"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Come in and sit down."
As he followed her through the house she stopped at the hallway leading to the kitchen and turned to him.
"Wait for me in the living room, I'll get us something to drink." she said.
After a few minutes of waiting Jennifer entered the room with two glasses and a bottle of Chardonay.
"So, what happened?" said Jesse as he took the glass Jennifer held out to him.
Staring down at her glass, Jennifer started to speak, "Do you remember the guy that I'd started seeing."
"Yeah." said Jesse as he started to speculate what had happened.
"Well, we went out last night, and when we got back here he started drinking. It got to the point where he almost couldn't walk. But that didn't stop him from wanting sex. He didn't like it though, when I told him no. So, he hit me, and then....he....he..."
About that time tears started rolling down her face, and Jesse got up from his seat, walked over to her on the sofa, sat down, wrapped his arms around her, and held her until the tears had subsided.
"It's okay, Jen. I'll take care of you." he said. "You didn't just call me over to talk about this, did you?"
"No, I didn't." she said. And then, for the first time since she had started talking, Jen looked into Jesse's eyes and said, "I want him to pay for what he did to me. I want him to hurt like he hurt me. You are the only one I can turn to, Jesse."
"Did you report this to the police?"
"No, I didn't. Even if I had, they wouldn't have believed me."
"Why not?"
"What would I have said, Jesse? Senator Robert Wilkins came to my house, got drunk, beat me up, and then raped me. Who would have believed me?"
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. The guy who did this to you is Senator Robert Wilkins? The same man who's campaigning for president?"
"Yeah, that's him."
"Have you told anyone else about this?"
"No, just you."
"Alright. Keep it that way, and I'll take care of it."