Don't say Stockholm Syndrome

Feelings

It's been a year since Josh was kidnapped. College was going really well. He was one of the top students, and had even joined the soccer team.

He still dreamed of Jacob, but the dreams were less intense and days went by without remembering him.

He had also become friends with Amanda, who showed him one of the best brokers in the country, in her words, who in one year turned five million dollars into ten.

Josh was now the owner of a large bank account and a broker, making it grow.

With luck, when he finished college, he would have money to start a company and return the five million to Jacob's father.

The only thing that bothered Josh was the feeling he couldn't shake away. A dormant feeling after a year, but it was there and he only realized it when one day, while surfing the internet, he came across the announcement of Jacob's engagement. The bride was beautiful, and in the photo, the two looked very happy.

That day, Josh cried, for the first time, about the loss of something he never had, the love for Jacob.

"You need to get a girlfriend.", says Amanda, in one of their weekly meetings.

"Don't tell me you're going to get me one too." answered Josh, amused.

"Nothing that I haven't already remembered, but I know you wouldn't accept it.", says Amanda with a sigh.

"It's been a year since you sat your skinny ass in front of me. You've changed a lot. You're a young man now, confident and determined. You don't have a single trace of vanity, which most wealthy people have. I really like you , and that's why I worry. You're not happy. You pretend well, but you're not happy. Don't you think it's about time you told me everything? Maybe I can help you."

Josh laughs.

"Amanda, is age triggering your curiosity?"

"Stop calling me old. I'm old enough to be your mother, but not old enough to be your grandmother.", she replies with a cute pout.

Josh makes a sad smile.

"One day Amanda. One day I'll tell you everything. Now I just want to finish college. Maybe take a course in financial management, and start a business. Ready to leave the bank and come work for me?"

Amanda laughs, saying:

"Of course, if you accept the orange as my assistant."

"The cat?" Josh asks, panicking, remembering the Machiavellian look the cat gives him every time he sees him.

Amanda laughs out loud.

When she calms down, she looks at Josh, insisting:

"But you really should get a girlfriend. Or do you not like women? That's not a problem for me. By the way, my nephew is single."

"Amanda!" says Josh blushing.

"OK, OK, I'll stop teasing you"

Time passes and Josh finishes college as the top student with an average of twenty.

Enroll on a management course of his choice and, once again, finish brilliantly.

When the graduation day comes, and the final goodbye to the campus approx, Josh feels a mixture of joy and sadness. Joy because, against all odds, he managed to achieve his goals. Sad, because for years this had been his home, and it was like losing everything all over again. When Josh took the podium to receive his diplomas, the football coach was beaming. Josh, combined a perfect academic life with a perfect sports life. The coach, with a chest full of pride, calls Josh and hands him the award for the best player and top scorer he has ever coached.

Josh says thank you, with tears in his eyes.

The applause and shouts of congratulations echoed across the campus. In the last few years, Josh has made many friends, and was well liked by many, especially football team fans.

The sports newspapers, who knew that the biggest teams in the world had scouts after Josh, sent reporters who took photo after photo.

Amanda clapped her hands proudly, as if she were Josh's real mother, and when he came down from the podium, she ran to him and hugged him like only a mother does.

"Are you going out with your friends to a party?" she asks.

"No, I've already said goodbye to everyone. I've already emptied the room, and I've already moved to an apartment. Leaving the school fields is painful, because after I lost my family, and the other relatives abandoned me, this was my home . From here I have the best memories."

"You're not alone, Josh. You can always count on me. Now is the time for your future. It's time to put all your plans into practice. And get a girlfriend or boyfriend."

Josh laughs. Now that was the same Amanda as always.

"Honey, when are you and Jacob getting married?", asks Kimberly, sipping tea from her fine china mug.

Ashley pouts.

"Jacob continues to avoid this conversation."

"Darling, you have to insist. How about we plan the wedding and give him the date?"

"I don't think Jacob accepts that. I don't even think he loves me."

"Oh dear, that's not possible. He adores you.", said Jacob's mom, surprised.

"Mom, I think he has a good friendship for me. He treats me well, and he likes to see me happy, but I don't think he loves me. In fact, I don't think he ever loved me. We are engaged, yes, but I think that it was more the work of our parents than any feeling he has for me."

Ashley sulks.

"I love him so much."

"Ashley, my son loves you. You've been engaged for over four years. If he didn't love you, he would have ended the engagement. He's just a workaholic."

"But Mom, we never... I mean... he never... well, in four years of engagement he never tried..."

Kimberly disguises her surprise and asks:

"Are you talking about s*x?"

"Yes" answers the future daughter-in-law with her head down.

"Oh dear, but that just proves he has a lot of respect for you and is saving s*x for the wedding night."

Kimberly says so, but even she finds it unbelievable. She knew that her son was sexually active before the engagement. She also knew that Jacob wasn't sleeping around. In four years had the son become a monk? It was very strange.

"Mom, I don't think it has anything to do with respect. We hardly even kiss, and when we do, I'm always the one who starts and he the one that stops. Even if I force the wedding date, I think that things will stay the same."

"But do you think he's interested in someone else?"

"No mom, and that's the strangest thing. He spends his days with his head at work, doesn't like to take a weekend, doesn't seem interested in anything or anyone. I'm sure something happened that made him that way. I don't want to put a date on his back."

"Will you stay for dinner dear?

says Jacob's mother suddenly.

"If it's not inconvenient."

"Perfect, I already know the topic of conversation during dinner.", she says, smiling, while Ashley blushes.

.

The best football player that has appeared in America, in the last 20 years, ended his academic life with a perfect average of twenty and leaving the team that he helped to win 4 consecutive titles.

Despite proposals from the best clubs, including the biggest European clubs, Joshua Cole still does not reveal what his future will be."

Jacob looked at the photo that accompanied the news. Josh was looking better and better every time he saw a photo of him. There he was, with his diploma under his arm and each hand clutching a sports trophy.

In the photo, teammates and the coach surrounded him.

Jacob sighed. He'd followed Josh's journey on the internet, but now that college was over and Josh didn't seem interested in pursuing his sports life, Jacob was afraid he wouldn't hear from Josh anymore.

In over four years, he had never stopped loving Josh. In fact, the love he felt for him seemed to increase more each year. Yes, he was engaged. It was a possible way to make the father forget what he had done in the past.

Now, only he remembers, and by God, what he remembered most was the taste of Josh, the smell of his skin...

Ashley was a good woman. With her he thought he could forget the past and get married, have children. Deep down he knew he had only managed to hurt her. She loved him and he couldn't even touch her without feeling sick to his stomach. Without feeling like he was betraying the only love of his life.

Josh wasn't his, and never had been. Josh had never loved him. What they had was the fruit of the crime he committed and was never punished.

He never understood why Josh didn't report him. Okay, dad destroyed the evidence, but he could have reported it anyway. Most likely he chose to forget and move on.

Jacob closes his eyes, remembering Josh naked on the bed and feels his erection.

Knock Knock Knock

"Yes?" asks Jacob, trying to compose himself and being grateful to be sitting behind his desk.

"Sir, just letting you know that the monthly meeting with the administration starts in ten minutes."

"Thanks Oliver." replied Jacob to the secretary he had inherited from his father.

"Your mother called, sir. She ordered me to inform you that she expects you at home for dinner at 7 pm and that your fiancée is having dinner with you."

Oliver turns his back to leave and Jacob calls him:

"Yes sir?"

Please send a bouquet of flowers to my fiancée with a note apologizing for not being able to attend the dinner, and contact my mother to inform her that I will be away at work until very late."

"Sir? Did I forget any appointments? Do you need me to take you somewhere?"

"No oliver, I'll handle this myself. Give me 2 minutes and then we'll go to the meeting room."

"As you wish, sir."

Oliver leaves the office, closing the door. Jacob leans back in his chair and takes a deep breath, running his fingers over the bridge of his nose.

He looks at the computer screen one last time and closes the website.

He gets up and goes to the private bathroom to wash his face.

Looking in the mirror, he said:

"Act like a man and end this engagement."

With determined steps, he leaves the office, and followed by Oliver, he heads to the meeting room.