Instincts I didn’t even know I had emerged then. I just wanted to grab Asa and hold him, smooth his hair, reassure him that Robert wasn’t there, that everything would be all right. But of course I couldn’t do that.
“My God, Asa. What did you do?”
“The next morning after Robert went to work, I called my editor and said I was sick. Then I checked into a downtown hotel. I got all of the things that were essential to me from our apartment. I left behind a bunch of books and CDs. Half of the furniture belonged to me, but I was willing to leave it. I left Robert a note saying that I didn’t ever want to see him again. I urged him to get therapy for his anger problem and said if he tried to persuade me to come back, I’d press charges against him. I found a cheap place to live and began looking f
