The Other Woman

New Beginnings

"I have an appointment with Beyoncé Knowles." I tell the receptionist and she smiles at me. "Ms. Maraj?" She asks as she looks at her computer screen then up at me. I nod.

"Mrs. Knowles is finishing up in a meeting so Marie here will take you up to her office so you can wait for her there. She won't be long." She smiles at me and I smile back with a slight nod. "Thank you." I tell her and she nods with a smile.

A woman that looks about 40, comes up to me and we greet each other. "Good afternoon. My name's Marie and I'm Mrs. Knowles' assistant, I'll take you up to her office." She smiles at me and I fix my purse on my shoulder as we start walking towards the elevator.

Once we're in there, we make our way up to the highest floor, which is the 58th.

I'm nervous. This isn't an easy topic for me to talk about out loud, especially not with the bruises I have on my neck and face. I'm just here because I heard Mrs. Knowles is the best lawyer in California and I really need that at this moment. I need someone who I know will get me justice; I've dealt with this for too long.

We get to the biggest door on the 58th floor and she opens the door for me, exposing a large all white room with gold and black accents. The view in here is incredible. It's like you can see the entire city of Los Angeles from up here.

"Thank you." I smile at her and she signals for me to sit at one of the chairs by a large desk. I sit down and she smiles at me. "No problem. Do you want water, coffee, or anything?" She says in a soft tone, but I decline and thank her nonetheless. "She will be with you shortly. Her meeting is set to end in 10 minutes!" She tells me as she walks towards the door. I thank her again and am left alone in this huge room.

It's beautiful in here. Mrs. Knowles definitely has good taste, but it's the view that's so captivating. This must look gorgeous at nighttime. I slowly make my way over to the large window and cross my arms over my chest as I look out. LA is beautiful.

Maybe I should've put more effort into covering the bruises Safaree gave me the last night I saw him when I called the cops, but I think it's appropriate for Mrs. Knowles to see them in their full glory. It's hard walking around with them exposed like this, but I'm so sick of hiding everything he does to me.

"It's beautiful, huh?" A honey-like voice says and I'm knocked out of my trance. I turn to face her and chuckle nervously. I talked to her on the phone the day I made my appointment, but I'm still nervous. "It really is." I say as I see her start walking over to me. I extend my hand and she shakes it firmly.

"Ms. Maraj, right?" She asks and I nod with a slight smile. "Let's sit down so we can get started." She says and we both walk over to the chair I was sat at that has my purse beside it. Once we're both seated, I see her pull out a notepad and pen.

God, I'm so nervous. I'm about to let out the biggest secret of my life. I really had the courage to call the cops and leave... I still can't believe I did that.

"I know you must be nervous and I'm gonna need you to relax so you can tell me everything calmly and not miss out on any details. Details are very important." She says to me as she writes something on the notepad then sets the pen down.

I swallow the lump in my throat. "So, when it's big cases like this where I know the person is nervous, I like to tell them a bit about myself and how this will go so they can calm down a bit." She smiles slightly and sits up in her seat.

I take a deep breath and start shaking my leg to try and calm my nerves. "My name is Beyoncé Knowles and I only have one sister. Her name is Solange, but everyone just calls her Solo. She's a goofball and the definition of a younger sibling." We both chuckle. "I've always wanted to help people and I don't know when I realized that being a lawyer is exactly how I would achieve that. It's been a rough ride, but I love my career. I will try to make this case go as smoothly as possible for you because I know what you're dealing with is rough and I know it took a lot of courage for you to end up here today. I'm gonna do my absolute best to get you what you deserve." She says this all in a gentle tone, making me give her a small smile. She gives me one back and I swallow the lump in my throat.