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  Just Love Me

  By Traci Sek

  Copyright 2020 by Traci Sek

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted into any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this book.

  This new adult romance is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and the trade-marked owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission.

  The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. This book is licensed for your personal use only. This book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with, thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Chapter One

  Emily

  "C ome here, you little devil child!"

  My body tenses at his words and my little heart beats faster in my chest, my hands tremble as I begrudgingly walk toward the devil himself. My father.

  "Look what you did, you miserable, filthy, asshole!"

  The venomous words cause me to wince. How could he hate me so much? What had I ever done to him? I look in the direction he’s pointing even though I know I haven’t done anything. It was always his mess, but it didn’t stop him from blaming me or taking it out on my mom's face. When beating her isn’t enough to satisfy his evil, he unloads the rest of his fury on me. My eyes follow his finger and land on pieces of broken glass lying on the floor. One that I know he threw, just minutes ago. As usual, he’s drunk and looking for a fight with a child, his child.

  "Pick it up!" His boisterous voice makes my body tremble. He is so close, my ears ring, making me want to cry. The tears quickly build up in my eyes, falling only when the force of the grown man's hand collides with the back of my head, knocking me to my knees.

  I crawl over to the broken glass with my frail twelve-year-old frail body, and I start to pick up the pieces. Tears fall from my eyes despite my better effort to contain them. My father hates it when we cry, so much so, that when we did he would hit us harder, over and over until the tears were dry. I couldn't help it. I always know when it’s coming. A loud crash followed by a scream came from another room, immediately, I knew he was near my mom. My heartbeat increases as I try to ignore the wails and cries echoing throughout the house.

  "You bitch! How dare you try and run from me."

  My dad's words make me jump; they were so close to me now. Turning towards the sound, I see my mom fall into the kitchen. Her lip is bleeding, her eyes already black and blue from the last beating. She’s sobbing. She tries to crawl to me, but he grabs her foot and drags her back towards him. This time he had a rolling pin in his hand. He raises it in the air as my eyes grow wide in horror.

  "Mom! No!" I scream.

  I jolted up out of my creaky metal cot, only to be met with darkness. Feeling disoriented and out of breath, I looked around trying to place exactly where I was. When the fog finally cleared, I realized I was still at my current foster home. Untangling my hands from the worn-out sheets, I wiped the sweat beads breaking on my forehead. Slowly, I let the air go through my nose, taking up space in my lungs before blowing out through my mouth.

  It was just another nightmare, Emily. A nightmare that had been plaguing my days and haunting my nights. The erratic pounding in my chest continued as I attempted to calm myself.

  In the darkness, my hands trembled as they found their way to my beating heart, down to my ample breasts and then up to my tear struck face. The twelve-year-old girl in my dream was gone. Six years...six years and no significant change in my life. I was still here. Still trapped in these walls of pain and torture.

  I had been to four foster homes since that night occurred. Nightmares, I kept locked away in the farthest regions of my brain, and each foster home felt like a new beginning. A new ray of hope, but that hope never lasted. Something terrible would happen, the family would be verbally abusive, or the man of the house would try and force himself upon us. These families never actually cared about us. It was their way of collecting a paycheck. Just another way for them to scam the system.

  Most of them were great at acting. So great, in fact, I often wondered why they didn't pursue it as a career. Thank God for neighbors and teachers, they were the ones that helped us the most. We would come to them pretending to visit, then list all the things these families were doing to us. Begging and pleading for them to call the Department of social services, which they did, and it would always result in the same actions. Pulling us out of the house by police officers and taking us to another home.

  My current foster mother wasn't the greatest, but she also wasn't the worst. Miss Cross didn't care what the other kids and I did as long as we didn't bother her or eat the food on her side of the fridge. She was a widow, probably in her late sixties, though I couldn’t be entirely sure of her age, with her graying hair always up in a perfect beehive. There was no doubt that she was a foster parent simply to collect an extra paycheck, but that didn’t matter to me. What mattered the most was the fact that there were no male figures in the house for me to worry about.

  My accommodations consisted of two cots in a single room, four rooms in total. My room had a semi-broken window and grayish paint peeling from the walls. The old worn-out wooden floors creaked at the slightest movement, so there was never any sneaking out. Not that I had anywhere to go.

  The only place I loved to go was the library to read. I read anything and everything that would distract the crazy thoughts in my head. Adventures of princesses and strong women who could defend themselves against evil men were my favorite. It gave me hope that one day I could get out of this darkness that surrounded me and be free from my demons. I would be a strong woman similar to the ones in those books. I would have a career and a beautiful house, even a family.

  I sat in bed, unable to go back to sleep. The old grandfather clock chimed loudly from the floor below. Seven times it rang, indicating it was time to get dressed and officially leave this hell hole. My social worker had set up a job interview for me at eight a.m. sharp, and she even bought me a new outfit for the occasion.

  It was a nice black and white peplum short sleeve, with light denim skinny jeans paired with a set of red ballet flats, and a cream-colored sweater. I put a brush through my long brown wavy hair that came to the middle of my back. After assessing myself in the mirror, feeling satisfied, I quickly grabbed my purse, stuffing the small picture frame I had left of my mother and headed down the stairs.

  I wanted this job more than ever because it came with a small furnished apartment paid for by the company. The only stipulation was that I had to sign a contract and work for them for at least a year. It was a new help program that the company had come up with, in an effort to get kids like me off the streets. They worked closely with the Department of Social Services and had been extremely successful up to this point.

  After packing the little belongings I had left, I skipped down the old dusty stairs towards the front door, whereas predicted, Miss Cross was waiting with a faint grin on her face. The way she did when every kid before me was ready to leave.

  "Good morning Miss Cross," I said with just a little too much enthusiasm. She simply replied with a grunt.

  "Make sure you go straight to the interview. No messing around, do you hear me? Because you are no longer welcome back here."

 
"Yes, ma'am. My social worker will be by later to retrieve my things." I saluted her which only wiped the grin off her face replacing it with furrowed eyebrows.

  "Out!" she yelled. I quickly obliged, stepping out onto the front porch. The door slammed shut behind me but I didn’t care. All I could think about at that moment was freedom, as I took my first steps into the new life that was about to come for me.

  Chapter Two

  Emily

  The air was crisp that morning as November crept its way in and a shiver ran down my arms making me pull my sweater closer to me as I made my way down the street.

  The street I lived on, some would call scary. You definitely wouldn't see the rich folks leisurely taking a stroll down the cracked, bumpy sidewalks. The houses were old, some abandoned, only with homeless people residing for a little shelter. It was quiet, a little too quiet if you asked me. The neighborhood where I was located was not in the best of areas. Dirty men occupied most of the alleyways, which was a bit unnerving. There were never any children playing outside, decorating the sidewalks with beautiful artwork or screaming to watch out as they nearly ran you over with their bikes. They had said the neighborhood was up and coming if they could get rid of the crime. A big-time real estate investor was very interested in much of the abandoned buildings and wanted to create more jobs and social life.

  Nobody believed they would actually come through. This city and the people who resided here were doomed. There had been talks for years with no real action. I clung onto the thin cotton of my sweater as a gentle breeze pushed through the air, erupting goosebumps on my skin and eliciting another shiver. Sunshine streamed down but what little warmth it gave off, was quickly replaced by the wind.

  “Why couldn’t my social worker have bought me a coat?” I mumbled to myself. I tried to think of something warm. A fireplace, sparks dancing on the wood making it crackle under the pressure. A large fluffy blanket, plush and velvety to the touch. I kept my eyes trained to the ground, making sure I didn’t trip and fall. That was the last thing I needed, going into the interview with a mark on me and a dirty dress.

  Focusing so closely, I didn’t notice I was crossing the street, and within a flash of a second screeching tires ripped through the air making my ears split and my heart stop momentarily. I had no time to react before the force of the vehicle hit me on my side, sending me toppling over and rolling in the opposite direction. I hit the ground with a thud as a searing pain shot right through my side, knocking the wind out of my lungs.

  I laid on the cold ground unable to physically move for what seemed an hour. A man appeared in my blurred vision, leaning over my face. His lips were moving but no sound was coming out. I stared at him almost as if I were in a fog. Everything was happening to me in slow motion. I couldn’t speak either and a loud ringing sound pierced my ears. Things couldn't get any worse . I thought to myself as I closed my eyes.

  “Blood pressure is 180 over 60… She’s still breathing...”

  “Do you know when I was younger, my mother used to read me the same bedtime story.”

  My mother looks down at me with her sweet smile. She never showed how much pain she was truly in. I savored every moment without that monster around. No matter what it was. Her soft warm touch caresses my arms before opening up The Giving Tree. It has become my favorite as well. No matter what happened to the tree, it was always there loving that boy and giving him more. Even when the boy didn’t care and was selfish. Even when the tree had nothing, its selfless nature was still able to provide him what he needed without a second thought.

  After the story ends, my mother looks at me with so much love in her heart. “You know, no matter what happens to you in life, no matter how bad it may seem, always remember to be kind, understanding, and giving. There's always a back story to someone's behavior. There will always be selfish people. People who will try and take advantage of you and who will push you down with their words, but you must persevere through it all. Hold your head up high and always remember to stay strong.”

  Chapter Three

  Jake

  "Jake, where are you man?”

  "I know, I know. I’m coming. The meeting went longer than expected. I’m jumping in the car now.”

  “Alright man, just hurry. The city wants to hear from me in less than an hour.”

  “Kyle! I got it!” I hung up my phone and threw it on the passenger front seat. I had finally gotten the approval from my father to start revitalizing the worst area of California. Emeryville. Of course, the city wanted an offer by four p.m. today.

  It was three-fifteen and I hadn’t even seen the building. Normally I would just place an offer, but my father would have murdered me if I overpaid before looking. After all the fighting I had to do for this project, the least I could do was go and look at it. But of course like all typical Mondays, I was running behind.

  I accelerated on the gas pedal as the engine of my SUV roared to life. The building was a fifteen-minute drive without traffic. I weaved in and out of all the cars trying to speed up the time, occasionally getting stuck at a red light. Finally, I could see the building from a distance. Speeding up once more, my sights on the building, I zoomed through the streets at an alarming pace. One of which I almost never went.

  My phone started to ring as I quickly took my eyes off the road and glanced at my phone. In my peripheral vision, I saw a figure come out of nowhere making me glance back up at the road but it was too late. I slammed on my breaks as hard as I could, causing a loud screeching noise before a soft thud could be heard. Goosebumps covered my skin as my heart fell to the bottom of my stomach making me want to vomit.

  “Holy Fuck!” I yelled quickly jumping out of my truck. Running around it, I saw a frail girl laying on her back on the ground. Her arms were bent upwards and blood was coming from her ears. I immediately panicked and dropped to my knees leaning over her. Her eyes were moving back and forth and her breathing was shallow and fast.

  "Oh my God, oh my God, are you ok?” I didn’t want to touch her and I didn’t know what to do. My mind was racing at the speed of light before I heard screaming coming from behind me.

  “What the fuck Jake!” My best friend Kyle appeared at my side, kneeling down beside me. When he saw what I saw, he also started to panic.

  “Kyle, call an ambulance, hurry!” He nodded and placed his ear to his phone. “Yes, I need an ambulance! Hurry, my friend accidentally hit a woman crossing the street and she’s not responding. Her eyes are open but she's not talking. I don’t know what to do… Yes, she's bleeding. I don’t know…” He moved the phone away from his ear for a second.

  “They want to know if we can tell where the blood is coming from.”

  I looked around frantically at her entire body, scanning it from top to bottom. I noticed she had a busted knee and as I scanned upwards, her elbow was bleeding and then my eyes reached her face to see a small cut on her bottom lip but the most was coming from behind her head or maybe it was her ears. I couldn’t quite tell. I relayed this to Kyle as he repeated every word through the phone. He quickly gave the address as I started to feel extremely frustrated.

  “When are they coming? She’s gonna die!”

  “They’re on their way.” I watched as the girl’s eyes closed and that's when the true panic started to set in. It’s as if all the blood was drained from my body and I found it hard to breathe. “Kyle, her eyes are closing, oh my God, please don’t die!” I screamed at this beautiful stranger. I’d never been able to live with myself if that happened. I watched one person murdered in front of my eyes, I couldn’t have another.

  Sirens could be heard in the distance as red and blue lights came into my field of vision. Kyle stood up and waved his arms frantically in the air. The paramedics jumped out and ran to us with all their equipment.

  “Step aside son, we’ll take it from here.”

  “Is she still alive? Please tell me she's still alive?”

  I watched the first paramedic check her vital
s and nod his head. Relief washed over me for a split second. I couldn’t believe I was so foolish to speed through the streets and then on top of it take my eyes off the road even for a split second. I should have known better! I scolded myself over and over as the paramedics wrapped her head in white gauze and then placed her on the stretcher. Her eyes were unmoving and shut tight. I grasped my face with both of my hands as memories flooded my mind.

  Paramedics and police are everywhere as they take my mom on a long stretcher. I reach out to touch her arm but it's cold. Why is she so cold? Why are her eyes closed? “Mom, wake up!” My seventeen-year-old self cries out. “Please!” A police officer comes up from behind me and places his hands on my shoulder. I look up at the strange man and wonder why his face is scrunched up in concern.

  “Come with me son. Let's wait outside for your father.”

  “Sir. Excuse me, sir.” I blinked a few times out of my memory and focused on the police officer in front of me.

  “Can you tell me what happened?”

  Chapter Four

  Jake

  I stood in the horrid hospital lobby staring at the beige walls. I hadn't been to this hospital, or a hospital since the incident. The incident that changed my life forever. I didn't want to look around, and I couldn't go any further, in fear of bringing up memories I had long ago buried, deep down in the depths of my heart.

  My family built this hospital, took it from ruins and made it into the finest hospital in town, but that didn't mean I liked it. Rubbing my face forcefully for the hundredth time, I forced myself to move, making my way to the front desk. The secretary looked up at me with a bored look on her face.

  “Sir, I'm sorry there are still no changes. I promise we will let you know when everything is finished.”

  “Right, I’m sorry. I’m just impatient, that's all.”

  “And I completely understand. If I could make them go faster I would.” She gave me a tight-lipped fake smile and looked back down at her paperwork.