Buried trauma

The following morning when Nelly woke up, her body was aching all over. She tried to recall all the events of the previous night, she remembers that foreign feeling she had, how she yearned the company of a man for the very first time.

But she had managed to escape from everyone so that she could suffer alone in her room, ' so what went wrong?'

This is the question she had in mind, but then again remembered the blurry tall man who entered her room while she was naked and took advantage of her. She wasn't sure who it was but what she knew is that the hotel owed her an explanation.

"Mhmm"

She moaned in pain as she couldn't take the pain she felt through her entire body, it was as if her lower body was about to be disconnected from her completely.

As she sat up on the bed, her eyes landed on the man who was sitting on the couch not far from the bed, elegantly crossing his legs. Although he had a cold intimidating look on his face, that did not stop Nelly from noticing his handsome facial features.

But the anger and shame she felt was far great, that she didn't take a moment to admire the beauty in front of her like how any woman would in front of this man.

"You! What are you doing here?"

Although her voice was low, one could not mistake the anger contained in it.

Her question irritated the man even more, what did she even mean by her question.

"You got what you wanted, now you can leave."

The man responded with a flat voice, which confused Nelly.

"What do you mean, I got what I wanted when you are clearly the one who violated me."

The man stood up and walked up to the bed and threw a piece of paper on her and smirked.

"Is this how you do it these days, huh? You came in to my room, took off your clothes and performed in order to seduce me to sleep with you. Now I'm only compensating you since I took your innocence away from you. Now take your things, I want you out of here when I get back."

"Go to hell!"

Nelly sprang out of bed insensed, she even ignored the sharp pain on her abdomen and started dressing up.

"Even if you are friends with Mr Robert Jonas, that doesn't mean that you can treat people like dirt. I'm not a prostitute and will not accept money from you! It's certainly not my fault that I was drugged, I did my part and got away from everyone. You are the one who followed me here And for your information this is the room I was given by the front desk" 

After the last word dropped she left the room without a care what the other man would say or do.

Once she was out of the hotel, she haled a cab back to her place. The first thing she did as soon as she entered her apartment studio, was to head over to the bathroom. She took off her clothes, entered the shower and started scrubbing herself, trying hard to get rid of the scent that covered her.

Everything about that Sandalwood scent reminded her of everything that happened, she clearly remembers how that man belittled and humiliated her in that hotel room.

That on its own triggered her buried trauma she thought she had healed from, she slid down the shower wall, wrapped her arms around her knees and cried as hard as she could.

Everything came as clear as daylight, her aunt  shouting at her for not finishing her chores as she had to do some of her school work.

"Nelly Smith! What do you think we will eat tonight since you didn't cook? It is for this reason your mother left you,  how could she love a useless child like you. Even those books you are busy with will not help you in life, nobody will hire someone as lazy as you are!"

The last time she heard those hush word again was on her last day of highschool, after her graduation her auntie gave her an ultimatum.

"You know we don't have money and the money that has been saved up can only take one person to college, so we decided that it will be wise that your cousin be the one that goes to college. She's the only sensible one in the family and can amount to something, you on the other hand will have to go look for a job at the local supermarket or else Marry that Gumede Boy, at least they are willing to pay us thirty thousands for you."

"Aunty please, I can look for a scholarship or something to help me pay for my studies please don't marry me to anyone."

Vivian Smith stood up abruptly and shook her head as she was against that.

"No way! There is no way that you will more successful than my daughter, Nelly you choose, It's either that or get out of this house. We can no longer provide for a grown ass woman like you."

"You only have a week to decide, I'll talk to my friend there, she can find you a cleaning job at their supermarket, and don't you dare look at you grandmother, she can't save you this time."

Indeed when she looked at Grace, her Grandma, she shrugged her shoulders showing that she had no control over the decision. Her son was the only one working in that house so only he and his wife made the final decisions.

The following morning when Nelly went to the shop, she asked the elderly lady she was close to, to use her internet. Around that time the national music competition starts it's auditions round and she had been waiting for the date to be released.

Indeed when she checked the site she was able to find the date and since they had an option to send a recorded video, she quickly did that and returned home.

A few days after she had submitted her audition she was invited to come over to the big city SouthVeil which was where the competition was being held.

As she left the only house she knew since she was a child, she made a vow to come back for Nonto her little sister and would make sure that they do not suffer in the future.

After a long time of crying in the shower, Nelly was finally able to pull herself together, she turned off the tap and took out a towel to dry her body.

"I will not allow him to ruin things for Nonto and I, this was just a minor distraction. I will have to work even harder and make sure that I create a good future for us. "

That was the pep talk she gave herself but because she was too tired from all the crying and the activities from the previous night she found herself falling asleep on her very small bed in the room.

At the Oracle hotel, Eric was left stunned when the little girl stormed off after giving him a piece of her mind. No one has ever dared to talk to him like that.

Even from the night before while drinking at the bar, that little girl treated him as if he wasn't there even though he was seated right next to her. She only sat there quietly and accepted all the drinks she was given to her by Rob.

'Could it be that she was telling the truth, that she too, just like him was drugged that night?'

Remembering that the Girl had said that she was assigned to that room by the hotel staff, he walked up to the table and took the extra key card there to confirm her story.