Page 13 of Along Came Summer

Lowering my gaze, I brush away a strand of her hair from her face and nod. “I never used to, until I started travelling and I met some fascinating people who helped me understand and I eventually became more spiritually aware. At first, I thought it was all bullshit, but the more I studied it and started practicing yoga and exploring, the more tranquil and grounded I felt. Three years ago, my mind was in a state of chaos. I was struggling to make it as an artist. I was failing and ready to give up on a dream I’d given my everything. I felt as though the entire world was sitting on my shoulders. I had anxiety attacks twice, sometimes three times a day and woke up in a cold sweat most nights, because I was terrified of going back to my father, looking him in the eyes and telling him that I failed. My greatest fear was becoming a failure in my father's eyes.”

“How did you overcome that?” Mira asks, sitting upright and pulling her knees to her chest.

“By eliminating everything that didn't help me evolve. By telling myself every day that I can't control what happens around me, but I am always in control of what happens within me.”

“You make it sound so easy.” Mira utters dolefully and turns her gaze to watch the sun peeking over the horizon, shining its light into the darkened sky. “Letting go of a crippling fear that's festering away inside isn't easy.”

“I never said it was easy, Mira,” I tell her. “But holding on to all that fear—whatever it may be—will consume you and drive you insane to a point that you will forget to live. When you let go of all your fear and all your doubt, you'll find that life is pretty simple and everything you want is waiting for you on the other side of all that chaos. It’s just a matter of you breaking away from your chains and taking the leap.”

Mira exhales and turns to look at me. “Will you teach me? How to let go? Will you help me take the leap, because I don't know how much longer I can fight with the monsters in my head, Levi. I’m tired of trying to convince people I'm okay when I'm not. I'm drowning, slowly and painfully,” her voice quakes with trepidation, and the pleading look in her tear-filled gaze has me nodding. I don't know how I'm going to help her. I only know that I need to because this girl sitting before me isn’t the Mira I left behind. The girl sitting before me is broken, emotionally and mentally daunted.

“Hey, it's okay, Mira, look at me.” I take her face into my hands and brush the tears that stream down her cheek. “I'm going to do everything I can to help you. We're going to fight the monsters in your head together. I promise you, okay?”

“Okay.” Mira sniffles, and I gather her into my arms and press my lips to her forehead.

Who are these monsters in your head? What is it that happened to you that's left you so traumatised, baby girl?

I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again. It takesa lotto make me angry.

My anger seems to have taken a hike, especially since embracing a Zen state of mind. I just don’t get as ticked off as I used to. It's like my fuse has gotten longer, and it takes a whole lot more to light it up. But right now, the rage I feel deep inside my gut is downright murderous.

Mira and I spent the night talking. She told me everything. Everything her cunt of an ex did to her. And if he weren’t behind bars, I would have scoured this earth until I found that son of bitch and made him pay twofold for every ounce of pain that he caused her.

It’s no wonder she’s so broken and frightened. Who wouldn’t be? She was physically and mentally abused by someone she thought she could trust. Someone she believed loved her. But the fucking psychopath beat on her and mentally manipulated her. When her friends and family started noticing the red flags, he convinced her they were all envious of their relationship and alienated her from them. He locked her up in the boot of his car for hours when she threatened to leave him.

Fuck!

Who would do something like that to a girl like Mira?My Mira?Sweet and compassionate, Mira. The more she told me about what she suffered for all those months, the hotter the anger ran in my veins.

I felt sick to my stomach just thinking and envisaging all the pain and suffering she endured.

I’m also pissed she didn’t tell me. I understand her reasonings for not reaching out, but I’m still pissed nonetheless because I would have been on the first flight out. I would have likely killed the fucker when I got there, but I would have been there for her. Dropped everything and went to her without a moment's hesitation if she just said something instead of suffering through all that pain and fear in silence.

The fact that she's confiding in me now indicates a level of trust, and that alone is significant. However, she has made me swear not to tell anyone else. Only her parents, sister, Lexi and Wyatt know. And now, me.

I may not have been there to help her then, but I’m here now, and I will do everything in my power to help her deal with all those repressed emotions festering inside her.

“Oh my God, Levi, this place is…” Mira gasps, her amber eyes taking in the scenic view of Haew Suwat. One of Thailand's most infamous waterfalls.

“Breathtaking.” I finish for her. “I know,” I remember feeling just as awestruck when I first came here. The crystal-clear water tumbles over the twenty-metre ledge into a large pool. The serene sound of the flowing waterfall, accompanied by birds chirping melodiously has a calming effect on my mind. “I find it calming meditating near water, so I come here as often as possible during the week when it's quiet.”

“Wow, it's truly incredible.” Smiling, I hold my hand out to her, and she looks down at it for a moment before her eyes flit up to mine.

“Are you ready to try and meditate?”

“Yes.” Mira exhales and nods before she hesitantly takes my hand, and I lead her down the trail toward the bottom by the water. I have a spot at the bottom by the pool where I sit and meditate for a while and then go for a swim. “God, if the girls back at school found out that their beloved Levi King has become a yogi, they would die.”

“Hey, there is nothing wrong with being a yogi. I’m still me. I still love the same things I did back then. But now, I have a different outlook on life, and my values have changed. I’m more enlightened and...”

“One with the universe?” Mira interjects, crinkling her nose at me adorably, and I chuckle.

“Exactly.” I climb down onto the rock and hold my arms up to help Mira, but she looks down at the water surrounding us and hesitates. “Mira, I’ve got you. You can trust me.”

“No, I know, I’m just…”

“Nervous around water, I remember; you're safe with me. Come on, I won't let anything happen to you, baby girl.”

“Okay,” She takes a step forward and sits at the corner of the ledge. “If you drop me, King, I will rip off your pretty curly lashes one by one.”

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