HER

Chapter 34

Dana was home that Monday afternoon to shower and get more change of clothes for herself and for Lily. Kaylie had left very early that morning to head home before going in to work so she and Lily had spent the morning together.

Dana was combing her damp hair in front of the mirror but she was thinking about what Lily had said to her the day before.

"I don't want to drown my feelings anymore; life is too short to lead a life that's not real, a life you know isn't really yours. I want to be better, for Cheryl."

Dana had been playing that in her head all morning and she couldn't help but think she was in slightly similar situation with Lily. She was putting her feelings aside and doing what everyone wanted her to do disregarding what she actually wanted from life. Hearing Lily voice out her own demons suddenly made her realize hers. She was tired of being underestimated by people that should support her. Life was too short to not do what you want to do, so she was going to tell her dad straight; she wasn't going to ask for his permission or his blessing, she was going to give it to him straight. She was done hiding behind the curtains, she wanted to take centre stage regardless of what anyone said about her performance.

Dana snapped out of her reverie and smiled at her reflection in the mirror. She dropped her comb and picked up her phone and opened Ground Upp, she scrolled to the building she had had her mind on for a while and sent it to the Ground Up architects to make a sample of the plan which she knew she was going to approve. She wasn't wasting anymore time; money wasn't the issue in her case and for this she was putting everything she had into it.

She dialled Carly and waited till she picked up.

"Hello." Carly said on the third ring.

"Hey, is my dad in?"

"No Dana, he won't be coming in today."

Dana frowned because that was unusual for her father.
"Alright, thank you Carly." Dana said before she hung up and called her mum whom she hadn't spoken to in a while.

"Hey honey." Her mum said in a happy voice with voices in the background.

"Hi mum." She said. "How are you?"

"I'm good honey. You haven't called in a while, how's Kevin?"

"He's fine. I'm fine too." She added the second part even though her mum hadn't asked.

"Listen honey I can't talk right now, I'll call you back."

"Mum wai..." The call ended before she could get out what she wanted to say.

Dana looked down at her phone and sighed. She put grabbed the duffel bag and went downstairs. She took her car keys and sent a text to Lily that she would be a while before she got back to the hospital and she got an immediate response with a smiling emoji.

She locked up, got into her car and drove to her childhood home.

On her way, she thought about everything from when she graduated to when she married Kevin and right now. None of it had been what she wanted for herself, everything had been her dad's decision which he had made her accept by giving her an ultimatum. She wasn't going to let him put her in that position again, she wasn't going to let him or Kevin rule her life like her choices didn't matter. She wanted to be her own person and she knew she couldn't do it with Kevin or with her dad; as for Kevin, she already knew what she had to do; she had seen it coming but she didn't think she'd be brave enough to do it but now she was on a role.

She dialled her lawyer's number.
"Hello Dana." Owen picked up almost immediately. "It's been a while we spoke."

She smiled at the sound of his voice; they had become friends when they were both in Harvard. They had been in contact ever since and after he passed his bar exams and was allowed to practise, he opened his firm and she had immediately asked him to represent her whenever she needed it. They had kept in touch since but hadn't seen each other since she married Kevin which wasn't a surprise with Kevin being Kevin.