If Only...

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

~Cathy~

I thought about him so much in the week that followed, but there was no way that he was thinking about me. I kept trying to come up with answers to why he would talk to me. The only thing I could think of was he was trying to be impartial to all the church members, since he was a teacher.

It made me wonder how much he knew, since he was relativly new to the area. He wasn't here when everything was going on, but I'm sure the church had brought him up to speed. After all, I had ruined several of the families in the area, some of which attened the church community. 

Walking into the bar I looked for my target. We both knew that he was married, but the married ones always paid better, so it really didn't matter to me. He knew that, and probably got a little more pleasure in what he was doing. What we were doing.

His name was Peter Kindred and he went to the church that I went to growing up. I hadn't been there in years, but I remember him. I didn't use my real name, but I know he remembers me. We grew up together and I don't think either one expected the other, or ourselves for that matter, to end up the way we had. He was cheating on his wife and I was a call girl of sorts. My "boss" needed information and I was a pawn in his little games. My clients had no idea what I was, they just knew how much I cost and how good I was.

Today my boss needed to know the price of Pete's shipping business. This was going to be one of the more creative jobs that I had preformed, and as with every job I was assigned, I was dreading every second.

If only I had another choice...

I found Pete at the bar and he looked like he had consumed several too many. At least that would make my job easier. Maybe we could skip certain portions of this meeting tonight, I would just have to wait and see.

I walked over to the bar and sat next to Pete and ordered a drink. I wouldn't drink it, but people seemed more at ease when I had a drink in my hand.

"Hey!" Pete said, sluggishly. He was completely hammered. Tonight's gonna be interesting.

"Hey yourself." I said with a smile. Let my work begin.

 

That wasn't the first or the last time that I worked with someone from that church, and I never thought I would walk back into that church. Three years after that first meeting with Pete that’s exactly what I did. I walked in, stayed for church, asked for forgiveness and then walked out with eyes heavily on me.

I returned at the request of the preacher. He was a wonderful man. I had known him since I was little and there was no comdemnation in his actions. He loved me and encouraged me in whatever I needed. Everyone knew that I was responsible for the breakup of at least three families in that church alone. To them I was the devil and not worth trying to save. People only talked to me to tell me how ashamed they were of me and that I was not welcome there. They thought I was solely responsible for the destruction of their members. They acted like I forced myself on them, little did they know that my ‘clients’ had to make appointments to see me. I would never tell any of them that, but it was true nonetheless. Those gossiping people also didn’t know that I was forced into my situation and that I had little choice in the situation. The teachers were more kind than  most of the people. They welcomed me back with cautious but open arms. They knew how I felt about my past, but they also knew how their members felt about my past. Surprisingly, we didn’t feel much different from each other.

I decided that unless I wanted to move out of the state, than I would have to deal with the whispers and glares. Hopefully after ten years people will have forgotten.  Until then, my life will be complicated.

For my crimes I spent ten months in prison. Those were ten months that I will never forget, but I never want to remember. I deserved that time, and it was in prison that I became close to God again. I hated what I had become and how I ended up in prison. A prison missionary came and we talked for most of my incarceration. I got back on track with God. I knew He had forgiven me, but I’m not sure if I could ever forgive myself.

Today was my first therapist session and I wasn’t looking forward to it. I didn’t need help. I was fine by myself. My dad was the one who suggested that I get help. He knows bits and pieces of my story, but no one knew it all. No one would ever know it all.

I looked at the clock next to my bed and saw that if I didn’t hurry and stop day dreaming that I was going to be late to work. I now worked at a hotel cleaning rooms. It wasn’t spectacular, but it paid the bills in a more respectable manner than my previous job.

Off to work I go.

~Taylor~

There were some days that I loved my job and there were days that I hated it. Being a counselor is challenging to say the least. I worked with people who had horrible pasts. I work with all age groups from three year olds to eighty year olds. It was always hard to work with someone who had been recently abused, or was emotionally scarred. It was even harder to work with someone who had locked their emotions away for so long that they seemed like they couldn’t feel anything anymore. Those were the people that were abused and hurt for years and years. Those were the kidnapping victims. Those were the cases that haunted me in my sleep.   

I had a feeling that today would be such a case. Her name was Catherine Mildrid and from what I saw on the initial report was that she was kidnapped and used as a call girl for five years. Served time in prison because she wouldn’t talk about what happened to the police. I have a feeling that the prison was self punishment for everything that she had gone through. Maybe she did it to feel safe, I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll find out in the sessions that I have scheduled with her.

Her father had made the appointment with the basis that she needed them, whether she would admit to it or not. From the sounds of it she would be quite the challenge. There was a knock on the door and my receptionist popped her head in to tell me that my last client of the day was here. I told her to let my client into my office. Who walked into my office soon after suprised me.