A Woman's Place Ch. 02

"Just let me go Ben. You don't want me -- there's got to be loads of girls out there you'd rather have. I bet half of them would throw themselves at you if you asked. Please..."

"There's no-one I'd rather spend the rest of my life with than you. I understand this is hard Ellie -- take all the time you need. I won't make you do anything you don't want to..."

"I don't WANT to be in this cage, I don't WANT to be a slave and I don't WANT to be with YOU!" Ellie snapped. Ben looked genuinely hurt by this last comment and he backed out of the cell, locking the door behind him.

"Ben... I..." but Ellie couldn't find the words. She hadn't meant it -- she wanted him, but not like this. Ellie redressed herself as Ben moved around the room without looking at her. He put the coffee table and chair back in their place and took the tray of sandwiches away reappearing seconds later with Ellie's own TV and a large box.

He began to unpack it pulling out photos that Ellie had framed and putting them where she could see them. He'd found the book she'd been reading and put it on her bedside cabinet. He folded her clothes neatly and loaded them into the chest of drawers along with a few of her favourite pairs of shoes. Next he pulled out a small trinket box that he knew contained all of her most precious and sentimental jewellery. Scrap books, a shoe box full of mementoes, the mug she always used, her perfume and finally Bear whom she'd had since the day she was born. He'd slept in her bed throughout her childhood and had long since been relegated to the top shelf in her bedroom but Ben knew Ellie needed him now more than ever.

He held Bear up to the bars of the cell and watched as Ellie warily crawled over. She almost snatched him out of his hands before clutching him to her chest like he was the very air she breathed. Her eyes filled with tears, Ellie nodded a silent 'thank you' to Ben before returning to the furthest corner. Ben worked in silence fitting Ellie's TV to the wall and removing his own. Once this was done, he got both of them a cold drink, leaving Ellie's on the bedside cabinet. Ben sat on the sofa for a while cradling his pint. After such a long silence, Ellie's voice seemed unnaturally loud even though it was barely more than a whisper.

"You knew what I'd want."

"I know you."

"I didn't mean it."

"I know that too." Ben gave her a weak smile. "You must be getting hungry. How does spaghetti bolognaise sound?" Ellie nodded and watched as Ben left the room. Leaving Bear in the corner, she crawled towards the bars and reached through. The gin and tonic (her favourite) had left a wet ring on top of the cabinet so she mopped it up with a few tissues from the box and then laughed at herself for worrying about something so ridiculous considering the circumstances. She took a sip, appreciating how cold and refreshing it was. The room was a more tolerable temperature now that Ben had opened the windows and Ellie's gaze switched to the long pole he must have used. It seemed a bit closer to her cell now.

Placing her drink back on the cabinet, Ellie moved to the end of the bed and stood up. She reached through the bars towards the pole and stretched. She was only missing it by ten centimetres at the most. Taking the opportunity while Ben was out of the room, Ellie lowered her jeans, sat herself on the loo and contemplated what she would do if she did indeed manage to get hold of that pole. As she scanned the room, her heart almost stopped. Ben hadn't put the key back on its hook -- it was on the coffee table. He must have taken it down while he was fitting the TV bracket and forgotten about it!

Ellie hurriedly flushed and washed her hands. She needed something heavy -- her book! Pulling it through the bars, she rushed back to the other end of her cell and calmed herself. She needed to get the angle and pressure right. Taking a breath, Ellie threw the book so that it hit the bottom of the pole. The force of the blow pushed the base of the pole out from under itself and it toppled down, clanging loudly as it hit the side of the cage. Ellie winced and listened out for Ben's footsteps.... nothing.

Moving quickly, Ellie manoeuvred the pole so that it was directly opposite the coffee table and lifted it (with difficulty) so that it was horizontal. Steadying herself, Ellie lowered the pole onto the surface of the table and slowly pushed it forwards towards the key. She strained through the bars, willing her fingers to grow just a few more millimetres. The hook on the end of the pole nudged the key. She wiggled it until the hook was facing down and let out the breath she'd been holding as she dragged the key towards her. Next she took aim and threaded the hook through the ring of the key before lifting it from the coffee table. She could have screamed with delight when she finally got the key in her hand but her celebrations were cut short by the sound of Ben's footsteps on the stairs.

Stuffing the key into her pocket, Ellie rushed back to the wall. Using the pole, she feverishly reached for her book and began batting it back towards her. 'Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God...' she chanted under her breath as she heard the footsteps getting louder. After what seemed a life time, the book was within reach and Ellie swiftly stood the pole up as far away from the cell as possible. She swooped down and grabbed the book, throwing it onto the bed just as Ben walked in.

"Good book?" Ben asked noticing it was out of place.

"It's alright -- the usual chick-lit." Ellie responded casually. Too casually? She turned back to the basin and washed her hands again giving herself time to wipe the guilty look off of her face and for her heart to stop racing. A thought occurred -- how was Ben going to give her the plate if he doesn't have the key? Ellie felt sick. She gripped the edge of the basin and waited for the bomb to drop.

"Hurry up -- it's getting cold." came Ben's voice from behind her. Turning, Ellie couldn't believe her good fortune when she saw that Ben had moved the table up to the bars. He had sat himself in one of the chairs and was waiting for her to join him. Counting her lucky stars, Ellie crawled onto the bed and threaded her legs and arms through the bars so that she was effectively sitting at the table. Ben had put her gin and tonic next to her plate and she gratefully took a rather large gulp of it.

"I know this is a bit awkward but it's only temporary. I meant to put a lock on the door into this room but, what with everything else going on, it slipped my mind. When I have, I can let you out of your cell at meal times and we'll sit together properly to eat. Maybe eventually we can curl up on the sofa in front of the fire in the evenings too. I don't plan to keep you up here forever Ellie -- just until I can trust you not to run away. When I know you're completely happy with your new life, things will start to feel a bit more normal. You'll have the house to look after while I'm at work and maybe even one day kids. You said yourself that they can keep you very busy! It's all going to be fine Ellie -- you'll see." Ben said confidently, tucking into his meal. He had always been a good cook and Ellie was surprised at how hungry she was now that it was in front of her. The delicious smell of fresh basil wafted up (he knew she liked it) and she coiled the spaghetti around her fork relishing the taste as she took a bite.

The key seemed to burn a hole in her pocket. As she ate, Ellie thought about what she would do. She'd wait until she was sure Ben was asleep, grab some shoes and see if she could find her coat. She'd sneak out as quietly as possible, taking his car keys as she went and head for the coast. Then she'd steal a boat and make her way across the water to foreign lands where (she assumed) women were still free. Maybe she could raise the alarm and get their government to pressure this country into changing its mind? It was worth a try at least.

Ben continued talking as she plotted and schemed. He talked about their future together and how much better it would be once everything calmed down. He talked about the roundup and how he detested the idea of women being sold at auction. He wondered out loud what the government would do with all of the extra money it would be getting from the confiscated homes, cars, bank accounts and auction bids. Ellie nodded along but didn't engage in conversation. It was clear she wasn't really listening but Ben didn't press her -- it was a step forward that she'd moved out of her corner and he didn't want to ruin it. 'Slowly and carefully' he thought to himself.

He cleared up after dinner and put the table and chair back in its place. After loading the dishwasher, he returned with a DVD and a bottle of wine.

"Ooo -- it's chilly in here now." he mumbled crossing the room to collect the pole. Ellie held her breath but she needn't have worried -- Ben picked it up without a second glance, failing to notice it was a lot closer to her cell. He closed three of the windows, leaving the last one open a crack, and pulled down all of the blinds. As Ellie had predicted, this threw the room into complete darkness. Ben swore loudly as he stubbed his toe, stumbling towards the light switch. Ellie reached her lamp first just in time to watch Ben walk straight into the wall.

"Ohfafucksake!" Ben grumbled rubbing his nose and knee at the same time. Ellie giggled behind him and it was the sweetest sound he'd heard all day. He smiled at her. "Yeah? Well at least I don't pee myself when I've had too much to drink!" he teased.

"I hadn't wet myself -- I'd sat in a puddle!" Ellie defended still smiling.

"Yeah, right..." Ben laughed. "...and I suppose you bought that hideous ring the other week because you loved it so much and not because it was stuck on your finger. I saw you trying to pull it off!!"

"Says the man who had to buy that ridiculously expensive pair of jeans because he insisted he could fit into them and then they split!!" Ellie countered grinning.

"They were faulty. Dodgy stitching. Wrong size sewn into them." he mumbled pushing the DVD into the side of the TV.

Ben pushed the sofa up to the bars and flopped into it. He was still grinning from ear to ear. They had so much history, so much to build on. They already knew how well they got on and Ben felt sure that with such a solid foundation, Ellie would settle down and be happy in no time.

Ellie, on the other hand, had an awful guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach. She could see the hope in his eyes and she knew how devastated he'd be in the morning when he discovered she was gone. There was nothing she could do about it -- she had to get out. She couldn't spend her life as a slave even if her master would be Ben. She was under no illusions -- she knew she'd been luckier than a lot of women so far. In her mind's eye she pictured Kate and she almost retched at the thought of what Greg might be doing to her now.

The DVD seemed to last an eternity. Ben had chosen a comedy which at any other time, Ellie would have found hilarious but today she struggled to concentrate on it and instead her eyes were drawn to the clock on her bedside cabinet. Finally at 10:20 the film ended and Ben announced he was going downstairs to do a few jobs before bedtime.

"Now, have you got everything you need?" he asked as if she were an overnight guest in the spare bedroom. Ellie just nodded. "Ok. Sleep well Ellie. See you in the morning." called Ben as he walked out of the room and down the stairs.

She knew there was no way she'd sleep so Ellie flicked through the TV channels looking for a distraction. She wasn't surprised to see that every channel was broadcasting coverage of The Reversion. Ellie sat transfixed by the sight of woman after woman being tackled to the ground, stripped of their clothing, tied up and manhandled into the backs of vans. They were showing this on The News like it was perfectly normal! She'd blanked out what the reporters were saying and focused on the women's faces. Terrified -- every single one of them but under that, there was fight. Their survival instincts were in full flow and she silently egged them on as they punched, kicked and scratched their abductors. She watched as one woman was led towards the van by an overweight, balding man who had hold of her arm. She had her head down and was docilely walking along beside him looking utterly defeated. Suddenly, she snatched her arm away and took off at a terrific rate. The reporter could be heard laughing in the background as she was chased up the street. The overweight man returned shortly afterwards struggling to catch his breath.

"Did you catch her?" asked the reporter, thrusting the microphone under his nose.

"No (pant, pant) but I'll get the next one (pant, pant) There's plenty more to be had (pant, pant)." Ellie smiled smugly and hoped the woman managed to get far, far away.

Switching off the TV, Ellie picked up the magazines and killed some time flicking through them. They were full of trivial things that no longer mattered. This time yesterday she would have been more than interested in plot spoilers for some of the soap operas. She might even have spared some time to read about the latest mishaps and silly choices of an ex-reality show contestant or find out which celebrity was spotted where and with whom but these things were now completely insignificant. Magazines like these were largely put together by women so she doubted she would see their like again.

At 1am Ellie finally felt it might be safe enough to leave. Kneeling on the bed, she slipped the key into the lock and turned it. The door groaned slightly but Ellie didn't think it was loud enough to wake Ben. She tiptoed over to the chest of drawers and pulled on the socks and trainers she'd been wearing earlier. Riffling through the neatly folded clothes, she found a thick jumper and pulled it over her head. No sign of her coat.

Keeping to the sides of the stairs to avoid creaking and holding her breath the entire time, she made her way down to the ground floor. Ben's car keys were in the dish that sat on the table in the hall. Achingly slowly, Ellie eased them out and gathered them into her hand to avoid further noise. She glanced up the stairs looking for signs of life but there was none. Ellie tiptoed towards the door and spotted her coat hung up on the pegs next to Ben's. She pulled it on silently and then paused with her hand on the door handle. She was about to leave the relative safety of Ben's home into a brutal world where women were hunted down. Was this really wise? She had no money but if she was caught, no amount of money would save her -- they'd take her and her cash together without a moments thought. But could she really stay here and wait for Ben to get fed up of being patient? He'd take her eventually or worse, he'd win her around and she'd willingly submit.

While she hopped from foot to foot, procrastinating at the door, a light came on upstairs and streamed its way thinly down to where Ellie was standing. Panicking, Ellie pulled open the door and ran down to the car leaving the front door wide open. She fumbled with the car keys in the dark trying to stop her fingers from shaking. Light fell upon the car from above as Ben's bedroom curtains flew open.

"ELLIE, DON'T!" she heard him yell through the glass. She scrambled into the car and roared the engine to life. Slamming the gear stick into reverse, she screeched out of the drive just in time to see Ben come hurtling out of the front door in nothing but his boxers. He chased her onto the road and thumped the back of the car as she sped away. She watched him in the rear view mirror running after her and shouting but he got smaller and smaller until eventually, she turned the corner and he was out of sight.

"Shit." she uttered in disbelief. "SHIT!" she screamed in triumph. Laughing at herself, Ellie pointed the car towards the nearest coast. Not the picturesque, sandy place she had been with Ben yesterday (was it only yesterday?!) but the grotty, windswept coastal village that housed fishermen and dock workers. Hopefully they'd all be fast asleep by now and it would be easy to find a small boat that would take her across the water to freedom.

A new country and a new life far away from servitude. Far away from Ben.