Regal Love

Chapter Three

My soul was at unrest the entire ride home, I had to do something about it. Aiden had already been aware of the abuse and as much as I undermined his capabilities, I knew that he will soon find out my story. I did not want him to.
I got an email from my landlord that said that my lease will be up in three days, that was the sign that I had been looking for. I had to move before somewhere Bryant will not find me, somewhere I will not be reminded of him, his smell, his presence. I quickly ran though a couple of websites that advertised vacant apartments in LA. They were all beautiful and very different from the one that I had been living in for years now. I applied to all the houses that I thought would be good for me hoping that at least one will accept my application before my lease is up. By the time I was done sending random applications, I had reached my apartment complex. I paid the driver and hurried inside. I looked around to see if Bryant was around but no, he was not. But what I noticed first was a big bouquet of red roses and a big box of my favourite chocolates. He knew how to pull me in, after pushing me away and somehow I would always go back to him. He was a web that I couldn’t escape. I smelled the roses and they smelled like the beautiful sunsets that we saw in Hawaii, they reminded me of the time when we went to Venice last year and of every time that he would present me my favourite flowers after he had bruised every fragile piece of me. I noticed a card in the middle of the bouquet. It read, “My love, I’m sorry for hurting you last night. I’ve gone to India for an important business meeting, I hope you will have forgiven me by the time that I’ve returned home to you. Love you always. –Bryant”
I cannot always let the same old thing happen over and over again. I need to start looking out for myself no matter how hard it may be. I opened the wardrobe and started taking out my clothes. I ordered some moving boxes which arrived an hour later, by then I was done sorting out my winter and summer apparels. I folded majority of my clothes and packed them, I packed all the kitchen appliances that I bought with my own money. My apartment looked like a mess, it was because I was in a hurry and had no patience whatsoever. I spent the entire night packing majority of my things, I put some outfits and shoes in my stroller bags so that they will be easier to access since I will be changing my outfits tomorrow when I go to hunt for apartments. Around 3 am I thought of telling Aiden that I will not be meeting him tomorrow but I did not muster the courage to face him yet after he found out that I am bruised, maybe he did not see the whole of the bruises but he knows that despite the facade that I put on of being a strong and intimidating woman, I am weak and fragile. That is not the woman that I want people to see when they see me. Moreover, I did not have his contact information. I did a little digging and found out his professional email id and sent him a mail stating that I was sick and that Veronica was free to design the office and furnish it according to her taste within the two days or more that I won’t be there in office. To my surprise, he replied a few minutes later saying that it was okay for me to stay home until I felt good enough to start working again. I ordered a pepperoni pizza and ate it while constantly refreshing my mailbox in case I heard back from the realtors. I fell asleep in my couch and woke up at 11:23 am, the first thing I saw was a bunch of emails that I received back from the realtors since the screen of my almost dead laptop was facing towards me. I jumped with joy, I had never woken up with so much enthusiasm in years. I quickly showered and wore my clean clothes, did some make up because my bruises were still there and I did not want to freak out the real estate agents. Around 12:14 pm I took my essentials with me which included my phone, my laptop, my mini make up bag and some granola bars. I stopped by a restaurant and ate some pasta to satisfy my sudden craving for it, a salad because felt guilty for not eating it quite often and a smoothie. Around 12:45 pm, I reached my first potential apartment. It was so far from my new office so that was a minus point, the apartment was beautiful but the walls were so thin that I could hear my neighbour talk to her cat and that was an absolute no! I did not want my neighbours to eavesdrop on my conversations or be aware of my every movement. After visiting a total of five other apartments, I kind of lost my hopes because I got catfished- the apartments did not look like they did in the pictures. I had only one more to go and honestly I had even decided to just settle in one of the average apartments for a year and then look for another when my lease would be up again. I reached the venue, it was in a very posh building and I started questioning whether I could afford it or not. The apartment was in the seventh floor and the security system was top notch, I had to enter a security code to enter the apartment which I could later change if I bought the apartment. I was already impressed but I was scared that I would not be able to pay for it especially because I had invested all my savings and more on my new business or law firm. When I entered the apartment I was taken aback, it was spacious but not too much. I felt like as though the apartment was made for me. It wasn’t the beautiful marble floor or the sleek kitchen, the beautiful staircase that led to a big bedroom which had an ensuite and a walk in closet or even the spacious room downstairs in which I could turn into my study or reading space. No, it was not all that that drew me in but it was how I felt when I entered the apartment. I was filled with bliss which I did not feel in years or even once in my entire life. I did not even know when or how I ended up signing the lease.