Nicole couldn't understand why Stefani was hitting her. She couldn't understand that. And the more the blows reigned down her the less she understood. The first one had come out of the blue, literally. Nicole remembered looking up at Stefani and there had been like a pause - like a few seconds where they looked at each other but nothing was said. That was the time when Nicole thought maybe she could plead - or just ask if they could forget this whole thing. If she could just go, leave that place and say nothing else about it. That she wouldn't tell anyone she had been effectively kidnapped to that place and that she was being held against her will. She would forgive her that if this fucking woman would just let her go - if she would just stop hitting her. But once again that time just didn't seem appropriate. She had thought about it and dismissed it. It was part of the hopelessness that she already felt. It was that place. It was that place that did that. And now there were Stefani's cold, cold, heavily made up eyes looking down at her. It was like slow motion that Nicole saw the older woman's hand rise. It was slow motion alright and even though her mind was racing and she should have been one step ahead, she wasn't. The back of Stefani's hand smacked across Nicole's cheek. The pain was instant. The shock was instant. And so was Nicole being knocked off that chair and sliding undignified across the wooden floor. She was dazed - confused. She hadn't been hit like that before. She had never been hit before full stop. Certainly not in recent years. She held her hand to her cheek and there was a swelling there already - and it was still swelling. From the floor she looked up at Stefani and the shock on her face was palpable. But still there was nothing said. Stefani reached down and Nicole cowered a little. The older woman twisted her hair in her hand and pulled her up. Nicole whimpered. Stefani was strong - she almost yanked her off her feet. But what she did was dump her back in the chair. Still she didn't say anything. Nicole was in utter shock and now her mind was more debilitated than ever. She seemed to shrink more on the seat. Like a little girl. Like a frightened little girl.

"Please, please can't we talk about this? Please don't hit me again."

She had managed to get some words together, although she was in a state of disbelief and her face felt funny. One eye was closing slightly as the flesh of her smacked cheek swelled. She wouldn't like that. Her beautiful face being hit and marked and swollen like that. No-one would ever know how much she prided herself on her looks and her image and the way that other people just fell in love with her. Stefani knew though. She knew all about Nicole. She had spent months looking her up and finding out all about her. Stefani knew Nicole better than she knew herself. Still those cold, almost lifeless eyes looking into Nicole's. And then the second blow. Nicole should have been expecting it but the fact was that she wasn't. She had never been beaten on. She had received the first smack and was so shocked that she thought that must be it. She couldn't be hit like that again. But she was wrong. The second back hander smashed into her other cheek and she was sent sprawling off the chair in the other direction. This time she landed on the floor with a bit of a clump and slid a little. Her dress riding up to reveal the splendidness of her bare legs. She did make a sound but it wasn't a decipherable sound, or one that could be described. And there was that sound a person made when the wind was being hit out of them.

For a split second Nicole's vision went blurred, she had to shake it off. By the time she did that she could feel Stefani's fingers twisting in her hair again. And then the tug before the major pull and she was on her feet again but this time her legs were wobbly. And she was guided back to the chair and sat down. Stefani hadn't said a word. And she didn't intend to. It wasn't a conversation that she wanted with Nicole. She was starting off a process. A process of learning. Nicole hadn't got over that second crack to her cheek when Stefani's clenched fist slammed across her lower jaw. There was a loud crack in Nicole's ear as her jaw joint fought not to dislocate. With the other two smacks she had been aware of being hit off the chair. This time though she hadn't been aware of it. The jarring of her jaw had given her a momentary period of unconsciousness. Just like a split second and in that time she was on the floor. She was aware of facing the floor, just about holding herself up with her elbows but she was dribbling. Both of her eyes were almost closed - they were slitted and her cheeks swollen. But her lower jaw seemed slack, lifeless and there was this noise that came out of her mouth that didn't seem right. At the very least it didn't seem to be a noise that would ever come from Nicole.

It was a learning process. An unspoken training session. Stefani would have moved her tightly skirted self to a point that she could twist her fist into Nicole's hair again. But this time she didn't do that. She held off for a few seconds. Just stood back and watched. Nicole would never know where it came from, but something in her mind was telling her to crawl back to the chair. Get back up onto the chair. Just do it and don't make Stefani have to put herself out to put her back on the chair. And that was what she did. She crawled, belly almost flat to the floor and she was aware of Stefani's high heels right by the side of her. And she could feel her eyes drilling into the back of her head. It must have been adrenalin driving Nicole because those smacks, and that punch to her jaw had taken a lot out of her. They had frightened her and this woman scared her shitless. But the strength seemed to have been sapped from her totally. How she managed to climb back onto the chair she would never know. But she did. Stefani didn't help her. Now her hair was a mess as well as her face. She brushed it back from her own face and she looked at Stefani. The older woman looked back coldly - terribly coldly. Their eyes met and there was this like resignation inside Nicole that she was going to be hit again. Her mind was trying to brace herself for that and so was her body. The truth was that she really didn't want to be hit again. She was asking god silently not to let her be hit again. But when she was in the middle of that silent prayer, with Stefani's eyes still drilling into her like ice cold shards the next punch struck home. That was to her jaw from the other side. And her jaw rattled again. This time she was hit off the seat and it was as though she remained in the seated position. And she landed on her ass. Her dress was round her hips and there was the tiniest glimpse of her sexuality just about covered up with the tiniest of thongs. It was instinct that made her reach for her dress and try to pull it over her hips and down to cover herself. But she was in a daze when she felt Stefani foot kick her hands away from her hips to prevent her regaining any dignity. Then the sobbing came.