Their Perfect Match

8

Blake

I set the clothes down on the edge of the sink, staring down at her in the tub. The tops of her knees are poking out of the water, her creamy skin wet with sudsy water. The bubbles have been carefully placed so I can’t see anything, no matter how hard I look.

“Thank you”

I head into the dining room area to my laptop, I have some research to do. Putting in her information to the DMV database I’m linked into knowing full well it won’t lead to anything as her ID is fake I come up empty handed. Big surprise. Her photo however is a different story, I get a hit on facial recognition.

Sarah Conrad, the name immediately makes my blood run cold.

A Conrad under my roof.

I dig deeper, finding that Sarah Conrad was adopted by the Conrad family when she was seven after a tragic fire took her family, her being the only survivor. She was adopted within a week of the fire, it all happened very quickly. Usually, adoption takes months, if not years to finalize.

So she’s not a true Conrad, which I guess makes it a little better, but still makes me wonder what the hell she was doing with a fake ID working as a cleaner when she was part of one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the city, aside from my own.

My need to know more about her has skyrocketed now. I feel like I’m absolutely going to die if I don’t find out everything there is to know about her.

My phone goes off in my pocket, I pull it out and see Leon calling me.

“What do you want?” I answer

“Is she awake yet?” He asks

“Yeah, she’s in the bathtub”

“She’s okay then?”

“That remains to be seen..” I keep scrolling on the news paper article on her adoption

“Well Lenny wants to see you. He knows you have her at your place”

“Lenny needs to mind his own f*****g business” I snarl

All the rest of the information on her adoption and everything else on her is sealed, there’s nothing on the fire or her original family. Nothing on her real name even. Someone went to great lengths to cover it up.

Something rings a bell in my mind about the fire, I start researching fires in the area around that time, finding three. The one I’m looking for knocks the breath out of me. I hope I’m wrong about this, but if I’m right this could be extremely life changing.

I pull my phone out and dial my fathers number, hoping this won’t bring up too many bad memories for him.

“What is it Blake, I’m busy” He’s always busy, I’m not surprised. I try not to call him if I can help it, he’s a grumpy old bastard in his old age.

“Do you remember the fire that took out the Meyer’s” I get straight to the point

“That was nearly twenty years ago Blake. What of it?” He sounds irritated by the mention of it. It's a sore spot for him, it has been for years. The Meyer's were his best friends, family to him. It gutted him when he found out about the fire and their deaths.

“What if I told you I think Morgan survived the fire? She’s alive”

The other end of the line is silent for a moment, “Dad?”

“What makes you think she’s alive?” His voice hitches

“Because she’s in my bathtub”

“Blake! You lay a hand on that girl and you’ll have me to deal with!”

“Relax dad. I haven’t touched her, yet. But I will make her mine, there’s nothing you can do about that. Don’t worry I’ll keep her safe”

“I’m coming over, don’t do or say anything stupid until I get there”

It’s been a while since I checked on her in the bathroom. I get up and make my way to the door, knocking gently. “Are you okay in there?”

She doesn’t answer me, I knock again, still no answer. I open the door and look inside seeing she’s fallen asleep. The medication must have been stronger than I anticipated and she barely ate any of the breakfast I made. I kneel beside the bathtub and tilt her head towards me, checking her pulse. I pull the plug in the bottom of the tub and the water starts to drain. I lift her from the water gently and carry her back to the bedroom, laying her on the bed. Her eyes flutter and she moans softly, her hands lift as she tries to cover herself. I grab a blanket and wrap her in it, I position myself so I’m sitting behind her and I grab the plate of food and bring a slice of toast to her lips.

“You gotta eat something” I practically have to force her to eat but she does, nearly all of the food and a glass of water. I put her cast back on her leg and help her dress, keeping my eyes averted. I can tell she’s out of it and embarrassed to be naked in front of me but she is so messed up from the medication she can’t do it on her own. I put her back to bed and let her sleep it off for a few hours. I make a mental note to not give her two pills at once again, maybe half a pill with a full meal.

The doorbell rings, I have a feeling I already know who it is, I see my father through the window and I let him in,

“Where is my Goddaughter?” He pushes past me and storms into the house.

“Bedroom, sleeping. She had a bad reaction to the pain meds I gave her. She’s sleeping it off.”

“Pain meds? What the hell did you do to her?” He growls at me

“Actually, Leon’s the one you should be barking at, not me”

“I need to see her”

I nod, leading him to my bedroom, turning on the lamp beside the bed so he can see her better,

“Oh my God. She looks just like her mother did. Such beauty” He says when he gazes down at her, tears in his eyes.

“We can’t let them know we found her. She will be in terrible danger…”

“I know.. But we need to tell him. You know he still thinks he got her killed that night. He’s blamed himself ever since. This could be a new beginning for him and for her” I tell him, we hadn’t heard much from Micheal in fifteen years.

Last I heard he was living in a cabin in the mountains, completely isolated from the world, the loss of his family being too much for him. He was the only one who survived the fire that took his family that night, only he wasn’t. He had pulled his little sister Morgan out and went back in to get his parents but he was too late to save them. When he came back out, his sister was gone. Everyone assumed the fire had gotten her, but Micheal knew that he had gotten her to safety, he knew the fire hadn’t gotten her.

We had suspected the fire was arson but didn’t have any proof at the time. Micheal spent years looking for his sister before he finally had to move on, telling himself that she was gone. My father checks in with him every year on his birthday, as he is also his Godson, he likes to keep tabs on him.

“You’re right.. He probably won’t believe you though.. After all this time, she suddenly shows up”

“You took one look at her and were convinced, I’m sure he will be just as convinced when he lays eyes on her”

“Yes, I’m sure you’re right. Once she’s healed up a bit, you can take her up the mountains to see him”

“You know he doesn’t like visitors” I say, running my hand through my hair pushing it out of my face.

“We aren’t visitors, we are family”