Her finger lazily traced a peacock feather that ran down the length of Peki's back. Her eyes went to a pile of clothes that now laid on the ground. What a day they had she thought to herself as she remembered telling Peki they were going to go shopping.
Peki was a bit excited and showed it by making them ride the elevator up and down 4 times. She could only laugh and giggle as she watched Peki's expressions at seeing and experiencing things for the first time. It was a fun experience as even the simplest things she took for granted in her every day life also seemed new because of the excitement in Peki's eyes.
The pile of clothes on the floor represented a $1200.00 dollar monument in futility in buying clothing for a slave. She had bought her 5 complete new outfits and all Peki could do was squirmed and fidget. She was like a 5 year old made to sit still in church and listen to a man speak words they couldn't understand. When they finally made it back to the office, and Peki just stripped and let the clothes all fall in one big pile relieved it seem to be naked once more. She gave up and laid down on the bed next to Peki exhausted and bored. RJ had been gone now for four days and all but a few of the marks were left as a reminder of his attention.
While Peki was napping she got up and walked to RJ's office. She went in and closed the door behind her and stood there a moment leaning back against the door. She remembered it was this very spot she felt his hot breath sear the first compliment she got from him. She lingered in the moment wishing he was here now.
She looked to the other end of the room and saw his desk bathed in sunlight coming through the thick walled windows of the corner office. She saw his chair and that was her goal. She walked around the desk and paused looking around to see if someone might be watching her. She then smiled thinking how silly that was and sat down into his chair. She leaned back and just let his chair surround her. His scent was all over the office and she smiled and playfully kicked off the ground lifting her legs and letting the chair spin around and around. She spun around a few more times before she came to a stop and then she noticed the safe door was opened just a crack.
She bit her lip as she contemplated if she should look or not. RJ always kept the safe locked and that was the one place she had never searched, as she never had access to it until now. She slid out of the chair and onto the floor next to the safe behind the desk and taking a breath she slowly opened the door and peeked inside.
Everything was neatly arranged. There were a few shelves and drawers and there were some stacks of money of course. She reached out and opened each of the drawers and looking inside them. Most had important papers like deeds and such however the bottom drawer, which was the biggest, had something different. It looked like some sort of picture and a large scrapbook and a small black book that looked worn out with use. She reached in and pulled out the contents so she could get a better look at them. She looked down at the picture frame and froze.
Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw in the picture. In fact a cold shiver ran down her body and she began to shake as she lifted and saw a picture of RJ and her standing on a boat together in some tropical location. The problem was she had never been on a boat before in her whole life. Her heart began to race and she looked down to see the scrapbook and opened it up slowly with trepidation.
There was picture after picture of her. Some with people she never knew and some with RJ. She began to flip through the pages scanning the pictures faster and faster but none of them was familiar to her. She began to flip the pages with a rising anger till at last she came to the back of the book.
The back cover had two pockets to it. In each of the pockets we some folded papers and a picture. She carefully pulled the contents out of the first. It was a picture of her in her old apartment and she unfolded a birth certificate and read her name.
Rea Dawn Castner born 1982 March 6th 9:34 am
She laid the picture and certificate down next to her and reached for the second pouch. This pouch had a picture of her too, only it seemed like it was three years old and there was something not quite right about it. Attached to the picture was a newspaper clipping, it seemed old. She slid the clipping from the paper clip holding it and held it in her shaking hand. It was a clipping from the obituary section and there was a photo of her, the same picture she was holding in her other hand! She read the name next to the photo: Taesha Moon Castner died Aug. 1st 2002 in a car crash...she dropped the news clipping gasping and quickly reached for the folded birth certificate and opened it.
Taesha Moon Castner born 1982 March 6th 9:24 am
A tear rolled down her cheek as she realized that she had an older twin sister that she never knew about nor would ever meet because she was dead. Suddenly she felt empty inside and very, very alone.
Just then RJ walked into his office back from his trip. She didn't hear him come in and it probably wouldn't have mattered if she had as she sat there on the floor staring blankly in front of her as tears continued to roll down her face. RJ rounded the end of his desk and pulled up short in surprise.
"Rea, what are you..." His words trailed off as he saw the open safe and scattered papers lying around her with the scrapbook open laid across her lap. His guts turned inside him and his heart began to race. He took a deep a breath...
"Rea?" He asked softly.
"Rea." He repeated.
She slowly turned her head still staring blankly and looked right through RJ as if wasn't even standing there. Her mouth seemed to move but nothing came out and she took a breath and tried again.
"Whhhyyyy?" The word peeled off into a high pitch whine and then she began to cry.
"Oh god Rea I can explain. I was going to tell you when..." He reached down to comfort her but she slapped his hands and arms away.
He grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to stand her up but she twisted her body out of his grip screaming
"NO!"
She flopped to the ground and she crawled to get away from him. She crawled to the corner of the office and formed her body into a ball and held her legs close to her looking almost wildly out of her peripheral vision like a cornered animal. She kept saying over and over no....no....no as she shook her head. Then she would stop and begin to cry as if the whole truth came crashing down on her again and she sobbed.
RJ knew there was nothing he could do. He cursed himself for leaving the safe open. He didn't plan for her to find out like this. RJ looked around and he saw what he was looking for. The black worn book with a small lock that held it shut. He bent down and picked up the book and then knelt down and slowly approached Rea.
Rea flinched as he came closer but relaxed again as he moved back away. She looked down next to her and saw the book laying there. It gave her a second to focus as she remembered taking it from the same drawer. Again she hugged her knees as RJ leaned in again and she saw his hand lay a small gold key on the book and his finger held it there.
"Teasha wanted you to have this when you were ready. I don't expect you to understand why I kept this from you and I am sorry. Perhaps some of the answers you are looking for can be found in here."
With that RJ withdrew his hand and stood up.
"I will be waiting for you when you are ready to see me again."
And with that RJ turned and quietly left the room. She remained in a ball position for sometime even after she heard the door close. Her parents never told her. All those pictures of RJ were taken with her sister. Her twin sister! Betrayal and deception framed by a sick twist of fate making RJ the culprit of this warped fantasy. A man she once trusted and loved had now become someone she couldn't even think about without fighting the urge to throw up on herself. He had replaced her dead twin sister with her.
She rocked and clawed at her legs feeling the pain as her nails raked her flesh. It was the only way she could keep a grip. Then she noticed the book and she stopped. She just looked at it sitting there with the small golden key lying on top of it. The sight of it relaxed her and gave her a bit of piece. She came out of her ball and reached over and picked up the book and key and inserted it into the small lock and it opened. She opened the front cover carefully and there on the inside cover was written. The personal Diary of Taesha.
On the inside cover was a small note and what looked like a table of contents of sorts.
The note read:
"My little sister Rea, if you are reading this no doubt RJ has giving this to you and it means you and I never did get a chance to meet. Perhaps you will understand why I decided not to tell you when you have finished reading my diary. Give RJ a hug for me and please believe I always only wanted the best for my little sister.
Love Taesha"
Page 87 – Our mom Page 90 – Began searching for Rea Page 110 – Found Rea and her foster parents Page 112 – Rea's High School Graduation Page 130 – Rea gets her paralegal degree Page 131 – Rea's foster parents died Page 132 – Rea moves from home to her new apartment Page 133 – Rea gets her first job
Rea sat and began reading through tear filled eyes. She learned that their real mom died in childbirth. Her parents, she corrected herself, her foster parents the Castner's never told her. It appeared that her foster parents only wanted to adopt one child. Taesha was raised in foster care. There were many stories of abuse even sexual from many of the foster homes Taesha lived in. She ran away at age 16 never finished high school and fell into a dark life of prostitution.
