Professional Disaster

Chapter 21

After hours of Kimberly tossing and turning, crying whenever she looked at her sleeping daughter, she fell asleep. Arabella clung to her mother in her sleep, sometimes letting out whimpers which would wake Kimberly in a startle. Any noise she heard whether it was someone using the bathroom or going down to the kitchen for a drink would wake her. She kept waking to the fear of someone trying to hurt her little girl.

By the time the morning came, the two were lucky that the master bedroom had blackout curtains, meaning they had a little extra sleep. They both woke up to the sound of a knocking on the large door and Jenkin's voice. "Pa and I made breakfast. I'll leave it by the door."

Kim stood to her feet and unlocked the door. She picked up the tray which had a spread of different breakfast items on it and two bottles of water. She made sure to lock the door once again. "You feel like eating, sweetheart?"

Ari thought for a moment. "Yeah."

"Don't force nothing on yourself, baby. Even if you can't eat it now, anything you need or want at all, anything you just name it and someone will get it for you. Okay?" Kim placed the tray at the end of the bed so Bella could reach.

"Thank you." Her voice was quiet, it had been ever since she finished her outburst with Jenkin in the outhouse. She reached for a piece of toast and began to take small bites out of it.

"You don't have to, but do you think you'd be okay telling me what happened yesterday? So we know how the fix it." Kimberly took a sip of the water, she didn't feel hungry but she also took a slice of toast and began to take small bites in hopes of encouraging Ari to eat.

Ari looked down at the toast in her hand. Each slice had been cut into four squares, making it look less daunting to eat. At some point last night Arabella had been up vomiting and crying, Kimberly was surprised she even attempted to eat at all. "I think. It- it's just embarrassing."

Kimberly sighed. She should not feel embarrassed about Parker's actions. She had no reason to feel embarrassed. "Do you want me to tell you something that could make you feel better talking to me about it?" Arabella nodded, choosing not to speak. "There was a reason why your father and I didn't want Parker here. However awful it is to say, the fact he did this to you wasn't as much of a shock to us."

Ari's eyes held confusion. She didn't understand what her mother was trying to say.

"Not long after I had your brother the family came to visit, loads of them to see your brother as a newborn baby, just like they did when you were born. A last-minute fundraiser was being held at our home and I won't lie, I got rather drunk. It was Katie and Parker's fault, shoving drinks down my neck constantly. But then Parker slipped something into one of my drinks, I'm not even sure what one and took me to bed because I was so dazed, I could barely even stand. By the time I got to my room, I was completely unconscious and lying in bed." Arabella's eyes grew wide.

Kim saw the shocked look on her daughter's face and it pained her. She didn't ever want her children to know about what happened to her, but if it made Arabella feel more comfortable to talk about her own experience then she'd tell anyone. She'd scream it from the rooftop. "From that point, I didn't know what happened. All I know was from what Parker admitted to what he did."

"Pa caught him?" Ari's voice was barely a whisper.

Kimberly nodded.

Arabella hugged her mum. "I'm so sorry, Mumma."

"But this isn't about me. Do you think you could try and tell me about what he did?" Kimberly kissed her daughter's forehead.

"You aren't mad at me for what happened, are you?" Ari laid back in the bed, pulling the sheets up to her chin.

Kim copied her daughter's actions. She was face to face with her daughter, Arabella holding her mum's hand. "Never. Don't you ever think that, okay? It's not your fault."

"It was scary." The sadness was clear in Bella's eyes. "I was woken up by the sound of my door locking, when I looked I saw it was Parker." She took a moment to breathe, she still couldn't wrap her head around what happened. "I was confused but I just presumed he needed help with something, so I asked what was wrong."

Kimberly didn't speak, she didn't want to interrupt her daughter. She could feel a rollercoaster in her stomach, all her emotions of anger, sadness, disgust and confusion were mixing making her want to be sick. "He told me he wanted to show me something, so I sat up. I asked him what he meant, and he told me to stay quiet. Something felt off with him."

Bella's hand tightened around her mother's. She was scared to go into the details, she felt dirty, used. "I asked him to leave, then he said I wasn't being quiet and started pulling my clothes off me. I started trying to hit him away and then he started hurting me, He took my top off and I wasn't wearing a bra anyway. I tried swatting him away but he grabbed my hands so I couldn't fight anymore. He started grabbing at my tits, hurting me, then leaving kisses all over my neck and cleavage."

Kimberly pulled her daughter close, smoothing down her hair. Her heart was racing, both of their hearts were racing. "I tried kicking him, and began to shout. Then he covered my mouth instead and- and he moved his hand t-to my, my-"

"I understand what you're saying." Kim didn't want to force her daughter to say it.

"But that's where you walked in, that's all that happened." She wiped away her tears. "I feel so silly because it wasn't even that much, but-"

"Don't say that, you feel however you feel you should. Only you know how to process this."

"I feel disgusting. I feel awful, why did he do it?" She clung to her mother like she was her life support. She felt so broken. She felt so confused.

"We're going to fix this, gorgeous. We will make sure he doesn't and cannot hurt anyone, okay? That he pays for what he did to you."

"I love you, Mumma."

"I love you too, baby girl."