PART OF HER WORLD

CHAPTER 9

Crystal was sitting across the kitchen table looking at him with that motherly stare again. He knew she was going to read him the riot act.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me she's blind? I nearly made a fool of myself,” she started in on him.

"Well—"

"Well nothing." she cut him off.

"But—"

"You could have told her the truth too ... Why doesn't she know who you really are? Lying to a woman is no way to start a relationship."

"Crys—"

"Don't you Crystal me. You finally meet what seems like a lovely lady, and you lie to her about who you are? Harrison, she's bound to find out from someone, and then what do you think she will say?" His sister raised her voice.

She used his proper name and not Asher. She was turning redder by the second, and he knew she was only upset, but she was also right.

"I ... Well, I didn't want to scare her away,” he said, honestly believing that if Sophia knew the truth, she would have nothing to do with him.

"What do you think is going to happen when she finds out?"

"I was hoping it wouldn't happen,” he stated.

"Are you serious? You know nothing stays a secret forever, jeez Harrison, you have to tell her." Crystal said as she got up and headed for the coffee percolator and started making a pot.

Asher knew it was going to be a long night of getting lectures from his sister. He also knew he was going to have to tell Sophia, but he knew that timing would be everything. After the Gala, not before he thought to himself, he didn't want to ruin it for her. This morning when they talked about it her face lit up with her excitement, and he wasn't about to take that away from her.

"So tell me about her." His sister asked, bringing his attention to her again.

"She loves dancing, reading, likes to cook, and loves going for walks in the country and listening to classic rock music,” he told her.

"Ok that's not what I meant; you sound like your reading an application from a dating site. What do you know about her? How did she get blind? Who are her folks, brothers, sisters, kids even?"

"Well, she said she suffered a read bad head injury that left her blind and lived here all her life. She used to be an accountant, her only family lives in England, and I never asked if she was ever married. I don't think so though."

"How long have you been seeing her for?"

"Well we've been hanging out every day for over nearly two weeks now,” he told her and her eyebrow went up.

"Two weeks ... oh boy and she doesn't know your real name."

"Look, I swear I will tell her, but not until after this fancy party, she is looking so forward to it that I don't want to ruin it for her,”

"You promise me you will?"

"I swear it."

The rest of that night they unpacked his stuff putting it away. Then Crystal tried to teach him how to dance. He did surprisingly well she said and even managed not to step on her feet. By the time he was tired enough to go to bed, it was nearly eleven at night. He slept fitfully, his dreams of Sophia slapping him for lying to her kept creeping into his dreams and waking him up. He was falling in love with her and didn't know if he could handle her rejection. It was nearly one in the morning when his cell phone rang waking him up.

"Yeah.,” he said groggily

"Asher?" Sophia said, she sounded upset, like she had been crying.

"What's wrong?" he was instantly wide awake.

"I know it's really late but can you come over please," she said in a meek tone, and he was bolting out of bed and getting dressed.

* * *~~~* * *

Sophia sat on the edge of the bed, her hands shaking as Jason touched her cheek, and his hands ran through her hair.

"Baby I'm so sorry. I'm going to make this up to you, I swear,” he began to tell her, and she tried to keep calm.

"Please ... you're not supposed to be here,” she whispered softly, afraid to make him angry.

"It's ok honey. You and me, we're going to be ok. What happened... was an accident. I didn't mean to hurt you,” he started the same lines he had spewed for years.

"Jason I'm tired ... please, you need to go,” she attempted.

"Sophia, it's been three years ...  you're all I could think about. I've missed you baby,” he stated as his hand skirted her robe ties and he tugged on them.

Sophia's mind began to go numb, afraid to tell him no, she sat there as his hands parted her robe and his lips went for hers. She turned her head from him.  He tensed and fear of what he might do if she angered him filled her every sense.

“You have to leave Jason.”

"Baby relax.” He moved her still wet hair away from her face, sweeping it over her shoulders.

"Please Jason  ...  just go,” her voice cracked.

"Honey just relax, let me make you feel good,” he said as his hand moved to her cheek.

"Just stop ple—" she attempted to say but his mouth sealed hers as his fingers traced her jawline. She grew sick to her stomach. Her body shook and Jason seemed to take it to mean the wrong thing and he moaned into her. Jason froze and tensed up as the doorbell rang. It rang again and he moved away from her, his jawline bulged as his eyes narrowed.

"Who the hell is that this late at night." he growled, as if nothing had changed and this was still his home.

"You're not supposed to be here Jason, you need to go before you get into trouble,” she attempted to tell him as she stood on wobbly legs.

The doorbell rang again and she made a move to go towards the door and he grabbed her arm tightly.

"We need to finish talking Sophia,” he demanded.

"Jason,” she could hear her own voice reflecting her panic. “you’re hurting me.”

"I'm leaving but this isn't over," he told her. His heavy footfalls stomped down the stairs. She dared to follow only after the back door opened and she knew he had left.

On shaky legs, she made the front door just as the bell rang again and she opened it, not caring who it was, just so long as someone was there.

"Sophia ... what's wrong?" Bentley's concerned voice asked. She was a little stunned.

"Bentley ... " she broke down crying and his arms encircled her.

"It's ok Sophia, I'm here."

Taking her into the kitchen, he sat her down at the table.

"Now tell me what happened?" he asked her as she continued to sob, she was having a hard time to talk.

"I'll fix you a cup of tea,” he offered and set about doing just that as she tried to calm herself down enough to explain what had happened.

It surprised her that he had no trouble finding anything in her cupboards as he had never been there before. He set the cup of hot Chai tea in front of her and placed one of his hands on her free one. It was hot and clammy. As he held it, he made soft, slow circling motions on the top with his thumb and then gave it a gentle squeeze to try and comfort her.

"Jason was here,” she managed to blurt out between labored breaths.

"In the house?" he asked.

Sophia nodded her head yes and he went around and double-checked all the windows and doors, making sure they were locked and secured.

"Bentley why are you here?" she asked trying not to sound ungrateful for his timing, but it was late at night.  She only now remembered that all the downstairs lights had been out when she had gone to take her bath.

"Well after our session today I was worried about you and as I was passing through I thought I would stop in and check up on you,” he said, but his voice sounded more tense than normal.

They sat silently at the table for several long minutes. Even though she had known Bentley most of her life it became awkward to have her therapist in her home.

"If you want I can call the police  ...  you should report this Sophia."

"No  ...  he wouldn't have come in if I remembered to lock the door and set the alarm,” she said, not wanting the police here again.

"Sophia, the door is not going to stop him if he wants to come in, neither is an alarm. You should come and stay with me,” he stated bluntly.

"I can't do that ... It would be awkward Bentley,”

"I insist, you shouldn't stay here alone and my place is secure and there is no way he will get in there. It's a gated community.”

"I will be ok. I have a friend I can call to come stay with me,” she told him, knowing if she asked Asher he most likely would come to stay the night with her.

"Not that man from the construction crew ... you barely know him, Sophia." Bentley sounded upset with her suddenly and almost angry.

A little stunned by his tone she sat there for a few long moments, as he continued his banter about Asher using her for s*x and money that he wasn't someone she could trust.

"Please Bentley ... I'll be alright with Asher, he's not using me ... we're friends,” she tried to calm him as his bitter tone was starting to unnerve her. Angry men scared her and this was a side of Bentley she didn’t know.

"Why the hell did I bother coming over here if all you were going to do was call that red neck," he yelled, making her flinch. He abruptly released his grip on her hand and stormed out, slamming the door as he left.

* * *~~~* * *

Asher drove way too fast in his truck on his way to Sophia's. She hadn't told him what was wrong, but he knew she was scared and needed her. His first thoughts were that Rick had come around and hurt her and that had him shaking in anger. Now, however, as he pulled into her driveway, he knew Rick probably wasn't stupid enough to do anything after their last meeting.

He hadn't even stepped out of the truck when Sophia's front door opened and he could see her standing there. She was wearing the bathrobe she had been in the last time he was over and he swallowed hard. The memories of that night came flooding into his thoughts.

"Asher." her voice sounded shaky, and that quelled the rising in his jeans. The look in her eyes looked terrified, and her body language was tense. His thoughts quickly shifted gears and now he was tense too.

"What's wrong," he asked as he made her in a few long strides, and she trembled in his arms as he hugged her close.

Sophia broke down crying and helplessness crept over him. Other than to get her to the couch and cradle her in his arms, he had no idea what else to do until she could tell him what had happened.

"Would you please get me my pills?" she asked him after she had calmed down enough to talk and he went and got them for her along with a glass of water.

"Here you go," he said as he passed them to her.

"Are you all right?" he asked after she calmed down a little more.

"Yes ... I'm sorry I'm such a big baby," she said as she sniffled and he passed her a tissue from the box on the side table.

"Hey, it's ok ... what happened?"

"I had someone drop by and.,” her voice cracked again, and her tears welled in her eyes.

"Sophia?"

"I ...  I really don't want to talk about it Asher ... please can you just stay with me tonight?" she asked, her bottom lip trembling and his heart ached with the emotions that washed over him.

"Yeah of course."

"Thank you,” she said and curled up into his arms again and they snuggled up on the couch. Holding her like this made him realize there was nothing he wouldn't do for her and after she fell asleep, he gently lifted her up into his arms.

She mumbled a little bit as he moved her upstairs and walked into the bedroom. He froze staring at the man's jacket lying across the bed. The bedding was rumpled and looked to be partially wet. His jaw tightened as he placed her on the opposite side and covered her over with the throw that lay on the floor. His hands were shaking and as he scanned the room over, he spotted nothing else and he decided to check the house as she slept.

Walking from room to room, he noticed that not only had her bedroom been through a few repair jobs from what appeared to be holes punched through the walls, but so did the hallway, kitchen, living room, and a small spare room that looked like it had been a home office at one time. He knew he shouldn't snoop, but she had company, and whoever it was had her too upset to talk about what happened. Walking into the bathroom, he again stopped dead in his tracks. The floor was wet, the bath was full and as he looked around he noticed the door was locked but not closed.

Whatever had happened tonight he knew three things. A man was there. He scared Sophia and she was terrified enough to call him to come and stay with her. His mind painted the picture out for him and as he returned to the bedroom and picked up the jack, he searched the pockets. All he found was a set of keys and a slightly deformed wedding band. Somehow he knew that Sophia was keeping secrets from him ... and now he knew how she would feel when she found out he was keeping secrets from her.

Tomorrow night after the Gala he was going to tell her everything about himself and then ask her what she was hiding from him. He hoped that their secrets wouldn't destroy what he believed was something that was meant to be. Curling up beside her, he kissed her on the head as he scooped her into his arms. She mumbled in her sleep, and as he let himself relax he mumbled softly against her hair.

"I love you, Sophia."