Chapter Twelve
AJ was asleep in his bed when he woke up and saw Sekarah sitting on the foot of his bed. He jumped when he first saw her but quickly tried to calm himself.
"Hey," he said sitting up. "How can I help you?"
She shrugged.
"Scared?" He asked.
She shook her head.
"Lonely?"
She shook her head again.
"Bored?"
She shook her head.
"Tired?" He asked running out of ideas.
"Kinda."
"C'mon," he said pulling the blankets back.
"Thanks," she said quietly and joined him under the covers.
"Turn around," he said laying his hand on her waist.
She slowly turned around to face him. He loved her beautiful almond shaped eyes and their deep chestnut color. He stared into them for a long time and brushed stray strands of hair behind her ear to see the rest of her face.
"You're gorgeous," he said admiring her.
She raised her hand and brushed the back of her fingers against his jaw line and cheek. She studied him closely, blinked and then looked into his eyes. The look in her eyes said everything to him. They were seductive, secretive and scared all at the same time.
Then the door opened, Sekarah jumped up and stared at the door.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," Lisa said and closed the door.
"I have to go," Sekarah said and ran out of the room.
AJ fell back in his bed and ran his fingers through his hair.
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AJ woke up, felt his arm move and before he knew it Sekarah was lying beside him.
"Aren't you too warm?" AJ asked noticing that she was wearing a big sweater.
"Yeah," she said softly.
"Are you wearing something under it?" He asked.
She nodded.
"Take it off then," he said quietly.
"Kay," she said sitting up, taking the sweater off and handing it to him.
He dropped it at the side of the bed and wrapped his arms around her.
"Comfy?" He asked as he moved his body closer to hers.
She nodded.
"Good," he said and kissed her bare shoulder.
She was only wearing a small spaghetti strap tank top and sweat pants. He already loved how she felt when he held her against his body and the way she smelled.
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AJ walked downstairs in the morning and was surprised to see Sekarah and Lisa sitting at the kitchen counter.
"Morning," Sekarah said.
"Hi," AJ said back to her.
"Sleep good?" Lisa asked.
"It was like sleeping on a cloud thank you very much," AJ said winking at Lisa.
"I'm gonna go read for a while," Sekarah said walking upstairs.
"We have to talk," Lisa said patting the stool that Sekarah had just vacated.
"What about?" AJ said sitting on the stool.
"I don't want to offend you or anything," Lisa said carefully choosing her words, "but I don't think you should spending so much time with Sekarah."
"I don't understand," he said.
"Sekarah's not at the point in her life right now where she should be looking for a relationship."
"But she is," he said. "She needs someone."
"She needs someone who understands what she needs," Lisa said.
"What does she need?" AJ asked. "I'd give that girl anything she wanted."
"There are six things that she needs. She needs to feel that she and the people she loves are all safe, she needs to learn to trust her judgment and not depend on someone else, she needs to feel good about herself, she needs to feel connected to everyone around her, she has to learn how to take control of a situation, and she has to learn how to understand things in a new way."
"I can help her Lise, I know I can. I've never felt so close to a person in my life," he pleaded.
"I'm not going to tell you what you should or shouldn't do," Lisa said. "Just don't hurt her more than she already has been."
"I would never hurt her," AJ said. "Do you know that I never instigated anything with her? She came to me every time."
"I know," Lisa said. "I trust you AJ."
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"Hi," Sekarah said walking into the living room.
"Hi," AJ said as Sekarah sat down beside him.
"What are you reading?" She asked.
"Nothing," he said putting it down. "What's up?"
"Wanna come outside with me?" Sekarah asked. "I like the dogs."
"Sure," he said taking her hand and walking outside.
The back light turned on and they sat down on the back steps. He watched her face light up as the dogs ran towards her. They sat outside for over two hours before Sekarah started running her hands up and down her arms.
"Cold?" He asked putting his arm around her shoulders.
"A little," she said laughing as the dog licked her hand.
He took his sweater off and handed it to her.
"Thank you," she said and slipped the sweater on.
They sat in silence for a quite a while before Sekarah decided to start talking again.
"He was nice when I first met him," she said petting the dog. "He wasn't always mean."
"Yeah?" AJ asked.
"Yeah. We met during highschool. We got married three days after our graduation. But after the honeymoon ended it seemed like nothing I did was good enough or done fast enough. He enjoys chewing me to pieces," she said.
"You don't deserve that," he said soothing her.
"I had a baby," she said as she began to tear up. "Her name was Raquel Breeze. She was a beautiful baby. Then one day I went to go get her in the morning and she was dead, laying there in her crib, blue."
AJ took her into his arms and held her as she cried.
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AJ woke up in the morning to find Sekarah still in his arms. She was still wearing his sweater and sleeping peacefully.
He kissed her shoulder and she woke up quickly
"It's okay," AJ said holding her. "It's just me."
He was surprised when she hugged him tightly and almost fell back asleep.
"Can I do something to you?" He asked. Her eyes got wide and she looked petrified. "I'm not going to hurt you Sekarah. You have to trust me."
"I do," she said trying to remain calm.
Then he gently kissed her. The kiss was sweet but it didn't linger long because he didn't want to scare her. Sekarah touched her fingers to her lips and then stroked AJ's lips.
"Don't do this," Sekarah said lightly.
"What?"
"Don't hurt yourself like this," she said. "You don't need me in your life."
"You're exactly what I need," he said wrapping his arms around her. "You're what's been missing in my life. Now that I have you I'm complete."
"Whatever you say," Sekarah said getting up. "I have things that I have to do. Bye."
"Bye," AJ said as he watched her leave.
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