“This attack was different. You’ve always had such a hard time talking about them, but this one is pouring out of you. Why do you think that is?” Darren asked.
“Because I knew there was no one to stop him...that I was going to die. At the same time, though, I fought back. I didn’t take it like when I was younger. I have a reason to live now, and in some weird, sick way, I feel safe. He’s not coming back this time; he’s no longer hiding in the shadows. I know where he is and in the place he’s being held, he can’t hurt me anymore. I’m no longer alone with no one to protect me. I have Nathan. I have Andrew and Caroline. I have so many people now that I didn’t have before. So, in a way, this was a good thing.”
Nathan, Andrew, and Caroline filled me in on the staff meeting that occurred the day after my incident with Adam. Jack had to let everyone know why I was out. He left out the details, but they knew I’d been attacked and would be out. Jack knew and respected my privacy about my past, and left off that it was someone I knew and in my own home. They warned me about the looks I would receive, looks that would be different than the ones from my accident.
I returned to work after the weekend, bruises on full display, but a scarf around my neck to hide the perfect print of Adam’s hand around it. The marks had faded, but only some. My lip was healing, but the split was still obvious. There was still a large purple bruise on my cheekbone that makeup couldn’t hide.
Andrew was waiting for me when I got off the elevator to escort me to my office. I gave him a hug in thanks, trying to convey how grateful I was for his friendship and support.
The looks of pity came after the gasps and stunned looks as their eyes took me in, all thinking about how sad it was after all I’d already been through. It was unnerving when random coworkers came up and hugged me. I could handle my friends and family hugging me, but random people still made me uneasy and I froze, wide-eyed. I was grateful that every time it happened, Caroline or Andrew was around. Even Owen could see how uncomfortable it made me and had people back off.
I hated the attention, and it was wearing me down. Coffee was needed, though as I walked into the break room, I knew it wouldn’t end well. My strange elation of the breaking of the chains that bound me to Adam combined with all the touching had me in a whole new mental state.
I should’ve known Jack’s announcement wouldn’t break through the self-centered skulls of Nathan’s fan club. I had no idea what their problem was with me, but I was getting sick of it. Maybe Andrew was right to worry – maybe Jennifer did suspect something was going on with Nathan and me.
“Out again, Lila?” Jennifer snapped as soon as I had one foot in the room.
“Have a nice vacation while we were all working?” Kelly sneered.
Did none of them pay attention to Jack? Or was it because it was about me, so they ignored it?
“Vacation? Well, if you call getting attacked, nearly raped, and almost killed in my own home a vacation, then it was f**king peachy!” I spat at them, glaring. Were they so blinded by their self-centeredness that they didn’t see my injuries? Everyone else tried not to stare, but failed. Yet they didn’t even notice.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Are you that desperate for attention?”
“I bet she’s hoping to get a sympathy screw,” Tiffany said with a laugh. “That’d be like you. Did you fall down the stairs or something?”
I pulled the scarf from my neck, exposing the handprint bruise that covered my skin before pulling my hair back to expose the stitches. I heard them gasp. “The only thing I’m desperate for is for you to leave me the f**k alone. I’ve never done anything to you; I’m no threat to you. Stop f**king bullying me, because I have lived with it enough in my life and last week it almost killed me. So, shut the f**k up and stop pissing on people to make yourselves feel better!” I raged, slapping the file out of Kelly’s arms as I pushed past them to the coffee maker.
Andrew was coming in from the other entrance and a smile spread on his face. He threw a questioning look in my direction.
“Nothing to worry about. The stupid bitches aren’t worth my time.”
He chuckled at me as he poured the coffee, handing me a cup.
It became obvious that Nathan was rubbing off on me.
And I was learning to fight back.
CHAPTER 20
Things seemed to move on fast forward, our days even more crammed than before. We were becoming lax, careless. The masks we once kept in tight check began to slip once again.
Evidence came spilling in after Adam’s attack, making our case stronger with each person Noah talked to. He called a few days after and told us a woman close to Adam said he had become agitated after he saw me in the alley, chanting he was going to “kill the f**king bitch.” She even said she thought Adam might’ve recorded me with his phone when he saw me. I shuddered to think that might possibly be true.
I learned how he found out where I was: it was due to the shop I admired so much. I’d put my address down for mailings because I wanted to be informed when they had sales.
I should have known better, being that close.
Noah found evidence that indicated Adam had been following me for a few days. Somehow, he never made the connection of Nathan and me though, or that Nathan was the one from the alley.
Mike, the door guard, apologized over and over for letting him get the better of him. Adam had caused a distraction, allowing him to slip past Mike’s careful watch. The security cameras caught everything, and I tried to let Mike know I didn’t blame him. He still took it pretty hard though. The man took pride in his job.
The property manager wanted to discipline him, and I begged him not to. There was no reason to; he already felt bad enough. It didn’t matter who was on watch that day, Adam was going to get through. Even if he had to beat the guard down.
It was moving day, and I was happy to never have to return to my condo after the weekend. It’d been ten days since Adam attacked me, but many of the marks still remained. My condo no longer held its marks, with the exception of a few scratches in the hardwood from the glass of the vase he’d thrown. Sarah and Teresa had gone in and cleaned everything, but I found some things couldn’t be scrubbed clean. Like the memories.
While there, they brought up most of my clothes and helped to rearrange Nathan’s closet in order to fit everything. His suits took up a lot of room and a few items were moved into one of the extra bedrooms. Nathan retrieved anything else I needed before moving day, and we drew up a game plan to merge my belongings in with his.
“Because I knew there was no one to stop him...that I was going to die. At the same time, though, I fought back. I didn’t take it like when I was younger. I have a reason to live now, and in some weird, sick way, I feel safe. He’s not coming back this time; he’s no longer hiding in the shadows. I know where he is and in the place he’s being held, he can’t hurt me anymore. I’m no longer alone with no one to protect me. I have Nathan. I have Andrew and Caroline. I have so many people now that I didn’t have before. So, in a way, this was a good thing.”
Nathan, Andrew, and Caroline filled me in on the staff meeting that occurred the day after my incident with Adam. Jack had to let everyone know why I was out. He left out the details, but they knew I’d been attacked and would be out. Jack knew and respected my privacy about my past, and left off that it was someone I knew and in my own home. They warned me about the looks I would receive, looks that would be different than the ones from my accident.
I returned to work after the weekend, bruises on full display, but a scarf around my neck to hide the perfect print of Adam’s hand around it. The marks had faded, but only some. My lip was healing, but the split was still obvious. There was still a large purple bruise on my cheekbone that makeup couldn’t hide.
Andrew was waiting for me when I got off the elevator to escort me to my office. I gave him a hug in thanks, trying to convey how grateful I was for his friendship and support.
The looks of pity came after the gasps and stunned looks as their eyes took me in, all thinking about how sad it was after all I’d already been through. It was unnerving when random coworkers came up and hugged me. I could handle my friends and family hugging me, but random people still made me uneasy and I froze, wide-eyed. I was grateful that every time it happened, Caroline or Andrew was around. Even Owen could see how uncomfortable it made me and had people back off.
I hated the attention, and it was wearing me down. Coffee was needed, though as I walked into the break room, I knew it wouldn’t end well. My strange elation of the breaking of the chains that bound me to Adam combined with all the touching had me in a whole new mental state.
I should’ve known Jack’s announcement wouldn’t break through the self-centered skulls of Nathan’s fan club. I had no idea what their problem was with me, but I was getting sick of it. Maybe Andrew was right to worry – maybe Jennifer did suspect something was going on with Nathan and me.
“Out again, Lila?” Jennifer snapped as soon as I had one foot in the room.
“Have a nice vacation while we were all working?” Kelly sneered.
Did none of them pay attention to Jack? Or was it because it was about me, so they ignored it?
“Vacation? Well, if you call getting attacked, nearly raped, and almost killed in my own home a vacation, then it was f**king peachy!” I spat at them, glaring. Were they so blinded by their self-centeredness that they didn’t see my injuries? Everyone else tried not to stare, but failed. Yet they didn’t even notice.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Are you that desperate for attention?”
“I bet she’s hoping to get a sympathy screw,” Tiffany said with a laugh. “That’d be like you. Did you fall down the stairs or something?”
I pulled the scarf from my neck, exposing the handprint bruise that covered my skin before pulling my hair back to expose the stitches. I heard them gasp. “The only thing I’m desperate for is for you to leave me the f**k alone. I’ve never done anything to you; I’m no threat to you. Stop f**king bullying me, because I have lived with it enough in my life and last week it almost killed me. So, shut the f**k up and stop pissing on people to make yourselves feel better!” I raged, slapping the file out of Kelly’s arms as I pushed past them to the coffee maker.
Andrew was coming in from the other entrance and a smile spread on his face. He threw a questioning look in my direction.
“Nothing to worry about. The stupid bitches aren’t worth my time.”
He chuckled at me as he poured the coffee, handing me a cup.
It became obvious that Nathan was rubbing off on me.
And I was learning to fight back.
CHAPTER 20
Things seemed to move on fast forward, our days even more crammed than before. We were becoming lax, careless. The masks we once kept in tight check began to slip once again.
Evidence came spilling in after Adam’s attack, making our case stronger with each person Noah talked to. He called a few days after and told us a woman close to Adam said he had become agitated after he saw me in the alley, chanting he was going to “kill the f**king bitch.” She even said she thought Adam might’ve recorded me with his phone when he saw me. I shuddered to think that might possibly be true.
I learned how he found out where I was: it was due to the shop I admired so much. I’d put my address down for mailings because I wanted to be informed when they had sales.
I should have known better, being that close.
Noah found evidence that indicated Adam had been following me for a few days. Somehow, he never made the connection of Nathan and me though, or that Nathan was the one from the alley.
Mike, the door guard, apologized over and over for letting him get the better of him. Adam had caused a distraction, allowing him to slip past Mike’s careful watch. The security cameras caught everything, and I tried to let Mike know I didn’t blame him. He still took it pretty hard though. The man took pride in his job.
The property manager wanted to discipline him, and I begged him not to. There was no reason to; he already felt bad enough. It didn’t matter who was on watch that day, Adam was going to get through. Even if he had to beat the guard down.
It was moving day, and I was happy to never have to return to my condo after the weekend. It’d been ten days since Adam attacked me, but many of the marks still remained. My condo no longer held its marks, with the exception of a few scratches in the hardwood from the glass of the vase he’d thrown. Sarah and Teresa had gone in and cleaned everything, but I found some things couldn’t be scrubbed clean. Like the memories.
While there, they brought up most of my clothes and helped to rearrange Nathan’s closet in order to fit everything. His suits took up a lot of room and a few items were moved into one of the extra bedrooms. Nathan retrieved anything else I needed before moving day, and we drew up a game plan to merge my belongings in with his.
