Chapter 4
1 year into the fake marriage
Although today was a holiday, Loki still had to go into the office because of some big project and turned down Eva’s offer to come and help. He’d been a bit distant the past few days, but work was also a mess. She used this time to herself to walk to the nearby bookstore and browse their collection. It was a unique kind of bookstore called The Reading Nook. The store had a comfortable, homey feel that she loved. Looking around the store, her eye caught a book with a pretty cover: The Invisible Life of Addie Larue. Reading the description, it sounded intriguing. A girl who makes a deal with a dark god to have her freedom with a catch: once she’s out of sight, she is no longer remembered by whomever was around. There were other details she found interesting and decided to buy the book after reading the first few pages.
One other book caught her eye: Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology. He was a favorite author of hers and thought Loki might like it, seeing as his namesake is in more than one of the stories. Up at the register, Clark scanned the books and bagged them. Hopefully it would at least give him a bit of a laugh.
On the walk back home, she had an idea, something his mother had mentioned, one that might help cheer up Loki after having to work on one of his few days off. Stopping by the store on her way home, she unbagged everything and turned on the oven to preheat. Picking up her phone, she started one of her playlists almost at full blast (not wanting to disturb any neighbors who might be home). Pulling out the big pot, she followed the directions his mother had given her a while back. While the stew simmered on the stove, she started on the dessert: lemon bars.
With the loud music, she didn’t hear the front door open, nor did she notice Loki having found her in the kitchen, leaning against the wall watching. He pulled out his phone to take a couple of pictures quickly as well as record a short video of it; however, she saw him as he was taking the video and got her squeaking in embarrassment on video. “You can’t sneak up on a girl like that!” She threw a kitchen towel at him which hit him in the chest as he laughed. “I couldn’t help myself, darling. Are you making stew?” Eva smiled and nodded. “I got the recipe from your mother a couple of weeks ago. I know you’ve been stressed with work and thought you’d like some comfort food.”
Loki couldn’t hold himself back from enveloping her in his arms. He kissed her on the cheek before pointing to the other thing she was working on. “Are those lemon bars?”
“They are! I know how you like your sweets, and I found a recipe I wanted to try.”
He lightly gripped her arms, giving her a quick kiss on the mouth. “You really are the best.” As he went to take a closer look, her hand touched her lips, thinking about the unsolicited kiss. Sure they’d kissed before, but it was always in public and always as part of the charade, but no one else was here. Was he even aware of what he’d just done?
She turned to see him swiping a bit of the lemon filling on his finger to taste and lightly smacked his hand. “Oi! Not until after they’re done you silly man.” Loki laughed at her response, holding up his hands in defeat. “Yes, ma’am.” Slowly, his good mood faded, and the sound of his voice turning sour. “I have to go on a business trip Monday. I’ll be gone a few days.”
“I’m sorry.” Then she suddenly remembered. “I got something for you. You could take it on your trip if you’d like.” His eyebrows scrunched. “You didn’t have to get me anything.” It only took a moment to remember where she’d put the book bag and pulled out the norse mythology book, handing it to him. When he saw it, a grin spread across his face. “I love Neil Gaiman!” He hugged her, kissing the top of her head. “Thank you, darling. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of this. And this book is definitely coming with me.”
She stepped back, leaning against the counter. “How long will you be gone?”
Another sigh. “Most of the week. I should be back no later than Friday though. I wish I didn’t have to go at all, but Odin isn’t feeling well. Apparently that’s why he had me go into the office today.”
“I’m so sorry. I hope he feels better soon.” Eva turned back to the stove to stir the stew. Loki came up and held her from behind. “Yeah, but you’ve made this day so much better with all of this. I haven’t had this stew since I was a boy.” She held up a spoonful for him to try. “What do you think? Does it need more salt?” The smile on his face said everything. “It’s perfect.”
While she finished up and placed the lemon bars in the oven, Loki set the table, pulling out bowls and spoons. The soup was poured into a nicer container, one that had a lid and could be put into the fridge later.
Loki was gone for a few days on a business trip. Eva got so used to having him around that it felt lonely with him gone. So she tried to keep herself occupied like she had before this contracted marriage: reading books, watching a bit of tv, etc, but none of it held the same joy that it had before.
Things at work continued to go well. With Loki on the business trip, her days were less busy, and she was eager for Loki to come back, not that he felt the same way about her. In the time they’d been cohabiting in this ruse, her deep seeded crush was turning into requited love, and she was doing what she could to squash it: going to movies by herself, running errands alone, and the like. Distractions were good. Distractions helped keep her mind off it.
Meanwhile, Loki was getting bored in the meetings he was forced to attend on this trip, his mind wandering back to that weekend, the soup, the sweets, and the book. A small smile formed across his face as he spaced out thinking about it. When someone asked for his comment on a matter, he pretended he was listening but didn’t understand what they’d said, asking them to clarify.
Back in the main office, Steve noticed Loki was gone for the week and used the opportunity to get closer to Eva, becoming bolder than he had before, touching her hand when purposefully going to reach for the same thing, brushing against her back in the breakroom. The further into the week they got, the more aggressive he became. She did everything she could to avoid being in the same room as Steve. When Thursday came around, he made his move, finding her alone in the supply closet. Closing and locking it behind him, he pinned her against a set of shelves by her neck. “Get off of me!” She tried to push him off of her, but he was stronger than he looked. “Nah nah, baby girl. I’ve seen how you are in the office. You like me, admit it.”
Shaking her head, tears started to fall. “I don’t! I’m married to Loki. You know this.” She tried to show him her giant engagement/wedding ring. Instead, he grabbed the hand, using it to help pin her. “If you really didn’t want me, then why haven’t you reported me?” A spin chilling grin spread across his face. Pulling her other hand up, he held both with one hand while the other started groping her. The dam holding her tears back burst. “Stop!” This time, her voice was louder, hoping someone would hear. It didn’t stop him. In fact, he started kissing around her face as his hand wandered further down her body. As he reached her nether region, he fondled her folds through her underwear. “You know you want this, baby.” Shaking her head, she cried loudly, continuing to protest.
Downstairs, Loki arrived back early, the meetings having gone well. He knew his wife would still be at the office and thought he’d stop in to offer her a ride home. Not sure where she was assigned that day, he started towards his office. While walking down one of the hallways, a terrifying sound interrupted him from his thoughts. Someone was screaming for help. Following the sound, it was coming from the supply closet. Trying to open it, he found it was locked. The screaming and crying inside continued. Rather than demand the door be opened, he followed his instincts and kicked the door down, finding his wife being assaulted. All he could see was red, ripping Steve away and punching him in the face. He continued to kick him when the assaulter fell on the floor. With the door now open, the sounds reached farther in the office, people running to see what was going on. Two gentlemen who came had to pull Loki off of Steve before he killed him. Another held Steve so that he couldn’t run. Someone called the police and said they were on their way.
Loki shrugged the two men off to check on Eva. He moved gently so as to not scare or startle her. “Darling, are you alright? Did he hurt you?” He scanned her to see any signs of injury and spotted the bruises showing up on her wrists and neck. Just as he turned to take his rage out on her assaulter, the police arrived. Steve was swiftly arrested, and the detectives took statements from both Loki and Eva. Eva had a hard time trying to tell them, feeling so overwhelmed and broken that they called an ambulance for her. Loki went with her to the hospital, holding her hand gently the entire time.
At the A&E, a female doctor was assigned to help her, to help minimize the trauma. Loki refused to leave her side but looked away out of respect when they inspected her more delicate areas. Thankfully there were no other injuries to be found. Eva was given something to help her calm. “This will help, but it will very likely make you fall asleep.” True to their word, she was asleep a few minutes later. They wrote a script for Xanax, advising Loki that she’ll likely need it over the next few days at least and released her to go home. He was able to get the script filled at the hospital so that she wouldn’t be alone even for a few minutes in the car, feeling she was safer in the A&E while he got it done.
When they arrived home, she was still completely knackered from the sedative. He didn’t want to leave her alone and laid her down in his bed rather than her own so he could be there should he have nightmares, or at least to be there whenever she woke up so she’d know she wasn’t alone. When she awoke later that night, the first thing she saw was Loki and was flooded with relief. Starting to cry again, he held her close, petting her hair and telling her over and over that it’s okay, that he was right there and wouldn’t leave her alone.
From that night on, she spent more time sleeping in Loki’s bed, feeling safer with him so close, and her things slowly migrated into his room, not that he minded one bit, even making room in his closet and drawers for her.