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flashback! — july 1995; van nuys, ca
as she wiped the small tears from her eyes, bella shakily reached to grab the pen to sign the divorce papers in front of her. after 5 years of marriage, she and johnny made the decision to separate and get a divorce. it was a hard and painful decision because they really tried to make this work, but just as things were looking better, it took a turn for the worst.
she hesitantly gripped the pen between her manicured fingertips. she took a deep breath as the pen slowly glided on the paper. once she placed the pen down, she looked down at her signature and felt her heart break into a million pieces. she then looked over to johnny who grabbed the pen and signed the papers as well.
this was her biggest fear; she feared this since the night she and johnny stayed up past midnight, yelling at each other in the kitchen. the couple had argued, every couple does, but these arguments seemed to be different; it had now gotten to the point where they were in each other's faces, screaming.
what broke her heart even more was knowing their daughter, stevie, was in the next room listening to everything they said to each other. bella had always been careful about how she and johnny spoke around her, but when their tempers took over, it was a different story. pet names such as 'princess' and 'darling' were quickly replaced by 'asshole' and 'bitch'.
once johnny finished signing the papers, the couple looked up at each other once more as their eyes filled with tears. "so, i guess this is it." johnny sighed as he looked at bella, who was torn.
"yeah." bella said as she grabbed her copy of the divorce papers and stood up. there was silence around the two ex-spouses as bella nervously ran her fingers through her hair.
"good luck." johnny sighed as she looked at the brunette, who was once his wife, walk to the door of the home they made.
"thank you." bella said, as she opened the door and took one last look at her now ex-husband. "you too, john."
⊱────── {⋆⌘⋆} ──────⊰
present day! — twenty-three years later.
THE SOUND of the alarm on bella's phone went off as she swiftly turned around to turn it off. she let out a soft sigh as she sat up, yawning. running a hand through her long brown hair, she took a moment and looked around her bedroom in her new york city apartment. she stood up from bed and opened up her window, looking out into the city skyline.
wrapping a robe around her body, she walked into the kitchen and began to make herself a cup of chamomile tea. the apartment was cold with the small rays of sunshine coming in through the window of her manhattan apartment. her apartment had become her workplace, just like her apartment in burbank. bella was currently in new york, working on the final details on her new clothing line. her goal was to have it ready before she took a break and headed back to the valley to visit her mother, lisa.
