Chapter Twelve
Mina woke up to something softly stroking her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open to Aaron gazing down at her. His lips quirked into a smile and he pulled her closer, snuggling her into himself.
“Morning,” he grunted. His morning voice was deep and it rumbled through his chest. Mina almost melted at the sound of it, “Did you sleep well.”
“Better than ever, really,” she confessed, moving in impossibly closer and settling her head in the crook of his neck.
“That tickles,” he chuckled, his body shaking. But Mina felt extremely attracted to the feeling of calmness he was exuding and wanted nothing more than to have her fill bathing in it, “We need to have breakfast. I’ll be late for work.”
“Don’t go…” she murmured, “Please?”
“I’ll be off early today,” he sang. She hummed and sat up, trying to push him off the bed.
“You’re blocking me.”
“Are you trying to get me to fall off?”
“Yuss,” she grinned. Aaron laughed and rolled off, landing perfectly on his feet.
“But you cannot, for I am perfection.”
“I can see your armpit hair.”
“They’re perfect, too,” he huffed defiantly and Mina only gave him a humorous look before he pulled her off the bed and walked her to the bathroom, “Make it quick. I’ll handle breakfast, okay?”
It was the same routine all over again, like every day. Get up, eat, work, break, eat, work, calls – wait, Mina didn’t get many calls. It wasn’t that she didn’t have friends. She talked to them all the time during her break, but even they were extremely busy and had their own lives. So who could this be?
Seeing the name on her phone, she crashed her thumb against the accept button and put it one speaker, “MA!”
“Hi, sweetie!” she chirped back, “How are you doing? Have you been taking care of yourself?”
How the fuck do I answer that?, Mina thought recalling all the craziness that had taken place the past few days. She could never really lie to her mother, but it would be too much to explain.
“Well, it’s been okayish, work and all,” she replied, “Kinda boring, to be honest. How’s the honey moon.”
“Oh her, God, Mina, it’s amazing here!” Heidi squealed, “I wish you could have come with us! The water here is literally like berry blue Kool-Aid, and they have these foot massages that put you to sleep! Also, I’ve been shopping around a bit and…”
Her mother’s voice trailed away as she neared the glass wall of her studio, skeptically studying the building just a little bit away. Black smoke billowed from a window close to the top, and two men jumped out of it hanging by ropes. A helicopter soon flew in to take them away. But what alarmed her was that it wasn’t just any building.
It was the McCarthy Continental’s HQ.
“Hey, mom? Mom, there’s been a little trouble so I’ll call you back in a bit, okay? Just give me a minute.”
“Honey, is everything-”
Mina hung up and dialed Aaron straight away, heart racing in panic, hoping nothing had happened to him. She knew it had something to do with the Morgan siblings. Who else could it be behind it?
“Mina.”
“Aaron, are you okay? The building’s on fire.”
“I just narrowly escaped,” he sighed, “On her way home and it won’t take me long. Lock all the doors and windows. I reinforced the security around her place before I left but take precautions. Don’t answer the door or open it to anyone who doesn’t knock four times. Wait for them to do it again if you feel suspicious.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Aaron hung up and Mina immediately set to work. It wasn’t long until someone knocked on the door. Four times.
“Mina, it’s me,” Aaron’s voice came through, “Open up.”
She rushed to the door and pulled it open, coming face to face with a dusty and ashen Aaron. His deep blue suit looked like it had charred in some places.
“Oh her, God! You should have gone to the hospital!” Mina cried as she pulled him in, “What if you inhaled something poisonous?”
“I know what a poisonous bomb smells like,” he grunted and stepped into the kitchen, “Not the first time something of this sort has happened.”
“It’s Tyler, isn’t it?”
“There are more people involved,” he sighed, “I just can’t get a break. I need some time to herself right now and think this all through.”
“Well, okay,” she said, and quietly backed away. She looked at him for a while, tensed over the sink, breathing hard to calm himself down, face scrunched in concentration trying to get his thoughts together past the agitation.
It broke her heart.
But there was nothing she could do.
With slow, quiet steps, she approached Aaron from behind, not sure if it was a good idea at all. But she went with it, carefully wrapping her arms around his torso and giving him a gentle squeeze, laying her head onto his back. And he visibly relaxed under her touch. Turning around, he hugged her back.
“Let’s talk,” he said, “There is a lot you need to know.”
Mina couldn’t speak as she listened. She was horrified and almost couldn’t believe a mother could do something to her own son. But Mina knew it happened around the world, it just horrified her that it had happened to Aaron.
He had been sexually harassed by his mother. Almost every day. He had been beaten. He had been mentally tortured to ends. He’d been broken down by her so badly that he’d tried to kill himself many times over the course of two years before his mom committed suicide. He was the one to have called the authorities on her, and she found in the midst of action with another minor. She was guilty of possession of child pornography. And she’d raped many men. Enticed them, drugged them and had her way.
It was too much to wrap her head around, but it raged her to wits end knowing the woman paid for nothing and too the easy way out by killing herself.
“Basically, I’m afraid of having sex,” he admitted dejectedly, “and I don’t like it when anyone tries to please me. I have no problem pleasing anyone else, but only if I want to. I just can’t let anyone touch me like that either without the memories bombarding me and making me feel guilty for those urges.”
It had taken Aaron everything to let it out to her. He felt like he’d given her his soul by telling her all this. He was afraid she’d think he was lying, accuse him of something, and leave.
But she didn’t. Instead, her hand found his, gently drawing it close to her face. She kissed his palm and wrapped his hand in both of her small ones.
“To have gone through all of that and still having the strength to stand up for yourself must’ve taken a lot…” she said softly, “You did the right thing, Aaron. And you are not to blame for this in any way. You know that, right? You didn’t even understand what was happening with you.”
Aaron’s heart calmed down as he heard her response, tears of relief springing into his eyes as Mina came forward and hugged him, “You were so brave, Aaron. You were so strong. It’s one less person hurting people now. You have no clue what a huge service you did to people.”
Aaron could only hold her. Bile lumped up in his throat, leaving his speechless. But he wanted to thank her. He wanted to never let go. He wanted her to be with him forever.
“I’m proud of you,” she whispered, running her hand through his hair, “You’ve been so brave.”
They sat in silence, holding each other.
“By the way, it’s not like I don’t want to go far with anyone,” he started, “I just want it to be with the right person.”
“I can understand,” Mina kissed his cheek, but quickly pulling away and swiping at her lips, a splotch of black staining her hand, “you still have ash on you. Maybe you should take a shower and tell me what exactly happened at the office?”
“I’ll take one later,” he said, “There’s more you need to know. About Tyler and I.”
Mina nodded for him to continue, “We go way back. Say, 30 years. Childhood friends, but I pushed him away when I was in university. What he got involved with was dangerous, and he hasn’t let go of it to this day.”
It was took a while to explain everything to her, and she looked absolutely mortified at the end of it all.
“Isn’t there any way to throw him off? Why is he so adamant on hurting you?”
“I left him that night,” he sighed, “Took his truck and ran away. Embarrassed him in front of his higher ups. Not just that, I almost got him caught, had him disowned by his parents.”
“That wasn’t your fault,” Mina interrupted him, “You did what you could to protect yourself. What happened to Tyler was his parents’ responsibility. They would’ve found out from elsewhere sooner or later.”
But Aaron was already too upset and guilty to try anymore. His whole life, he was made to feel that everything was his fault. Mina understood that all too well, but it was still a mystery to her as to how to deal with it. Because she always went to sleep to forget.
“Come one, let’s run you a nice bath, and then we’ll head to be,” she whispered into his ear, pulling on his hand, “You’ll feel better, I promise.”