Eva walked into Alexander�s house and heard laughter come from the parlor. She closed the door and headed to the parlor, as she heard the laughter again. She went to walk in when Alexander and Jacqueline walked out.
�Hey,� Jacqueline said.
�Hey,� Eva said and she and Alexander looked at each other. �I was hoping we could talk, but it looks like you�re busy.�
�I�m on my way out actually,� Jacqueline said. �I have to pick up Nick at the airport.�
�You shouldn�t even be out and about yet,� Eva said. �You�re still sick.�
�I�m fine,� Jacqueline said. �And I will leave you two alone.� She smiled. �Alex, I thank you so much for your help.�
�You�re welcome,� Alexander said and they hugged. �I�m sure he�ll love it.�
�I hope so,� Jacqueline said and looked at Eva. �Call me later?� Eva nodded and the two girls hugged. �Unless of course you two are busy making up.� She winked and walked out.
�C�mon in,� Alexander said.
�Thanks,� Eva said, as they walked into the parlor. �How�s it going?�
�Alright I guess. You?�
�Could be better I guess.� He nodded.
�Can I get you anything?�
�Thanks, but I�m good.�
�Ok.� She grinned. �So what�s up?�
�I�ve been thinking and I really want us to talk about what�s going on with me.�
�Ok, but so ya know I know what went on.�
�Jack tell you?�
�No; I went to Michigan a couple days go.�
�So you went behind my back?�
�I hated not knowing what happened to my girlfriend before we met. It was obvious you weren�t going to tell me and I didn�t want to just sit around and wait. I wanted the truth and I went to Michigan to get it.�
�You invaded my privacy, Alex.� Tears started going down her cheeks.
�It�s in every newspaper in Michigan practically, Eva, so I wouldn�t call it invasion of privacy.� She just looked at him. �I don�t understand why you didn�t tell me.�
�I just didn�t want ya to know.�
�Why not?� She wiped her eyes. �I love you, Ev, and whatever trouble you�re going through I want to go through it with you no matter what.� She didn�t say anything. �Why didn�t you want me to know? Why can�t you trust me?�
�I do trust you, Alex, I just didn�t trust you with this secret of mine. It�s such a big deal to me about people knowing and I didn�t want anyone to know. I didn�t trust anyone enough to tell them about what happened to me.�
�But you knew from the beginning that you could trust me. Why didn�t you?�
�I don�t know. I guess I was just too ashamed about what happened to me and believed it was my fault.�
�Being molested is no ones fault, Baby. This guy who hurt you is just a pig. He got his kicks out of hurting a young lady�a teenager and he thought it was ok. But it wasn�t ok and you stood up and proved that to him. You made him pay for hurting you and that takes a lot of courage.� Her tears continued coming and he hugged her. �Yes it took ya awhile to come forward, but what matters is that you did. You stood up to him so he couldn�t hurt you anymore and you have nothing to be ashamed of. You didn�t force him to hurt you.�
�Jack says the same thing, but I can�t help but think it�s all my fault. If I didn�t get involved with Michael then none of this would�ve happened. I wouldn�t have to live with what happened to me for the rest of my life.�
�What happened is not your fault and you have to believe that.�
�But I don�t have the courage to.�
�Yes you do. If you had the courage and strength to stand up to this ass then you definitely have the courage and strength to believe that this is not your fault. I believe in you and I know Jackie believes in you.� He made her look at him and took her face in his hands. �I love you and I don�t want this to come between us anymore. I know you�re going to need time, but I want to be with you while you deal with this whole ordeal. I want to be by your side, as you find the strength to get pass this and know it�s not your fault.� She just looked at him and he wiped her eyes. �You have a bright and beautiful future waiting for you. Don�t let what happened in your past stop you from achieving your future goals.�
�But it�s so hard to think about my future when my past is haunting me.�
�Did you ever think about counseling?� She sighed and walked away from him. �I�m sorry,� Alexander said.
�Don�t worry about it,� Eva began, �because I did think about it.� They looked at each other. �I thought about it a lot actually, but I don�t know. I guess the whole therapy thing just scares me.�
�It�s only natural for something you�ve never experienced to scare you.�
�But it�s therapy; I�ve never been to therapy in my life. I doubt I�ll like it anyway.�
�Do you want to try it?�
�If it�ll help me get pass this of course I want to try it. It just scares me though. I want to have a happy future and not having this whole molestation thing weighing over me.�
�I can go with you if you want me to.�
�If I decide to do the whole therapy thing I think I should do it alone.�
�Ok.�
�The suggestion is really nice, but this is my problem. I want to be mature about it and not have anyone holding my hand. I want to be independent about this.�
�I understand, Baby.�
�It�s not that I want to be alone during this, Alex, I just want to show my independence again. Ever since I told Jackie what happened I�ve been depending on her to make everything all right. I didn�t want to be the one to make it all right. I just wanted it to go away, but it didn�t. It didn�t go away, because I wasn�t making it go away.� She sighed and Alexander just looked at her, as she wiped her eyes. She sat next to him on the sofa and he took her hands in his. �The past few days I�ve been thinking about this and I�ve come to realize that this won�t go away unless I take control of everything. I have to be independent about this just like I am independent about everything else.�
�I understand.�
�I don�t want you to have to take care of me, but I want you to be there. I just want to know that I can count on you to not leave me.�
�Of course you can count on me. Why would you think I would leave you?�
�I�m just afraid that you will think of me differently by knowing the truth and then leave.�
�I don�t think of you differently, Baby. If anything I think you�re courageous and strong for standing up to this guy. It takes guts to do what you did and I praise you for that.� She gave a little grin. �I�m going to be right here by your side the whole time. I love you and what happened to you is not going to change that any. I have faith you�ll get through this and then we can have the future we talked about.� She just looked at him. �That�s if you want to have a future with me.�
�Of course I do. I love you, Alex. I think I�m falling in love with you more now.� He smiled and she kissed him. �It really means a lot to me that you�re sticking beside me.�
�I wouldn�t want to be anywhere else.�
�You�re doing exactly what Jackie said you would do. I didn�t think she knew you that well.�
�We�re all full of surprises.� She hugged him. �Just know that I ain�t going anywhere. I�ll be right here whenever you need me.�
�I know.� She sighed and just held onto him.
CHAPTER 16
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