Let’s Tie Cinderella Up

I keep six honest serving-men,/ They taught me all I knew;/ Their names are What and Why and When/ And How and Where and Who.

“And then this evening, he actually hit me. I’ve never been hit in my life. What have I gotten myself into? Very slowly, my tears halted by Kate’s arrival, begin to slide down the side of my face and into my ears. I have fallen for someone who’s so emotionally shut down, I will only get hurt—deep down I know this—someone who by his own admission is completely f***ed up. Why is he so f***ed up? It must be awful to be as affected as he is, and the thought that as a toddler he suffered some unbearable cruelty makes me cry harder. Perhaps if he was more normal he wouldn’t want you, my subconscious contributes snidely into my musings…and in my heart of hearts I know this is true. I turn into my pillow and the sluice gates open…and for the first time in years, I am sobbing uncontrollably into my pillow.

I am momentarily distracted from my dark night of the soul by Kate shouting.

‘What the f*** do you think you’re doing here?’

‘Well you can’t!’

‘Since she’s met you she cries all the time.’

‘You can’t come in here.’

Christian bursts into my bedroom and unceremoniously switches on the overhead light, making me squint.” (Fifty Shades of Grey, pp. 284-285)