The Next Best Thing: Part II

Twenty

Mitchell

I felt it vibrating in my back pocket, interrupting my breakfast meeting. I immediately excused myself and Aidan stared at me with a querying look. I walked quickly into the bathroom, the incessant ringtone hastening the need for me to pick it up.

Zoe was calling me back and I had to hear her voice one last time. She was crying, I could tell. There was an echo in the room - she had hid away to break down in the bathroom, her go-to safe haven.

"H-he was rape...he was raping me and I couldn't fight back. I didn't do anything about it, I didn't...I let him have me, Mitchell. He was hurting me," she stammered, unable to communicate her words.

I felt sick to my stomach, disgusted by what this Sebastian had done to her and angry because I wasn't there to protect her. How could I let her get hurt by this psycho? Why wasn't I there?

I handled the situation as best as I could, reassuring she would be fine and doing everything in my power, everything I possibly could to stop her crying. I controlled the tone of my voice, harnessing my temper to murder this son of a bitch that had frightened my Zoe, that threatened her safety.

She fell asleep and I listened to her breathing silently and peacefully, making sure she didn't start dreaming about her attacker again.

Aidan covered for me for the rest of the meeting I missed and I got back into the conference room in time for him to question my suspicious phone call.

I wasn't in the best mood to start explaining the reason for the sudden shift in my mood. I was too upset to get into it, my heartache worse than it had been just a few moments beforehand.

Lyle was hardly paying attention to anyone else, falling apart himself because of his breakup with Min. Cameron insisted on being the buffer for all of us, only getting involved if it was necessary. He too noticed my mood shift but he wasn't one to ask. It could wait until I was ready.

He advised Aidan to proceed with caution, sensing that I was on the verge of lashing out. After bottling my emotions for so long and keeping so much to myself, sharing what I was going through was a foreign concept to me. Zoe was a mess and I couldn't be there to rock her in my arms.

...

Lily brought me a comfy pillow and a warm blanket while I slept, making me as comfortable as one could be on a bathroom floor without disturbing me.

She was by my side when I woke up, a steaming cup of tea in her hands and an empathetic aura. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked, propping me up against the tub.

I had a mild headache I would sleep off later in the afternoon and my arms still hurt from Sebastian's dangerous hold. Other than that, I would be fine. I nodded my head and carefully took a sip of the herbal tea, the chai soothing my bruised lip.

"Thank you," I whispered, closing my eyes to take it all in. I was going to be fine. I wouldn't give that bastard the satisfaction of haunting me when I had picked up the pieces of my life. I wasn't going to wallow in misery anymore.

I let the police officers from last night take my statement and they asked me if I was going to press any charges. I lay a restraining order against him, the only assurance I had that a repeat encounter with my assailant couldn't occur.

Rae held my hand through it all, devastated that she wasn't there to see to it that he was severely attacked himself. Having taken karate for most of her childhood, she was my personal ninja warrior who always wanted to fight for me.

Ty bought me large balloons she stuck in the corner of my bedroom and a large stuffed panda she dedicated to curbing my nightmares. It was soft and cuddly, reminding me of my own panda whose job it was to curb my bad dreams.

Talking to him made me realise that I still needed him in my life and that I always would.