Then there was you

2

As I'm on this flight from Dubai to London I couldn't stop thinking about seeing my family as soon as I wrap this business analysis shit. I haven't been home in two months I miss my wife and kids dearly. This job has been everything I dreamed of even though the downfall to it all was me being away from my kids and missing all the important moments in their lives.

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York. I never knew who my father was, my mother and brother were addicted to drugs so I had to basically raise myself. I worked hard to keep my grades up while working after school to ensure that I have food to eat and clothes on my back. I worked hard to make it out of my circumstances where slinging became the norm and was the only option for survival for someone like me.

I graduated high school at the top of my class and I got a full ride to Georgia State University. I took everything and made my way down to Atlanta. I was focused on my school work and working extra jobs after classes to make some extra money. I made sure that no one knew about my past and how broke I truly was. One day I met this girl name Karen she was very well put together and everything about her screamed money. I thought she would never give me a chance oh how wrong I was. 

Karen and I became inseparable, she was my first true love. I confided in her and she praised me for overcoming my circumstances and my hardships. I fell for her so fast and she consumed my entire being. Karen was the woman I always dreamed and prayed for She was the love of my life and best friend.

Halfway through my second year I got a call from my family saying my mom needed my help. At first I thought it would just be for a week or two instead I had to drop out and that led to me breaking up with Karen. She made me choose between my family and her of course I would always have to choose my family over her. My mom was sick and need help and Jeremiah my brother was always high out of his mind and would give my mom drugs even though she was sick as fuck. I worked and took care of my mom while trying to convince Jeremiah to get clean. Everything became to much and started taking a toll on me especially cause I started  resenting my family for having to give up on a life I was meant to have.

When my mom got better I enrolled back into Georgia State, everything felt right and perfect again. The only thing missing was Karen apparently she transferred after I left. That broke my heart because she was the only reason I decided to come back here.  Karen and I haven't been in contact with one another, I couldn't do that to her. I needed her to move on because at the time I wasn't sure whether I was gonna come back or not.

One night one of my friends were pestering me to go to a party hosted by his girl who attended Spellman and as much as I wanted to flake on him he just wouldn't let me. We arrived at the party and my friend introduced me to everyone and then there she was Karen Mott. Our eyes met and it was as though everyone just disappeared, I made my way to her and it was as though we haven't spend more than a year apart. Ever since the party Karen and I were stuck on each other. She introduced me to her dad and he offered me a job. 4 months later Karen was pregnant with our first bay girl named Zoey, after giving birth to Zoey, Karen and I got married. As gift her dad bought us a house basically my wife's dream house. I actually didn't mind because my wife was happy and I loved seeing her happy. I worked hard to prove myself and show my father in law that I was worthy of his daughter and the job he offered me. 

Two years into our marriage and our second daughter Zuri was born when I got the news that my mother passed away. My family and I made our way to New York to plan my mom's funeral. Karen hated being around my family. It was though my family disgusted her but I pushed that to the side and went on about my day. Karen didn't allow my children to interact with my family either. After my mom's funeral her will was read, even though my mom really didn't have much she left a couple of thousand dollars for Jeremiah and I. I didn't want the money and said Jeremiah could have it all, that pissed Karen off though cause she felt that I needed to take what was rightfully mine. My mom  also left her apartment to me, I gave it Jeremiah. Karen went on and on about me not thinking about our kids and how we could have left that property for our kids. I couldn't leave my brother on the street, so I wasn't going to let her get into my head and cause more harm to my brother. After my mom died I lost all contact with my brother because my wife didn't feel comfortable having my family from New York around us. And she didn't want their asses calling us for money and shit.

The pilot made an announcement about us landing on the speaker bringing me out of my thoughts. We have finally arrived in London I made my way to The Ritz London and showered. I called my wife but got her voicemail, I knew she was probably busy getting ready for Zoey and Zuri to return home from college for the summer break. I left a message and ordered some room service before checking my emails and responding to them. Since it was only 2pm I decided to see whether the Branch manager for Mott Properties were available so I could have a meeting with him and then schedule an all hands meeting for the rest of the employees for some time during the week.

Lunch arrived and I basically devoured it while scanning through the channels on TV before switching it off and continued to eat in complete silence. Once I was done I got ready for my meeting with Jacob the branch manager. I tried calling Karen one last time before leaving my hotel room. As I made my way to the hotel's foyer I saw multiple men dressed in black, I didn't pay much attention to them but I knew the person they were protecting must be important.

My meeting at the office were pretty dull and something was off with the finances so I knew I had to sit down with our financial team in London to see what that was about. I also saw that I had to get rid of agents that were dead weight. Mostly I was hoping that everything that needed to be dealt with would be handled as soon as possible so I could make my way home to my family.

I had dinner by myself and pretty much was bored out of my mind. I scanned the tv for anything good to watch, nothing. I read to the newspaper twice, I called home and still no answer. At midnight I finally made my way to the indoor swimming pool for a late night swim maybe this way I would be able to get rid of the pinned up energy. When I got to the swimming pool I saw the most beautiful woman breast stroking the full length of the pool for a couple of laps until she reverted to back strokes for a couple of laps. I stayed on my side while swimming a few laps and she stayed on her side, neither of us acknowledging one another. She did however look familiar, when I eventually mustered up some courage I swam to where she was sitting in the water. When I finally got to where she was she was gone. The beautiful mystery woman disappeared.