Page 3 of Nines's Time

CHAPTERTWO

MEADOW

One Month Later . . .

I smile as I glance around me. After all the hard work I’ve put in, I can officially say I am finally the owner of a chic boutique. One day, I want it so that I only carry clothing designs that I create, but for now, I have other designers set out. I do have several of my own on display as well.

Growing up all I ever wanted to do was be a fashion designer. I dreamed of going to New York and getting my name out there. But that dream deflated with each year I got older. If my dad had it his way, I’d be nothing . . . a nobody. See, when I was seven, my mom up and left me with my dad after one of their fights. They always fought, and she said she was done. I wish she’d taken me with her, but it seems I didn’t matter to her, considering I haven’t heard from her in years. Not a birthday card, Christmas, Easter, nada. She couldn’t care less about me.

By this time in my life, I’d learned to stay clear of my dad as much as possible, but it didn’t stop what was to come. When I turned ten, he took it upon himself to put his hands on me. If I didn’t let him touch me, however he wanted, then he’d beat me. I figured the touching wasn’t as bad as the beatings.

I shudder to think about the times he would put his hands on me. I wouldn’t bring my friends over out of fear of him doing something to them. He was strict and I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere unless he said I could. As I got older, he gave me a part-time job at the hardware store he owned. I didn’t want to work there and dreaded every day I had to be there because it meant he touched me.

I lucked out that he never took it further than his hands on my body and inserting his fingers inside me. When I started at the hardware store, he’d force me to do things I didn’t want, like touching him, stroking him, and worse, he had me put my mouth on him.

By that point, I was wishing my life was different in every way you can imagine.

It all changed when I was seventeen. I met Johnny. We started dating and I wasn’t around my dad as much. I guess I should’ve known then that it was by his doing that I ended up with Johnny because it all came to a head on my eighteenth birthday when Johnny raped me in front of my dad who got to enjoy the show.

After that night, I ran away from home and hid as much as I could. I didn’t need Johnny or my dad to find me. Not when they both swore ownership of me like I’m property instead of a person. My dad said I would never escape either of them, but I did.

I ran.

I ran as far as I could. I’d been saving every dollar given to me. I took my money and used it to get away from them all. I signed up for online courses to take my college classes while I worked under the table at a pool hall. I thought it a miracle the day I walked in and met Gavril. At first, he didn’t want to give me a job, but he must have seen something in my eyes because he gave it to me anyway.

Gavril had only two rules for me. They were if I saw something I shouldn’t I was to keep my mouth shut, and if my problems ever caught up to me, to tell him immediately.

I learned in the time I worked for Gavril what he meant about keeping my mouth shut. There were a lot of shady things that happened in the pool hall. I also found out that Gavril was a part of the Romanian mafia. Evidently, he took care of business in this area. I never asked him about it, either. Over the years, he became a father figure to me, protecting me in every way I could have imagined a father being. One night I ended up telling him about my dad and ex-boyfriend and ended up pleading with Gavril not to go and do anything. I didn’t want to take any chances. Though Gavril reluctantly gave in, I knew if given the chance, he’d kill them.

When I finally had enough money saved and finished my courses, I moved here to Bullsgap, Tennessee. I’d told Gavril my reason for picking this town and he made me promise that I would keep in contact with him as much as possible. He even said he’d be visiting.

Now, here I am, a business owner, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m in a town where I’m as safe as I could ever be because I know my dad would never look for me in this place. I remember the stories of how he was never going to come back to this place, calling it a hellhole.

I shake off the thoughts that I best left sealed in the past. I’m safe where I am, and nothing will happen to me again.

CHAPTERTHREE

MEADOW

Since opening my doors a month ago, I’ve already gotten quite a bit of business. I didn’t expect to take off so well at first and I couldn’t be happier.

During the day, I try to work on some of my new designs while open to the public. At night, I finish what I’ve started. Some of my customers who buy my clothes have even put in a request for things they want. I have a couple of gowns to make that will cost a mint. I mean thousands of dollars.

I find it crazy how everything is working out for me, and I’m just thrilled to be working.

I’m sitting in front of one of my mannequins working on the seams of one of the skirts I’d designed when the bell rings over the door announcing someone’s arrival. I peek up over one of the racks and smile at my visitors.

“Hey, Storm, Chelsea,” I greet them.

“How’s it going, Meadow?”This coming from Storm.

“Hey yourself, chick-a-dee,” Chelsea says at the same time.

The two of them were my very first customers and they’d bought several pieces each.

“What brings y’all in here this afternoon?” I ask and look down to what I’m doing to make sure I’m at a stop where I can drop the material without messing it up.

“Nothing much.” Chelsea shrugs and starts looking through the racks. “Did you get any more of those off-the-shoulder tops in?”

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