A Woman's Empire

LX

CHAPTER SIXTY

The sky was no longer gloomy. Instead, the sun shone brightly behind white fluffy clouds and the rays warmed Audrielle's cheeks. Stella had grown a lot since Audrielle had last seen her. Makeup and latest teenager trends were Stella's new obsession and her room wasn't covered in Barbie posters or stuffed animals on the bed. Audrielle almost broke down crying when she realised how much of Stella's journey of growth she had missed. Five long years.

Orlando was shy when he first met his grandmother and Stella but once Camilla told him that they were going to make pizza for dinner, Orlando was buzzing with joy. Leo had planned that the plane to London would leave Italy at sunset so they were only able to spend lunch with Camilla.

As if three hours would be more than enough time to catch up about everything from the last five years.

Audrielle sat at the dining room table, next to Stella who played a dress up game on the device in her hands. Orlando sat close to Stella, and was mesmerized by his new role model. Sipping on the wine Camilla had poured for her, Audrielle watched Camilla and her son interact. They were laughing and smiling, their words and syllables pronounced with a lace of love and warmth and she couldn't help but compare their interactions from how they were before everything turned to a shit show. You could easily say that the little ball of emotion that was growing inside of Audrielle was jealousy. She just didn't understand how the people around her could easily forgive Leo and all the cruel things that followed him around like a bad smell. But that's why Audrielle agreed to the two week trip with him. Just her and Leo. Leo and Audrielle.

She wanted-she needed- to see how much he had changed. To see if she could let him back into her life so quickly and easy like his presence wasn't missing for so long. One thing that heavily relied on this trip and Leo's ability to 'change' was his relationship with Orlando. Audrielle made it very clear that their son would not be involved or shown any sort of violence. So Leo had a lot riding on this trip, it wasn't just about their marriage anymore, a child was involved.

It wasn't long until Leo warned Audrielle that they had to leave soon. Audrielle was going to be gone from Orlando for two weeks. Sure she trusted Camilla and Stella with everything she had but just the thought of her being on the other side of the world without her son made her feel guilty.

Two weeks, that's all it is Audrielle.

"Orlando, sweetie, mommy has to go now. Be a good boy for your Grandma and have fun. I'll see you in a couple of weeks. I love you." Audrielle sighed and pulled Orlando in for a hug.

"I love you too mamma. Is dad going with you too?" Orlando asked and Audrielle placed a kiss on his forehead. It was a foreign sound of Orlando saying the word "dad". He's grown up without one around so when he was referring to Leo, it was a bittersweet moment that Audrielle wasn't sure how to answer.

"Yeah son, we'll be back soon though. It's only two weeks. Go have fun on the farm and don't hurt yourself. See you soon buddy."

With a final hug and kiss goodbye, Audrielle followed Leo out of the front door and to the SUV that was patiently waiting in the driveway. Leo held the door open for Audrielle as she climbed in and shuffled to the other side, making room for him.

It wasn't long until they were travelling to the airstrip and Audrielle looked out of the window, the nearby roads and scenery flashing by with a longing familiarity to them. She was suddenly startled by the touch and glanced down to see Leo holding her hand. Her brain screamed at her to snatch her hand away, to show Leo that everything's not the same anymore but her heart muffled the screams, melting at the warm and home sick feeling that she hadn't felt in years.