Broken Pieces

Chapter 2

Sofia woke up with a loud shriek.  Mrs. Clarke was immediately by her side. Mrs. Clarke lived in the room adjacent to her room. Jeremy came running into her room. He was awake working on some new partnership deal. Bella was sleeping soundly.

"Princess, what happened?" He asked as he sat beside her and enveloped her in his arms. Sofia kept crying and crying. Jeremy smoothed her hair and drew circles on her arm which he knew always worked on her whenever she had trouble sleeping at nights.

"Okay. Now stop crying and tell me. What is not letting my princess sleep?" He asked her as he wiped her tears.

"Tim....he is coming after me. He was scaring me today in the library. Simon saved me. Help me, dad." She said as she started sobbing again. He asked Mrs. Clarke to bring her a glass of water. Sofia calmed down a bit after drinking water.

"Okay. You don't worry. I will talk to your principal tomorrow. Okay? Now sleep like my good girl. " He said as he tucked her into bed and pulled her comforter up.

"Dad, can you sleep with me? I'm afraid. Please?" She pleaded. Jeremy didn't have the courage in him to leave his princess in such a bad state. So he got under the covers and held her until she fell asleep. Then he quietly slipped out of her room.

The next morning, Jeremy came to Sofia's room all dressed up for work. He woke her up as he kissed her forehead.
"Rise and shine princess!" He said as he pulled the curtains apart letting the bright sunshine inside the room.

"Good morning, father." She said as she threw the comforter away and stood up on the bed.

"How are you feeling now?" Jeremy asked as he hugged his princess who was now standing on her bed and considerably taller than him.

"Oh look, my princess has grown taller than me," Jeremy said as he hugged her and tickled her lightly. She squealed and giggled. It was the best sound to start his day. He wished he had fewer responsibilities so that he could spend more time with his daughter.

"I'm fine, father." She said as she kissed his cheek. His phone rang. He fished his phone out of his pocket and frowned to see his secretary calling.

"Get ready princess. I'll take you to school today. "He said as he took her off the bed and set her down. Then answered his phone as he left her room talking to his stupid secretary.

Mrs. Clarke set breakfast on the table. After breakfast, Jeremy went to drop Sofia off to school. He went to the principal's office to talk to him about the incident in the library.

"Good morning, Mr. Taylor. I was just informed that you wanted to see me. Please take a seat." She said as she welcomed him rather too sweetly for her looks. The principal Mrs. Woodson was a woman with a sharp look on her face and Jeremy didn't quite like her.

"Mrs. Woodson, I don't have time to waste. I will cut it short. My daughter was harassed by a boy named Tim in the library. I am a trustee of this school which means that if I take my daughter out of this school, I won't give a penny to this institution. I want you to take strict action against students who act like this. This is my daughter's safety I'm talking about. I don't want anyone to bully her. No child deserves to be bullied. I won't tolerate ignorance or you know the consequences.The only reason why I'm not handling this matter myself is that it's my daughter's wish." He stated his point in a business-like tone.

"Yes, Mr. Taylor. I got your point. I assure you that Miss Taylor will be safe." She said with a forced smile. The woman was shocked to the core as to how he stated his point.

"Good. I expect immediate action. Have a nice day. Bye." He said as he got up shook her hand and left for his workplace.

It was lunch. Simon was sitting on a bench under the shade of a large tree eating his lunch. Sofia spotted him and went to him.