The Rise Of Glory.

One Way or Another.

Thursday, November 5th.

I'm distracted by the flashbacks of a time I desire to forget, I wish Tara hadn't brought up my leave of absence. I don't need the constant reminder or the guilt of everything. After Harry took me home that morning, everything went downhill and he never made it back to work for the meetings. Now I understand how Harry feels when he says the more he attempts to forget things of the past, the more they follow and strike him down every minute they can. I wish I could go back to simpler times, but unfortunately, there have never been simple times with Harry and I. There has always been something, and I'm starting to think there will always be something to set fire to our lives.

"Elle, board meeting in ten," Harry informs me as he steps into my office.

I look up at him and raise a brow, unsure of why a sudden board meeting is taking place. I just got out of the meeting regarding the mobbing downstairs and the media, what else could go wrong on this day?

"Is this about your media shit?" I immediately question, exasperated with everything.

"Darling, I don't know at this point, I got the text, it is mandatory for all members in NYC."

"It bothers me that the board knows our locations, can we not buy them out and not have a board to deal with? Why do we even have them? It is your company. They called a mandatory one a few months ago." I respond, standing up from my desk and closing the file on my desk.

"When I started, I still had to have aboard, I was a small company, I made my way up and needed independent directors who could offer financial, technical, and/or strategic advice to me," Harry explains, taking my hand and mildly drawing me back to him.

He smiles down at me and swiftly kisses me, "I love you. I know this is getting rough, hang in there, okay?" Harry sweetly wishes, attempting to give me some sort of reassurance. He is right to reassure me, I do need it. I can feel that things are falling apart— not that they ever managed to fall back together wholly. The moment I begin to think that things are working out or that things are getting better, something always knocks on the door and generates some sort of turmoil. I'm starting to wonder if life with Harry and I will continuously be a constant battle of demons and predicaments.

The last few years have been a rollercoaster, to say the least, and I never imagined my life would turn out to be the way it is. I imagined things would be simple and less dramatic, but I was proven wrong. I am not sure when things first started to go wrong; I would love to blame it all on Harry, and blame our meeting, but to be honest, we were perfect together, things didn't start turning to shit until shortly after we got engaged. That was when his life began taking a turn for the worst with skeletons in the closet wandering out on us.

I take a breath and nod, "I am trying," I respond.

I am, I am trying; I am doing my best to hang in there and not snap, I am trying not to break down and let everything get to me. I am doing my best to get through everything and to hold myself together with grace.

Harry and I walk out of my office, our fingers intertwined as we march down the hallway towards where the meeting will be held.

Harry opens the door and permits me to enter first, being a gentleman but in all honesty, it feels like he's feeding me to the sharks first. I glance around and notice the women on the board are missing, there are just five men. For an emergency board meeting, it's unusual that the entire board isn't here.

I side-eye Harry, requiring answers as to where everyone is, he's on the executive committee, he has a high rank and should know things. I don't like the feeling this meeting is giving me, something isn't right. The room feels stiff and rigid, the men stare at me like I am their weak prey that they are ready to pounce on. For a moment, my breath hitches in my throat as I feel intimidated by the men in the room. After all this time, I still despise when men's eyes stare at me with their expressionless faces. I know it is just a tactic to show dominance, but sometimes it makes me want to run out of the room and never turn back.