Escaping to the CEO

Chapter 3

Eric POV

I was sitting at my desk. There was a photo of my CD and me. I was pushing her on the swings that were in the park in our neighborhood. She had the biggest smile on her face and her hair was flowing behind her as her body was going forward. It was the last photo that my foster family took before I was sent to live in a group home.

I think a lot about the time that I first met her. I was around seven when I first moved into the neighborhood. I have been through four other foster homes. My dad left a few years ago. It was Christmas Eve, and he claimed we needed milk. I never saw him again. My mom was really sick, and she passed away before midnight on New Year's Eve. Needless to say, I was alone in this world and I had no one. Our neighbor Mrs. Wolowitz came to wish us a happy new year. The police took me into custody and from there I went into the department for children and families.

I was finally placed with Markowski. We lived next door to Cassandra. My window was on the same side as her window. We would talk with Walkie Talkies. We would talk for hours and became the best of friends. I started to call her CD short for Cassandra Diana. I was the only one who ever called her that. Others called her Cass or Cassie. I wanted to have that special nickname for her.

Now I wasn't the best-looking boy in the area. I was the chubby kid with thick bottle glasses. My brown hair was greasy and messy. I looked like a small version of a pig pen from the peanuts comic. But all that didn't matter; CD liked me for me.

One summer she was outside when one of the neighbor's dogs, who was big and mean, you know, the one who has drool pouring down his face and looks like he eats small children, then asks for seconds. The dog escaped the fence around their yard and started chasing CD. I ran out chasing after him as he was chasing her. His jowls reached forward to nip at her heels. I tackled him to the ground, yelling for her to get away.

The dog managed to bite through my arm as she ran to get help. It took a couple of adults to get the dog off my arm and knock it out. The dog officers came, and the owner was standing at the edge of his property yelling and swearing at me. Like it was my fault that his dog ran after CD. or that it bit me. An ambulance came, and the EMTs got me loaded and CD hopped in the back holding my hand. They tried to tell her to stay behind, but she refused. She said I saved her life. She was staying with me.

"Thank you for saving me Eric."

"I'll always come for you, I'll always save you."

She went with me and stayed with me as I got twenty-four stiches in my arm, and the report from the dogcatcher revealed that the dog had rabies. So I had to get shots as well. Not once did she flinch. I flinched but her. No, she was strong, strong like a rock, unmoving like the mountains and a forceful river that could take anything in her path. She was my everything even though she didn't know it yet, and I, I wanted to be her everything too.

We spent the following days lying in the grass looking at the clouds. We built forts in the woods behind her house or mine. We did all of our home and school work together. We learned basic cooking from my foster mom. Her dad took us on bike rides. We even skinny-dipped naked one night. We both slipped out of our houses and ran to the nearest lake that was only a half mile away. We were thirteen at the time. I remember thinking how gorgeous she looked in the glow of the moonlight. That was until she pushed me in. We swam naked for almost an hour. And then we wrapped ourselves up in the towels and looked at the stars, her head on my chest.

Then one morning, my foster dad told me that he was put up for a promotion. I was so excited until I learned that the family was moving to Montana. I wouldn't be allowed to go. I am a ward of the state. For the next month, I spent as much time on CD as I could. I wanted to memorize every facial feature, every smile, frown. I even put her laugh into my memory. I couldn't tell her I was leaving. I didn't want to. She held my heart in the palm of her hand. I didn't want it back.

On my last day, the social worker pulled up. She let me go and say goodbye to her. Even though I only had a moment with her, I wanted to make it special.

"CD?"

"Eric? What's going on? Why are you packed? Where are you going?"

She was so frantic she was stumbling over her words and couldn't spit out her questions fast enough.

"I thought I had more time. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want to ruin our last few days together. I'm being sent to a group home for boys. My foster dad got a promotion and the family is moving to Montana. I can't stay here. I'm so sorry CD."

I pulled her in close to my chest and held her. Tears rolled down my eyes. My shirt was becoming damp as the tears rolled from her face. I lifted her chin and looked into her beautiful emerald green eyes. I tucked her hair behind her ear. I kissed her. Her tears poured harder now. I placed in the pocket of her sweatshirt a letter I had written with all my feelings spread out across the page, and a promise that I would come back for her.

The social worker took me by the arm and I gave her a look back as we walked. I mouthed," I love you, Cassandra Diane". I was placed in the van and turned to face her as we drove off. My hand was against the window. She fell to her knees, tears were pouring, and she was sobbing. I wanted to jump out of the car and run to her. But there was a man from the boys' home sitting next to me. His hand gripped my arm and stopped me as soon as I flinched.

The boys' home was a hard adjustment. I slowly started making friends. There were five of us who did everything together. As we grew up, we started figuring out what we wanted to do with our lives. Tommy started a law firm, Gerald became the department of corrections warden, Michael met his real family after he turned 18, joined the Mafia, and Desmond joined a motorcycle gang. I started a construction company. Sometimes Michael or Desmond would call asking for a cement truck to be delivered by me. I never asked questions. They never gave me any information. Less knowledge is better. Denying information you don't know keeps you free and clear.

I pulled out the binder I kept on my desk. It was everything on CD. She won many awards, had a coming out to society party, everything that went into the paper or social media about her. I printed it, photos, articles she'd be mentioned in. I collected them all, even the photos of her and that d**k bag husband. He worked at Tommy's law firm. Tommy kept me informed of all the moves Joe would be making. There were a few times Joe would come in with his knuckles split and raging anger thrown at him. As much as I wanted Joe to get fired, I told Tommy to keep him on so we could keep an eye on him.

Then the trial happened. CD refused any legal representation. Tommy tried to assign someone to her. She refused. She badly lost the case because of the s**t head attorney that Joe allowed her to have. He was a real estate lawyer who knew nothing about miscarriage cases, and he got her the maximum sentence. There was nothing I could do. Luckily, Gerald was working at the prison she was being sent to. I got daily updates and monthly photos he would take as he did his rounds around the prison. I printed out everything about her.

I was unable to put money into her commentary, d**k head refused to let her have one. Gerald helped by leaving stuff in places she'd be at so she had access to tampons, or some chocolate or what she might need without it seeming too obvious. And for almost five years she was there. I was informed too late that she was being released from prison. My plan had been to show up and bring her home with me. Now she's back with him and I need to find a way to free her from his clutches.

Tommy kept dibs on Joe. He got married like four or five more times. Got each of them knocked up. He was living in the land of playing pretend good guy husband. Tommy wanted to sick Michael and Desmond on him. As good of an idea as that was, Joe has many powerful people in many high places. He likes to push people into a breaking point, and he has a file of blackmail on almost every person he's ever met. We need to neutralize him before we get rid of him.

As I was staring off into space, a hard firm knock came at my door.