I will Save You

I hope you like my latest story. This story has very little sex and is pure fiction. Constructive comments are always welcome. Enjoy!

I Will Save You

I heard her scream. No sooner than the sounds hit my ears and I was running out the back door. ALYSSA!

Before I continue with my story, there are some things that you will need to know to understand where I am at in my recollection of the exact time my path in life became clear.

First, my name is Lucas Martin. Friends call me Luke, my parents call me Luke except when I am in trouble or they need my undivided attention. Then they call me Lucas. I am a single child to loving parents, but we are living well below middle class America. We aren't quite poor, but not by much. We are able to eat and live in a very low-class house in the outskirts of Philadelphia.

Alyssa is my next-door neighbor. We have known each other for as long as I can remember. She is also a single child living in the same social class as I described for myself. The one exception is that her father is a very heavy drinker.

At the time of my recollection, Alyssa is 11 and I am 13. Alyssa and I have spent many days and nights in our back yards. During the evenings, we would sit along the fence that separates our yards and lean back-to-back against each other. It was as if we were protecting each other from any harm that might come. We would sit for hours; sometimes talking about everything from our favorite colors to the types of dogs we liked to what we thought we would do when we grew up. Other times, we would just sit and listen to the night begin to take hold of the neighborhood without the need to talk. We were the closest of friends.

On the fateful evening that would have the largest impact of my young life, I was in the kitchen listening to my mother talk to me about something I did or forgot to do when I heard Alyssa scream. It was just after sunset where the evening was taking hold of the night. As soon as I heard her scream, I was running out the back door while my mother was trying to get me to stop to listen to her lecture.

ALYSSA! That was my call out to her as I was sprinting out the door. I looked at her backyard and her dad was walking towards her with his belt already in his hands. I made it to the fence and climbed or jumped over it as quickly as I could. I don't remember exactly how I made it over the fence, but my eyes didn't leave her father. I quickly positioned myself between Alyssa and her dad. It was my defiant way of protecting Alyssa from anything that her dad was going to do to her. I could tell by the way he was walking that he was drunk. As he continued to move towards Alyssa, I was ready to take him on. Alyssa's dad pulled his arm back and lashed out with the belt. I was able to get my arms up in time to take the blow off of my forearms. I remember the sting that accompanied the lashing, but I didn't move from my position in front of him.

"Stay behind me Alyssa. I will save you." Those were the only words that I uttered as I prepared for another blow from the belt. It came with the same fierceness of the first. I could hear my mom screaming at Alyssa's dad to stop. He turned his head to look at my mom on the other side of the fence and I threw myself forward and grabbed the belt. It was a tug of war between us for a brief moment. Of course her dad was stronger than I was, but with the amount of alcohol in his system, I held my own for a quick minute. By then, my dad had made his way out of the house and was over the fence tackling Alyssa's dad.

All of this took place over a couple of minutes. Alyssa was sitting on the ground crying. Welts were already forming on my arms. My dad had pinned Alyssa's father on the ground and I saw a couple of quick punches land from dad. I haven't seen my dad this angry and worried in my life. Alyssa's mom was running out of the house towards the scene. She quickly grabbed up Alyssa into a protective hug and was yelling at her husband. I remember her saying this was the last time; this was the last time over and over again.

As the adrenaline left my body, I dropped to the ground and just sat there in a kind of trance. Things progressed where my dad had let Alyssa's father up off of the ground and was marching him out the gate into the front yard. My mom had made it into the back yard and was pulling me over to our house. Alyssa and her mom were heading into their house.

The next couple of days were quiet. One morning I noticed a truck was in the driveway and Alyssa's mom was packing boxes into the backend. I caught Alyssa's eye and motioned for her to meet me in the back yard. "What's going on? Are you moving?"

"Yea, we are moving to Michigan to stay with my aunt. Mom is mad at my dad and thinks it's best if we leave."

"Michigan? So, I won't get to see you again?"

"I don't know Luke. I don't want to leave, but mom doesn't want dad to do this again."

And that was pretty much how things went for the next day or so. Alyssa packing to leave and me thinking about losing my best friend.

Those words that I yelled to Alyssa as I confronted her dad have stayed with me through all of my years. It was my mantra. "I will save you" inspired me to do my best in everything to allow me to be able to save Alyssa. It was a strange feeling that I had that somewhere in this world Alyssa would need to be saved. I felt it my obligation to do that for her.

Throughout grade school, Jr High, High School and even College, I was driven by those thoughts. I was somewhat gifted as it related to numbers. I loved math and anything that had to do with numbers. I did alright with the other subjects, but math was my favorite until I took an accounting class in high school. The use of numbers within accounting flipped on a switch for me. That became my major in college where I excelled. Upon graduation, I was quickly scooped up by a very large accounting firm where I began my career.

Soon after starting at the firm, I was assigned to support a private equity firm that had just started. I was their case manager at the accounting firm and dove into their books to quickly learn about their company and how it all worked. The private equity firm, MKT, was big into acquisitions and were consistently acquiring firms. I met with their team and they found how I could quickly analyze the results of the merger and the impact to their bottom line. Soon they had hired me away from my accounting firm to lead one of their acquisition teams. That led to me moving into the CFO position and then to CEO. This took a few years, but not as many as you would think. My progression was driven by my ability to quickly determine if the proposed acquisition was going to be good for the bottom line or if we should pass on the opportunity. The profits were rolling in and I was a major reason why. The previous CEO was older and with his stock options he pushed me forward as he departed. I still interact with him on a consistent basis, but that isn't material to this story.

Soon after joining MKT, I met my wife Megan. We dated for a few years and tied the knot shortly after I became CFO. Megan was an attractive blond haired beauty with all the right curves. She is 5'5" in height and hovers around 125 pounds. She has perfect C cup breasts with very sensitive nipples. I love to suck and pinch them and it drives Megan wild. Those breasts captivated me when we first met. Megan used to be quite active in the sack, but it has started to tapper off as we got older. We have been together for 7 years, but married for just over 4. No kids yet, but that is on the horizon. As I became more and more successful, Megan has focused her efforts on volunteering with charities and other social endeavors. Her involvement has raised my social ranking within the community as well as we often attend many charity events during the evenings. I love walking into the event with Megan on my arm. She fills out the little black dress in all the right places and there are quite a few gentlemen that notice.

About 6 months ago I hired a firm to try to track down Alyssa. After moving to Michigan, I couldn't keep in touch with her. While in high school and college, I didn't have the money to hire anyone to find her and I didn't have the resources to do that myself. Social media wasn't a thing yet, so I would have had to devote quite a bit of time being a detective, which wasn't really feasible. I found a firm that had the resources that I needed and pointed them towards Michigan with Alyssa's name and a hope that they would be able to find her. It took them a bit longer than I anticipated to find her and the firm handed me a dossier with all the information that I had asked from them.

I quickly thumbed through the information and saw that Alyssa had moved to Youngstown Ohio after marrying a gentleman by the name of Gabe Collier. Alyssa has been married for just over 2 years and has a 1 year old daughter named Alia. The report didn't state if Alyssa had a job, but Gabe was a mechanic at a small garage in the Youngstown area. I noticed they had just moved into the area about the time Alia was born as Gabe had only been at his job for just over a year. The house they were living in was a rental and didn't look to be located in the best part of town. If I was to guess, money seems to be a little tight based upon everything that I was seeing. After looking through the full report a couple of times, I decided that a road trip was in order. It was about a 6 hour drive to Youngstown, so I decided to drive there on Friday and return on Sunday. I let Megan know that I was going to be out of town for the weekend. I didn't appear that she really cared, but I thought I saw the beginning of a smile start and was quickly stopped. I filed that thought away for a later date.

I was up very early on Friday and I packed a bag, loaded it into my Maserati Quattroporte and left for Ohio. I loved to drive this car, but never had it out on the road for this long of a trip. Seemed like a great time to take it out and see how it performs. I pulled into Youngstown just under 5 1/2 hours. The car was great to drive. Cranked up the music and the miles flew by. I was pretty amped to see Alyssa and it looked like today I was going to be able to connect with my childhood friend.

I pulled into Alyssa's neighborhood and drove towards her house. I parked along the street and noted the house wasn't in very good condition. The fence was in need of repair and the lawn hadn't been mowed in quite a while. Mostly weeds with a little grass that also needed to be watered. There were a few toys in the yard, but no car in the driveway. It almost looked like the place was abandoned as I didn't see any lights on or movement in the house. I walked up the driveway and knocked on the front door. My heart dropped as the person who answered the door wasn't anything like what I expected Alyssa to look like at this point in her life. She was very thin to the point of being unhealthy. Her hair looked like it hadn't been washed in a few days. Her cloths were worn and thin. And worst of all, I saw a number of bruises on her neck and arms.

"Hello Alyssa. Do you remember me?"

"Luke, is that you?"

"Yes. How have you been? I lost track of you after you moved to Michigan, but I was able to find you through public records and a little detective work."

"Oh my gosh. I have to look like a mess. I haven't cleaned up this morning and was getting ready to feed Alia. Alia is my daughter. She is just over a year old and is the joy of my life."

"It's great to see you, but would you like me to come back a little later? I don't want to impose. I was so excited to have found you that I didn't think how my showing up would be such an interruption. How about I come back later this afternoon and take you and your family to dinner tonight. My treat. I need to get a hotel room anyway. I planned on staying in the area for a couple of days. How's that sound?"

"Um, I'm not sure my husband would be too happy to go out to dinner. He is a pretty private man and we don't go out much."

"I would love to meet him and your daughter, but I don't want to impose." I handed her my business card. "How about you call me when you think it best to come by to see you. My cell number is on my card. You name the time and place and I will see you there."

"I take Alia to the park most afternoons. How about meeting me there around 1:30? We walk around for an hour and then she usually goes down for a nap in the afternoon."

"That sounds perfect. I will meet you at the park." I gave Alyssa a quick hug. "It is great to see you Alyssa. I can't wait to catch up with you this afternoon."

I left with a feeling that my life has gone much better than Alyssa's. I promised myself to not pass judgement on her situation until I had more information, but I was already envisioning she might need my help.

I located a few hotels and found one not too far from Alyssa's house, but in a little better neighborhood. I checked in and located a diner to grab a quick bite to eat. I noticed they had quite a selection of cookies, so I ordered half a dozen to go. I looked at my watch and it was close to 1:30. I paid the bill and drove to the park Alyssa mentioned they would be playing at. I pulled up and saw Alyssa pushing a stroller on the sidewalk. Alia was too young to really play, but she was smiling as her mom pushed her along. Alia looked like her mom from where I observed. I grabbed the box of cookies and walked towards the two of them.

"Oh my gosh Alyssa, Alia looks just like you!"

"You think so? She has my same hair color and eyes, but I see a lot of Gabe in her as well."

"I don't know Gabe, but there is no way I could mistake who her mother is. She is beautiful."

"Thank you, Luke."

"Is there somewhere we can sit and talk? I brought some cookies for you and Alia. I hope that wasn't inappropriate."

"Thank you, Luke. Just like old times looking out for me. The cookies are great. Hopefully there is a sugar cookie in there for Alia. That is her favorite."

"There is and I made sure there was an oatmeal raisin as well. If I remember, that was your favorite growing up. Is it still?"

Alyssa laughed. "How did you remember that?"

"I remember almost everything about you from when we were kids. We used to talk quite a bit as we sat in our yards. Those are some of my favorite memories, until that fateful night. I never forgot you. Ever."

"Looks like you did pretty good for yourself. Your card says CEO and you are driving quite a remarkable car."

"I've done okay for myself. I'm married to my wife Megan for just over 4 years now. No kids, but hopefully soon. I am the CEO of a private equity firm that acquires other companies and we merge them into our operations. Life has been pretty good. No complaints on my side. How about you?"

"Not much to tell. After moving to Michigan, I graduated from high school and started dating Gabe. We were married 2 years ago and had Alia. She is now just over a year old. We moved to Youngstown around the same time as Alia's birth. Gabe works as a mechanic in a garage owned by one of his high school buddies. There isn't much else to tell."

We talked for the next few minutes and I offered to take them to dinner again. Alyssa declined but we decided to meet here again tomorrow morning. Gabe would be at work since the garage was opened on the weekends as well.

Alyssa had walked to the park, so I offered her a ride. I didn't have a car seat so Alyssa passed and gave me a quick hug as she pushed the stroller back towards her house.

At the hotel, I grabbed a quick bite to eat at their restaurant and looked through my emails from work. I had been waiting on a report from my CFO Jeremy King regarding our latest quarter's earnings. The report was late again. This is the 3rd time in a row. I grabbed my phone and sent a text to him asking why the reports were late again. No immediate response, so I finished looking through the rest of the items I had marked for review and closed down my email, but not until I had sent myself a memo to talk to HR about a formal warning to Jeremy about his latest efforts. Sleep came easy as I was up way too early this morning to come to see Alyssa.

I woke up the next morning and hit the gym for a quick workout. I tried to stay in shape the best I could with my busy schedule and I think I have done a pretty good job of it. I still filled out my suit pretty well. I decided to grab breakfast at that little diner I had visited yesterday for lunch. I filled up on coffee, a light omelet and some fruit. I ordered 2 cinnamon rolls to go for Alyssa and Alia thinking they might like that for our visit to the park. I quickly paid the bill and drove to the park we visited yesterday.

I looked at my watch as I sat there waiting for Alyssa. She was over an hour late. I followed what I thought would be the path she would take to walk to the park as I drove towards her house. I didn't see her walking so I parked my car at her house and went up to the door. No one answered after my first knock at their door, but I heard someone inside after my 2nd attempt. The door slightly cracked as Alyssa answered the door.

"Sorry Luke that I missed our visit at the park. It's not a good time. Alia isn't feeling well and I don't want you to get sick. Maybe we could meet later if she is feeling better. I'll call you later."

I could see through the crack in the door that Alyssa had at least one additional bruise on her face. I couldn't see if there were others, but I sensed this was more the reason for her standing me up this morning.

"Alyssa, what's going on? Look, I don't want to interfere, but I can see the bruise on your face. I can help you. Please, just talk to me."

"Luke, please just leave. I promise I will call you later." Alyssa had started to cry as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Alyssa, please let me help. I can't leave here knowing you are in trouble. You know me. I can't leave you in this situation. Please?"

Alyssa opened the door and I could see there were other marks on her arms and probably more under her cloths. I pulled her into a hug and let her cry. After a few minutes Alyssa explained that lately Gabe had started to abuse her over minor issues. He would get mad at a moments notice. He had also started to drink and often came home drunk, which is what happened last night.

"We need to get you and Alia out of here. This isn't a safe place for you. Pack up as much stuff as you can and I will take you home with me for a little while."

"I can't do that Luke. I'll talk to Gabe and get this straightened out. We are just going through a rough patch. He is really a nice guy. He saw the cookies last night and asked where they came from. I told him that an old friend had stopped by and left them for us. He accused me of cheating on him and that is what set him off last night. I didn't have a chance to explain to him who you were this morning before he left for work, but we will talk when he gets back tonight. It will be okay."

"Alyssa, think about Alia. Think about your father and how things started when you were a kid. Things like this don't just get better. Gabe needs help, but you need to make sure Alia and you are in a safe place before we can focus on Gabe. I can't leave you here. Pack up some of your things for yourself and Alia. I'm not leaving here without you."

We continued to go back and forth on this issue for the next 15 minutes or so before Alyssa broke down crying again and started to pack up some things for herself and Alia. Gabe had left the car seat at the house, so I set it up in the backseat of my car. We loaded up as many things as we could that fit in the trunk of my car and left for my hotel. I gathered my stuff and checked out and we were off to Philadelphia. I didn't make as good of time on the way back as we stopped a couple of times to feed and change Alia. Alyssa slept for the first part of the trip, but opened up to me the rest of the way home about her situation with Gabe. It broke my heart to hear what she was going through.