"Flora, please open the door. I am sorry for whatever it is I said. I am really trying and I really hope that you know that I am only trying to do what is best for you." Helia said through the closed door of Flora's room.

Flora was lying on her bed with a tear stained pillow and a shattered heart. She knew that she could not be mad at Helia but he just was not getting it. She needed to make it through on her own terms and in her own time. She needed him to let her make the decisions on what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go. The past few months had changed her and she needed him to understand that.

"Flora, please. I am sorry."

Flora sat up and walked to the door, knowing that he was not going to leave until she answered. Flora opened the door to reveal a desperate looking Helia.

"Please tell me what is going on. I am just trying to help." Helia sighed as he stood in the doorway looking at Flora's red eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"Helia, I am not mad at you but I really need to get over this on my own time and I need you to stop making decisions for me. I really appreciate you being here for me but I don't need you telling me what I should do and when I should do it." Flora explained.

"I am trying to push you but I understand. I know that this will take time. You have to understand that I only have your best interests at heart."

"I know that you do but this is my problem." Flora stated.

"Alright, I will keep my mouth shut for now on. I just don't know what you want from me."

"Helia, this is day one. You saw what he did to me! I didn't want to go to the greenhouse because he raped me every night there! I cannot go back in there! I will only see him and how defenseless and helpless that I was! You can't begin to understand what I am going through!" Flora exclaimed.

"Flora, I didn't know. I am trying to understand and I know that I never will but please, you need to let me know. Flora, I love you and I am here for you." Helia said walking towards Flora but Flora retreated further into her room.

"I don't want to be touched right now." Flora quietly said as she held her arms up to her chest. "Can you please just go."

Helia looked at Flora with sadness and confusion before he changed to his expression to one of indifference and complacency.

"Let me know when you want to talk. I won't talk to you until you do." Helia curtly said.

"Helia..."

"No, I get it. I'll see you around."

Helia walked away to leave a heartbroken Flora. Flora sighed knowing that she may have been a little harsh to Helia and that this was not the reaction that she wanted. To be honest she had no idea what she wanted. She wanted to be alone but she also wanted to be in his arms again and feel the cool sensation of his lips on hers.

Flora shut her door and walked back to her bed where she curled up and slowly fell asleep knowing that she would miss her other class for the day.

The next morning, Flora was awoken to the sound of a vigorous knocking on her door. She groaned and crawled out of bed, still wearing the clothes that she wore the day before. Flora slowly walked over to the door where the knocking continued. Flora opened the door to reveal a man in a suit staring in her doorway.

"Hello, is this the room of a Ms. Flora Linphea?" the man asked.

"Yes, may I help you?" Flora asked wearily of the strange man in front of her.

"The question is more if I can help you." the man smiled politely which calmed Flora's nerves, "I am Attorney Victor Collins and I heard about your case and was wondering if I would be able to represent you in court?"

"What?" Flora asked dumbfounded.

"I know that you are still trying to recover from what happened to you and I understand if this is the last thing that you want to think about but I want to make sure that justice is served and I am willing to give you pro-bono legal counsel." Victor explained.

"You seem really young to be a lawyer." Flora said suspiciously.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. I skipped three grades in elementary school. It's not as fun as it sounds. Being fifteen and the shortest kid in my graduating class of high school led to a few years of bullying. But I guess being a lawyer at twenty-five has it's perks too. I am BAR certified and am working as an associate at Martin & Johnson hopefully making full partner in a few years." Victor chuckled looking back at his life and education.

"Well, thank you. I think that I would like to do more research on lawyers before I choose one but I will definitely keep you in consideration." Flora smiled. She looked at the tall tanned man with striking grey eyes and black hair and thought that she could trust him but after everything that happened to her, she had a hard time trusting everyone.

"I wish you luck and if you need anything at all, please call me." Victor said while handing Flora his business card. "I want to handle this case on your own time but you must decide what you want to do fast or they will release Mr. Charles from prison and we will have to hunt him down again."

"When do I need to let you know?" Flora asked as her eyes widened at the thought of her attacker being released.

"I need to know by Thursday."

"That is only in two days." Flora replied as she thumbed the business card.

"I know, but I want you to do what is best for you. We will not pressure you into doing anything but you must act fast on this."

"I want to press charges." Flora said definitively.

"That's great but you will need to tell that to the police. I am here just for legal reasons." Victor chuckled again.

"Oh. Would you come down to the station with me?" Flora asked. She did not want to be alone when she went to the station and the thought of seeing her attacker was going to be an ordeal in itself.

"I can only accompany you as your legal representative. Wouldn't you want a friend to go down there with you?"

"I don't think that they will understand. I have only known you for five minutes and you seem to be more willing to see eye to eye with me than any of my friends."

"I guess that I have more experience with this." Victor smiled showing off his straight, pearly white teeth. "These are the cases that I work the most."

"How many of these cases have you worked?" Flora asked leaning against the door frame.

"More than I would like." Victor sighed in sadness.

"And how many cases have you won?" Flora asked.

"All of them."

Flora looked at Victor up and down and in her heart knew that he was telling the truth.

"One moment please." Flora said and ran back inside of her room to grab her phone. Flora walked back to Victor typing into the search engine the information that was on Victor's business card. Flora looked at the website and saw Victor's face under the 'Associates' tab and clicked on his bio. Everything checked out, even his case records. Flora looked up from her phone and saw Victor looking at her with a confused look on his face.

"I want you to represent me." Flora stated.

"That's great! I promise to help you in any way that I can." Victor beamed at Flora. Victor then took the business card in his hand and wrote down something on the back. "Here is my personal cell phone number and my address. Please, call me or stop by anytime if you need anything. I want to make sure that this all goes as smoothly as possible. You have already been through enough.

"Thank you. Would you like to come in? I need to change and then we can go down to the police station?" Flora asked as she opened the door and created a path for Victor to come in.

"No, that would not be professional of me. I am already risking my job coming here but I really wanted to represent you. Mr. Charles has been in and out of prison for stalking and harassment but this time, I want to make sure that he gets locked up for good."

"He has done this to other women before?" Flora looked at Victor with worried eyes.

"Not as much as he did with you." Victor sighed. "Let's not think about that for now. Please, get ready and I will wait for you out here."

Flora smiled and walked back into her room and shut the door behind her to get dressed. Flora looked in her closet and decided to wear grey sweater with black jeans and black boots. Flora pulled left her hair down and walked out to see Victor patiently waiting for her.

"Ready to go?" Victor asked.

"Ready."