Saving Each Other

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I wake up the next morning to the smell of coffee and bacon. I get up and walk into the kitchen to see Juice at the stove cooking. Hearing me walk in he turns, "Good morning." He smiles as he walks over to the island with a cup of coffee for me. "Breakfast will be done in a few minutes if you want to get ready." He tells me and seeing that he is already dressed I smile back and take my coffee to the bedroom to get dressed.

Walking into my closet I pick out a pair of faded skinny jeans that hug my hips perfect, a gray tank top and my heeled booties. I brush my hair and pull it into a ponytail and apply a little makeup. Walking back out to the kitchen, I see Juice plating our food as he looks up and stops in his tracks. "Wow." He says going back to what he was doing. I blush a little, sitting down. "Thanks for cooking. You didn't have to." I tell him as I pick up a piece of bacon. "I know but I wanted to. You said yourself that we take care of each other. And before you say anything, our lunch is packed and in the cooler." He smiles taking a bite of his own food.

We finished breakfast in a comfortable silence, cleaned up and got ready to head out the door. Walking to the car, we get in and I tell Juice he gets to drive. I hand him the keys and we pull out of the driveway. "You look really nice by the way." He tells me with a smile that seems to almost reach his eyes. "Thanks." I reply. "Got a hot date tonight?" He asks and I sense a little tension. "No. Molly texted me last night asking about a girls night so we are going to go out with some friends that we have not seen in awhile." I tell him. "I'm dropping you off at home and then heading out but I shouldn't be too late. Still have work tomorrow." I tell him. "Well, you have my number if you need anything." He tells me. I thank him as we are pulling into the lot.

Work goes by fast and I lock up the shop. Driving home, I drop Juice off and before he gets out of the car he leans over and kisses me on the cheek. "Be careful and call if you need anything. I don't care how late." He whispers. "Thanks. I will." I say as I place my hand on his cheek. We stare at each other for another minute before I tell him I need to go. He gets out of the car and I wait for him to get the door opened before pulling out and heading to be bar.

Walking in, I see Molly, April and Amy already at a table. "Hey bitches." I greet them and they all stand and hug me. I order a beer and before I can get the first sip down Molly speaks up. "Did you hear our girl here hired a new guy for the shop?" They all look at me and Molly continues. "And he is amazingly hot but yet our girl here hasn't made a move." They all start asking questions all at the same time before I hold up my hand to stop them. "His name is Juice and yes he is INSANELY HOT but he is my employee." I tell them hoping they will drop it. No such luck. "Yes but tell them how he is living with you too." Molly says and they all turn to look at me shocked. Molly starts pulling out her phone and showing them pictures of him that I didn't know she took. Amy speaks up first. "Okay, if he is that hot and you are living together then why in the hell are you here and not letting him ride you? I mean, come on, he is fucking hot!" She tells me. "First, we are not living together. He is renting my spare room. Second, yes he is hot but still he is my employee. And third, Molly, he heard everything we said in the office. He told me that if anything happened that it would be on my terms and I would have to make the first move." I tell them blushing a little. We go on talking more about Juice and then they start telling me about things in their lives.

A couple of hours later a couple of guys walk over and start trying to flirt with us. The girls are eating it up but I am just not really interested. None of them are a good looking as Juice and none of them make my stomach do flips like he does. And the one that seems to be trying to talk to just me just doesn't have that smile that Juice does. What the hell? I'm comparing guys to Juice now? Fuck. "Look, why don't we go somewhere quiet and talk?" The guy asked. I can't even remember what he told me his name was. "I'm just here for a girls night but thanks for the offer." I tell him trying to be polite. After another hour of this guy trying to talk to me, I get tired of him putting his hand on my leg trying to slide it up my thigh. I keep pushing his hand off of my leg only for him to keep trying. I tell the girls I am heading home, pay for my drinks and head out to my car.

I am standing at my car trying to get the door unlocked and just as I opened it, I feel it being pushed back closed. I look up to see the same guy from the bar had followed me out. He pushed me against the car and forces his lips on mine. I try to fight him off but he is stronger. He is still kissing me when I feel his hand slide up my shirt and under my bra. I keep trying to push him away when all of a sudden I feel him move his hand from my chest to unbuttoning my pants. I try to stop him but he opens my car door, slides both of us in and attacks me. I try to fight him off of me but he punches me in the face knocking me out. When I wake up he is on top of me raping me. Still kissing my neck and telling me how good it feels before he pulls out and releases himself on my bare stomach. He tells me it was fun and gets out of the car leaving me alone to put myself back together.

I clean up, gather my bearings and drive home with tears flowing down my face. Not only am I still in shock from just being raped but the thought goes through my mind that now Juice will never want me. I am damaged. I sneak into the house hoping to get to my room without Juice seeing me but he is in the living room. I walk passed and he says "Hey, how was your night?" as he is getting off the couch. I rush to my room, closing the door and falling against it. I am still in shock but I can feel the tears rolling down my face.

I hear Juice at my door, "Janie, what's wrong? Open up." I just sat there. I don't know how long I sat there but the sun was coming up. I didn't hear Juice outside the door so I moved away from the door. I showered, trying to get the feel of that guy off of me but it didn't work. I called Bill, one of my lead guys, and asked him if he could handle the office that I wasn't feeling well and he said he would. I walked out of my bedroom to get a drink from the kitchen and I see Juice sleeping on my floor in the hall next to my door. He never left my side. He woke up as I walked passed him. "Janie, what happened last night?" He asked. "Nothing. I'm fine. Look, I am not going into work today but you can drive my car if you need or the truck." I tell him not looking up. Juice walks up to me, lifts my face and sees the bruise that is on the side of my face. "Baby, what happened? Talk to me." he says worried. "Nothing Juice. It's nothing. You need to get ready for work." I tell him. "I'm staying with you today. Talk to me. What happened?" He pleads with me. "Nothing Juice. Just please drop it." I beg walking down the hall back to my room, water bottle in hand.

I forgot I left my phone in the kitchen and go back to get it when I hear Juice on the phone. "Molly, hey, this is Juice. Can you come to the house? Something happened last night and Janie won't talk to me." He asks her. "Yeah, I'm staying home today with her. I'm not leaving her alone. Great. See you in a few. Thanks." He tells her ending the call. "You called Molly?" I asked him, still too much in shock to be mad. "Yes I did." He says, walking over and pulling me into a hug. I stiffened and he stepped back. "Something happened last night and you need to talk to someone. Sweetheart please talk to either me or Molly." He pleads.

Molly walks in the door a few minutes later and I hear Juice and her talking in the hall. "She still won't talk. She's just walking around like she's in shock. She came in last night and went into her room and didn't say a word. I could hear her crying through the door all night. I stayed outside her door until she came out this morning. Her face is pretty bruised up too." He tells her. "Okay. Put on some more coffee and I will see what's going on." She tells him and walks into my room. Seeing the bruise on my face she rushes to me. "Janie! What happened? Sissy talk to me." She says, concern clear in her voice. "Don't tell me nothing either." She says sternly. So I tell her about what happened when I went to leave the bar.

By the time I am done, I am crying harder and she is crying with me. "You know, when he was talking to me at the bar before I left, I just kept thinking about how he isn't Juice. How he didn't look like Juice. How he didn't smile like Juice. How my stomach didn't do flips like when I am with Juice. Now all I can think is how Juice will never want me now." I tell her crying even harder.

Before either of us could say anything else, Juice walks in and gets down on his knees in front of me and takes my face in his hands and looks me in the eyes, "There is nothing in this world that would make me not want you. Sweetheart, you have been better to me in just this short time we have known each other than most people have after knowing them for years. When I told you that it would be you that made the first move, I said it because I didn't want to scare you off when all I want to do is kiss you and hold you. I feel like things will be okay when I am around you. This won't change how I feel. But it will still be your call. When you are ready. Okay?" He tells me and give me a soft kiss on my cheek.

Molly hugs me and tells me she will check on my later. Juice guides me to lay down and lays down with me pulling me close to him and just lets me cry. He whispers "I won't let anything happen to you again. Just try to rest." Even after what happened, I believe him.