Chapter 3: Signed and Dusted

“Oh Emily, I'm sorry you had to find out this way. I'm sure he did it with a good intention for you" 

Aunt Claudia said in a whisper but I heard her clearly.

I barely said a word. My tea got cold and I hadn't consumed half the quantity in there.

She handed the papers over to me and I opened them to have a look myself.

“He did this all for the money!” I exclaimed.

I squinted my eyes to carefully read through each line of the contract. Aunt Claudia did not say a word back to me. 

She only stared as I read through the document and observed as I went through different stages of grief and disappointment all in one sitting. 

“I know this is so hard to take in at this point. But it would be wise for you to take some rest. I advise you to sign those divorce papers before you try to even confront your dad about this.”

She stood up slowly as she spoke and walked towards the staircase leading to her room.

“Why did you share this with me, Aunty?” I interrupted her with one more question.

“I told you. I wanted to help. I couldn't do so much then, but I can do something now.”

“Speaking of help, I would love to give you a little treat.”

I tilted my head up to take a quick glance at her just to be sure she was still talking to me or maybe she was on a call

“What kind of treat?” I gently asked 

“You can have my butler take you to anywhere you would like to visit in the city tomorrow.”

“I have a voucher for a free buffet in this fancy place and I barely have the energy to go, so you can have it. It's a long road trip, but you should enjoy it”

“Oh, aunty… really?”

“Yes, my dear. Now go get some rest. Richard will take your bags up. show you to your room and bring you some food.”

“Thank you very much, Aunt Claudia. I really appreciate this.”

She walked away from me with a smile. For a minute my head felt quiet, and my heartbeat seemed normal. I took a deep breath which doubled as a sigh of relief.

The thought of my dad marrying me off at such a young age crossed my mind almost immediately which interrupted my few minutes of peace.

I stared at the two envelopes sitting comfortably on my lap and I still found it hard to believe it.

A divorce paper and a signed marriage contract. My life was clearly like a movie at this point and such a huge mess. I gulped the cold tea so fast. I did not want it to get wasted.

My thoughts were immediately distracted by Richard. He offered to show me to my room and I followed him right away.

Aunt Claudia lived alone in such a huge place,  how does she deal with the loneliness?

I thought to myself as I got to my room and observed the wallpaper and the warm tones of the room.

“Here is some food for you ma’am” 

Richard came back almost immediately with a tray of avocado toast, some chicken wings, a side of freshly made salad and a small cup of ice cream.”

“Thank you, Richard. Have a good night” I shared a subtle smile with him as he walked out of my room.

“I have no idea who I can spend tomorrow with. Being alone at such a time might not be helpful as much.” I thought to myself as I quickly took a bite of my avocado toast.

My childhood friend Ashley lived in the city of LA. We got separated after we graduated and she went off to college.

I have managed to keep in touch with her once in a while but I know she has no idea of what is currently going on in my life.

I dialled her number right away and she picked up the second ring.

“Ashleyy!, hey. It's been quite a minute” I tried to sound happy.

“Hey Em! Gosh, I know right? How are you doing?” I could sense her excitement over the phone.

“Oh, I'm doing pretty good. So this is very random, but I will be dashing into the city tomorrow morning and I was wondering if we could link up for a minute.”

“Really? That would be great! Maybe you could drop by the cafe once you arrive?”

“Sounds good. Text me the address..yea?. See you tomorrow”

I ended the call with a sprinkle of happiness. A smile slowly appeared on my face. For a minute I wondered if maybe, this divorce was likely a good thing to have happened to me.

I quickly pulled out the divorce papers from my bag and a pen from my purse.

A girl this young already getting divorced. This was never what I thought my life would be like but I knew at this moment that I needed to accept it.

And that was it. I signed the divorce papers and got comfortable in bed to sleep.

My heart was heavy but there was a sprinkle of calmness around me. Maybe it's because I have something to look forward to tomorrow.

Sleeping in the same bed with Eric for the past few weeks was nothing to write home about. He barely spoke to me nor did he touch me. 

I was emotionally unstable and to top it all, I was sex-starved by my own husband. Well, ex-husband now and that is such a relief.

______

I woke up quite early the next morning. A part of me wished all this was a dream. Or maybe I had just woken up and none of this chaos had happened yet.

But my reality came back just as I heard a knock on my door and Aunt Claudia walked in.

“Good morning Emily, I hope you feel better. I just thought to check in” 

Aunt Claudia spoke really calmly all the time she said anything. One could barely predict when she was angry or just being normal.

“Thank you Aunty. Good morning.”

“I am gonna go get ready to leave now. I have a friend I would be meeting up with before going for the buffet”

“Oh great, you have a friend! You could take a plus one with you. I had no idea you knew anyone around there so I tried not to mention that”

“Thanks again Aunty”

I know for a fact she thought that mentioning a plus one would have triggered me again.

I was ready to leave just after a few minutes and went ahead to meet Ricihard in the car. The journey was quite serene. 

There was Lofi music playing in the car which unexpectedly brought me to a state of calmness. I looked forward to seeing Ashley.

It was 8:35 am and her cafe opened at 9. Ashley owned the cafe. She was doing pretty well for herself. 

She had a degree, and she was smart and happy but there I was being married off into a disaster.

I arrived and walked in to see her cleaning the counter to kick-start the day.

“Ashley!” I increased my steps to hug her.

“Oh my gosh, Emily! You’re quite early for a visit” Ashley said with a giggle as she took off her apron again.

“I'm not spending the night here so I wanted to make sure I had a long eventful day. I also have a free breakfast buffet voucher for two if you would care to join me”

“Of course Em, wouldn't miss this for anything” She handed her apron to her assistant and came with me.

This was the first time in a long while that I did something different, something new. I can't deny that it began to feel like I had a lot to see and explore in the world.

I have never had such a feeling before. 

Ashley and I got to this restaurant and the breakfast buffet was all set. We chose a sit first and began to serve ourselves with literally almost everything on the menu.

I got back to my seat first with my food and was about to dig in when I noticed this man walk in slowly. His confidence was on a hundred from the way he moved.

I watched as he picked a sit for himself. He was alone. My heart raced a bit faster but in excitement this time as my eyes scanned how clean he looked from head to toe. 

His outfit was a tux and his shoes were made of velvet. His hair looked like he just come out of the salon that morning and his eyes, his deep blue eyes were intensely gorgeous.

This was the first time I found myself having my heartbeat race for someone else who wasn't Eric and this guy was most definitely rich.

Well, at least he looked rich. I could see that. 

He was served by someone else and just as the waiter left his table, he took a sip from his glass of juice, turned slightly to the right and locked eyes with me.

I switched my eyes too quickly to look at something else. I knew he already caught me staring. 

My cheeks grew red instantly and I could feel this weird grin appear on my face. I already nearly forgot I had just signed my divorce papers last night.

Why was I so excited? And why was Ashley taking so long to pick up her food and come back to this seat? And just as I thought of Ashley

“Girl, I don't know how you served your meal so fast but there was just so much to choose from, I had to take my time” Ashley came back with a huge smile on her face.

“Look at this cupcake Emily. Why didn't you pick that?”

“I don't know, maybe I should get it too” I was still distracted by my thoughts of this young man.

“Might as well try this cake out?” I thought to myself as I walked back to the counter to pick up a few desserts.

And that was where the most insane thing happened.

I felt a presence behind me as I stared at the cakes and then the silence was broken

“I caught you staring at me a few minutes back” his voice was heavenly. Firm yet soothing to my ear.

“Oh, sorry, sorry about that. it wasn't actually you, there was something else behind you I noticed”

My voice was shaky. It was clear as day that I was nervous but I couldn’t help it.

“Right. My name is George. George Walters… and you are?” he stretched out his hand towards me for a handshake.

“I’m Emily. Emily Jones.” my voice cracked and my eyes were fixed on the cake half the time.

“Great to meet you, Emily. I’d like to send over a bottle of wine to your table. I hope you and your friend don't mind some day drinking”

My body was slightly frozen as I watched him walk back to his seat. I could still perceive his cologne as he walked away.

I snapped back to reality and turned to head back to my seat when I realised that Ashley’s excited eyes had been on us this whole time and i was about to explain this whole scene to her.