Beautifully Destroyed (13 page)

Chapter Thirty-One

Toria

Vanessa came and got me shortly before lunch. She took me to her favorite Italian restaurant. While we were sitting there, I told her about my idea.

“Vanessa, can I tell you something without you laughing at me?”

She took a sip of her water. “Of course. I will never laugh at you.”

I took a breath and let it out slowly. “I want to go back to school. I was not able to finish my senior year because of being homeless and whatnot.”

She clapped her hands. “Oh my god, that would be amazing. If you want, I can take you to sign you up.”

“That would be amazing. Are you sure you don’t mind driving me around?”

I really started to feel bad for depending on others to give me rides everywhere.

“I don’t mind at all. Toria, I consider you my best friend. You can ask me anything.”

I smiled at her. “Thank you so much. So, you really think it’s a good idea for me to go back to school?”

She took a bite of her salad, and when she was done chewing, she nodded. “Oh yeah. Education is so important. I am glad you want to do this.”

“What about Jeb?”

“What about him? This is your decision, and to be honest, if he gets mad at you for this, I will punch him right in the family jewels.”

I giggled. “Okay.” I hesitated before asking the next question, because I knew how it sounded. “Also, can you take me to my parents’ house? I want to go through my room and get things.”

Vanessa nodded, and as we continued to eat, Kaylyn walked up and acted all sweet. “Oh Toria, how are you?” I couldn’t believe this bitch was trying to be nice to me after everything.

“I am good, actually, not that you care.”

The look on her face was priceless. She looked confused and her cheeks started to turn red. “I
do
care.”

“Well, you didn’t care all those years ago. You called me Whoria Toria when you
knew
I was a virgin? You would allow me to do drugs and not do anything. What kind of friend are you?”

“I’m…I’m sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it. You hurt me. Now, if you could walk away so I can have lunch with my true best friend that would be nice.” She looked stunned and walked away while mumbling to herself.

“Wow, they really called you that?”

“Yep, but at least I know the truth..”

We finished eating, and then we headed toward the school. When I got there, they told me I needed to get an ID, so we went to get one. I felt bad for not having any money. But Vanessa didn’t mind paying for my ID. After that, we went back to the school. I just used Vanessa’s address for my address. Just in case Jeb and I fought again. Once I was enrolled in night school, we headed to my parents’ house. I knocked on the door and Brianna answered.

“Toria, I am so sorry.” She tried to hug me and I backed away.

“I am just here to get the things I want to keep. Brianna, I remember the horrible things you said to me. You have to give me time to forgive you.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes then ran upstairs. 

I walked into the living room and my parents walked out. “Mom, Dad, I am so mad at you. How could you give up on me? All you had to do was get me help. But no! You threw me out like trash. Oh, and by the way, I was never a whore. If you would have just listened to me then you would have known. I had and have a problem, and I will get better. But it will take time. I really don’t need your help. I want you both to never get in contact with me. One day, I hope I can forgive you both. But until then, let me heal and get over the things I’ve done. Now, I am going to get my things, and when I am done, you may get rid of the things left behind. If I ever have lose my home again, I’d rather be homeless again then live with you.”

They just stood there, shocked by what I had said. Vanessa and I walked up to my room. I searched my room for anything I wanted. I got a box from the attic and packed up a few personal items, like photo albums and clothes that still fit. Once I was done, we left. I looked back at the house and smiled to myself. I was just glad that chapter was closed.

“You feel better?”

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Vanessa’s question. “I do. It was hard saying that stuff, but it needed to be said.”

“I am glad you got that out. So what next?”

I really hated asking her to do all this running around. “Do you think you can take me to the hospital to see Dr. Johnson?”             

“Of course.”

We pulled into the hospital and just caught the doctor before she got off for the day. I was glad she agreed to see me. When we went into her office, we sat down and I told her how I was remembering things slowly, how Sean pushed me and my head bounced off the ground, and how I had unprotected sex the night before with Jeb.

“Toria, I am glad you are remembering some things. I would like to order a new CT Scan to make sure there is no damage. I am disappointed that you didn’t call the police on that guy who did that to you. As for the unprotected sex, what do you want to do about that? You can take the morning after pill.”

“I am not sure about taking that. I don’t want to get addicted to anything again. What about birth control?”

She was writing notes, and she looked up to me. “For that, let’s wait until you get your period and we will go from there. But I want to run more blood work. Now, how are you doing with the detox?”

“I have my days, and I do get the urge to take some. But I talk myself out of it.””

“Good. You will have those urges probably for the rest of your life. But the shaking, headaches, and stomach pains will go away soon.”

“I can’t wait. Can I talk to you about something else? I get horrible mood swings.”

She stopped writing to look up at me again. “That could be part of the detox, but you could be battling a little depression. How would you feel if we put you on a low dose anti-depressant?”

I didn’t know if that was a good idea. “What if I get addicted and slip away again?”

“We can have someone give you the pill every day. I just want to see if this helps with the mood swings.”

Vanessa interrupted. “I can do that.”

“Thank you, Miss. Cruz.”

“Okay. I just want to get better.”

I had to learn to trust what the doctor was doing. I knew all she wanted was to help.

After she wrote my prescription, I went to the lab to get my blood work done. The CT Scan was scheduled for the next morning. Once we left the hospital, we went to drop off the prescription and then we headed back to Jeb’s condo. He left me a key so I could come and go as I pleased. Once we got to his place, Vanessa and I said goodbye to each other. She had to go home to get ready for work. I looked in the freezer and saw there were a couple steaks, so I got them out and put them in hot water. I wanted to make Jeb a nice dinner.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Jeb

Once I got home for the day, I was greeted by the most beautiful woman. After I gave her a kiss, she grabbed my hand and we went into the dining room. The room was decorated in lit candles of all colors, and the table had been set with a feast. Okay, so it wasn’t a feast, really, but the fact that Toria had cooked for me meant it would be the best food I had ever eaten in my life.

“Babe, this is wonderful.”

She laughed. “Now, I never really cooked before so I have no idea how this will taste. I just looked on the internet for instructions.”

I gave her a kiss on her cheek and went to sit down. “It looks fantastic.” I started to eat. “Oh wow, Toria, this tastes really good - almost as good as you.” I winked at her. “Maybe you should become a chef.”

She giggled and took a sip of her water. “I always wanted to be a chef,” she mused.

“Maybe you could go to school for that.”

“Oh! Speaking of school, I have good news.” Her excitement was adorable. “I am going back to high school. I start next week.”

I swallowed my food and smiled at her. “Oh wow! That’s awesome, babe. I am so proud of you. I have some news for you, as well.”

I told her about the events of the day and how my father hired his private investigator to help find out who attacked her. She was really happy about that news. She told me about the visit to the doctor and how she will have to wait for the pill. I told her we would be careful from then on.

I called Vanessa to have her go into work for me the next day, so I could take Toria to get her CT Scan. And for the rest of the night, we watched some television and cuddled each other. She had fallen asleep on my lap. I went to stroke her hair, but I stopped to just stare at her. I was the luckiest guy in the world. I stroked her cheek and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. She woke a little and shifted in my arms.

“You ready for bed?”

“Uh huh.”

I helped her get to the room and tucked her into bed.

***

The next morning, I woke to Toria sucking my cock. “Oh god, babe, that feels so good.” She took me farther into her mouth and I was lost. Oh god, I wanted to come in her mouth. She started to stroke it as she sucked me some more. “Hey. lay on you back,” I instructed her.

She did, and I started to take off her pink panties. As I did, I kissed her thighs all the way down to her feet. Then I started to kiss my way up to her wet folds. Once I got to her mound, I started to kiss and lick it.

“Oh Jeb.”

The way she said my name made my dick harder. I took a finger and I slowly slid it into her. She started to rock her hips, and I began to lick her clit faster. Her body shook and her breathing evaluated.

“You taste so good.” I climbed on top of her, and she wrapped her legs around my waist as I slowly entered her. “You’re so tight. I love being inside of you.”

“Please make love to me, Jeb.”

“You’re wish is my command, darling.”

Once we had both been spent from our orgasms, we headed to the hospital. The scan only took about twenty minutes, but we had to wait about an hour for the results. We decided to sit there and talk. She was starting to remember her high school days. She was a cheerleader. I was surprised, because I hadn’t pegged her for the cheer squad type. She also wanted to be a teacher, but she was really considering becoming a chef after cooking for me the night before. I told her I would support her with whatever she did.

“Toria, you and Jeb can come in here now,” Doctor Johnson interrupted gently.

We got up and walked into her office. “So the good news is your head is healing quite well. There were no more injuries from when you fell.”

“Oh, thank god. I was so worried.”

“Now, how are the memories coming?”

She sighed and looked at me. “Good. I just wish I could remember Jeb and the time we had together before everything happened.”

“You will, dear, just be patient. I want to see you again in a month to get you set up on the pill. Oh, and your blood work is all normal.”

We said our goodbyes to the doctor and headed out the door. I grabbed her hand, and we walked out of the hospital. When we got in the car, my phone rang. “Hi, Dad. What did you find out?”

“Paul wants to know if you could meet him at our house.”

I looked at Toria, who was looking out the window. “Yep, we are on the way.”

After I hung up the phone, she looked over to me. “Where are we going?”

“Paul, the P.I., wants to see us. Maybe he has some news.”

We drove to my parents’ in silence. Once we got there, we went in and my brother was there. “Hey, Jake. How have you been?” I asked as we hugged.

“Good, just working hard. So, who is this lovely lady?”

“Jake, this is Toria. Toria, this is my brother, Jake.”

She was hesitant to shake his hand. After she did, I just looked at her with a confused look on my face. Did she know my brother? If so, how?

Chapter Thirty-Three

Toria

There was something off about Jake, though I had no idea what it was. But I knew I had seen him before. Damn it! Why couldn’t I remember where I’d seen him? I watched as Jeb and Jake caught up. They seemed really close, but every time he would look at me with that smile, it made my skin crawl.

Jeb’s mother walked over to me, drawing my attention away from the men. “How are you, dear?”

“I am doing much better. Thank you.”

She squeezed my arm and walked away, saying nothing else. Then I looked up to Jeb, and Jake was whispering something in his ear and I started to panic. Was he talking about me? My heart started to race and I started to sweat. Then Jeb’s father and another man, likely the private investigator, walked into the room. Paul walked over to me and gave me a warm smile.

“Hello, you must be Toria.” He reached his hand out and I shook it.

“Yes sir; you must be Paul.”

He laughed.

“That I am. Now, why don’t we all go have a seat in the sitting room and I will discuss what I found?”

We all walked into the sitting room. I looked back and saw Jake leaving out the front door. What was his problem? Better yet, what was he hiding? Something was off.

We all sat down and Paul began to speak. “Well, we found fingerprints on the pipe, and I got in touch with the police. They are going to run the prints through the data system. That will take a couple of days.”

“Thank you for helping us Paul.”

“Oh, hey, not a problem, little missy. When Mr. Turner asks for help, I am there.”

We all stayed for a delicious supper. Once we were done, Jeb and I headed back to his place, and when we got there, we discovered someone had broken into his condo.

“Oh my god, Jeb.”

Before I knew it, he was on the phone. I walked around broken dishes and other broken items. When I walked into his room, I gasped.

On the bed in bright red paint were the two words that made me crumble to the ground.
Whoria Toria
. This was because of me. Why were these people doing this to me? Before I knew it, Jeb had me in his arms and I was crying.

“This is my fault. All of this is because of me.”

He stroked my hair and held me tighter. “Shh, babe, it will okay.”

“Do you think Sean or Barb did this?”

“I am not sure, but we will find out.”

He took me to the living room and put a blanket around me. I sat there while the police and Paul did their work. They dusted the place for fingerprints, and they took the bed spread for evidence. The one thing that kept creeping in my mind was that I wanted to get high. I wanted a pill to get me through this. I instantly shook that thought out of my mind.

I didn’t want to destroy my life anymore. I would fight the urge. I didn’t need that to live. I sat there listening to the police, Paul, and Jeb. They tried to keep quiet, but I heard every word. I just wished I knew who was doing this. After about two hours, the police and Paul left. Jeb decided that we would get a room at his hotel for the night. He helped get some things together, and we headed out. Once we got to the hotel, I curled up on the bed and fell asleep.

***

The next day, I woke up to a note on the mirror in the bathroom. Jeb let me know that he was in his office, and when I got up, I could come visit him. I jumped in the shower and got on a pair of jeans and a purple tank top. Then I threw my hair up in a high pony tail and walked out of the room. It took me a few minutes to find his office, and I felt dumb. I knew I had been there before, but I couldn’t remember the way. Once I got there, Vanessa was in there alone.

“Hey girl. Where’s Jeb?”

“Oh, his brother came and they had to do some running around.”

Speaking of his brother, I wanted to ask Vanessa about him. “Hey, can I talk to you about something?”

“Of course.” She came and sat next to me.

“His brother gives me a bad vibe and I don’t know why.”

“You know what? He gives me that vibe also.”

“When I saw him last night, I had a feeling as if I knew him. Like I have seen him before. I hate when I get that feeling.”

She twirled her hair around her finger. “That is strange. Maybe you will remember soon.”

“Remember what?” Jeb walked into the office with Jake right behind him. Jake just stared at me, and his stare made the hair on my neck stand up.

“Oh nothing. How are you today?” I walked up to him and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.

“I’m good, just have a lot of stuff to do today. Paul is stopping by later to talk to me. He says he doesn’t want us staying at the condo until we catch this perp.”

“Hey Jeb, I am going to take off.”

I looked over to see Jake walking out of the office.

“Sorry I ran your brother off.”

Jeb laughed. “He’s been acting weird since he broke things off with his woman.”

“Oh okay. So when can I come back to work?”

He looked at me, shocked. “You want to come back to work?”

“Actually, I do, but I might need a refresher course.”

He sat Vanessa and me down and told me I could start tomorrow and Vanessa would re-train me. For the rest of the day, I hung out with Jeb, helping him around the office. We kissed every time we were close.

***

A couple weeks later, I started to work and go to school at night. We were allowed back in the condo, because there were no new leads. Nothing else happened, so my panic attacks slowly went away. I also started an anti-depressant, and it was helping me a lot. Jeb wanted to get me a car, but I told him no, because I had no driver licenses and I had no idea how to drive. He paid me from the one week I worked. He tried sneaking some extra cash into my check, and I told him not to over pay me. I wanted to earn my money. It seemed as if everything was going well.

It was a Wednesday night, and I was headed back to the condo. Jeb was in Boston for the day at his hotel there, training a new general manager. He told me to stay at Vanessa’s until he got back, but I didn’t listen.

I got to the condo and opened up the door, and that was when I was attacked from behind.