The Fighter Within

It's just work Carter

Claire is one of the best bartenders at her job. She is very well known for being kind and attentive to her customers. Sometimes she has people that drink a lot and some who just come in for a glass of whiskey after a long day. Many of her customers know her and a small amount of her personal life, but she keeps most of it to herself. However, tonight would be one of those nights where a customer would have too much to drink on Claire's shift. This customer, in particular, comes in often enough for Claire and the rest of the staff to know he is completely harmless but stupid. "Claire, you are so pretty, how come you ain't married yet?" the man asked her with a playful tone. Claire rolled her eyes and let out a small giggle, "You know I was married once, and I may never get married again and that's fine with me." Dom started to hear the conversation, but he never gave any hint that he was listening to them. Instead, he reached into his pocket and took out his phone to let Carter know what she was doing. Claire was just being a good bartender having a simple conversation with someone. What is so wrong with that? "You are too good for that piece of s**t Carter, you know that, don't you?" The man's statement takes Claire back for a minute. Claire knows she doesn't deserve the treatment Carter gives her, but she also knows she can not just walk away either without someone getting hurt. The thought of one of her children being hurt by Carter because she ended the relationship scared her more than losing her own life. After losing Daniel, she is all the kids have left. Sure, she has her mom and her new husband, but they aren't able to care for 3 kids 24/7. They are empty nesters and enjoy the nights they are not babysitting for her. She couldn't ask them to give up their lives to raise her children, and she wouldn't want to. Her children are all she has left of Daniel, and they mean the world to her, so she takes her relationship with Carter and survives day by day. "You know Carter is not that bad of a guy, sure he has a temper, but he means well." Claire lied, she knows for a fact that Carter is not a good man, but she can't say that with Dom so close. " Well any time you wanna date a true southern gentle man you give me a call sugar!" the man yells as he exits the bar. This customer tends to drink too much, but he is never violent, just unaware of the words he tends to say to women and specifically Claire. Claire smiles as she cleans up his glasses and collects the tip, which was about $80 for 3 beers and 2 shots of whiskey.

About 30 minutes later, the front door where the bar swings open violently and in comes Carter, who looks both pissed and calm. Claire is just humming to herself, putting away the clean glasses. With her shift ending soon, she likes to start her cleaning list early when it is not busy. Carter walks over to the edge of the bar where Claire is working and clears his throat. Claire rolls her eyes, "Hey. Carter, I am not finished yet, so just go home or whatever you do until I am done." Carter does not look amused by her attitude. Carter waits until Claire places the last glass on the shelf before reaching for Claire's wrists. "Ow! Carter, let go, I am at work!" Claire said in a hushed voice carefully to avoid any attention. Carter only squeezed harder, "We'll finish this conversation in 1 hour. See you outside, darling." Carter kisses Claire on the cheek and walks out of the bar. Claire turned towards the corner behind the bar to collect herself before facing her customers. "Claire, are you okay?" Andy asked. He saw the whole conversation with Carter, but he wouldn't admit that to Claire. Claire nods and turns back to the task at hand, placing clean glasses back on the shelf at the bottom of the bar.

Claire tells everyone left at work bye for the night and walks to Carter's car but doesn't say a word to him before opening the door herself. Before she climbs into the car, however, Andy comes running from his jeep with a small envelope in his hand. The envelope is covered in stickers and glitter and Claire knows it's a secret note for Lizzy. Claire reaches for it and giggles, "Man, how much glitter did Sarah use!" They are both laughing now to the point they can not hide from Carter, who is standing outside his door motionless. "It's a birthday invasion for Sarah's party. We offered to send Lizzy one of the ones we ordered off sss, but she insisted Lizzy got a special one." Claire thanked Andy for the party invitation and walked back over to the passage side of Carter's car and got in. She placed the envelope in her bag so that she didn't forget to hand it to Lizzy at pickup tomorrow. No one spoke on the way back to Claire's house, and it had Claire on edge. Once they arrived home, Claire took off her work clothes and put on a T-shirt with shorts and proceeded to heat up some leftover chicken and rice for her and Carter. Carter sits at the head of the table and Claire brings both bowls for them to eat. After a few minutes, everything seems calm to Claire, and she starts to relax some. However, Carter has no plans on letting Claire do such a thing. "So were you planning on f*****g that man from the bar tonight?" Claire coughs on her meal, Where did this come from and why now? "Excuse me, what are you talking about Carter?" Claire looks confused, what man? Did he mean the man she had a 5-minute conversation with? "Carter, I was just being friendly while working, I always talk with my customers," Claire says in a stern tone. How can he assume something when he wasn't even there? Carter gets up and throws his bowl on to the floor, making a huge mess all over the floor. Claire jumps at his reaction, but before she can get up and move away, Carter grabs her by her ponytail and throws her onto the wall in the dining room. "Don't f*****g play with me Claire, I have eyes everywhere!" Carter yells. Claire turns around and looks at Carter with such a sad face, but he has no emotion on his. "Carter, I swear it was just a work conversation! Carter hits Claire so hard she loses her balance and falls n the floor below Carter. Carter bends down and grabs. Claire's chin forcing her to look directly in the eyes. "Oh Claire, you think I am done with your punishment? I told you not to speak to another soul without my permission, right?" Carter says in a harsh but soft tone. Claire can't do anything but nod. Carter grabs Claire's lower arm and yanks her off the floor towards the bedroom. All Claire can think is thank God her children were not home. Carter pulled her into the bedroom and started to remove his belt from his pants. "Is he seriously going to spank me like a child?" Claire thought to herself. Carter, however, has a demonic smile on his face and for him, he has been waiting a long time to let the monster out. Claire will never be the same again after her first true punishment.