Groceries, coffee, and...
"This is Missy Higgins!" I exclaim, excitedly looking at the CD case. "I love her!"
The woman checking out is pretty nondescript: long, dirty blond hair hangs in her thin, pale face, half-covering eyes of rich chocolate.  She's rather small in every aspect: short, slender, and very quiet, almost timid.  Like a little mouse.
She smiles wanly. "Yeah, I like her too..."
"I didn't know we had any of her stuff here. This was just with all the other ones?"
"It was in with... uh... the Fine Frenzy..."
I gape at her. "You're kidding me. I didn't know we carried them either! I know what I'm doing when I finish my shift! How'd you hear about her, anyway?"
"Uh... Pandora... that song... This is How It Goes... I like it."
"Beastly song. Here ya go. Hope you have a nice day. Enjoy the CD!"
She gives another small, scared smile and walks away.  She looks like a dog after being kicked around by its master for a few years. I silently root for her as she slinks off.  Fight the power!
***
"Where's my beer?"
"I... I forgot..." Ellen stuttered. Stupid! she mentally berated herself. Of course he'd notice!
"Forgot.  Right." She felt his knuckles knock her face forty-five degrees to the left and stumbled back against the counter, but kept quiet.
"I... I'm sorry..."
"Whatever. Just leave me alone. I'm gonna fix myself some coffee." He said the word with such disgust, as if it were disgrace for anything non-alcoholic to pass his lips.  She should have just gotten the beer. At least he was nicer drunk.
Halfway out the door, she whispered, "You're a jerk."
"And you're stupid and have no boobs," he yelled. She heard the crash as a plate hit the wall to her right, not even jumping.
"I know," she whispered. "But you're still mean."
She walked back to her room with her head bowed, sucking in all the verbal abuse strewn her way. She crawled into their bed and cried, but quietly. He hated the noise she made when she cried.
About an hour later, as she was lying in her little ball, biting her lip, trying to pretend that she was asleep, she felt a soft hand on her shoulder.
"You alright, Sweetheart?" he asked, his voice noticeably quieter than during his earlier tirade. She nodded slightly, fighting off the tiny smile. She loved him when he was like this, the calm after the storm. He leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"I love you, you know," he said, still quiet.
She chuckled. "No, you don't. But it's okay."
"You're so adorable," he crooned with a smile of his own.
She shrugged. "Are you gonna stay here?" she asked quietly after a few minutes.
"For a while."
She knew she could do better.  That this guy wasn't a good one, that he didn't love her, and that surely a girl like her, who had never done anything all that bad, surely she deserved better.
But she loved this one.
That song she had mentioned to the cashier. She loved to imagine what would happen if she played it out. He'd start yelling, but instead of sitting pretty, she'd yell back. And then she'd leave, and he'd chase her down. Maybe. But she knew he wouldn't.
So she never bothered running away.