Sophia
My palms are sweating,and I’m ten times more nervous than I was when I went on the “sort of” date with him last week. It’s not that I don’t want to tell Adrian about the issues I’ve had in the past with Dawson. I just don’t want him to break up with me because of the extra drama. From what I’ve seen, guys don’t do drama.
Both Adrian and Jay are too busy shoveling food into their mouths to demand information. Even Jay doesn’t know what the call was about, not completely. He only knows that things didn’t work out in my favor.
Grabbing a slice of my ham and pineapple pizza, I take a huge bite. Adrian looks at the pizza in disgust. “There’s no way that is good on any level.”
“You could always try it,” I hold the piece out toward him.
“Will that get me answers faster?” So much for him possibly forgetting about the talk we need to have.
“Probably not,” I shrug, “but you might like it…”
“Then I’m good.” He sets the crust of his pizza on the plate in front of him. That’s weird to me. Why not eat the whole thing? I don’t say anything, though. Unlike him, I don’t question other people’s food choices. “So, what was the phone call about?”
“Wow,” I mutter, “just jump right in. No warm up or small talk to build up to it.”
“I like to be straight forward. It helps in the long run.” Pain flashes through his eyes, and I wonder if it was another person who put it there. Instinctively, I want to reach out, grab his hand, and comfort him. Whatever caused that pain must have hit him hard.
I don’t do any of that, though. Hell, I don’t know if I can touch him at all while revisiting the insanity my life was before I broke free. “Do you want me to start with the call or from the beginning?”
My brother doesn’t say anything, but he moves closer to me for support. Knowing that he saw me when I was at my absolute lowest kills me inside, but I’m happy he’s seen how far I’ve come from being that girl. Reinvention and everything, it was what I needed to become the best version of myself. I’m still not where I want to be, though.
“Start with the phone call, and then go back,” Adrian grabs my hand. “If it gets to be too much, you don’t have to tell me everything.”
This man, who seemed like he never cared about me before, is doing all the right things to ease my fear. It’s the only reason I’ll tell him everything, even if it hurts. “Well, the day I came in late, I had just finished trying to file a restraining order. The officer told me he’d be in contact with me when, and if, a hearing was set.” Deep breath in, long exhale. This is the part that Jay doesn’t know either. “That was him who called. The judge didn’t sign off on a hearing because of lack of proof.”
Jay lowers his head in defeat, but Adrian’s grip on my hand loosens the tiniest bit. “Wait,” he says, “who were you filing a restraining order on?”
“Her ex-boyfriend,” Jay supplies, “he’s a douchebag of the highest level. I didn’t care for him when they were together, and I hate him a little more since she left him.”
“How long ago did you end things with him?” Even though his grip isn’t as strong, his hand is still over mine, and that brings me some comfort.
“About four months before I started working at Life in Ink.”
“And he’s still bothering you?” Adrian’s brows are furrowed. He has every right to be confused. Honestly, I am too.
“He hasn’t for a long time, but I didn’t know that restraining orders expire. And a car seemed to be following me home last week. It creeped me out. I have a gut feeling he’s back now that the original order is no longer valid.”
“I don’t understand why he would come back to bother you after all this time,” Jay mutters.
“Is he a threat to you?” Adrian scoots closer to my side, trying to calm the shaking he no doubt feels in my hands. “Was he abusive toward you?”
“He was never physical,” I answer. It’s not easy to talk about, even now. “But he was verbally abusive and manipulative. He would twist my words to make me look like an idiot when he was being an asshole with a God complex.”
“What happened when you left him?” So many questions in such a short amount of time. I guess I should thank my lucky stars he isn’t running, screaming, out of the front door. It does little to push my fears away, though.
“I tried sneaking out during the night, and I was shocked he let me go without a fight when he woke up as I was walking out.” I honestly thought it was over. I wouldn’t have to deal with him ever again. Boy was I wrong. “He started showing up at my parents’ house at all times of the day, and constantly calling my phone. There were a few times I went out by myself and he’d show up wherever I was.” That was the scariest part. Never knowing if he would torment me in front of people. “After that happened, my dad took me to the police station to get a restraining order put on him. Luckily, he documented each occurrence so it wasn’t an issue. After testing our patience on if we would make him stick to it, he backed off completely.”
Adrian is silent beside me, taking in all the information I just threw at him. He said he wanted to know everything, and that’s what I gave him. Fingers crossed he doesn’t regret asking me out for drinks. “Is it possible that he never actually stopped following you? He only got better at not being spotted?”
“It’s crossed my mind a few times,” I answer. The times I’d be walking down the road, and the hair on the back of my neck would stand up… those are the times I felt his presence without seeing him.
“Are you serious right now, Soph?” Jay butts in. “Why didn’t you say anything if you suspected it?”
“Because you, Mom, and Dad finally had some sort of peace when things calmed down. You had your road trip, and they needed a break from constantly worrying about me.”
“You should have let us decide how much we wanted to pile onto our plates,” he’s sitting on the floor a few inches from the couch. Bumping my leg with his shoulder he adds, “Family first. That’s the way it’s always been, and always will be. We get to decide what’s important enough to protect. And you will always be at the top of that list.”