|3| Post-trauma

Riley’s POV

I woke up gasping for the air. Sweat beads hovered over my forehead from my recent nightmare. I ran my fingers through my hair, knowing it was over now.

He was away now.

“Is it the same nightmare?” My sister muttered with her eyes closed.

I sighed and whispered a yes. She groaned, opening her eyes, looking at me with a reassuring smile. “It was three weeks ago, Riles. He’s away. You are fine now,” Lara comforted me, sitting up.

She pulled me into her embrace, and I placed my head on her shoulder, feeling safe for a moment. “He’s coming out today. I’m scared,” I mumbled, and she rubbed my back.

“He can’t come near you, and if he does, we will call the police,” she asserted, and I closed my eyes.

Three weeks passed since that and it left a huge scar on me. Every day I had a nightmare of those horrible events and it even chased me in the morning.

Lara was a lawyer. Among her busy life, she managed to complete her studies to get herself a well-paying job. She reported an assault and sexual harassment against Chris, but he was lucky to get away with it.

That bitch Stephanie was the one who sent him to silence me about the fraud case.

She got him the best lawyer she could find. The lawyer got him free, passing Chris as a drug user, which meant he wasn’t in his right senses. Then he got admitted to a rehab center instead of rotting in prison.

I know my sister tried her best, but I was upset.

“Thank god for Athena being there. Without her he would’ve raped me, probably killed me too,” I spoke out, opening my eyes.

I lifted my head and locked my gaze with Lara’s comforting oceanic blue eyes. She cupped my cheek and smiled softly at me. “I’ll go make you breakfast before I leave for work.”

“Are you going to be okay alone?” She asked with concern.

“Yeah, Athena will come later, and you have to go to work. Your boss is already mad at you working from home,” I pointed out and she rolled her eyes.

“The bald man needs to understand that my sister is important,” she joked as she pulled away.

I chuckled at the nickname, and she got up, kissing my head before leaving the room.

My phone rang, and I grabbed it off the nightstand, knowing it was Athena who was calling. “Hey bestie,” she chirped, and I smiled at her cheerful voice.

It was good news. Finally, something good from this awful month.

“Tell me the happy news,” I implored, and she laughed at my sudden excitement.

“Okay, it’s not really happy news, but it’s for you, Harrison’s company delayed their interviews to mid-September-“

“That’s three weeks from now,” I cut her off.

“Four weeks, actually,” she corrected. “You can go on a vacation or anywhere you want.” she trailed off, and I frowned, pulling away the phone to check the date.

Right, I was in a coma for nearly a week…

I pressed the phone back to my ear. “Why can’t we all go on a vacation?” I asked, and she sighed with a bit of anger.

“I’m working two shifts to pay my rent and-“

“I told you to come live with us. There is an empty room,” I interrupted.

“No, Lara has enough on her plate, I can’t add my luggage to hers.” she fought back, and I was becoming angry by now.

Lara doesn’t even have a problem with her staying with us, but Athena wanted to prove to herself that she’s capable of paying her rent and feeding herself. I knew it was a bad idea for her to leave the old agency.

But if she stayed there another day after the incident, Stephanie could’ve made her life a living hell.

“We will talk once I’m at your place. See you in a few minutes,” she said and hung up before I picked up a fight about why she stays with Lara and me.

“Breakfast is ready!” Lara shouted, and I jumped off the bed, walking lazily to the kitchen.

My eyes twinkled once I saw her designing my pancakes. “Ooh, special treatment.” I smiled, rushing towards the table.

“Also, I made eggs and bacon,” she said, turning after she was done with my pancakes.

She turned to face me with a pink pills box, and I faked a gag as she placed them on the table. “There’s a therapy session tomorrow. Don’t forget to tell her about the nightmares,” she reminded me before leaving me in the kitchen.

After I knew Chris was admitted to a rehab session, I was fine, knowing he was far away from me, but not for too long.

What he did to me… it traumatized me. He tricked me into loving him, and I let love blind me. If I just listened to the warnings, I could’ve been okay, not going to therapy to talk about how I’m holding up after getting almost raped.

A shiver traveled down my spine at the thought of him showing up again. He wasn’t done with me.

There was still the fraud case.

“I took care of it,” Lara’s voice broke my thoughts, throwing a file next to my plate as she walked to the coffee machine.

“Are you reading my mind?” I asked with a serious face, and she chuckled.

I lowered my gaze to the file, picking it up with hesitation. “But… I didn’t go to the court-“

“I played my cards, Riles. It worked. Maybe I failed you in the last case, but I got you out of the fraud,” she cut me off, turning around with the cup of coffee in her hands.

I dropped my gaze to my plate, stabbing the piece of pancake with the fork. “You didn’t fail me, the system did,” I muttered.

How many times has a rape victim won a case? Not much.

He got out easily while I suffered from what he did.

“Don’t think about it, Riles. It’s in the past now,” she reassured me, and I nodded, burying that unsettling feeling deep down inside of myself.

I promised to move on and forget that shitty part of my life.

Lara ruffled my hair as she walked out of the kitchen, heading to her office to pack her stuff while I ate my food in the silence, trying not to let my thoughts interfere. Ten minutes passed, and I was already done with my breakfast, staring at the last piece of bacon as I zoned out again.

She took care of the case. Chris won’t bother me again, or Stephanie. I’m safe. I kept chanting in my head.

I woke up from my trance as Lara took the piece of bacon, then she took the empty plate, and placed it in the sink. She was speaking while my head was somewhere else; I watched as her lips moved; the words coming out, but I didn’t hear any.

My senses returned, and I shook my head. “You weren’t paying attention.” She rolled her eyes, picked up the pills box, and opened it. “Do I have to make sure every day you take them?” She whined as she placed the pills in my palm, walking to the tape to fill me with a glass of water.

She made sure I took my meds before leaving. This was my first home alone after what happened…

It won’t be very long. Athena was on her way, anyway.

I got up and washed the dishes, then grabbed my phone, surfing the websites for a good vacation.

I’m just thinking about going, not really wanting to leave my safe cocoon.

Only a few minutes passed before I heard knocks on the door. I looked through the peephole before opening the door to Athena.

“Did you take your meds?” She asked as she entered, taking her shoes by the door.

I rolled my eyes, shutting the door behind her. “Hello to you, too,” I said sarcastically.

“What? I’m serious,” she defended herself.

“Yes, mother, I took my meds and my antidepressants, so I’m all good,” I gushed at her and she gave me a sly smile.

I grabbed her hand and dragged her to my room, hearing her rambles about how her day went. She sat on the bed and I threw myself horizontally on the bed. “So… how are you coping with him being out?” She asked, changing the subject.

“The nightmares are back and I’m scared he will show up again,” I confessed, and she caressed my hair as I stared at the ceiling.

“Anyway, fuck him and fuck Stephanie for helping him. I’m supposed to be moving on,” I cried out, and she rolled her eyes.

I was repeating those words every single time I remember the events.

“And you will go on a vacation,” she proposed, and I sat up, halting at her.

“No, both of us are going together. I’m inviting you,” I insisted, and she nibbled on her lips, tearing her gaze off me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, noticing the sadness visible on her face.

She sighed, closing her eyes for a second before opening them again. “Pa has cancer. That’s why I’m working double shifts. He’s really sick, and he doesn’t have medical insurance, it’s messed up,” she said.

“Then save up money and come live with me. The house can take us all, also Kevin is welcome to stay. I love him more than my non-existing father,” I spoke softly, placing my hand on her arm.

She looked at me and wiped the tears that slipped out of her eyes. “Are you-“

“Yes, I’m sure,” I cut her off, and she smiled.

“Fine, I’ll stay here on one condition,” she spoke in her regular teasing tone.

I groaned, and she continued. “Go on vacation, you can relax on the beach. Have a week by yourself to clear your mind. It would be helpful to your brain.”

She wasn’t wrong. I was that type of person who gets relaxed by the ocean and its comforting smell or staying on an island.

And it was a great idea to have a getaway in a different country before getting a job. The vacation would be the perfect option for me.

“Fine,” I huffed, and she squealed, grabbing my phone as a wide grin took place on her lips.

We began the search party for the perfect vacation. Two hours in and she already gave up, as most of the resorts and hotels were fully booked.

How did we expect to find a good deal in September?

“This is tiring more than I thought,” I muttered. My head was dangling off the bed as I was sitting upside down.

A weird ad popped on my screen, and I furrowed my eyebrows. I clicked on the ad and a page full of vacation offers came into my view.

They were affordable, very cheap if you asked me and that was very suspicious because there’s no way it was this cheap. But I was desperate to find something.

“Which is better, Hawaii or Maldives?”

“Ibiza,” she answered, and I typed it in the search bar and one result showed up.

I pressed it, and a good-looking hotel showed up. “Oh wow, an ocean-view suite, one-week stay, and full board, only for five hundred dollars,” I said, sitting up.

“That’s suspicious,” she remarked.

“I know, but there are good reviews and they all are recent,” I spoke as I read the comments. Then I stopped, trying to rationalize how much the trip would take.

Athena glanced at my phone, typing the name of the resort on g****e. She hit the search button, and it popped on her screen. “The resort seems legit,”

“Also, I could find cheap flights on Skyscanner,” I pointed out, remembering that magic website from a video on socials.

She looked at me with a grin, and I took it as approval. “Ibiza, here I come,” I sang, doing a little celebratory dance.

That’s it. I was going to Ibiza next week.