The Road to Price (4 page)

I started to
laugh. “Wow, that is almost funny. You do remember where we are right? Nothing
is going to happen to me.”

“Well I would feel
a lot better if you let me give you a ride home.” Kyle bent over the passenger
seat and opened the door. “Come on, Hop in.”

I thanked him and
got in his car. I was a little relieved he offered to drive me home because I
was already so tired. We sat in silence for a minute until Kyle made a left
hand turn onto a road that led out of town.

“Um Kyle? Where are
you going? You know I don’t live this way?” I said to him slightly confused.

Kyle was silent
for a second and then turned to look at me. “ I know but I figured since you
were already past your curfew, it would be okay if you were a few minutes
later. I want to show you something.”

“At one in the
morning? Couldn’t this wait for another day? Preferably during daylight?” I
didn’t want to sound ungrateful but I just wanted to go home.

“It will only take
a second. I… I actually forgot my wallet at the warehouse earlier today so you
would be helping me out by letting me stop. I don’t want to have to stop there
tomorrow, you know? Plus, I haven’t seen you in a while. You look really good,”
he said giving me his puppy dog face.

“Well thanks, but
I’m really tired. Just be quick please? Run in grab your wallet and then lets
go,” I said to him sternly so he would know I was serious. “Oh, and I’m staying
in the car.”

“I had no
intention of making you get out.” Kyle said with a wink. For some reason the
wink made me uneasy but I let it go. We hadn’t seen each other in months so
maybe that was why I suddenly felt unsure.

A few minutes
later Kyle drove past the warehouse he worked in and pulled off into the open
field next to it. The field was wide open with hundreds of acres of crops.

“What are you
doing?”

Kyle continued to
drive about a half mile into the field and then stopped the car. I looked out
the window and was surrounded by crops of cotton. I couldn’t see the road or
the warehouse. It was just pitch black.

“What are you
doing? Are you crazy? Why would you drive us into a field?” His actions weren’t
making any sense to me.

Kyle was silent
for a moment and then made a weird grunting sound in his throat. “Wow Mia. When
I saw you on the side of the road I almost didn’t recognize you. You have grown
up a lot since the last time I saw you.”

His arms came out
to grab me. He wrapped his arms around my torso and pulled me to him. His mouth
moved to my skin and started kissing down my neck.

I tried to pull
away but that just made him hold me tighter. He continued his assault on my
body and started unbuttoning my blouse.

“Kyle stop!” I
screamed at him.

He ignored my plea
as if he didn’t even hear me.

“Why are you doing
this? I don’t want you to touch me. Please just drive me home,” I desperately
said to him.

Kyle looked at me
with a blank expression on his face. It was like a switch flipped because the
life in his eyes was gone.

“Are you refusing
me right now? You should consider yourself lucky that I want you. Girls would kill
for me to give them the attention that I am giving you right now,” he spat at
me.

He started kissing
my body again and then ripped the rest of my shirt open. I started crying and
was thrashing my body against his, anything to get away.

“Please stop, please!!
I won’t tell anyone about this just please let me go… I don’t want this.” My
sobs and screams continued while he slid my skirt up to my waste, completely
ignoring my plea’s to stop.

“No… Stop!!!
Please, Stop!”

Kyle slapped me
across the face, hard. I swear I literally started to see stars. He grabbed me
and continued what he started.

I was beginning to
feel numb. I tried to black out what was happening to me because no one could
hear my screams.  Kyle was a lot stronger than me. With his weight on me I
was unable to move.

My mind became
fuzzy and I just prayed the assault was over soon.

Present

I woke up from my
nap in a cold sweat. It took me a few seconds to realize where I was. I look
around my room trying to figure out what startled me. Could I have been
dreaming?  I wanted to sleep peacefully.

This usually
happened to me once a week. I would wake up sweating and confused, having no
idea why. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t having nightmares. Could I really call it a
nightmare? Flashbacks seemed more accurate.

Why won’t my mind
let me forget?

Almost instantly
my thoughts go back to Kyle. He couldn’t hurt me now. He was gone. Although he
never suffered any consequences for what he did to me, he was suffering for his
other wrongs. He was in his own living hell and this gave me some satisfaction.
He could never touch me again.

I needed to stop
being reminded of my past. I needed to shake off all thoughts of him and move
on.

I got up and
walked to the bathroom to wash my face. The water felt refreshing on my skin.
My pale skin was reflecting back to me in the mirror. I was as white as a
ghost, which was odd because I had a nice tan to my skin from the Miami sun. I
looked at myself for a few moments wondering why I couldn’t get it together.

I walked back into
the room when my phone started to ring. The number flashing on the phone was a
local number but I didn’t recognize it.

“Hello?”

“Hi, may I speak
to Ms. Dechino please?”

“This is she.”

“Hello Mia. This
is Nancy, we met when you interviewed for Mr. Price earlier today.”

“Oh, hi Nancy. Of
course I remember you. You’re Mr. Price’s assistant.” I wasn’t expecting a
phone call after that interview. I wanted the position but Sebastian made me
uncomfortable.

“Well Mia I will
get right to the point. Mr. Price would like to offer you the position as one
of his housekeepers. If you accept he would like you to come in this evening
and fill out all the paperwork.”

I was stunned. Was
it really this easy to land a job with someone so successful?

I should say no. I
should say no and thank her for her time, hang up the phone, and never think
about it again.

“Um… Yes? 
Yes, I would love to accept the position. Its my day off today so I can come by
this evening and fill out all the necessary paperwork.” What the hell did I
just say? It was like my mouth had a mind of its own and told my brain to take
the day off.

“Ok Mia. You will
be meeting with Mr. Price at 5pm this evening. After you have filled everything
out I will show you to your living quarters and you can settle in. Then
tomorrow I will give you a tour of the home and the grounds and let you know
what is expected of you. You will have the rest of the week and the weekend to
finish getting settled in. Then you will start bright and early Monday
morning.”

I wasn’t expecting
to move in tonight. From my initial meeting with Sebastian I was under the
impression that I would move in over the weekend.

“Nancy, I wouldn’t
be able to move in tonight. I have to work tomorrow at my current job. They are
expecting me the rest of the week. I also need to let the temp agency know I
have taken this position. Can I just move in Friday like I previously discussed
with Mr. Price?”

I started to pace
across my floors. This was all moving really fast.

“I am afraid
that’s not possible Mia. Mr. Price would like you to move in right away. Your
days of cleaning offices and working at the diner no longer exist. They will
get by without you. I expect you to call them after we get off the phone and
resign affective immediately. Mr. Price has already let Jessica know over at
the temp agency, so she has already taken you out of the system. I see no
reason why you can’t move in tonight.”

What? When
Sebastian wanted something he made sure it happened right away.

I was slowly
getting angry. How did he know that I would say yes? Maybe when I left the
interview I decided that this wasn’t the position for me? How could he assume I
was going to take the position, no questions?

I wish I could
have seen Jessica for that conversation. When I called Jessica back after my
interview this morning she seemed hopeful. She was convinced I was the perfect
choice for this position, while I was still trying to dissect every word
Sebastian said to me. I had no doubt Jessica would be calling me now, gloating
about how right she was.

Well I didn’t want
to start an argument with Nancy. It wasn’t her fault her employer was full of
himself.

“Ok Nancy. I will
get my things packed and be at Mr. Price’s residence at five pm sharp. Can I
assume that Mr. Price will get me out of my current apartment lease?”

If I was living on
the estate I didn’t want to continue paying rent here.

“I will let him
know right away and he will be contacting your landlord. I will let you get to
your packing and I will see you this evening. Goodbye Mia”

“Goodbye Nancy,” I
said as I hung up the phone.

It was settled. I
now work for one of the wealthiest men in Miami. I hope I just made the right
decision.

*******

Thirty minutes
later I was completely packed and ready to go. That was the one nice thing
about trying to forget your past; you never wanted to hold onto anything. Even
the furniture in this apartment wasn’t mine. It was here when I moved in.

I traveled to
Miami with a small suitcase of clothing, my checkbook, and a picture of Miles.
I didn’t need anything else. Material things meant nothing to me anymore. It
amazes me what people will do to hold on to their possessions. We came into
this world with nothing and we will leave this world with nothing. You can’t
take your possessions with you.

I still had a few
hours to kill before I had to leave to meet with Mr. Price and move into his
home. My nerves were starting to get the best of me so I decided to go out and
get some fresh air.

Ten minutes later
I was walking on the local beach. The beach was one of the perks of Miami. God
made some of the most beautiful sights in the world for us to see and we take
them for granted. I could lie out on the sand for hours and just listen to the
waves.

There were tons of
people out at this time of day. I knew it would be a little more crowded, but I
would take what I could get.

Miami was
beautiful today. Not to hot or humid. What a drastic change from yesterday’s
heat. The sky was a light shade of blue and not a cloud in site.

I continued to
walk a little over a mile down the coast until I found a stretch of beach that
was almost deserted. I stop to lie down and just listen to the waves. If I
could do this every day I would. I wanted to close my eyes and tuck back all my
emotion. Emotions were a weakness I couldn’t afford.

After several
minutes my heart rate slowed and my eyes became heavy. I wanted to stay up
because I knew I had to head back to the apartment soon but my body won the
fight with my mind as usual. I fell asleep listening to the waves.

*****

I woke up to the
sound of pigeons on the beach. In this moment I was content. Having the sand
beneath my feet made me happy.

“I wish I didn’t
have to move.” I whispered to myself. My eyes glanced over to my phone that was
next to me.

4:25pm

“Shit!!!”

I had slept for
over two hours. I got up and started to jog down the stretch of beach and
towards my apartment.

Twenty minutes
later I opened the front door to my apartment, grabbed my suitcase, and walked
back out without a second glance.

I really had no
attachment to anything anymore. Hopping into my car I sped off to The Price
estate. If I raced I could maybe make it a ten-minute drive but being as it was
a weekday at rush hour, I didn’t arrive to the residence until 5:15pm.

I approached the
gates but there was no one to let me in. I saw a sound system with a buzzer on
the brick wall next to the gate and buzzed up to security. They opened the
gates for me and instructed me where to park and where the staff entrance was
located.

I parked my
vehicle on the employee driveway and approached the side entrance just as Nancy
was walking out.

“It’s 5:20, you’re
late!”

No shit Sherlock.
Did she have to be so snippy? She startled me and I was halfway convinced I
would be fired on the spot.

“I’m sorry. I lost
track of time and hit rush hour traffic. I understand if you want to fire me.”

Nancy looked at me
for a solid five seconds before responding.

“Well lucky for
you Mr. Price has been preoccupied for the last hour so he hasn’t realized your
tardiness on your first day. I wouldn’t make this a habit. He will waste no
time in replacing you if you do not give one hundred percent.” I nodded my head
in recognition and Nancy continued.

“Leave your bag
here. Once you are done meeting with Mr. Price we can come and retrieve your
bag and bring it to your room. Follow me and we will wait for Mr. Price in the
waiting area.”

We walked into the
home and I found myself back in the same chair as earlier today. And just like
last time, I was waiting on Mr. Price.

A few minutes
later the doors to Sebastian’s office opened. Out walked a beautiful woman who
could have been a Victoria secret model. She had to be close to six feet tall
and was unnaturally thin. She had golden blonde hair that almost reached her
waste and a perfectly proportioned face. Plump lips and straight white teeth,
she could be on the cover of a men’s magazine tomorrow if she wanted to.

She smiled at me
when Nancy called out to her.