it would take more than
this one day for her to let go and trust again completely.

  At the end of the meal Dale drank a toast to them and to the future and Elise raised her glass so as not to arouse suspicion. It felt horribly hypocritical and she hated every moment of lying to him; she was so sick and tired of the lies in her life.

  Dale had downed the rest of the bottle of wine by himself during the meal, which didn’t escape Elise’s notice. In the back of her mind she could hear the faint ringing of alarm bells, however she also knew that it would take a hell of a lot more than one bottle of wine to get Dale drunk. He was a hardened drinker and although he had had a few days off, she doubted that a handful of days of sobriety would have made that much difference to his drinking capacity. He was a long way away from being a danger to her and so she pushed her misgivings to one side.

  This time she volunteered to clear away and Dale didn’t argue. The wine had begun to mellow him and she could see that he was keen to relax. Expecting him to turn on the television, she left him to it and a short while later, after she had finished tidying up, she went back into the lounge to join him.

  The first thing that she noticed when she re-entered was the large bottle of whisky that was stood on the side table next to Dale and a tumbler full of the liquid in his hand. Her senses went on to high alert as she registered the old Dale making an unwelcome return and judging by the size of the glass in his hand, he was back with a vengeance.

  He looked up as she entered the room and if he noticed her nervous glance at the glass in his hand he didn’t let on; he merely patted the sofa beside him to indicate that she should sit down. Elise sat, and the second thing that she noticed was that both of her presents had been moved from under the tree and were now on the arm of the sofa next to her.

  “Pressie time!” Dale declared and already Elise could hear the slight slurring in his words and she wondered how much whisky he had managed to down whilst she had been in the kitchen.

  For want of continuing with the distraction and not drawing attention to his newly inebriated state, Elise took the presents and placed them on her lap ready to open.

  Instantly, she was reminded of the presents that Vaughn had given her and hated herself for comparing the standard of the wrapping. These from Dale had been thrown together using last year’s Christmas paper – at least some things didn’t change – whereas Vaughn’s had had matching bows and tags and beautiful lines. She supposed he could have had them professionally wrapped but somehow she doubted that. He didn’t seem to be the kind of man who would get others to do his work.

  The first present was a familiar size and box shape and she opted to open that one first. In order to prolong this moment she took her time opening first one and then the other end before slipping the paper open at the middle to reveal the same box of perfume that Dale had bought her every year. In the early days, she had had perfume plus other things that had differed each year. But in the last five years, it had dwindled down to just the perfume – nothing else - making two presents this year a surprise.

  Aware that Dale was watching for a reaction, she obligingly opened the box and pulled out the bottle, covering herself with a generous spray before putting her nose to her wrists to inhale the scent. This had always been her favourite perfume but overkill over the last few years had put paid to that and she now found the scent slightly nauseating.

  “Gorgeous,” she declared and smiled across at Dale, waving her arm in front of his face for him to smell also. “Thank you.”

  He pushed her arm away a little roughly and the warning bells in her head began to chime again. This time she didn’t push them away. He had refilled his tumbler again and the bottle on the side table was definitely closer to being empty than it was to full. The ringing became louder and she reached for the second present in an attempt to hide her anxiety.

  This present was also poorly wrapped and was fairly small and soft, completely different to the first. She had no idea what this could be; Dale would be unlikely to buy her clothes so maybe it was a new scarf and gloves? Although he had seemed very excited about her presents this morning, and she didn’t think her usual perfume and a scarf and gloves set would warrant such a level of excitement.

  She glanced across at Dale as she began to open the package and she could see his eyes shining in anticipation. Whatever was in this present, it had him really fired up and for an awful moment she had visions of some kinky underwear or outfit that he would require her to wear later, such was his excitement.

  In the same fashion as the first one she slipped open both of the ends and then slowly unwrapped the middle section, pulling the paper away to reveal a beautiful garment nestled in its folds. Clothing? From Dale? Definitely out of the ordinary and from what she could see of the item, it was absolutely stunning.

  Uncertainly she looked at Dale again to find that he was by now almost bouncing up and down on the sofa in his excitement and Elise’s feeling of unease increased tenfold.

  Running her fingers across the fabric, she had a momentary feeling of déjà vu as she thought that she recognised the texture, however she dismissed that thought immediately. How could she possibly have felt this fabric before? Dale had only just given it to her.

  Slowly she looped her hands underneath the fabric, one on each side, and began to draw the garment upwards and out of the packaging. The paper fell to the floor and as it did so it released the rest of the dress from where it had been folded and Elise sucked in a shocked breath as a huge wave of sickness washed over her from head to toe. Recognition hit and she dropped the dress onto the floor as if it was on fire, only just making it to the downstairs toilet before she silently retched, losing the entire contents of her stomach in the process. It was as if a fog had cleared and everything suddenly began to make sense - Dale’s behaviour over the last few days, the walk, the movie, the food, the conversation, the Christmas tree. It was all calculated. More calculated than she could have ever imagined and more sinister than she would ever have given him credit for.

  He had built her up. He had set her up and now he was going to take great pleasure in bringing her back down again, bit by humiliating bit by humiliating bit. This was Dale at his absolute best and she couldn’t believe that she had been such a fool as to not see through it.

  She had known that something wasn’t right but she had decided not to question it – to go with the flow – too wrapped up had she been in her life and the situation with Vaughn. She had completely ignored all of the warning signals and now she knew that she was going to have to pay. There was no escaping this.

  The last few minutes played out in her head in slow motion and the excitement that Dale had been showing over the final present abruptly came into perspective. He knew what that present meant and he knew how she would react. He also knew what the end result would be and for the first time ever she realised what a sadistic bastard her husband was.

  All of the times in the past she had convinced herself that he was hurting her because he was out of control, too drunk to know what he was doing. But the calculating way in which he had set up this scene finally made her realise what he was truly like. The drink was a factor without doubt, but at long last she realised that he ultimately got off on hurting her - and that was why he was always so aroused. Somewhere over the last five years, the pain that he had inflicted on her had morphed him into who he was now and she rapidly realised that she was in the greatest danger of her life and had absolutely no escape plan. None whatsoever.

  The second that she had opened that final present she had sealed her fate - her reaction had just been the icing on the cake and now the game needed to be played out according to Dale’s rules. Rules that she had no way of understanding or comprehending and therefore she had no possible way of winning.

  The second present had contained a dress.

  A dress that with chilling certainty she had recognised.

  Her dress.

  Her ‘killer’ dress.

  Which meant only tw
o things.

  One – that Dale knew she had been out without him wearing that dress.

  And, two – much more damning than the first - Elise knew that both hers and Vaughn’s scent still lingered on the dress.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Elise sat cowering on the carpet by the side of the toilet, shivering and shaking and listening to the monotonous sound of Dale’s footsteps pacing the nearby kitchen. He hadn’t spoken to her since she had bolted for the cloakroom but she had heard him approach and begin to pace, almost as if testing his nerve against hers. Who would break first?

  She needed to get out of here - that much she knew - but in order to do that she was going to have to get past Dale and she didn’t see any way of that happening. If only she had her phone with her then at least she could have called Cole or someone for help. But both of her phones were upstairs in her handbag and she wasn’t even convinced that her usual phone was charged up anyway.

  She glanced around the small room, eyes resting momentarily on the window but that was a non-starter. It only had a small opener at the top and anything bigger than a newborn baby would struggle to get through the gap. She was going to have to go out through the door and take her chances; that was her only option.

  Mentally, she began to calculate how much alcohol Dale had consumed, trying to decide if he was anywhere near to passing out or not. He had drunk most of a bottle of wine plus a good two-thirds of the whisky but she didn’t know if that would be enough or not. The trouble with Dale was that when he got like this, he ran on adrenalin and it didn’t really matter how much alcohol he had drunk. If he was going to pass out, it was more than likely going to be after he had dealt with her in whatever way he deemed appropriate.

  A sudden banging on the door made her jump and she inadvertently bumped the top of her head on the underside of the sink – so jangled were her nerves.