Forbidden Love

6

~ Amirah's Pov

After Anne comforted me, I'm not really sure how I got home. I don't remember getting in my car. I don't remember taking the right turns. I don't remember parking and entering my apartment building.

Yet here I am, unlocking the door and stepping in. Haven was pacing back and forth, and immediately stopped when I walked in. She embraced me, and I couldn't bring myself to hug back so I just stood there. She was talking to me, but my thoughts were so loud in my head that I couldn't process what she was saying.

Was it my fault? What if I left sooner? What if I was able to fight back. What if I waited for the security guard to come before we went to his office? What if I never worked there in the first place? Would he have still been able to take advantage of me?

I felt myself being pulled up my steps and she sat me down on the bathroom counter while she ran some bath water. She stood in front of me and untied my hair tie, massaging my scalp and releasing the tenseness from my bun. She spoke to me again, looking me in my eyes with a look I can't even describe.

Only the word 'clothes' processed through my mind, and I slowly began taking my clothes off and she respectably turned around. I got into the tub. The water was warm, almost on the verge of being hot but not too hot. It was perfect. I sunk down until my neck was submerged.

She sat beside the tub and proceeded to massage my scalp. I would close my eyes every now and then, just to reopen them seconds later due to the images that flashed through my mind.

After a while, I ended up moving to the shower to actually wash myself. Yet, I couldn't seem to wash off this dirty feeling. After I was done, I wrapped the towel around me, going to the sink and brushing my teeth.

Looking at myself in the mirror seemed to bring me back to reality. I stared at myself for a second, feeling Haven's eyes looking at me too. The tears swelled again and I wished nothing more than for things to have played out differently.

Haven grabbed my hand and led me to bed. She sat down and pulled me on top of her, hugging me tightly and rocking side to side. She wiped my tears, and it was then that I noticed she had tears of her own running down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Mirah. We made a promise to always protect each other. I should've been there. I should've showed up even though you told me not to."

I didn't tell her what happened yet, but it seemed as if she had put the pieces together. I hated that she blamed herself. That's the last thing I would want her to do.

"It's okay." Hearing my hoarse voice made me cringe. "It's not your fault, Haven. You wouldn't have known. Neither did I."

She continued holding me, and we wiped each other's tears. "You can't go back there."

"I'm not."

"But you have to say something, Amirah. I promise I will support you, okay?" She says, moving her thumb back and forth on my back gently.

"What if nobody believes me?" One of my biggest fears was nobody believing me in a serious situation such as this. Though, I always hoped I wouldn't be put in this situation. "Being scared doesn't mean you shouldn't try at all. I'm here for you. What have we always promised each other?" She places her head against mine and I feel myself relax as she continues rocking.

"That we'll always have each other's back, no matter what."

"Forever?"
"Forever."

There was silence for a few minutes. "I can go get the rest of your stuff this weekend, so you won't have to step foot in that place again. Everything's gonna be alright."