The Scars Of Life (The Working Girls Book 4) Read online

  “I just got in. You sound chirpy,” I comment, that’s why I’m shocked, the last time we spoke she was angry, now she sounds happy. It’s confusing, especially to me, I’m not used to this and I’m unsure how to react. I care a lot more than I’d like to admit about Pen, I love that lady like I love my mum, it’s why I’ll never admit it out loud. Look what happened to my mum, after she died my life went to hell. I want Penelope to stay in my life, I couldn’t bear anything to happen to her. How did I let this happen? Almost four years and I never let a soul in, now, I care about Pen and Stef, I’m getting soft and that’s not a good thing.

  “Good, I’m on my way, I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Low music sounds in the background, she’s driving.

  “Um, okay, I’ll see you soon,” I mutter, she doesn’t answer just hangs up and dread hits me, what if she really is going to get rid of me? What if Rodger called her and she’s regretting hiring me? God, me and my big mouth, I should have kept it shut and let that arsehole get so drunk he fell asleep and then legged it. Instead I let my anger get the best of me, I shouldn’t speak before I think.

  I pick up my shopping bags and bring them into the kitchen and put the food away, if she does fire me, I’ll lose everything yet again. I’m finally settled here, and it’ll mean I’ll have to up sticks and move, it’ll mean going back out onto the streets and working them. I’m glad that I’ve saved the majority of the money I’ve made since working for Pen, it’ll give me something to work from. Maybe I could find a different agency to work for?

  I put the oven on and wait for the pan I have to heat up along with the kettle to boil so I can put the rice on the hob, when the doorbell rings, Pen wasn’t lying when she said she’d be here soon. I rush to the door and open it; my mouth drops when I see Pen standing with a balloon that has 18 written on it and her arms full of wrapped presents.

  “Pen...” I’m at a loss for words, I never told her it was my birthday so how did she find out?

  “Natalie, are you going to stand there all day gawking or are you going to let me in?” She pushes past me and into the house. “Oh will you grab that bag and box on the ground for me, I had to make two trips up those damn stairs.”

  I stick my head outside and spot a white box and a black gift bag on the ground, she went all out, when did she have the time? I bend and grab them quickly making my way to the kitchen where Pen’s standing and I notice that she’s turned the oven off. I place the bag and the box onto the countertop, where she’s placed the wrapped presents.

  “Firstly, young lady, you’re not cooking. I’m ordering a takeaway. Secondly, happy birthday.” She pulls me into her arms and hugs me tightly.

  “How did you…” I shake my head. “Who told you?” I question, still wondering how she found out.

  She holds me at arm’s length. “You let slip to Stefanie, that girl loves you and is worried about you. She actually told me off tonight for having you be an escort at your age.”

  I groan. “I shouldn’t have said anything, I didn’t mean for her to say anything to you.” I’d rather have Stef think poorly of me than Penelope.

  “You can say whatever the hell you want. Stefanie has no right judging anyone. We do whatever we want. Now, why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday?” She crosses her arms over her chest and raises her brow, she looks mad.

  “I didn’t want a fuss, I’ve not celebrated my birthday since I was ten,” I tell her truthfully, my birthdays have come and gone, and I’ve not celebrated any of them. “Aren’t you mad at me about tonight?” I ask and instantly look at my wrist, it’s still red raw from where that fucker had it in his grip.

  Pen’s eyes narrow at my wrist. “Yes I’m fuming about what happened tonight, but not with you. You should never have been put in that situation and I’m sorry that you were. Now, open your presents.” She picks up the gift bag and hands it to me.

  “You really didn’t need to do this Pen.” I swallow past the lump that’s forming in my throat; I’m so touched by her kindness. She’s one in a million.

  “But I did now bloody open the presents,” she demands, she looks as though she’s about to rip them open for me.

  I open the gift bag and gasp, she’s got me a Michael Kors matching handbag and purse. “Pen…” I whisper, these cost a bomb, but she’s not getting it back, it’s so gorgeous, it’s a burgundy colour, I love it.

  “You’re welcome.” She has a telling smile on her face. “Next,” she says, handing me a wrapped present.

  I open it, and she’s brought me Nike leggings and sports bras. “You told me you’ve started to run in the mornings, and I thought these would come in handy and it’s hard to miss how much you love colour, I couldn't resist getting the bright ones.”

  I smile, the sports bras aren’t just bright they’re luminous, they’re bright orange, pink, and yellow. The Nike leggings are black, but the ticks match the bras. Penelope has been paying attention, I love my bright colours. “You’re so thoughtful, this is too much but I’m not giving them back. Thank you Pen.”

  “We’re not finished yet, but we’ll save those for later, first, it’s time for cake.” She lifts the box she had me bring in, and tears spring to my eyes when she opens it. It’s such a pretty cake; nothing unusual, but it has ‘Happy 18th birthday, Natalie’ written on it in gold cursive. “Tonight, I’m spending the evening, we’re going to watch movies and have fun.”

  I smile, just as we did that first night when she came over and we had Chinese takeaway. “That sounds perfect.”

  This is turning out to be the best birthday I’ve had in a very long time. Not for the presents but for spending it with someone I love.

  Chapter 8

  One Month Later

  It’s been a month since my birthday, I’m a lot happier than I’ve been in years but at the same time I’m living in fear. I’ve been getting phone calls from an unknown caller, whenever I answer they don’t talk, just breathe down the phone. The heavy breathing has brought back so many memories, things I’ve tried to forget. It’s my stepdad, it has to be, it means he’s found me again. I have no idea if he has any idea where I live but he definitely has my number. Since I’ve been getting those calls, I’ve become really skittish, I shake if someone scares me. I hate that I’m turning back into that scared little girl I was before I left his house. I’ve told Penelope that I’ve been getting these calls, she’s looking into it for me, she wants to ensure that he hasn’t found out my address.

  Penelope’s made sure that my house is secure, that no one can get in unless I want them to or they have a key, which Pen has as does Stef. I think Penelope told Stef about my stepdad, not that he’s been calling me but what he did to me when I was younger. I can tell that she’s been told it’s happened because she looks at me like she wants to pull me into her arms and protect me. She texts me every day just to say hi, we’ve become really good friends in the past month and it’s like I’ve got an older sister. We’ve been working more events together lately too, Stef doesn’t sleep with them whereas I do, although not as many as I used to. Ever since that incident with Rodger I’ve been getting clients that only want company, it’s Pen’s way of trying to protect me and when I first realised what was happening, I was mad, but I’m actually grateful, my life’s not as chaotic as it had been, and I’m settled, I’ve money and a house so I can support myself.

  Today Stef and I are at an event with Tim and Gary, Tim’s Stef’s favourite client and Gary is his husband, they got married a few weeks ago but it was all hush hush. Tim comes from a rich family that has him tied by the purse strings, he hires Stef when he going to events, because his family wouldn’t approve of the fact that he’s gay. Which is bloody ridiculous, love is love and it shouldn’t be disapproved of. It must be hard having to hide something about yourself from your family. Gary is lovely, and his family are really supportive of the two of them.

  This event is boring as hell, usually they happen in the evening, but this is happening on a Sa
turday afternoon, I’m not the only one that’s bored out of my brain, Stef and Gary are too. Everyone else is mingling and talking, but they’re old and bloody boring. I want to leave but we can’t because this event is for Tim to introduce Gary to his family, for them to get acquainted with his ‘friend’ before they find out that they’re married. I’m pissed off that both Gary and Tim have to play this charade just to have the money that his family has.

  Walking out of the bathroom, I spot Tim, Gary, and Stef talking, making my way over to them I catch the tail end of their conversation. "Fine, we can leave,” Tim says with a sigh.

  "We're free?" I ask, and of course Gary can’t control his laughter. “We're finally free. Oh, what shall we do?" I sing, glad to be out of this goddamn place.

  "Get the hell out of here before they try to stop us," Stef says with a cheeky grin, and we all laugh.

  "Sorry, ladies, for a truly terrible afternoon. I owe you," Tim says as he takes Stef by her arm and leads her towards the exit, Gary and I follow swiftly behind.

  "That you do, and I only accept Channing Tatum tied to a bed." I grin, and Stef shakes her head, but she too is grinning like a loon.

  Stef and I say goodbye to the guys and I’m glad to be away from that boring event and out in the fresh air. Stef and I decide to grab something to eat as those cheapskates at the gala didn’t provide us with any food. I’m starving. Right now, I’d eat anything and everything that was put in front of me.

  Lately, Stef’s not been herself, there’s so much pain and heartache in her eyes no matter how hard she tries to act as though everything is fine, it’s not though, there’s something bothering her. "So, you’re very distracted today, is everything okay?" Her eyes widen in shock, we never talk about personal things.

  She sighs but doesn’t even look at me. "I’m okay, my head’s kind of messed up at the moment. I hurt someone I care about and I’m not sure how to fix things." Her voice is full of pain. Whoever it was that she hurt, she really does care about them.

  I pull on her arm. "Stef, the fact that you want to fix things is why you will. Hurt feelings heal. Sometimes it just takes time." I have no idea where the hell that came from, but it sounded good.

  Her mouth opens in shock. “When the hell did you become so wise?" she asks with a cheeky grin.

  I gasp with fake outrage. "Cheek! I've always been this wise. Just some people don't listen to me." We go into a deli and quickly order our food, and I don’t ask her anything while we’re in the shop because what we’re talking about is private.

  Once we’re out of the deli, I turn to Stef. "So, what did you do to hurt this guy?"

  "I slept with him," she tells me honestly as we walk into the park but doesn’t say anything else.

  "Come on, Stef, there has to be more to it than that," I say and instantly regret it, I shouldn’t be trying to drag more information out of her.

  "Yeah, he's my best friend’s brother, and I'm in love with someone else. I think he's in love with me." Again, she doesn’t look at me when she tells me, it’s almost as if she’s afraid of what I’d think.

  "You think? Or are you definite? Did you agree to anything serious?" We take a seat on the park bench. “Did you agree to anything?” I ask. Sometimes things can get blurred when you’re so close to someone, she may think something happened one way, but it happened a different way.

  She shakes her head, a furrow in her brow. “No, we had no idea what it was, it happened twice, and I hate that I’ve upset him.”

  I roll my eyes. “Christ on a bike. Look, Stef, you can’t be held accountable for what happened. Nothing was agreed on and the fact he took it to mean something completely different isn’t your fault.” Something catches the corner of my eye, the blood drains from my body, my pulse races, and my mouth goes dry, I take a deep breath as dizziness hits me.

  Walking towards us is Richie, the man who I slept with all those months ago, the man who showed me that I was normal, that I was a regular girl being on a date only to sleep with me and do a runner by the time I woke up in the morning. Not only is Richie walking towards us, he’s holding hands with a gorgeous blonde woman.

  “Hey, Nat, are you okay? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” Stef asks and to my absolute horror she waves at them, the blonde woman smiles at her and Richie walk over towards us. I can’t do this, I can’t watch him with someone else, so I get up off the bench and walk away, not looking back as I do. I walk towards the gate and wait for Stef.

  Once I’m at the gate I glance back at them a few times, they all have smiles on their faces and it pisses me off. I shouldn’t be, but I am, and I have an idea why I’m upset. When I saw Richie those emotions I had when I slept with him hit me full force. Seeing him with another woman makes me jealous and I hate myself for being like this. I can’t help but stare as they say their goodbyes and Stef walks towards me.

  “What the hell just happened?" Stef asks as soon as she comes to stand beside me, she looks mad as hell.

  I gaze back to where Richie was standing talking to Stef and sigh, God, I can’t believe that I saw Richie not only that, I can’t believe that I still have feelings for the arsehole. "Long story,” I tell her and watch as her eyes narrow, she’s not going to let this slide.

  "I've got time, so what was that about?" Yep, I was right, she’s not going to let it lie.

  There’s no way out of it, "I met him about seven months ago, maybe eight, I can’t remember. Anyway, I was walking back after being with a really aggressive client. I was upset not to mention soaked to the bone as it was lashing. I bumped into this guy, he gave me a smile and brought me to a coffee shop. He bought me a cup of tea and we talked. To cut a long story short, we hit it off and I met him the next day. Me being stupid and naive, which by the way, I'm usually not, thought he was into me. I slept with him and today is the first I've seen of him since. He got a freebie and buggered off." I shrug acting as though it doesn’t bother me when in fact it still hurts, I’m still angry about it.

  "Maybe something happened?" She says naively, I stare at her, she’s not that stupid, surely?

  I give her a look that tells her I think she’s stupid. "Anyway, let's go home. Today has been a complete write off and tomorrow I have a date with Ethan." I pretend to gag. Ethan is a creep and for some reason Penelope keeps pairing him with me, I’ve yet to sleep with him but he’s mentioned it the last few times we went out. I’m not looking forward to it at all.

  We say our goodbyes at the tube station, and yet again, my mind’s on bloody Richie, it shouldn’t be, he’s with someone else and he hurt me. That should be enough for him to be out of my mind forever, but it doesn’t work that way.

  My phone rings as I climb out of the bath, dread instantly hits the pit of my stomach as it does now every time my phone rings. But I can’t ignore it in case it’s Penelope or Stefanie, Pen doesn’t call from a private number, Stef however does if she’s calling from her house phone and not her mobile. Whenever I see that unknown caller flash up on my screen my heart jumps into my mouth.

  Wrapping a towel around me, I rush into my bedroom where my phones lying on the bed, relief hits me when Pen’s name pops up on the screen. Picking the phone up I swipe to answer. “Hey,” I greet as I put the phone to my ear.

  “Natalie, Ethan has cancelled tomorrow,” she says all poshly, she must be at Midnight Lovers, she always sounds posher when she’s at the office.

  “Really?” I can’t keep the glee out of my voice. “This day just got a whole lot better.”

  “Luckily, we’ve a new client, he’ll be bringing you to a dinner, that’s all that he’s told me other than it’s going to be a sophisticated dinner and you must dress accordingly. His words, Nat, not mine,” she says cautiously.

  “He sounds like a pretentious twat.”

  She tsks at me and I roll my eyes. “Now Natalie, this is a paying client, one that is paying for the full works.” Ugh, that’s her way of telling me he wants to have sex. “You’ll meet him
outside Amelio’s at seven p.m. sharp. Natalie, do not be late,” she demands before hanging up.

  Shit, this client must be someone high up if she’s acting like this. Just as I go to throw my phone back onto the bed it rings again, my finger automatically swipes to answer it. “What did you forget?” I ask presuming it’s Penelope.

  Deep, heavy breathing tells me that it's not Pen. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t my missing stepdaughter.” He chuckles down the phone.

  That voice sends shivers throughout my body, it’s been four years and I’m still scared of this bastard. I shouldn’t let him have this power over me, I’m older and stronger than I was when I was fourteen. “What the hell do you want?”

  Again, with the heavy breathing. “What I’ve wanted for the past four years.” He coughs loudly, and I can’t help but think it sounds sore. “You, I want you Natalie, you ran away from me.”

  My hands shake. “Fuck you, of course I ran away from you!” I shout. “You raped me, you molested me every day for four years, I hate you.” Tears are streaming down my face, but my voice is full of hatred, you can’t tell that I’m crying.

  He laughs like the arsehole he truly is. “You were mine to do as I pleased.”

  I take a deep breath and ignore his comment. “How did you find out my number?” That’s the only thing I want to say to him, he hadn’t found me in years, why now after all this time?

  He coughs again, he sounds like he’s coughing up a lung. “You got sloppy Natalie. My PI found you as soon as you opened a bank account.”

  Shit, I’m so bloody stupid. Of course it was easy. “I’m not coming back, I’m eighteen now, I’m no longer a child and that means you can’t force me to come back.” I smile as I say those words, it’s so good to say them.