Damage Repaired

Chapter 5

We spent the entire day feeding the homeless at the Soup Kitchen I invested in, where I hired the best chefs I could find. I made it my mission for these people to have the best meals three meals they've ever eaten, while giving them shelter at the same time. The Soup Kitchen was huge. One section served formula and other baby food for the mothers and their children; another area served fun animated food for the growing toddlers. Today for breakfast, they had pancakes in the shape of Mickey Mouse.

On the other side of the kitchen was the section for teens, which had the same food as the adult and family section, but I wanted to keep the two separate. I also made sure there was an entire section strictly for females, the ones who weren't comfortable being around the men. I wanted to make this space as comfortable as I could where everyone could enjoy a warm meal while feeling completely safe at the same time.

Once it hit 9 PM and we finished feeding everyone, I stayed behind to help the cleaning and cooking crew prepare for the next day.

"Ana, you can go home now," Gio, the head chef, assured me once everything was set.

"Are you sure?"

He smiled and patted my shoulder. "Positive, now go home and get some rest."

"Fine," I huffed. "I'll see you Thursday then."

Gio nodded and gave me a quick hug before walking me out of the kitchen, where I called an Uber.

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at the foundation with the kids from the orphanage. Matt handled the teenagers taking them on a field trip to an aquarium and amusement park while Emily and I took care of the younger kids. We tired them out at the playground built behind the foundation then watched them scarf down their snacks before putting them down for a nap. Then Thursday, we were back on Soup Kitchen duty.

I dreaded Fridays. Not because of work, I enjoyed what I did, and I was excited to attend our first food drive, but Friday was also the day of my therapy sessions. When I first got back from abroad and scheduled an appointment, we spent the first session talking about me, mainly my childhood and the lack of parenting I had which played a massive role in the person I became. The second session was spent talking about my mission trip and everything I did while I was away. Now, this session was going to be the first of many "breakthrough" sessions, as Paula called it, where I had to talk about that night.

The night that changed the course of my life.

The night I spent the last four years trying to forget as if I ever could.

I thought about canceling and rescheduling this session a million times already, and I almost came close to doing it, but I didn't. The one promise I made to myself before coming back here was that I wouldn't run away like I did last time. I promised myself I would stay and fight every damn demon I could, and that started with this therapy session which is why I was currently standing in front of my therapist's office building after spending the day at our first successful food drive.

I tried to drag the day on helping the volunteers pack the tents and posters into the truck, but Dylan knew what day it was and what I'd do to try to get out of it, which is why he was waiting for me once the drive was over with making it his duty to get me to therapy on time.

"The session isn't happening outside Stazi," Dylan called out from his car he parked alongside the curb.

"Shut up, I'm going," I muttered, flicking him off but flashing him a grateful smile.

"I'll pick you up when it's over; bye, love you," he blew me a kiss and watched me step inside the building before speeding off to god knows where.