THOU SHALT KILL

– One –

She likes her job. It took her five years to get there. She’s proud of herself. Most other women would kill for this job – or worse, sell their bodies for this job. She didn’t have to do either act of bribery.

Not then.

He didn’t want to scare her off. He let her work her way up, let her reach the highest position she could. Normally he’d hold them down, waiting for them to snap under the pressure and come to him for a promotion.

But not her.

She was…special.

Her eyes flick up to the analogue clock on the wall and she swears, realising she’s stayed an hour too long. A voice comes from the doorway: hey there, gorgeous. Staying behind just for me?

She closes her eyes and pretends he isn’t there, pretends she can’t feel him move closer to her and wrap an arm around her waist, pretends she can’t feel his hand slip inside her shirt to fondle her breasts.

It happens every night. She’s threatened him in going to the police, but he says he’ll take everything she worked so hard for away in a single word. The police like him. He’d deny everything. She’s stopped fighting it. She wants to keep her job. She doesn’t want her husband to know what she’s prepared to do to keep this.

But she’s had enough.

She can’t take it any longer.

It’s painful.

Night after night this happens. Sometimes he even goes the whole way, thrusting her down on the desk. She has bruises on her back from the edges of the desk.

Her silence is slowly suffocating her.

It’s eleven o’clock at night. She’s stayed an hour too long. His voice comes from the doorway: hey there, gorgeous. Staying behind again? I knew you just couldn’t keep away.

No.

She couldn’t. Not this time.

His hand grabs at her pants for the last time.

She pulls the trigger.