When Faults Collide (Faultlines #1) (26 page)
Read When Faults Collide (Faultlines #1) Online
Authors: Claire Granger
“Dance with me?” he asked.
I smiled and took his hand. He pulled me close and we swayed to the music, breathing in the mountain air, surrounded by nothing but beauty.
When the song was done he pulled and brushed my hair back so he could look at me.
“Gorgeous girl, I love you.”
“I love you too, Blake,” I said happily.
“I know you think I’ve got it all together. You think
I
was the together one, but the truth is babe, I was nothing before you. You fill a void I didn’t even know I had,” he said.
“Blake,” I whispered, eyes threatening tears.
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black velvet box before sinking down to one knee.
My hand flew up to cover my mouth as I gasped.
“You complete me in every possible way. I love you, and I want you beside me for the rest of my life. Marry me?” he asked, his voice a little higher than normal, from emotion.
I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
“Yes?” he asked.
“Yes! Blake...yes, I’ll marry you!” I exclaimed and he stood and grabbed me, spinning me around.
Three months later I sat in the dressing room as Lily put the finishing touches on my hair.
I had shocked everyone when I decided that I wanted to wear a crimson gown with a beautiful gold pattern around the bodice. I wanted to pay tribute to my culture, or half of my culture, at least.
Lily attached the crimson silk veil to the back of my updo and leaned down to look at both of us in the mirror.
“Stunning,” she said simply.
I nodded, wondering what my mom would think.
“Hey, Lils, could you give me a second?” I asked.
“Sure, hon. We will be right outside waiting on you,” she said before kissing me on the cheek and leaving me.
I pulled my laptop out of the bag on the floor and opened it up.
I opened Blogger and began to write.
Since the first day I stepped toot into America, I’ve lived my life with a certain level of control. The rules came later, but I had been subconsciously creating them the entire time, throwing up walls to keep everyone out. I thought that by keeping everyone out I could ward off the darkness—the memories
.
You see, I have PTSD
.
Or, maybe you could say that I
had
PTSD
.
Everyone who was close in my life knew this, but their assumptions as to why were vastly skewed. Everyone assumed that it was because of my life in Kolkata; the first thirteen years of my life, growing up in a brothel
.
Truthfully, maybe if I’d had a different childhood, my condition would not have been so severe
.
But I’ll never know the answer to that
.
So here it is folks—my whole truth. The truth that I’ve spent ten years concealing from everyone except my therapist, and most recently, from Blake
.
The night that my mother died, I was not with her in her final moments because I was being brutally raped by a total stranger
.
And I don’t know his story. Maybe he thought I was a prostitute. Maybe he was mentally ill. Maybe he was just evil. I’ll never have the answers to those questions
.
But it no longer matters. Because by speaking my truth, I am freeing myself. I am no longer a victim
.
He stole so much more than my virginity and innocence
that day. He stole my free will, my sanity, and my power
.
Today I take that back
.
You see, my number one rule, the rule that I kept s diligently for so many years—no romantic relationships—is gone. By allowing Blake into my life, my walls have crumbled
.
I am not a victim anymore. I am not a survivor. I am not a child of a prostitute. I am not lost, never truly belonging to a culture
.
I am Asha. I am my own person
.
Yes, my life had a shitty start. My childhood is not full of loving parents, soccer games, birthday parties, and sleepovers
.
And many times I have, with a heavy heart of guilt, wondered if that’s what my life would have been if my mother had contacted my father immediately. He would have married her, he would have saved both of us, because that’s who my father is
.
But then I wouldn’t have my step mom, my therapist, my best friends, and most certainly—I wouldn’t have Blake
.
Our completely broken pasts led us to this day, to this future together. And there is nothing broken about that
.
So today I take back my power
.
To my attacker, whom I will never know—I forgive you. I don’t know your reasons or whether you are dead or alive, but that’s not why I forgive you. I forgive you because holding on to the hatred I feel for you has destroyed me for far too long. That hatred is gone. I will never forget, but I forgive you
.
Today I forgive, and through that forgiveness I take back all control over my life without rules or guidelines
.
I am free
.
And as a free woman, not as a victim, not as a fellow survivor, I choose Blake
.
I choose all the love that he has to offer and I offer up every ounce of love I have to give
.
Because hatred and fear have kept me in the dark for so long, today I choose love. And by choosing love I choose hope and light
.
And through that I am healed
.
xoxo, Asha
Coming in December 2015
Surviving the Aftershock
Faultlines Series Book Two
Continue Asha and Blake’s journey in the exciting sequel!
Can’t get enough Asha and Blake? Head to
www.ClaireGrangerBooks.com
to follow them on Twitter, read Asha’s blog, and find exclusive content, including excerpts from the upcoming sequel
Surviving the Aftershock
.
Coming Soon
Kenna’s Reverie
Daydreaming Series Book One
From the world of
When Faults Collide
, meet Kenna and Jax in the exciting first of a new novella series.
Visitwww.ClaireGrangerBooks.com
to see excerpts and find pre-order links!
A Note from the Author
Thank you for joining me for the beginning of this journey with Asha and Blake! I hope you fell in love with them as much as I did! If their histories and pasts upset you—
good!
Their stories, while fiction, represent the millions of children all over the world with similar stories.
In the US alone, there are over 500,000 children living in foster care at any given time. Human trafficking is a worldwide problem—America is not immune!
If this book and their stories inspired you to help in any way, then this book has portrayed the message that I hoped that it would!
To find out how you can help, head to the following sites:
Foster Care/Adoption:
www.davethomasfoundation.com
Human Trafficking:
www.traffickingresourcecenter.org
If you know of a child being neglected or abused—
do not be silent!
All it takes is
one person
to change the life of a child and
potentially disrupt an entire chain of familial dysfunction! To report child abuse or neglect please call: 1-800-422-4453.
Lastly, talk openly about these issues! Bring them up! Create conversation and dialogue about the tough subjects so that other people can think about it and talk about it, too. You never know whether one person you’ve talked to could have the potential to change a life, or even the world! We are all humans, and these are human problems! Regardless of your background, socioeconomic status, culture, gender, sexuality, religion, or anything else—we are all humans. We all get one chance at this thing called life. Let’s make it count and make a change!
Again, thank you so much for joining me on this journey!
Follow me on social media for all my latest updates!
www.twitter.com/TheGrangerBunch
www.facebook.com/ClaireGrangerBooks
www.instagram.com/ClaireGrangerBooks
Be sure to also find me on Goodreads!
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, thank you to my parents for adopting me. I am who I am because of you! Every gift and talent given to me by God was cultivated and encouraged by you. Your support and love for me is unconditional and for that I am eternally grateful!
Thank you to my crazy best friend, Emily! You carried me through this entire process from start to finish—just like every other major thing in my life! You have been my rock solid, my one consistent thing through every crazy, messed up choice that I made. You have never judged me for my past, never probed or questioned me or forced me to open up more than I wanted to. Life has taken us in so many different directions, but regardless if it has been a day or a year I know
you
are the one I can call at 3am and it will be like we only just left each other. You have, by far, been my biggest supporter in this journey!
Thank you to my husband, the love of my life! You pulled me out of my darkness and gave me faith and hope and love without judgement. You took the most broken part of me and put me back together. Through every single step of our journey, you have loved me and supported me. You
are
my soul mate...an unlikely match that is perfectly imperfect! I love you, I love you, I love you!