It was both a disappointment and a relief when Rita corrected her that Fabian was not her boyfriend. Doris wished that her friend would find someone worth settling down for, but if this Fabian was manhandling her, then he definitely wasn't the right man for her.
"Bruises? Rita-Lou, love, why did you let him hurt you?" She didn't understand. Her friend's promiscuous ways had never involved violence before. It wasn't like Rita to let a bloke hurt her. What had been different this time? What had been different with this Fabian? "It's not like you," she continued. "What happened?"