Hostile Takeover

Chapter One

Quinn was certain she could see the light, well, almost certain. Just another few minutes and she was sure she could obtain rebirth. And she so wanted to achieve that because Seraphina, her new yoga teacher had assured her that it was possible and that it was amazing. She took another deep breath, determined that yoga was going to be her new zen and not the container of triple chocolate in her freezer that she was trying to deny was even there. Quinn breathed again. Yes, this time she could see a few more fragments of her current life slip away. She took another deep breath. She was doing this! Seraphina would be so proud of her. She took another breath and this time threw in a chant for good measure.

"Ommm." She was about to achieve some sort of ultimate zen, like an orgasm for her mind.

Bzzzzzzzzzz.

"Fuck!" Quinn jumped about a foot in the air and like a cake crumbling apart, she lost the balance she was about to reach. She rose from the floor where she was seated in a crossed legged position. But her legs were cramped from being folded for so long and she stumbled a bit. The buzzer rang another time before she reached it. She hit the button.

"Yeah?" she said.

"Quinn, let me up, it's time to go."

It was Summer. Quinn looked at her watch. It was time to go. She buzzed Summer in and opened her apartment door before she moved about to get her shit together, frantically seeking out her shoes and jacket.

"Quinn, you ready?" Summer called as she stepped through the door.

"Almost."

"Watchya doin'?"

"Meditating."

"Meditating!"

Quinn shot Summer a wry glance. "Thought I'd try something a bit different to wine and triple chocolate. You know, new beginning and all."

"Personally, I'd stick to wine and ice cream, but hey, I'm totally supportive of your new direction in life."

"Well, I need to do something." Quinn shrugged.

"Look, we can come up with some strategies in the car, but right now we've got to get moving. There's only so many hours in the day when Gray's out of the house."

"Actually, I would say there are plenty of hours during the day when he's out of the house," Quinn mumbled.

Summer shot her a sad expression. "Come on, let's go."

But Quinn didn't feel like talking once they were in Summer's car. Most of the time she hid her hurt behind her smart mouth, but right now she just couldn't find the energy for that. She went quiet, introspective instead, the passing landscape a backdrop to her riotous thoughts. She wasn't looking forward to the task she was about to undertake, both physically and mentally. Everything hurt- her brain, her limbs, her heart. Mostly her heart. She wasn't sure how she was going to go on with life after today, even though she knew in time it would probably start to hurt less, at least that's what she'd been told by her therapist. God, she was even seeing a therapist! She told herself it was just to get herself through this period until she was strong enough again.

She just didn't see a light at the end of the tunnel right now. Gray was the love of her life and yet here she was staring down the barrel of a divorce. How they had gotten to this point she didn't know, but his family had a lot to do with it. That and finding his personal assistant, Lina, standing naked in his office while he stood by and watched her. God only knew what she and Gray would've done had she not walked in at that point. God only knew if they had done things before that. She'd always had a bad feeling about Lina so she wouldn't put it past the woman to have seduced her husband. Quinn had told Gray of her concerns often enough but he didn't listen.