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24|Safe Haven-Part 1
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Save Him 25|Safe Haven-Part 2
Natalie flipped through a dozen or so images of bruises in various colours, shapes, and sizes."What is this? Who is this? Am I supposed to know what these mean?" she asked shrilly, dumping the pictures on the bed."That's you, and those are the bruises on your body.""That's a lie!" Natalie shook her head.No, she wasn't the girl in those photos. She didn't get beat up in the back seat of a luxury car for chatting with a stranger at a gala she had no business attending.She wasn't that girl.She was Natalie Taylor, the girl who came to Rock Union to save her brother."I know it's hard to accept—""That's not me!" she cut Sam off. But even as she denied it, she knew it was true. She didn't have to breathe deeply to feel the sharp pain in her lungs and abdomen. It was so constant it was almost a part of her now. But she'd wanted to pretend, just so she could hold on to the last shred of dignity she thought she still had.Confronted with the images, Natalie could no longer deny it.She w
Save Him 26|Bad Timing
They missed each other by mere minutes.When Levi drove in, it never occurred to him that Noelle was in the red sedan pulling away from the entrance. He shot out of the door and ran inside the flat-roof single-story building as soon as Mark killed the engine.Eliza, an overworked and underpaid receptionist, in between mouthfuls of her quarter chicken and chips combo meal, politely informed him Noelle was discharged and had just left."What do you mean she left?" Levi asked, unable to process a word the receptionist had said. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why they'd let her leave when she clearly needed medical attention.Eliza put down her drumstick long enough to glare at him. "I mean exactly that. She jumped in an Uber or a Bolt and left not too long ago!"But Levi wasn't intimidated by her death stare. He scowled right back at her."Listen," he said, trying his damnedest to keep his irritation in check. "I need to speak to someone in charge. Where's the manager?""She'
Save Him 27|Flirt With Death-Part 1
The meds from the women's shelter were better than aspirin any day. They knocked Natalie out for fourteen hours straight. Not surprising since she'd taken more than the recommended dose after she'd spent the rest of her Sunday in bed, tossing and turning because she was terrified to close her eyes and fall asleep.She woke up on Monday, fuzzy-headed and her mouth so dry she thought she'd swallowed cotton balls.She reached for her phone on the side table and regretted it almost immediately when she saw the time. She'd missed work and twenty-six calls—ten from Emily, three from work, and the rest were Amber's.As much as Natalie wanted to curl up under the warm cocoon of her blankets, hiding in her room forever stopped being an option when she saw the missed calls from Chassis.It was time for damage control.She dealt with Anna from Human Resources first.After listening to her sob story about an out-of-town family emergency, Anna nicely informed her she'd have to take a personal day.
Save Him 28|Flirt With Death-Part 2
"Nat? Are you there? If you don't open the door, I'm coming in!""Emily!" Natalie sprung from the couch at lightning speed, regretting it immediately when a sharp pain shot through her midsection. She doubled over and listened to her spare key rattle in the keyhole as Emily unlocked the door."Thank God, you're okay!" her friend squeezed her hard as soon as she let herself inside, almost crushing her bones.Natalie breathed in sharply. Everything still hurt so much. Maybe she really was hovering at death's door."I was so worried about you when you missed work!" Emily followed her to the couch and pulled out a brown envelope from her bag. "Here!"Natalie peeked inside the envelope and asked, "what's this?"She'd never seen so many one hundred Rand notes in one place. All her transactions were paperless. She rarely needed cash, but if she did, she got it at the till at the grocery store when she topped up on her weekly groceries. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd gone insid
Save Him 29|Irrevocably Broken-Part 1
Levi forgot about the envelope Eliza had given him until Monday evening when he was going through the dozens of reports Angela, his assistant, had left on his desk.It was one of those days when he had a lot of shit to get through and too many fires to put out but lacked the motivation.He sat behind his desk, rocking side to side in his executive chair as he gazed at the view outside, at the thousands of skyscrapers in the distance.With a population of just over five million, Rock Union had more skyscrapers than any other city in the country. But then again, it was the economic powerhouse, the Silicon Valley of the country. If you wanted your tech dreams—or any dreams, for that matter— made, there was no better place.Levi thought of another view he'd shared with Noelle two days earlier.Was she now looking at this same view, seeing the same buildings, watching the same stars light up the darkening sky?He wondered where she was and if she was okay.Since leaving Safe Haven, Noelle w
Save Him 30|Irrevocably Broken-Part 2
In the virtual world, Levi was the CEO of a chain of boutique hotels, had mansions all over the country, and holiday homes abroad. He also owned an impressive fleet of cars for every day of the week, a private island somewhere in Europe, and a yacht he had never been on since he bought it.He was happy Seth had stuck close to the truth but embellished a few details. A lot of it would check out, though, if Dreams were to do the security checks they prided themselves on."So, what are you waiting for? Shouldn't we log in?"Now that Levi had the profile, he didn't think they should carry on pursuing their Dreams angle. What if Colleen really was an escort, and worse, there were inappropriate pictures of her on the site?He never wanted to see his sister in that light."I'll do it." Mark took the decision out of his hands.Seth entered the login credentials and drifted to the window, admiring the view outside. Levi leaned away from the laptop. He didn't even want to catch a glimpse of any
Save Him 31|Apologies
Sometime after 1:00 AM, Natalie ran out of sleep, but she stayed in bed, obsessing over the water patch on her ceiling. The incident happened months ago, but she had a sudden urge to walk up the cold flight of stairs, bang hard on Lizbet's door and confront her about the mess she made when she left her bathwater running.Over the past twenty-four hours, Natalie had slowly realised there were many things she wasn't over, things she may never get over, and the stain on the ceiling was one of them.She never got an apology from the old lady or the building manager.Natalie spent a long time thinking about apologies—all the ones she owed people, the ones she never got, and the ones she'd probably never get.Casey, her ex, was high on the list of people she owed an apology to. Looking back, she could have handled their breakup better. She could have eased him into it.But she owed Amber the biggest apology of all for leaving her alone to deal with Jamie.Leaving Sparrow Beach had broken Nat
Save Him 32|Good Horse
On her way to work, it occurred to Natalie she could drop in at the pharmacy three blocks from the office and get a refill of her meds.She couldn't imagine getting through the day without her little helpers.At some point, between leaving Safe Haven and catching the 6:45 AM bus to the Business District, she'd realised they were not only amazing for bruised ribs but worked wonders for broken hearts too.After popping a few, Natalie had found herself floating on cloud nine, and nothing could touch her up there.She desperately wanted to hang on to that feeling, especially now that the latest dose was starting to wear off, and the dull ache in her chest was quickly turning into a sharp pain with every breath she took.She got off at her usual stop a block away from Chassis—because the bus didn't travel down Main street—and checked the time on her phone.She was already fifteen minutes late and had missed the first part of the team's daily catch-up session. Surely another ten minutes woul
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