Speak to Me

Prologue

When I took the job I had no idea what I got myself into. Her story needs to be heard. She's such a special girl if you're open to her. Broken and rough at the edges but she's so beautiful in the inside despite all the pain she has been put through. She fought so much in her life, she got exhausted and burnt out, but she's stronger than anyone I'd met before. Emily wanted to give up, she let everything go. She almost lost herself in her despair. It was only up to me if I could save her from herself. She had no one else left.

As for myself, a dealt with kids ever since I finished high school. I was a nanny of a sort. Only during the past few years I started dealing with problematic children. Little boys and girls who had some difficulties, being bullied, handling a divorce badly or having difficulties finding their voice. I loved what I was doing. I loved being around children and the oldest kid I have ever dealt with was fourteen. I can handle teenagers as well but I definitely preferred younger children. I was a cool nanny of a sort. I let them rage then talked some sense into them, it worked every single time.

I didn't have a child of my own and my boyfriend often nagged me about it. He wanted us to get married and have a bunch of children, but I was not ready. I felt young, I was only twenty-five, I had plenty of time. I think I felt much younger because I dealt with children.

I never stayed, though. When they felt better I left. That's just a job done. I had my difficulties to take it this way. Maybe that's why I preferred younger children. They loved me, they wanted me to stay forever, but they forgot about me soon. That was what I believed in the beginning. I never forgot about them though. I remember every single little love bag I took care of. They can be so grateful when you spend time with them. They cried a little when I left, making my heart sink. Occasionally I met them some years later, but they still remembered me. A departure broke my heart every single time.

My boyfriend and I, we were doing fine back then. We both had decent jobs, sometimes I got busier but we could always manage. He was a car mechanic and fortunately he loved his job as well. We were really happy together. We were planning to move to the suburbs, but years were passing by and we could never leave the city. Looking back we had been together since forever, since he asked me out to the prom. We had some fights but we could always make things up. Our friends were jealous of our relationship and that filled me with pride, boosting my happiness. I had that feeling Byron would never leave me and I think he was sure about our relationship as well.

But as in every relationship we had a downfall. Maybe we spent too much time together. Nine years sounds to be a lot with the same person. With the only person you had ever dated and loved. One job changed me, he claimed. But this is not my story. My point is, people change people. People need people. People affect people. And I was definitely affected by that job.