Trina Gray snapped her newly-monogrammed Louis Vuitton suitcase closed and patted the hard side of the bag down, just as she used to do to the cheap set of soft-sided luggage she’d used before she’d decided, on a whim, to purchase the $5000-plus travel case. It was an extravagant expense. Not something Trina would have ever bought before. But she’d started a new life within the past six months, and the new Trina wanted to make a big impression with her designer luggage.
That’ll show Tammy, she thought smugly, even as the personalized initials on the neutrally-colored tag taunted her. TAG. It wasn’t merely the irony that her initials spelled out the word “tag” that bothered her so. It was the fact that, until just a few months ago, those hadn’t been her initials. At least, they hadn’t been for five years. For that length of time, the maiden “G” had been replaced by her married “M”.
Maybe I made the switch back too soon, Trina thought as she gazed at the letters. Then she shook her head. No, her marriage to Walt was over. They weren’t officially divorced yet—only separated—but there was no going back. Not after what he had done.
In spite of her steely exterior, the bridge of Trina’s nose buzzed, and her eyes ached. She closed them and leaned her head back, taking in a few deep breaths of the honey vanilla scented air freshener she’d sprayed just a few minutes earlier. That particular scent always helped to calm her nerves and comfort her in a way that no other scent had ever done. It reminded her of Mim’s kitchen. She’d always felt safe there.
That was one good thing about going home. She’d get to see Mim again. It had been too long since she’d talked to the woman who was like a second mother to her. Better than a mother, actually. She felt more comfortable talking to Mim than she did to her own mother. She always had.
Trina smiled, remembering Mim’s warm green eyes and her always frizzy, frazzled silver-gray hair. She almost laughed out loud, not caring that she was the only person in the room who would hear the happy sound. Trina was just extremely grateful that the urge to cry was fading.
She moved the bag to set it down on the lush forest green bedroom carpet before limping over to the matching weekend rolling bag, which had set her back another three-and-a-half thousand dollars.
Trina cursed aloud as she set her foot down on the floor. The pain shot up through her calf and down into her toes at the same time. If she hadn’t been in such a hurry to get out of the office and get on the road tonight, she wouldn’t have twisted her ankle by slipping on that patch of ice.
She hadn’t bothered to wrap it. It wasn’t broken. She knew that because she could still walk on it. What Trina didn’t know, though, was whether it was an actual sprain or just a little strain. Either way, she should have been resting on the couch in front of the television with her foot propped up on the light brown suede ottoman she’d recently bought to add a touch of class to the place.
But she didn’t have the luxury of sitting and resting her foot tonight. Trina had to get on the road right now. Her mother had already been calling every fifteen minutes for the past three hours to see when she was starting out. Trina didn’t want to delay the trip any longer than she already had.
She winced as she took a few more steps toward the front door, and she felt her Blackberry buzz in her pocket. “Oh, Mom!”
Trina fished in her pocket for the buzzing instrument and gasped. It wasn’t her mother’s number that showed up on the LCD caller ID screen. The number was unfamiliar, but the name above the number was not. Tammy Gray. Her sister.
“What? You little…How did you get this number?” Trina fumed as the phone continued to buzz. Then she took a deep breath.
She’d told her mother that she would come home for Christmas this year, and she knew there was a chance her sister would be there too. A very good chance. It was only natural that their mom would tell Tammy that Trina was coming.
