Damaged (new adult romance) (Never Leave Me, #2)

DAMAGED

Episo
de two of the Never Leave Me Series

By Eileen Cruz Coleman

Damaged is episode two of the Never Leave Me Series. It is fast paced at approximately 9,000 words. Twenty-three-year-old Jadie has a secret. She hasn’t seen her father since she was sixteen years old. One morning on her way to her new job, she stops to offer a homeless person a bottle of water. The man is her father. Unable to accept this reality, Jadie runs from him and desperately attempts to lead a normal life. But, then she meets Reece, an aspiring writer who is determined to win Jadie’s heart. Jadie wants nothing more but to surrender her heart to him, but her broken past, and her secret keeps her from doing so.

Episode three of the Never Leave Me Series will be released soon. To stay apprised of new releases subscribe to Eileen Cruz Coleman’s e-newsletter:
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Copyright © 2013 by Eileen Cruz Coleman

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Eileen Cruz Coleman.

DAMAGED

It was Saturday morning. My cell phone alarm went off at exactly 6 a.m. I admit it, I was definitely excited
and
nervous about spending the day with Reece and I wanted to get up, shower, get dressed, and have breakfast before I got cold feet and crawled back under my bed covers. As it was, intent on reminding me that my father was homeless and that I still had not worked up the courage to talk to him, my demons had kept me awake for most of the night. I was running on adrenaline, for sure.

After taking a quick shower, I rummaged through my closet for something to wear. Reece had only seen me in my work clothes and I was most certainly not going to wear a pencil skirt, a blouse and heels for a day of fishing and hiking in Southern Maryland. Realizing that I had the most boring wardrobe in all the continents, I decided to wear a pair of long shorts and a black t-shirt. Once I was dressed, I pulled my hair back in a crazy
, tight ponytail, applied a hint of pink lipstick and darted to the kitchen for some coffee.

When I entered the kitchen, I was immediately met with the aroma of coffee. And standing in the middle of the floor was a smiling
, perky, ready-to-take-over-the-world, Grace. It was too late for me to make a run for it. I was caught.

“What are you doing up so early?” I asked, stealing a
look at the clock on the stove.

Grace licked her lips.
“The real question is why are
you
up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning? I don’t think Lisa and I have ever seen you out of your room earlier than noon on the weekends, yet here you are,” she shot a glance at the clock, “at 6:30 in the morning.”

I walked over to the coffee machine. If Grace was going to interrogate me, I’d need coffee, first.

She reached into the cupboard and handed me a mug. “So…, are you going to tell me what’s going on? Lisa told me you met some guy named Reece and that you’re practically in love with him, even though you won’t admit it.”

“For the love of all things that are good, may I have a few sips of my coffee before you turn on the heat lamp?”

Pinching her chin, Grace said, “Sure, that’s not an unreasonable request. Go ahead, sip away and then, you and I are chatting. I’ll wait for you in the living room.”

Rolling my eyes, I said, “Don’t be surprised if I don’t show up.”

“I’m not worried. We’ll find out what’s going on with you sooner or later,” she said, smiling and dancing out of the kitchen.

Her words stung. Right at that moment, I wish
ed I could gather all truth seekers and hide them in a closet. Okay, I know I’m coming across a bit paranoid, but I’m terrified of my roommates finding out about my father. Here’s the truth. Yes, I’m ashamed of myself for not helping him, for not letting him know who I am, for running away from him. But, I’m also ashamed of
him
. He abandoned me without even saying goodbye. And now, he lives on the streets. I love him, but I also hate him for leaving me and for becoming homeless. There you have it. Now, don’t go telling my roommates what I just confessed. I’m damaged goods, remember? Have pity on me.

I decided to
tell Grace about my date with Reece, only because I couldn’t take keeping anymore secrets. I had to be honest about
something
.

Taking a deep breath, I entered the living room. Grace was on the couch, feet resting on the ottoman, her fingers busy changing channels on the clicker. She was a news junkie and couldn’t help f
lipping through channels because she was terrified of missing any breaking news.

“Seriously, how many times are you going to re-hash the same story? Enough already!” she screamed at the TV. Then she put down the clicker and turned to me. “I may need to become a reporter.”

I plopped on the couch next to her. “Either that, or stop watching the news so much.”

“That’s
not likely to happen,” she said, winking.

“So, how’s work, anyway? How’s the senator? How’s the novel you’re working on?”
I took a chance at changing the subject and focusing on her.

“Please, don’t even try it.”

“Try what?”

She sighed.
“Okay, I’ll help you stall talking about Reece, but only for a few seconds and then, you’re talking whether you like it or not.” She sighed again. “Let’s see, work is good. The senator whose name you can never remember is good and my novel, well, that’s going splendid. I’ve already written two thousand words this morning. And before you ask me what it’s about, I’ll just tell you. It’s a political thriller, duh. I live in D.C. I work for a senator and I’m obsessed with the news, what else would it be about?” She inhaled and released a long breath as if she had just finished given a speech and needed to take a break to gather her thoughts.

“It could be about zombies
, and vampires, and other creatures,” I said, remembering my conversation with Reece about his novel.

“
Ha! Very funny.” she grabbed a throw blanket which was sitting right next to her. Covering herself with it, she said, “All right, your turn. I’ll ask you the same question again. Why are you up so early?’

“Can you at least turn down the volume?”
I asked, rubbing my eyes.

She pointed the c
licker at the TV. “There. Done. Now spill.”

I exhaled and then said,
“I have a date.” Too late, I spoke the words.

She jumped off the couch. “Wh
at? With Reece? I should wake Lisa. She should know this.”

“Calm down,” I said, grabbing her arm and forcing her back on the couch.
Why oh why did I tell her? Oh, yeah, honesty, that’s right. I wanted,
needed
to be honest about something.

“So, is he coming here? And
why so early?” Her eyes were beaming.

I exhaled again.
“Yes, he's coming here. He's taking me to his parents' cabin in Southern Maryland."

“
Southern Maryland? Where the hell is that? Oh my God, he's planning on killing you," she said.

“
Don't be stupid. Southern Maryland, is well, south of D.C. His parents live in Calvert County.” Truth was, I had never been to Southern Maryland, although I did know it was still pretty rural. Some restaurants in D.C. prided themselves in only serving fresh and organic vegetables grown in Southern Maryland farms.

Frowning, she said, “
Okay, whatever, so you're spending the day with a stranger in a cabin in God knows where.”

“Yep, sounds about right,”
I said with a smirk.

“Is he at least hot?”
she said.

I cleared my throat and then bit my lip.
 

“
Well?” she said, staring at me.

“Very hot,”
I said.

“
I think I'm jealous. When is he coming? I want to meet this mysterious hottie.”

Reece hadn't said when he would be picking me up. All he
had said was that he would pick me up in the morning. I was beginning to feel a bit dumb for waking up so early.

“I don't know,”
I whispered.

"What do you mean you don't know?" she stood and made for the kitchen. "I'm getting another cup of coffee. Want one?"

I was glad she couldn't see me blushing. Here I was waiting for my Prince Charming to appear and I didn't even know when he would be arriving. Wait, did I really just refer to Reece as my Prince Charming? Don't answer. And please, if I may add, don't tease me about it.

I stood to look at the time on the stove clock. It was now 7:30.

"He'll probably call me before he comes," I said.

“Why didn’t you both just agree on a time when he asked you out? That’s what normal people would have done,” she said, pouring the last of the coffee into her mug.

“Yeah, well, who says I’m normal?” I am anything, but normal. Hell, I’m so abnormal that I almost come full circle back to the normal starting point. Not sure that makes sense, but I think you get the picture, right?

Making her way back into the living room, she said, “Yep, you’re pretty much a weirdo. Okay, well, what say you and I watch the news together until Mr. Hottie calls or gets here, because if you think I’m going to miss out on meeting him…”

I was defeated. Sinking into the couch, I said, “This should be a hell of a lot of good fun.”

“Indeed,” she said, with a big smile.

***

The clocked ticked its way to 11:30 a.m. and still no sign of Reece. He hadn’t even called me.
Maybe he had stood me up as payback for when I had done the same thing to him, except that I had at least left him a note. I guess I couldn’t blame him, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was hurt and embarrassed. Grace had quietly slipped out of the living room when the clock had gotten to 10:30. I knew she felt bad for me and didn’t want to make matters worse by hanging around. Lisa, we discovered, wasn’t even home. She had probably spent the night with someone she had met at Happy Hour the night before.

So here I was, all by myself, pathetically waiting for someone who had known all along he was not going to show up. Damn, I was dumb as all hell. I had let my guard down, forgotten about my homeless father, if only for a moment, and for what? It suddenly occurred to me that I would have to deal with Reece at work. He was my boss’ nephew for goodness sake! If I didn’t l
ie down, I would end up hurling or flat out, dying!

I shut and locked my bedroom door and then buried
my head in a pillow on my bed. I wish I could sleep for the rest of the day, but I knew that my nerves would not let me. I had actually convinced myself that I could be part of the normal population, that I could go out on dates with nice guys and pretend my demons were gone, that my childhood had been one filled with pony rides, cotton candy and parents who stayed together, who loved each other, who loved me.

I would allow mysel
f one day of self pity. I’d indulge in a huge bowl of chocolate ice cream. Hell, I’d even add whip cream, sprinkles and hot fudge.

There was a knock on my door.

“Jadie, it’s Lisa, I heard what happened. Feel like talking?”

Grace and her big ole mouth!

“I’ve got some work to do, so I’m just going to hang in my room, okay?”

“Come on, girl, open the door.
We can watch Bridget Jones’ Diary and pig out.”

Her invitation was tempting. Releasing a long, exaggerated breath, I dragged myself out of bed and opened the door.

“All we have is rainbow sherbet, hope that works?” she said, holding up a container.

I hugged her. “It’s perfect.”

“All right, let’s do this,” she said.

“Wait,” I said.

She stopped and turned to look at me.

“Is it okay if we don’t talk about it?” I asked.

“As you wish,” she said, handing me the sherbet.

Three Bridget Jones’ Diary movies
, a bottle of wine, and two pints of sherbet later, I finally got my butt off the couch. Not once had Lisa mention Reece. I owed her, big time.

“This was fun, but I told myself I would only allow myself one day of se
lf pity,” I said to Lisa who was basically asleep on the couch.

She opened one eye and said, “I’m here if you need me.”

I blew her a kiss. She pretended to catch it.

Feeling much better, and a little tipsy, I made my way to the bathroom, but before I got there, the doorbell rang. My heart stopped. My
hands started sweating at the thought that it could possibly be Reece who was standing on the other side of the door.

Slowly, I walked to the door and said, “Who is it?”

“It’s Reece.”

My knees nearly buckled.

“Who’s at the door?” Lisa asked.

“No one,” I lied.

“Oh my God, is it Reece?” she asked.

Seconds later, she was standing next to me, peeping through the peep hole. “It’s a guy, all right.
Dang, he’s a hottie. What are you going to do?”

I pushed her aside. “Mind leaving us alone?”

She ignored me and opened the door. “Well, hello there, you must be Reece.”

He nodded and then stared at me. “Jadie, I’m so sorry. I came over here as quickly as I could.”

“Yeah, um, you do know it’s no longer morning, right?” Lisa asked.

“It’s okay, Lisa,” I bit my nails, “I got it.”

“If you say so,” she said. Then, she looked at Reece. “Let me know if you need us to chip in to buy you a watch.”

I stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind me.

“I waited for you,” I said.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Payback?”

“What? No, of course not.”

“Then why didn’t you come? Why didn’t you call?”

He looked down and then up at me.
“My mom…is in the hospital.”