More Of You - One for the Ages // Book Two

Chapter 21

ELIZABETH

"Elizabeth!"

I heard Natalie calling after me but all I could think about was getting into the elevator and back upstairs to my room. However the huge crowd of people at the elevator bank nixed that idea. I made a quick left and ended up in some kind of courtyard.

"Elizabeth, stop." I heard a few feet away from me.

I shook my head, my hands going into my hair as I pulled as hard as I could,

"No!" I yelled. I whirled around, throwing my arms out as I unleashed all my frustration, guilt, anger and pain, "I'm done!" I screamed as loud as I could.

If anyone was around and could hear me, I didn't care. It hurt so bad. So much worse than anything I could have ever fathomed hurting. And I couldn't hold it in. I rocked back and forth on my feet as my hands went into my hair again,

"God, I'm so stupid." I said as I pounded my fists onto my thighs, sure to leave bruises, "I'm so stupid." I repeated as the tears racked through my body and shook me from the inside out.

Natalie rushed towards me, her hands came down on my shoulders as she shook her head,

"Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong."

I looked up at her, my eyes widening,

"Wrong?" I pointed back into the hotel, "Did you just see what I saw? He was with another woman, Natalie."

She nodded,

"Alright, I agree...it looks bad."

"Bad? It looks bad? It LOOKS like he's moved on." I stepped away from her, "And that's what he's supposed to do. He was always supposed to find what he needed with someone else because I couldn't give it to him. I was never what he needed."

Natalie stepped towards me,

"Elizabeth, he wouldn't move on from you that quickly. He loves you so much. I've never seen him look at someone the way he looked at you. He sure as hell never looked at me like that."
I squeezed my eyes shut as I lifted my hand and shook my head,

"No. Just stop alright?" I opened my eyes to glare at her, "I can't hear this anymore." I swallowed as the realization set in, "He moved on. It's over."

Natalie let me go then. She didn't follow me back into the hotel. I was free to get back up to my room and completely break apart on my own.

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Working was my salvation. My entire life had exploded around me but I was still a badass lawyer with a firm to represent and build. So I put on my big girl panties and I went to the office, all the while wishing and hoping for some kind of natural disaster or tragic event to end the ever present ball of pain in my chest.

No such luck though.

Michael seemed to realize something more than what he already knew about was up. He opted to keep things strictly business for the day which I was grateful for. So far every moment of my day was accounted for, something I was also grateful for. The busier I was, the better.

He walked into my office with a stack of papers,

"First few cases are rolling in, these are the briefs the team wrote to give you the quick rundown of each one. Roland would like a meeting this week to discuss which ones to focus on. He knows we can't do everything but he would like to try to at least offer assistance on every request."

I nodded,

"I told him I wanted to make sure we had a big enough team to do that. I'm glad he's on board."