Pulling out the journal was probably the easiest but hardest things I would do in this long drawn out life of mine, or at least since it all started. The beginning of this particular journal started when I was sixteen and Scarlette and I were starting our summer jobs at our family's law firm in Fort Worth. My dad felt that all of his children including his nieces and nephews needed to be in that firm working towards the future from the time we became legally employable. I thought he just wanted free labor because no one in their right mind would want to file, run errands and get yelled at by all of the real employees on a daily basis. Scarlette and I made a pact early on that we would stick together and really learn the ins and outs of running a firm so we could escape it all and go out on our own. Of course, we knew that was a pipe dream because there was no way we were getting out of the family business but it kept us sane during those long days.
I will never forget the first day of June when we walked in through the main reception area, giggling and whispering to each other about the annual Memorial Day family trip to our beach house in Galveston that previous weekend. We were oblivious to everything except ourselves and that particular moment as I whispered something to Scarlette I also bumped into one of the most beautiful male interns that I had ever seen, except I knew him, but never had I even thought he would grow up to rival a Greek God. Glancing up my eyes feasted on my childhood crush, Grayson Flynn, who was one of my father's partners son, who had been away at college and was interning as part as his degree requirements. That day would lay the groundwork for the next 4 years of my life and lead me to this day where I was about to reveal every deep, dark secrets that had occurred from that day until the day that it all ended.
Shaking myself out of the memory, I brought that journal to my chest, hugging it tightly as I turned and walked down the hall. Reaching the living room, I looked down once more at it and then walked over to the couch and sat down next to Scarlette. I watched her look at me with a confusion and then glanced down at what I was holding. She knew what this journal meant to me and how much it contained that could change everyone's lives for good.
"I want you to read it" I told her as I handed to her. I watched my hand shake a little before she reached up and placed her hand on it.
"Are you really sure" she asked me with emotion thick in her voice.
I could only nod because I knew that I was seconds from yanking that journal from her and running back to my new room and hiding it. It was the one thing that kept my sanity throughout everything that happened and I was finally going to share it with the one person that I trusted with it.
"Do you want me to start it now or later" she asked me.
"I would very much like for you to read the first few pages while we wait for the pizza. After that its totally up to you when you want to read it" I told her.
"You know that I have wanted to know everything for a long time, but I also want you to know that nothing will change between us because of this. I am forever in your corner" she told me as she pulled me into a hug.
Motioning to the journal I watched as she picked it up and ran her hand over the worn tan leather binding. Her face was full of emotions as I watched tears swell in her eyes, trying to blink them away as fast as they appeared. I patted her leg in comfort, because I knew that she was trying really hard to rationalize in her mind all the things that she knew that I had endured, but to read my actual words, my story and my details of everything that had happened was an emotional rollercoaster.
"Are you sure" she asked without looking up at me, her eyes still trained on that leather journal.
"More than I thought I would be" I whispered to her.
Honestly, I just wanted her to open it and start reading it so my heart would stop trying to escape out of my chest and my brain would stop trying to tell me to grab the damn journal and head for the hills. As if I willed her to open it she did and slowly turned the page to Summer 2015 (June) and watched her read the very first page, a memory that I had just went through. The first day we entered our families law office for our required summer job and me seeing Grayson for the first time since he went off to college.
"You always had a crush on him even before all of this" she said smiling.
"I guess I always thought we were destined to be together" I said sadly.
"You still are Emilee, you need to text him back" Scarlette said firmly.
"How is me protecting him by not being with him not getting through to you" I asked her.
"You do realize that they threatened him and your relationship to cover up the family secret and they would not jeopardize ruing their precious name to take him down. Especially when yall clearly love each other years later" she reminded me.
"Just keep reading. I know you lived a lot of it with me but the secrets that are in that journal could very well be the end as we know it for all of us" I told her sadly.
Pain, guilt and sadness were my friend for so long that by allowing that journal to be read was one part of finally putting the past in the past, even if there were no winners. If I was being truthful with myself I was damn tired of being a victim, living in isolation and allowing one person to control my life. Even if he had stolen years from my life I could still move on and try to make a new one, one that was filled with a new happiness. I knew that my heart would never be completely healed without Grayson but being with him meant playing a dangerous game and without his consent I would not bring him back into that again. I was interrupted out of my thoughts by a doorbell, which meant our pizza was here. Scarlette was up in a flash and was back with piping hot pizza that was about to be one of many that I would share with her. I just hoped that this journal did not change anything between us because she was my lifeline and I had no idea how much I would still need her in the months to come. As she settled back down on the couch with the pizza between us I watched her as she picked the journal back up and began to read again and smiled a sad smile as I realized how we were fixing to make a long trip down memory lane.
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Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter and its just a filler, because we have to have fillers for the more exciting chapters. The next couple of chapters will be filled with memories of the last 3-4 years and we will learn more about Emilee and Grayson's relationship and if it will be rekindled. Also a big huge surprise that maybe someone else has read the journal and will expose why all of this started and who the true villian in this story is. It will move pretty fast paced from here on out. Let me know what your thinking and please vote.
xoxoxo
Ruby
YOU ARE READING
It All Starts With a G
Teen FictionShe was a girl that had it all on the outside. On the inside she lived through hell. She always thought her family was perfect until the day came that she realized that they would do whatever it took to cover up for the family even sacrificing the...
