by Colora, R.
With all my love Mr. Kerrigan, I don't have a cool enough last name for that one though.
Love, Rhydian
I must have read this card a hundred times already. I want to forgive him, but can I? I tell myself I don't have time to worry about him or us. I need to focus on me and getting my life back on track. I have two weeks left before I have to return to work at The Hope Music Conservatory, and then tell Kennedy I am giving my two weeks’ notice. The house still needed tons of work too before I could be happy here.
Chapter 13
It’s been twelve weeks since I’ve heard anything else from Rhydian. I’ve taken this time to focus on me because trying to heal from a broken heart isn’t easy. I’m graduating with my Bachelors in Psychology; my credits were transferable to DU, and I could test out of almost all of my classes. I have been given the course materials and two weeks to study, and if I completed the final with a ninety-five or higher I’ll be given credit for the full course. I’ve also been tested and have been part of a case study. My ability is rare and the level my brain functions at is rarely seen.
If I use my time wisely, I could have my Masters in a year and my PHD in another. Right now, I am getting ready to walk across the stage and everyone important in my life is in the crowd watching. I’m the only person graduating that had billionaires, bikers, celebrities, and politicians cheering for me. As I look out at the crowd and wave, I spot Rhydian leaning against a tree. When we make eye contact, he tilts his head. As soon as I get back to my seat, I receive a text.
You look amazing, Princess, and I’m so proud of you.
This is the first time I’ve heard from Rhydian since that last flower delivery almost four months ago, so I reply with;
Thank you for coming.
When I look around again, he’s gone. After the graduation, we’re all going to dinner, and I have some important news to share with everyone.
“Can I have your attention, please?” I stand. “I wanted to let everyone know that changes will happen," Kennedy looks worried. “You aren't leaving Denver, are you, Estelle?”
“Not a chance, you’re stuck with me. I have bought the hundred and fifty acres of land next to the house on Anderson Street. The clearing of the land has started and I’m building a state of the art rehabilitation center for women rescued from sex trafficking rings or being kept as slaves.” I say choking back the tears, this is really a really important cause to me since it hits so close to home.
“The women are rescued, but not really given the help they need. They are timid and scared. Most are afraid of men because they were kept drugged up, so they don’t fight back or escape. They have no job skills or social skills and some have no education. I am naming it the Celine Roux Center for Wellness.” I turn to Mel and Patrick and say “I want you two to run the center. Mel, I want to learn under you, and I want you to teach me how to help people. I can have ten degrees, but they can’t teach me what you can.”
I look to my dad. “I need you to train female security personnel to work at the center I want the women to feel secure, but they will be too fearful of men. Some of the women come from cartel holdings or organized crime holdings, they were property to these men and these men will look for them. Most have no ties to family, hence starting over for them will not be easy. And finally," I hand Mel and Patrick the deed to the Anderson street house. “I wanted to prove that the house didn't beat me and it didn't. I turned it into someplace that felt like my home instead of a prison, but the reality is I don't need all that space. I want to find something more my style and I know you love the house Mel."
“Are you looking for a place?” Michael asks.
“Yes, I'm looking for something in an upper middle class neighborhood. I want at least five bedrooms and office space. I want a large backyard so I can have lots of cookouts, and I would love a pool, but it's not one of my must haves. I want to be in a family community because I'm thinking about adopting a baby in the next year, or maybe having one myself. It’s been a rough year, and I'm about to turn twenty-five. I don't want to wait to start my family. I’ve waited long enough to live my life, I’m not waiting anymore. I have millions, I have a degree, and I know I can be a great mom.”
“You will be a great mom.’’ Kennedy says. “And these three need a playmate." She looks at her little hellions.
“There is a house about four houses down from us. I’m not sure of the details, but it’s a two-story colonial. The family had to move because of a job transfer but they had a shit ton of kids, so I assume they had a lot of bedrooms” Vaughn says.
“Michael, can you check it out for me?”
“Sure thing, Estelle. I will have all the details to you by the morning and schedule sometime for us to go look at it, but I think I know the house they are talking about. It has six bedrooms and a den. I saw paperwork on it this morning. The price is a steal, but it needs work. Eight kids lived there, so the floors are a mess and the walls need repainting," Michaels says.
“If I can get it, I want to do all the work before moving in. Living at the house during the renovation this time nearly drove me insane. I’m sure Crash would feel like furniture shopping with me again.” I say with a grin on my face.
“Fuck no!” Crash shakes his head. “There is no way in hell you will ever get me to do that shit again.” Everyone laughs at that.
Leaving the restaurant, we all went our separate ways. When we get home Mel made coffee.
“Are you sure about giving us this house," Mel asked?
“I have my mother’s ashes, that’s all I need. She will be with me wherever I am, and yes, I’m sure about the house. It is definitely more your type of place anyway. I need a month or two to get the new house fixed up and new furniture. I want to ask if maybe I could come intern at your office for the time being. I don't want to be idle while I’m attending school. Now that the new girl Kennedy hired isn't crashing the system every week, I’m ready to not be at her beck and call.”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea, but we are gonna have to have a serious talk if you intern with us. You understand the seriousness of confidentiality and we have high profile patients we work with. You also can never work on a file that belongs to anyone you know. We would never put you in that situation, but the receptionist or the file clerk could pass you something. You have to make sure to check every file before whoever hands it to you leaves, so you can make sure you aren't doing anything unethical. A big part of our profession is ethics and we have about a hundred ethic violationsbetween us to deal with. You can start on Monday, my dear. We will set you up in a small office and your main job at first will be transcribing notes. Then you will be asked to do more tasks as your confidence level increases. We have fourteen months left on an eighteen-month lease.” says Patrick.
“I hope the wellness center will have at least one building complete by then. I hired Benton Construction and Mindy Green. They are the ones who did The Hope Theatre’s new build and restoration all within sixteen months. They have assured me we will have one completed, fully functioning building within eleven months. Rose and her design team will need two weeks to complete the main building and the first group of guest rooms.”
I’m trying to think of how to say what’s on my mind, but I realize that I might as well spit it out. “Mel, can I ask you something? The girls that were there when I was taken, I talked to the Governor and they aren't acclimating well. I was wondering if you guys could move into the regular house and let them come to the guest house. Anastasia is the eldest at nineteen and they weren't able to trace her country of origin. There was no paperwork for her at all, so we think she was sold through a human trafficking ring. Oksana is seventeen, and they were able to find out she came from the Ukraine, but it seems at the time of her abduction her entire family was killed to cover up the crime. Then there is Zasha, who is only fifteen, her family sold her to a baby broker when she was seven months old. The family that adopted her had children of their own, so she wa
s then sold to Greenly at the age of three. These girls need you and they need you now. They can't wait till the center is open.”
“Do you know where they are?” asks Mel.
“Yes, the Governor has put them in a nice neighborhood not far from him and his wife. From the reports I have been getting, the girls have become withdrawn. They aren't forming a connection with their therapist and it seems to be getting worse."
“Make the call and we will go get them," Mel races around, gathering her things. “Patrick can you have the plane ready to leave in thirty minutes?” she asks.
“Sure thing, my love," he goes to make the phone call.
Walking up the steps of the plane, feels different now. I didn’t save myself before, but I would save myself now. I’ve spoken to Governor DeWitt, and he’s told me he let the girls know that they were being moved, but not where. They have no clue it’s me coming to get them. When we arrive, it takes about an hour to get us to the upper middle class neighborhood he lives in. When Anastasia opens the door, the first thing she does is embrace me.
“I’m sorry, I kept trying to get you free, but he chained me up. We didn’t want no one else to be prisoners like us, so we all tried to help you escape."
“Hey, it’s ok. I’m here. This is my friend Mel, she will help you. Did you and the girls pack your bags?”
“Yes, we did” the girls call out. We walk into the house, and the other two girls run up to me.
“We are going to my home. It's in Denver, Colorado. So grab your things and let’s head to the plane. I will explain everything once we are in the air.” The girls walk huddled together, and I could tell this was affecting Mel more than she was letting on. These girls were like her, kept as sister wives. Once we got on the plane, I tell them my story. Everything, about my mother and what Edwin has done to me; about Kennedy and about Rhydian; confronting Edwin, his death, the lawyers; and the break-up with Rhydian. My story pours out of my mouth. When I cry, they cry—our stories are different, but when you are the victim of abuse, the stories seem to be eerily similar all the same. Mel tells the girls all about herself, explaining that she had grown up in a polygamist cult. She wasfourteen when she escaped on the night of her marriage to a sixty year old man. He’s had five other wives and twenty- three children, some the same age as she was. She tells them about being able to make it to the next biggest city and sleeping behind dumpsters. How she had no money and no food and that the homeless shelters were overcrowded and a scary, unsafe place for a young girl her size. She proceeds to tell them how she found herself half-starved, when an elderly couple found her in the alley of their business. They took her home, fed her, and gave her a few hundred dollars. They introduced her to some of the members of the church, who worked and organized help for members of cults to get out or they helped them once they were already out. They’d been able to get her a birth certificate and a social security card. She’d gotten her GED and went to college, but she didn’t stop the story there. She then explained how she met her husband, Pat, who has been patient and kind, and helped her in every way possible come to terms with what happened to her. She has been helping victims of trafficking ever since. The girls watch her speak, never blinking. Zasha, the youngest, speaks up then.
“I would like to go to school. I haven’t ever been and I don’t read well, but I think I can learn."
“I would like to go to school also," Anastasia says and Oksana is nodding.
“Then you will go to school," Mel lets them know.
“I used to play the violin,” Anastasia speaks again. “Before I was taken. I remember being superb, I even gave a concert at my school. My reading is ok, it is my math I am not sure about. I know how to add and subtract, multiply and divide. I taught the other girls when he wasn’t home.” She looks down at her hands. She had been the mother to these two girls for so long, she doesn’t realize she was just a girl herself.
“My best friend Kennedy owns a music school, and I will call her when we get home. Our friend Thea is back from her first year at college for the summer. She was Kennedy’s best friend’s younger sister. She is coming back to Denver to spend the summer and help Kennedy at the school with the beginner students. She is a musical prodigy. She plays five instruments at the master's level, even though she prefers the cello, the violin is her second favorite. I will ask her to come, but be warned, she doesn’t speak. She has a stutter, so she either sends text messages, writes it down on paper, or uses sign language. She is a great girl. And I think she will be a great friend for all you girls." I smile.
“Kennedys also has two nephews named Jax and Max that are now sixteen and a niece named Isabel who is fourteen. I will have them come also. They go to Kennedy's school and they all play instruments and sing. Once we land, on the way home, we will stop and buy you a violin.”
“Are you serious?” she asks, shocked.
“Yes, I’m serious. I am moving in a few weeks. I bought a different house, a smaller one. I think you girls had best stay with Patrick and Mel though, at least until you’ve had a little time to adjust." I can see them tense up when I mention Patrick. “Once you’ve had a little time getting used to life, if you would like to come to stay with me after—that can be arranged.”
“I would like to live at college," Oksana said in a whisper. “Then let’s make that your second goal. First, you get your GED, then we’ll get you into college, and we’ll make sure you are healthy and ready to try living on a college campus.”
“Zasha, what would you like?”
“Just to go to school with lots of kids, and lockers, and school bells, and a backpack. I want to be around people.”
“Anastasia, what would you like?” she looks down at her hands.
“I want to be loved,” she says, and that is it, I can’t keep the tears at bay anymore. “You are loved.”
“I know, but I want a boyfriend. I know I’m not ready, but I want to go out on a date to a nice restaurant, have him pull out my chair and kiss my hand. You know, like in the romance books. I want to feel protected and cherished. I don’t want to be forced, I want someone to send me flowers and poems." I have to giggle at that.
“Ok, Anastasia, we will work on your goal also.”
Shortly after that, the plane lands, and we head to the store. We buy Anastasia her violin and then continue to the house. The girls get settled in the guesthouse and then come to the main house to meet Patrick. He remains seated while they come in.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Patrick Franklin. I am a psychologist like my wife. I have treated both Kennedy and Estelle, and if you let me, I would like to help you while you are here. Your therapy will be in a series of different sections. Mel, will handle some parts, while I will help you deal with some life skills and learning to handle being out and around men. I want to teach you that not all men hurt you or take from you. I would never hurt you, and in time I will prove that to you. I understand you have discussed short term goals and some long term goals. I will help you in any way possible.” The girls look at each other with concern in their eyes I know it will be hard for them to learn to trust but Patrick has a way of breaking through people’s walls. The girls say their goodbyes and return to the guest room.
Within the next week, I’ve closed on the house on my father's street and have met with Rose to discuss my house. I give her my keys and we go over the decorating plan once last time. Heading to The Mad Batter, I sit in a booth and order a German chocolate coffee and a chocolate chip muffin.
“It must be serious for you to be indulging in that much chocolate," a familiar voice says.
I smile and look up from my iPad. “It’s serious, but not bad. How have you been, Rhydian?” I’m happy to see him, the sound of his voice makes my heart beat faster and I realize the dull ache in my heart I’ve been feeling is gone.
“I’ve been doing ok, I’ve been better. I hear you will start the master’s program soon. I’m proud of you, Estelle." He says looking at me with longing.
“Yes, I would love to,” he says with that smile I have always loved so much.
He sits across from me. We eat our muffins in silence, when I hear the door chime and a tiny blonde comes in. “Seriously, Rhydian? I’ve been waiting in the car for like twenty minutes now.” Oh, no, there is the ache again only now it feels like someone is stabbing me in the heart.
“Oh my god, you're Estelle. This is great," she is jumping up and down like a crazy person. “Your right, Rhydian, she is beautiful. She looks like one of these old-fashioned, Italian film stars."
“Is that so, Rhydian?” I say with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. They aren’t on a date, he hasn’t moved on either.
I look to his companion “I’m sorry, I don't know your name, would you like to join us?”
“Fucking yeah! I want to join you."
“Ashleigh, watch your mouth," Rhydian say jokingly.
“Ah, Ashleigh, as in Ashleigh Hawke?” I inquire.