Brian was a distant thought as I looked forward to prom with my friends.
Jeremy agreed that it would be fun if we all went together so we did and we all ended up having the best time at prom. It was really nice to be with someone without having to constantly be on my toes, making sure that I didn't say the wrong thing, or be accused of flirting with someone. There was no sign of Brian that night and I was really relieved because in the back of my mind I thought he might try to pull something. It wasn't until about halfway through prom, when I felt sure that he wasn't there, that I was able to relax and really have a good time. Jeremy was such a nice guy and prom ended up being one of the most fun nights that I had ever had.
Graduation came and went with no contact from Brian and I realized that I was thinking about him less and less. I was relieved that he had finally gotten the message and had stopped bothering me. Jeremy and I started dating each other after prom and about two weeks after graduation he dropped me off at home after a movie and I told him I would talk to him the next day. He gave me a quick kiss before I went inside. I said goodnight to my parents to let them know I was home safely (they always wanted me to do that no matter what time it was), and I washed my face, brushed my teeth and crawled into bed. I was so happy that I had met such a nice guy and I drifted off to sleep on cloud nine.
I woke up in the middle of the night to a hand covering my mouth as Brian's bloodshot eyes stared daggers at me. He hovered over me and pinned me to the bed. "Do you really think that you can go to prom and parade around town with your new boyfriend and make me look like a fool? I told you that we were meant to be together Laney and I'm not going to let you go!" I could smell the alcohol on his breath as I tried to wrench myself out of his grip. "I love you can't you see that?!"
I tried to push him off of me and was finally able to get my mouth free. "What are you doing here?" I hissed at him. "Get out of here right now!" I didn't want to raise my voice because I didn't want to wake my parents. I just wanted him to leave.
"I'm not leaving until you say you'll take me back! I love you Laney, I don't know why you can't see that!"
I struggled beneath his weight and continued to try to push him off of me. "Brian, I told you that we were over and that you need to move on! Now get off of me and get out of here! Leave me alone, I don't love you anymore!"
His eyes filled with pure evil and he snapped. He started slapping and punching me worse than he ever had before and I could feel blood pouring into my mouth. I screamed for my dad and I heard his feet thumping on the floor as he came running. Brian quickly jumped off of me and escaped through my window, which must have been the way that he got in. By the time my dad reached me I was bloodied and crying and I could see the shock on his face.
"Oh baby! What happened, who did this to you?!"
When he found out that it was Brian who attacked me he was beyond pissed and immediately called the police and an ambulance and they were there within minutes.
I stayed in the hospital for a couple of days with bruising and a broken rib and when I was released a detective came to see me and told me that they had arrested Brian. I was able to heal physically, but the emotional scars ran deep and I wondered if I would ever be able to live without fear.
The state of Florida has zero tolerance for domestic violence and Brian got 16 years for breaking and entering our house and attacking me. At his sentencing hearing, he looked at me and mouthed the words ‘see you in 16 years' as an evil grin spread across his face. A chill ran down my spine and I tried to shake it off telling myself that he couldn't get to me because he was going to be locked up for a long time.
I started seeing a therapist shortly after the attack, at the insistence of my parents, and by the time I left for college I was on the road to mental recovery. She referred me to someone in my college town and I saw them once a week. No one knew that I was in therapy and I wanted to keep it that way, I didn't want to appear to be different from anyone else.
I went off to college, occasionally keeping in touch with Jeremy but that eventually fizzled out. Chloe and I talked once a week and even visited each other at our colleges and our friendship was stronger than ever. Brian was the thorn in my side that would not go away. I knew he was locked up but that did not stop him from torturing me.
It was some time near the end of my first semester freshman year that my world changed, again. I had really tried to not think about Brian and I immersed myself in the whole college thing. I studied hard, I went to parties and I even had a steady boyfriend. I tried to stay as busy as possible and eventually it was starting to work, and then I received the letter.
It was from the Corlus County Correctional Facility and a chill ran through me when I saw the return address. The letter was 22 pages long and Brian went on and on about how he couldn't wait to see me when he got out and that when he did get out, we would finally be together. The first time I received the letter I was terrified. I talked to my therapist about it and she really helped me reclaim my strength and helped me to not let Brian have power over me. The next month when I got the letter I was angry and I decided that I would really try to not let him affect my life.
I received a letter like that every 6 months like clockwork for years. Brian always found me wherever I went and I felt like I would never be able to get away from him, but I vowed to just try to continue on with my life. I did the best I could, but every now and then, when my world was still, I thought I could feel him watching me.
Chapter Three – Meeting Him
We were really busy that day at the hotel so I was more than ready to go home by the time my shift was over. As I was gathering my things, my manager came over to me and asked me the question that would change my life forever.
"Elena, I know you're scheduled to have Saturday night off, and this is not in your job description, but we are short one person for the Blu Annual Gala that night. Do you think you can fill in?"
The Blu Annual Gala was the be all and end all of social events in Miami. The who's who of Miami, red carpet celebrity crowd and A-list entertainers were always in attendance. I had heard that the Gala raised at least a million dollars each year for after school programs for at-risk youth.
A server? There had to have been a ton of other people she could have asked before she asked me, I mean, I was a manager! I did not sign up for this job to be a server, but I wanted to look like a team player so I agreed to help out.
"Sure Ms. Parker, I can fill in. What time should I be here?"
"Oh, thank you Elena, I need everyone to be here by 5:30 so that we can go over who is going to cover which tables. Mr. Blu will be here and we want to make sure that everything is flawless for him because, as we know, he can be a real stickler for perfection. Stop by the office and Stephanie will have your uniform for the evening."
"Uniform? It's not the same one I wear every day?"
"No dear, the galas are very special occasions and we have nicer uniforms for everyone to wear. Mr. Blu likes pretty things so the uniforms are bit more … dressy shall we say? You'll see when you pick yours up."
Sebastian Blu along with his brothers, Spencer and Shane were heirs to the Blu Sierra Hotel chain fortune. At 32, 30 and 27 years old respectively, they were three of the youngest billionaires in the world. You know how there's that saying "their reputation precedes them"? Well, in this case, their reputation really did precede them because everyone knew who the Blu brothers were. They were rich, tall, gorgeous, and loved beautiful women. "Playboy" was the word that many people used to describe each one of them. Whenever they were mentioned in a story in the media they were always linked to the latest, hottest, most gorgeous model. They all definitely seemed to have a type and it was the same exact type, or at least it appeared that way.
I had never seen them in person but gossip columnists always described them as "Greek gods" or "breathtakingly gorgeous" or something silly like that. I could only imagine how inflated their egos must be because of who they were, how rich they were, and the incredible life they were able to lead. Men like that were the ones to stay away from because they loved women too much. I'm sure their eyes wandered to the next pretty thing on a daily basis. It didn't really matter to me, I just wanted to make a good impression on Mr. Blu if I saw him at the gala and hopefully that would help me get that promotion.