episode 2 – true intentionsDiscover what happens when everyone feels they are in control, but none of them are.
Discover what happens when everyone feels they are in control, but none of them are.
Growing Suspicions
After a few months, the detective notices that Sandy, the bartender, seems to be in a relationship with Jim. However, she also begins dating an older man, Everett, which raises suspicions. Not long after, Sandy moves in with Everett, but the detective continues to observe Jim entering and exiting through a window late at night. Strangely, no one ever reports a break-in.
What the detective can’t see from the outside is the conflict within Sandy’s heart. His eyes never leave her as they share breakfasts before she goes to work. He’s eager to pick her up from work at 3 o’clock in the morning and plan activities together on her days off.
She watches Everett from across the room, her eyes flicking over him as he tips back his glass. He’s staring at her again, with that soft look in his eyes that she still can’t quite figure out. It’s different from the way Jim looks at her—there’s no hunger, no threat. Just… something gentle. Something she can’t name due to her troubled past.
She catches herself in the notion that she could have the house and the man if it weren’t for Jim.
He moves toward her and hesitates at the edge of the couch. She lifts her hand, inviting him closer, and he sits, inches away, close enough that she can feel the warmth radiating off him. He thinks she’s something precious. He has no idea of the complex web into which he’s being drawn. Still, when he touches her arm, his fingers barely brushing her skin, she feels something. She wants to be in love but isn’t sure what it feels like.
“Any admission of my feelings could jeopardize my leverage.” But then Jim’s shadow falls over her thoughts, and the fantasy evaporates.
Manipulating Men
Everett thrives off of any expression of Sandy’s mutual affection—any indication that she wants to be part of his life. After noticing him wincing after a full day of activity together, she relaxes him with a back massage. The physical contact bonds them closer.
Another day, while paying his bills, she enters the room.
“Have you always done your online banking?” she asks.
“It’s something my wife used to handle. But I’ve learned a few shortcuts.”
“If you don’t like dealing with all these numbers, show me what to do,” Sandy says, smiling sweetly. “I’ll handle it for you, okay? Just relax. I’ve got you covered.”
Everett nods, revealing his passwords and accounts. She looks at the screen, her fingers moving gracefully over the keys.
“Just a little here, she thinks. Not enough to notice. Not yet.”
Escalating Violence
One evening, emotions and intentions come to a head. Everett uncovers Jim’s frequent nightly visits, and Jim reacts with wild jealousy. Jim’s fists pummel Everett’s flesh, each blow echoing in the quiet room. Sandy kneels on her bed, hands clenched at her sides.
She doesn’t intervene, though part of her screams that she should. She can see the terror in Everett’s eyes, the confusion. He thought he understood her, thought there was something real between them. Maybe there was. Maybe there still is.
But what can she do? Jim is in control. He’s always been in control, and in this moment, Sandy knows that any move she makes could turn the violence on her. She feels trapped in the very web she helped weave. She tells herself this is the only way—Jim will go too far, and that will be her chance to get rid of him for good. But as she watches Everett’s body crumple under Jim’s blows, she feels a sharp stab of something like guilt.
She wants to help him, but how can she? Jim is too dangerous. Sandy bites her lip, her eyes flickering to the door, calculating how long this will go on before it’s over. Compassion twists inside her, a foreign feeling she’s learned to ignore. But this time, it won’t stay quiet.
“I didn’t want this, Everett,” she thinks, though she knows the words mean nothing now. “I really didn’t.”
But the disparity of inner conflict escapes the words from her lips. For self-preservation, she tells Everett that the outcome is his fault for getting too close.
The words sting her as much as Everett. She glances at Jim and sees the wild look in his eyes, the way his lips curl in satisfaction with each punch. He doesn’t know what she’s planning. Not yet. This wasn’t supposed to happen—not like this. Doing away with Jim wasn’t part of her plan. But now… now it has to be. She has no other choice. Jim’s gone too far, and after this, there’s no way to reel him back in.
“I’ll fix it,” she tells herself again. “I’ll make sure he pays for this.”
When Jim finally drops Everett’s limp body, Sandy forces herself to smile, a small, bitter smile. She steps forward, slips her hand into Jim’s, and squeezes. She knows what she has to do now. She has to make sure Jim falls—and falls hard.
Continued…
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