Forgotten Souls

Chapter 2 : Stay Here As Long As you Need

The coldness of my apartment envelops us the minute we enter through the door. That is the one thing I had always hated about this apartment. It is the one reason why she wanted to desperately find another apartment. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll get you warm clothing and a towel then you can take a shower.” “Thank you sir, it really is not necessary.” she responds almost as if I had just offered her something completely strange.

I ignore her statement and continue towards my bedroom. Once inside my room, I close my door and just stand there for a while. Why did I bring her here? I haven’t brought a girl home since... what makes her so special? I shake my head trying to rid myself of the thoughts I’m currently having. Obviously nothing is special about her. I’m just doing a girl a favour. A very beautiful girl, but that’s not the point.

As I approach my lounge, I notice Zaylee starring out of my large windows at the city lights. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” I say, making her jump ever so slightly. “Here’s a towel. I also added one of my hooded tops. While you are taking a bath I will put your pants in  the tumble dryer to make it dry again.” Hesitantly she takes it out of my hand and look up to say something, but the minute our hands touch her eyes widen and she closes her mouth again.

Did she feel it too? What on earth just happened? It is like I got shocked the moment I touched her hand. Tingles shot through my body. I have never experienced this ever before. Not even with her. “Sir, Braydon, did you hear me?” Snap. I must have completely lost focus of what was going on around me. “Sorry, please repeat what you were saying” I answer confused at my own behaviour. “I just asked where your bathroom is sir, I don’t want to go wandering around in your house.” With a small smile I lead her towards the spare bathroom. Once she enters and I can hear the water running, I walk towards the kitchen ready to finally eat something.  

I’m really not in the mood to cook something at this time of night, so instead I just order two pepperoni pizzas hoping that Zaylee is not some vegetarian or something. For some reason I do not want to offend this green eyed beauty.

I’m busy on my phone, sending a message to my parents to apologize for not showing up at the family gathering when Zaylee enters the room. For a moment I  can’t help but to stare at her walking towards me in my clothes. What’s with all the staring lately? What is with this girl making me stare like such a creeper? I must be higher than I thought because clearly I am out of mind.

“Thank you so much for this Braydon, I know you were in a rush to get somewhere, but I do appreciate what you are doing for me.” The way she says my name gives me involuntary shivers. It sounds so smooth, so delicate when she says it. I officially want to hear her say in more often. “It’s no problem. Don’t worry about it. I.. uhm.. do you want the phone now?” Man, what is going on with me. Since when do I feel nervous around a female? She interrupts my thoughts by replying a quiet yes. Then I hand her the phone and watch her start to dial her parents.

“Mom.. Hi.. yes it’s me mom, it’s Zaylee.. wha- but.. mom..” She stares at me shock, hurt and betrayal evident on her face. Curiously I asked her “What happened Zaylee, is everything alright?” She remains silent for what feels like eons and then I hear a sob coming from her. I want to rush over to her and pull her into my arms, but I don’t want to overstep my boundaries. She’s a stranger for crying out loud. “My mom.. she.. uh.. they said not to bother her again. She wants me out of her life.”

Do these people have no idea what it feels like to lose someone? Have they ever had to endure living a life without a loved one? Clearly not if they can just push this petite green eyed beauty away as if she is nothing to them. I want to demand that she tells me exactly what is going on, but I also don’t want to frighten her, so I do the next best thing. I take her in my arms and hold her tightly.

As she pulls out of my arms she starts bidding me farewell saying, “thank you Braydon for offering your phone, and everything else too. I will get out of your way now. Can you maybe just tell me where I am?” What? No! She can’t leave now. I feel myself start to panic for some reason. I cannot let this girl go anywhere. It’s not safe and she hasn’t even eaten anything yet. Think Braydon! Think of something to keep her here!

“You don’t have to go Zaylee, it’s alright. I ordered  us pizza. It will be here soon. Don’t go, it’s not safe for a young girl like you to be wandering in the streets. I mean.. I can’t force you to stay, but uh.. it will be better for you.. I.. I won’t hurt you if that’s what worries you.”

The way she stares at me makes me firmly believe that she is going to stand up and run any second, but then she surprises me by just giving a small nod. “Who can say no for pizza right?” I snap my head up looking at this broken girl smirking slightly at me with a hit of amusement glowing in her eyes.

She has dimples! That’s the first thing I notice as her smirk grows into a smile. Can this girl get any cuter? I smirk back at her and say teasingly, “Oh so she jokes now?” Fighting my smile, I see her blush and shake her head slightly. Just as I am about to tell her how beautiful she is, the bell goes off, snapping me out of the trans that I found myself in. “That’s probably the food, I’ll just go sort that out quickly”

Feeling like a bucket of cold water has just been dropped on me, I take the food, pay and then close the door. I still have to find out what is going on with her and why she looked like she was attacked when I found her. I take the boxes and grab me a drink from the fridge. “Do you want one” I ask her, she looks up but then starts shaking her head profusely. “No thanks, I uh.. I don’t drink. I’ll have some water please.”

I grab her a bottle of water and lead the way to the lounge. We sit comfortably on the couch and just as I am about to start eating I notice her bowing her head. What is she doing? Is she praying? Why would she possibly pray? Surely she doesn’t believe there’s a God. I mean, look at what she had just gone through – what I had been going through this past two years. Surely there is no God. Why then would He allow for this to happen?

After a while she opens her eyes, when she catches me staring she just smiles and then she starts eating. “Did you just pray? I ask her casually. She looks up at me and after swallowing her food she answers, “Of course I did. Why would I not thank my Father for providing me for food and shelter in a time where I have no one to turn to?”

Shocked did not even begin to express what I was feeling at that moment. She has no one at the moment, yet she has a reason to pray and thank a God that could take her out of her situation? My mind felt completely jumbled, so instead of confusing myself more, I ask her about it. “Do you believe that there is a God that takes care of you? I mean, look at what you just went through, surely He wouldn’t want someone innocent to go through that much pain?”

I can see the confusion on her face and then she answers “So what you’re saying is that if there is a God then nothing bad can happen to us? Do you really expect God to bless you constantly without allowing us to go through bad times also? How will we ever learn to rely on Him if things are always smooth sailing in our lives? Come on, it’s not God that causes us to go through bad things. People making bad choices causes us to go through bad things.”

That shut me up for a while. I took in everything that she said and thought to myself what if she’s right? What if it was merely someone else’s fault that Jenny... no it couldn’t have been. Why would it be because of someone else that.. This girl is driving me crazy! She is messing up everything that I thought made sense to me. Suddenly I stood up and marched to my room, no longer in the mood for her innocent face staring back at me and her beautiful eyes watching me.