Between Clouds and Closure

Flashbacks and Car Rides

Seating comfortably on the expensive leather seat of my sister's Range Evoque, I heaved a contented sigh. Sometimes, I forget just how rich she is. Having a respectable career in law with over 20 years experience and a husband who was the owner of a big fashion company with multiple branches scattered across the globe, it was easy to see where the luxury came from and being from a wealthy home also contributed to that.

I thought back to my own career, I had wanted to be a psychologist, but my desire to travel the world amidst other reasons had been greater. And what better way to fulfill my dreams than to get paid for it. It had been on one of those trips that I had met my husband and at that time, it was the best decision I had ever made. The thing that had brought us together was the very thing that was driving the wedge between us.

I met Adam on my first actual trip to California twelve years ago. He was a passenger and I had just started air hosting. I was naive in my thinking it was going to work, I had just turned twenty. I must say that it was a miracle it lasted this long. I knew he had his eyes on me when he had specifically asked for me to attend to his every need on the flight. If he didn't have a problem turning on the overhead air conditioner, then he needed help turning on his reading lights. If it wasn't that, then he needed a hot towel to warm him up.

It would have been annoying if it had come from any other passenger, but he was an attractive man, still is. He had been really polite too, with a captivating smile. By the end of the flight, he had collected my number and told me with a wink that he was there on business but he didn't mind mixing it with a little pleasure. I had blushed profusely under all the heavy makeup I was wearing.

He'd called me that night and invited me for dinner, I had eagerly accepted and that had been the beginning of our whirlwind romance. Seven months later, we were married. It was almost doomed to fail but I give us our accolades for making it this far.

Without any children to keep him company while I traveled, he got bored and lonely. We'd had multiple fights where he'd told me to quit my job so we could settle down and have a family. I had pointed out that we were a family. I was upset because I knew he was referring to the fact we didn't have children yet. I had told him my stance on having kids before we were even married, I didn't want any. In my bid to compromise, I'd bought him a dog.

With time, he'd grown to resent me. And with that, came his lack of trust. He'd subtly accused me of having affairs with passengers on my flights because that was how we had met. It was insulting and disrespectful but I always convinced him that there was only him for me. Until eleven months ago, when he'd had an accident. I had traveled as usual and he'd fallen straight into the bed of another woman.

He'd also brought said woman to our matrimonial bed, which was where I found them when I came back from my trip. It was the typical walking in on your partner cheating except that there was no screaming 'I can explain' from him. I had walked out devastated. I thought back to numerous opportunities I had had to cheat, but I hadn't because I was married, because I loved my husband, because I was faithful. I came back home two days later, during which he hadn't called me. He'd made a sly comment and said I'd spent the nights away with one of the men I had slept with. He'd conveniently forgotten that I had a sister who lived here in LA. I'd decided then, that it wasn't working anymore.

I'd filed for divorce a week later and had been on it ever since. Adam didn't want a divorce, the bastard. He'd claimed that he still loved me but I called his bullshit, he just didn't want to lose half his money in divorce settlements. He should have been grateful we didn't have kids or he would have had to pay child support too. Five months ago, he'd called me up and told me he was ready to sign the divorce papers. Not bothering to know why he changed his mind, I was happy to be finally free from him.

Prior to that, my sister had advised that I request a default judgement, so I could move on with the divorce process even without Adam signing the papers. He'd then called me up two months ago to say he hadn't signed the papers and was contesting the divorce because I was being ridiculous with my requests, making the process unnecessarily difficult. He'd mentioned that he didn't mind it getting to trial. We'd both agreed to a court hearing, which was the sole reason I was back here.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I stared outside the window. California was very beautiful, although Adam and I had bought a house here, I was rarely ever here because of my job.

Staring at the card Mr S had given me with his details, I saw that he was a consultant. I tucked it into my bag and gave another sigh.

Fifteen stop signs later, -I'd counted- we arrived at my sister's mansion, because to call it anything else was to describe it inaccurately.

" Is my sister home?" I asked the driver, as he drove into the parking lot that consisted of four other cars. Amongst them, a limousine. Rich people, I thought snarkily, as if I wasn't one myself. Despite my being a airhostess, I did very well. Coming from a wealthy family and having a husband who was a solicitor. Although, I had never really been swayed by money. I would have told Adam to take his money and go to hell where he belonged but not only didn't he believe that the place existed, I wanted the money so, he could feel a flicker of the pain I felt.

"Yes ma'am," the driver replied, getting out to open the door for me, I waved him off, telling him not to bother. He went back to the car to offload my luggage and took them inside. I had barely made it inside when I heard my sister scream my name, running towards me, her platinum blonde hair flying behind her. She crashed into me with a force and pulled me into a tight embrace.