"Alecia, what are you meaning," came the pleading reply from James .

"Fine," spat our Alecia . "Like every day since I was attacked, talking and dealing with it hurt . But, unlike the past I could deal with it easier . "

"Why?" James questioned in a quiet voice .

"I met you yesterday . In those few minutes we talked last night, there was something I had not had in a long time . You saw me as me, not as a victim . That made me feel powerful and safe . I was then able when your sister asked me able to talk about what happened . I thought to myself that there was someone who loves me for me not focused on what happened to me . "

James was shocked . Was he that transparent that Alecia saw how he felt about her? Quietly he asked "What do you mean?" to find out what she was thinking . Could he hope, dare he push her for her feelings and what would her father say?

"You saw me as me, not a victim . I also though I saw . . . " Alecia then paused . In the last twenty-four hours she made dramatic leaps forward in dealing with what happened, simply because of what she thought she saw in James' eyes . She knew she needed to talk to James face-to-face rather than trying to talk about this over the telephone, but would her father actually agree if he was not present . ?

Alecia continued "Could we talk face to face, if possible? This is a hard conversation to have on the phone . "

James knew that Alecia was right . They needed to finish the conversation face to face, as he needed to observe Alecia's reactions to determine if he was pus.h.i.+ng her too much .

"Let my call your dad and see if I can come over to talk to you . There is a number of things we need to resolve . "

"Do you have his number?" With that Alecia sent an email to her father indicating James was going to call him .

"Anna got it for me . Once I have spoken to him, I will call you back . "

After ending the call with Alecia, James dialed the number for Yao Tan Anna had given him . Yao Tan, answered after a couple of rings, saying, "Mr Jones, I received a short email from my daughter telling me you would be calling . "

"Thank you for taking the call . I was just trying to talk to your daughter about what is proposed . While I am happy to help, I just wonder if . . . "

"It is the right decision? I have spoken to your sister, and further with the police and Alecia's psychologist, who she only spoke to for a few minutes today . Her psychologist believes that being in Australia will aid her recovery further, provided she has ongoing support . "

"The police given what Lu Jinhu did to your sister believes for Alecia's safety, at least until the criminal proceedings are underway needs to be away from here . Their initial suggestion was witness protection until the charges are finalised . That is going to take at least three months as they want to wait for the DNA test results to be returned . That type of restriction will drive my daughter crazy . "

James paused, before deciding to continue "Mr Yao, I was just wondering if before a final decision is made, if I could go and talk face-to-face with Alecia . Unlike my sister who was an adult when she married Hou Yi and moved third of the world away, Alecia is a teenager who is facing that, even if it is temporary . "

"Alecia needs to make the choice rather that having her father or other adults around her imposing it on her, so she feels in control . I would also guess that, unless she has appropriate advice she would take the wrong casual clothes to head into the middle of a cold chilly winter in Australia . "

"I was going to talk to you and Alecia about it, but I would suggest that while most of her her luggage is sent to Australia on my bother-in-law's plane, she will still need to supplement it . I would then propose she and I depart twenty-four hours later on a commercial flight to allow her to do that, and hide her destination . That delay, will allow my family to start getting things ready for her arrival, and for you to complete the necessary paperwork to a.s.sign temporary guardians.h.i.+p of Alecia to me or one of my sister's-in-law . "

"Mr Jones I can see you are concerned for my daughter . I would prefer for her to go with the rest of your family, but hiding her destination makes sense, as does getting her agreement to go," came out a defeated reply from Yao Tan .

Thursday continued … . Alecia, what are you meaning, came the pleading reply from James . Fine, spat our Alecia . Like every day since I was attacked, talking and dealing with it hurt . But, unlike the past I could deal with it easier . Why? James questioned in a quiet voice . I met you yesterday . In those few minutes we talked last night, there was something I had not had in a long time . You saw me as me, not as a victim . That made me feel powerful and safe . I was then able when your sister asked me able to talk about what happened . I thought to myself that there was someone who loves me for me not focused on what happened to me . James was shocked . Was he that transparent that Alecia saw how he felt about her? Quietly he asked What do you mean? to find out what she was thinking . Could he hope, dare he push her for her feelings and what would her father say? You saw me as me, not a victim . I also though I saw . Alecia then paused . In the last twenty-four hours she made dramatic leaps forward in dealing with what happened, simply because of what she thought she saw in James eyes . She knew she needed to talk to James face-to-face rather than trying to talk about this over the telephone, but would her father actually agree if he was not present . ? Alecia continued Could we talk face to face, if possible? This is a hard conversation to have on the phone . James knew that Alecia was right . They needed to finish the conversation face to face, as he needed to observe Alecias reactions to determine if he was pus.h.i.+ng her too much . Let my call your dad and see if I can come over to talk to you . There is a number of things we need to resolve . Do you have his number? With that Alecia sent an email to her father indicating James was going to call him . Anna got it for me . Once I have spoken to him, I will call you back . After ending the call with Alecia, James dialed the number for Yao Tan Anna had given him . Yao Tan, answered after a couple of rings, saying, Mr Jones, I received a short email from my daughter telling me you would be calling . Thank you for taking the call . I was just trying to talk to your daughter about what is proposed . While I am happy to help, I just wonder if . It is the right decision? I have spoken to your sister, and further with the police and Alecias psychologist, who she only spoke to for a few minutes today . Her psychologist believes that being in Australia will aid her recovery further, provided she has ongoing support . The police given what Lu Jinhu did to your sister believes for Alecias safety, at least until the criminal proceedings are underway needs to be away from here . Their initial suggestion was witness protection until the charges are finalised . That is going to take at least three months as they want to wait for the DNA test results to be returned . That type of restriction will drive my daughter crazy . . James paused, before deciding to continue Mr Yao, I was just wondering if before a final decision is made, if I could go and talk face-to-face with Alecia . Unlike my sister who was an adult when she married Hou Yi and moved third of the world away, Alecia is a teenager who is facing that, even if it is temporary . Alecia needs to make the choice rather that having her father or other adults around her imposing it on her, so she feels in control . I would also guess that, unless she has appropriate advice she would take the wrong casual clothes to head into the middle of a cold chilly winter in Australia . I was going to talk to you and Alecia about it, but I would suggest that while most of her her luggage is sent to Australia on my bother-in-laws plane, she will still need to supplement it . I would then propose she and I depart twenty-four hours later on a commercial flight to allow her to do that, and hide her destination . That delay, will allow my family to start getting things ready for her arrival, and for you to complete the necessary paperwork to a.s.sign temporary guardians.h.i.+p of Alecia to me or one of my sisters-in-law . Mr Jones I can see you are concerned for my daughter . I would prefer for her to go with the rest of your family, but hiding her destination makes sense, as does getting her agreement to go, came out a defeated reply from Yao Tan .