It's Not That Easy

Chapter 5 - Learning New Tricks

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. - Winston Churchill

Chapter 5 - Learning New Tricks

"Three weeks is long enough. I miss my nearly naked Addy, from the river." Joel grumbles as he pulls open my curtains and raises my blinds. "You're covered up. Hiding behind huge baggy clothes like a weak woman's armor. We both know you're not weak.

I hear the sound of my closet being yanked open. "I'm sick of seeing you in it. Now get up, let's go." The sound of scavenging and clothes hitting the ground is endless. "How much of this crap do you have?" He continues to bark.

"Joel, door." I point for him to leave.

"It ain't happening." He walks over to my bed and climbs in, and nuzzles into me neck. "I can't watch you do this. Is this what your life has been like, before you moved back here?" I slowly nod my head. "Well, that's just not going to work anymore. I saw the real you, so you need to stop hiding it."

I moan and pull my head away from him. I know he sees the fear in my eyes, but it doesn't stop him. "It didn't work last time. What makes you think it will be any different?" Thanks for reminding me.

"It's what I know." I have hidden, and I do mean hidden, behind my clothes for two years now, ever since I had to move in with Saada and Niam.

He lets out a deep breath, and says, "It's time to learn something new." I give him an uneasy smile. "You need to burn some of those clothes, and then we need to go shopping for some new ones." This argument isn't new. He and Helen have been on me for more than a week, but then again so has Holden and Elliot.

He gets up, pulling me with him. He holds up a large, very sad looking, comfortable sweatshirt that has faded from use, and then a man's dress shirt and then the sundress I wore to my dad's party. "I like the clothes your mom buys for you better than what you buy. I know your reasoning, but I think you need a new approach."

He tells me he can help. "You can don the uniform," as he put it. Which means, he wants me to look like other girls. He lets me know I stick out wearing the clothes I have. "You're really pretty. People will notice you no matter what, but we can make it where you don't stand out in a crowd." I like the sound of that.

We go through my closet tossing almost all of my clothes out. "Do you understand how much trust I am placing in your hands right now?" I ask him not moving my eyes from his.

"Yes, I do." He pats my hand. "But, we have each others' back, and I wouldn't be doing my job if I don't put a stop to this." He gives me a wicked smile and adds, "Besides, we'll be together a lot outside this house, and I need a nice piece of arm candy to make me look good," which earns him a swat.

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"If your not going to let me get what I'm comfortable with then remind me why we're doing this." I say as Joel laughs at yet another shirt that I pick up.

"Because I will not let you let some asshole dictate how you will dress or act. You are in charge of you...no one else." He pulls my chin up to meet his eyes. "And what I've seen lately isn't you. What your picking up in the store isn't you...it's just not."

"You're right, but it's how I survive."

"Not anymore. Now you have friends and family, and best of all you have me." He smiles a huge flirty smile.

I stare at him for a moment. "How is it that you know just how to handle me?"

"What do you think I was doing with Mason all that time? He taught me all the tricks." He musses up my hair and sends me back to the dressing room.