Identical (COMPLETED)

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

TRENT'S POV

"Last night you told me Travis raped you," I spit out, not wanting to wait another second to get answers. Not when I wanted to beat the shit out of my brother that whole dinner when I didn't even know the story yet.

Cali gasps a terrified look crossing her face. "What?" She breathes out.

I retell her our conversation and the blood drains from her face. "Cali, you need to tell me what's going on," I tell her softly as I see her walls closing.

"Trent..." She draws out, her eyes looking lost and nervous. "I don't—I can't—It's just that—" She stutters trying to find the right words. "Look, you don't have to worry about me, I'm okay," she finally says in a small voice.

I laugh humorlessly. "Cali had you not said what you did last night, I'd say okay and let it go, but you called Travis your rapist Cali. You said my brother raped you, that's fucking serious. You need to tell me what happened," I say as slowly and as sternly as I can, to make her understand how serious this is.

Her gold eyes hold my gaze for a few moments. I watch as her eyes begin filling with tears. She nods before moving her gaze to the ground. "You might want to sit," she mumbles, so I take a seat on her bed. I wait patiently for her to speak.

"I don't know where to start..." She finally says, glancing at me.

I could feel her nerves radiating throughout the room and all I want is to comfort her, but I know she needs to talk first. "Wherever you want, take your time okay?"

A tear slips down her cheek and she brushes it away quickly. "I'm sorry, I just... I just haven't told anyone and I'm scared you're not going to believe me or something..."

My heart clenches at the panic in her eyes when she tells me this. She's been bottling this up all on her own? "This morning you told me you trusted me Cali, keep that in mind because you can still trust me after you tell me."

She nods and takes a deep breath. "Okay so I started here when I was nineteen. I was here for about half a year before he—" She looks at me with an indecisive look. "Before your brother started working here after finishing college. At first he would just stare at me a lot and I found it kind of flattering..." She drawls off looking angry with herself.

"But then it started to get kind of creepy. The staring happened for months, until he finally started talking to me, but not like friendly talk trying to get to know me. He'd make comments like 'Looking sexy today Cali' or 'Unbutton a few buttons, let me see what you're hiding,'" her mouth twists in disgust as she quotes him and I feel my hands clenching in anger.

"I would ask him to stop making comments like that to me and he would just laugh at me like I just told a good joke. The inappropriate comments continued, but last year he started... touching me..." Cali says while squirming slightly, a lost look in her eyes again.

My jaw clenches as I try and rein in my anger. If I'm this worked up now how am I going to handle the rest of the story?

"Touching you how Cali?" I ask her through grinding teeth.

"At first it was just him brushing against me when he'd walk by, so it seemed accidental. But then he'd touch me every chance he got, whether it was a graze on the arm or a slap on the butt..." she spits out, disgust clear in her eyes and I know the look is mirrored back in mine.

"I asked him to stop touching me, he smirked and walked away. He'd make suggestive comments a lot about getting me in bed, but I tried my best to avoid him."