Adam (eBook)

Love will save us

Kate Soeli (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
532 Seiten
novum publishing (Verlag)
978-1-64268-963-1 (ISBN)

Infos

The moment she fears most for her life marks the beginning of their great love. When Anna comes to New York, she wants to fulfill her dream of becoming a writer in the city of dreams. Never would the young columnist have thought that at the moment of her greatest pain she would meet the man she would fall head over heels in love with. But Adam's traumatic childhood, intrigues and past threaten to destroy their love and put both of their lives in danger...

Textauszug

 

Second chapter

When I came to New York three years ago to start my job at Weekly Advices, the central location of my apartment was of utmost importance to me. After all, I didn't have a car. With all the overtime I diligently accumulated almost daily, regular working hours were also out of the question. For these reasons, everything had to be within walking distance for me. I often had to walk home alone at night, but because I only lived a few minutes away from most clubs, I didn't mind that too much. I wasn't afraid of the dark. On the contrary, the darkness slowed my life down a bit and sharpened my eye for the beauty of the night. I loved the fresh evening air and the evening walk under the starry sky. So much was hidden in the flood of stars and even space and time were no longer important here.

Now I had about ten minutes to walk before I would reach my apartment and fall into bed. This thought kept my motivation alive to ignore my aching feet and walk forward. It gave me enough time to take a break from the evening. I liked to lose myself in my thoughts and my company was usually enough to fill me up. I liked being alone with myself and my carousel of thoughts. It's unbelievable how many different people you meet on a Friday evening: Party animals, lonely souls and in the middle of it all, hopeful bachelors and bachelorettes who were looking for the one, all-consuming, great love. Personally, I probably belonged to the latter group. I was and remained hopelessly romantic and firmly believed that one day it would find me too: the great love!

 

After my last relationship with my high school sweetheart Tom, I had remained single. Our relationship lasted two years and ultimately broke down due to our different visions for the future: He wanted the classic marriage and already saw himself with children sitting in his front garden. I, on the other hand, wanted to get out. Out into the world to make my dreams come true and realize myself. I wanted everything at once: a man who loved and supported me, but at the same time I was also striving for independence. I was always on the lookout for a magazine that would publish my stories, that would trust me and encourage me in my abilities. I wanted to write stories, leave my mark, lose myself in words and reach people at the same time. We parted on good terms and see each other regularly when I visit my parents. Tom is now happily married and the father of a young son. I would say that we both did everything right. We found happiness without losing any of our own personalities and without putting our ideals behind someone else and their wishes.

By now I knew my way around my neighborhood quite well. I even knew a few shortcuts. They weren't always in the alleys that inspired confidence, but wasn't that typical of shortcuts? I believed in karma and the good in people. These had also been the decisive reasons for me to put aside my fear of the dark and the unknown and to go through life with confidence. If I wasn't afraid and didn't send this negative feeling out into the universe in the first place, then it wouldn't give me any reason to lose myself in worry. That was my firm conviction and I lived by it.

As soon as I turned into Halom Street, I had a bad feeling in my stomach. A sinking feeling spread through my stomach, which I pushed aside. Undeterred, I continued on my way, holding my handbag a little closer to my body and clutching my stomach with both hands. A light summer breeze swept through my body. It had become fresh. I walked forward at a fast pace and halfway along the path I noticed a man leaning against the brick wall of a goods counter with his right leg bent. I looked around me and realized that I had already moved far too far down this alley for it to make sense to turn back. At the same time, I also realized that we were all alone here. My unease about the situation grew. Lost in my thoughts, this fact had remained hidden for too long for me to react appropriately. I pushed my mistrust aside, took a deep breath and moved straight towards him. Towards the man whose eyes had already found me, while he plucked a handkerchief from his trouser pocket and looked at me while chewing gum. Even though I didn't have a good feeling, I ignored my emotional impulse because I had to get past him. There was no other way out. As soon as I had passed him, the first wave of relief hit me. But just as I was about to celebrate it silently and proudly and breathe out calmly, I noticed footsteps behind me. I increased my pace and focused on my way out of the alley and thus out of the situation, but they came closer, got faster and before I knew it, I felt a hand on my right shoulder. My knees went weak. Panic rose up inside me and I was overcome by a suffocating faintness. Thousands of thoughts raced through my head. Fear began to take over me completely. I searched for hope in the smallest nooks and crannies of my body that I didn't need to worry and that everything would be alright, but all I found was a small surge of courage that was just enough to turn around and faced the hand lying on top of me. Trembling, I dared to turn my head to the side and looked him straight in the eyes. They were dark, cold and imperious. In the blackness of them, I saw myself doomed.

 

"You didn't want to leave without greeting me politely," said the stranger very calmly. I couldn't get a word out. I fell silent. I was paralyzed with fear. I went through all the escape options in my mind. But it made no difference whether I went to the left, the direction I had come from, or to the right, the direction I would have taken next, it was deserted here. Completely deserted. No one would notice us. No one would see us. In my pumps, I wouldn't have the slightest chance of running away on the cobbled asphalt. Even my screams and cries for help would be hopelessly drowned out by the hustle and bustle from the neighboring clubs and bars.

Before I could declare my escape as hopeless, he had already grabbed my shoulder so hard and pushed me against the wall that I seemed to be at the mercy of the impact of my head against it. I felt like I was losing consciousness as I tried to endure the pain caused by the blow. I tried to focus on breathing steadily so as not to hyperventilate and to calm my heart. It was beating so hard against my chest with fear that I had to hold it, worried it would jump out at any moment. But when he ran his right index finger down my neck to my collarbone, I decided to surrender to my fate and close my eyes in the hope that this moment would pass quickly so that I could forget my tormentor's face, simply erase it from my memory. That would definitely increase my chances of surviving the moment. Traumatized and scared, but I would stay alive. I tried to maneuver myself into a kind of trance state with steady breathing, simply to escape from the here and now and make sure that the coming minutes couldn't leave any traces inside me. I began to breathe in and out again and again. I tried to swallow down the rising panic and hold back the tears that were welling up inside me.

He let his finger wander further, first to my chest, then to my cleavage, which he pushed open again to the side to see the top of my underwear. As much as I concentrated, I was overcome by sheer fear and a sob escaped my throat. Then he changed direction. He ran his fingers along my back and I begged him to stop. Tears welled up inside me, despair spread and despite everything, I didn't see the slightest chance of escaping this experience and this disgusting man. I was trembling all over, could barely stand on my feet and whimpered for my life as I saw everything lost. He took pleasure in my helplessness, going on and on and looking me coldly in the eye, as if he was enjoying my despair more and more. All of a sudden, a second male voice sounded in the alley. It came from the direction I had come from and sounded familiar. I didn't know it and yet it seemed as if I had heard it before. My head was pounding with pain. The stranger let go of me and I began to feel for the bump on the back of my head. As soon as I found it, I squinted and tried to breathe through the pain. My legs had lost all stability and I felt like I was being held by a ghostly hand. I was just infinitely grateful that there was someone there who could possibly call the police or use their voice to chase him away. I was still in panic mode, completely unable to say anything, but I was no longer alone.

 

"Let her go," the man shouted. Fear tightened my throat. Then I heard the other person coming closer and his steps in our direction became faster and faster. I heard a thud, then another and when he finally stepped away from me, it went black in my head, pitch black. I lost consciousness and slumped to the ground.

"Are you okay? Do you need an ambulance? Hey? Everything's going to be fine. I'll look after you. He's gone," a male voice tried to bring me back from my state of mental absence.

The words echoed in my mind, but the pain at the back of my head was so strong that I couldn't locate them. With each of his words, I felt my return. My return to the here and now. My return to the present. My return to this terrible place. Panic rose up inside me. I opened my eyes and screamed: "Don't touch me. Let go of me. Don't touch me, I said." I put my arms in front of my chest, trying to cover the little bit of cleavage I had left and protect myself. At the same time, I made a panicked attempt to straighten up, get a firm footing and run away. But that wasn't so easy without using my arms. As I tried to stand, my heels slipped, I buckled and fell to my knees. As soon as I had finished shouting the words and...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 14.5.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Schlagworte: Allerlei • Belletristik • Kate Soeli • Sonstiges
• ISBN-10: 1-64268-963-7 / 1642689637
• ISBN-13: 978-1-64268-963-1 / 9781642689631