Chapter 3A Chapter by Maria MChapter 3 Half an
hour later, spent passing through the throngs of people passing through the
busy streets of New York, I found myself in front of Christina’s apartment
building, Elisa’s sister. She couldn’t have possibly left could she? I mean
were else could she be? I had an urge to enter the building, but I had to think
this through. Maybe I wasn’t ready to face Elisa just yet, the wound she had
inflicted on me was still fresh, the anger I felt towards her had presumably
doubled by the time I had gotten to Christina’s apartment, and I was in no mood
to argue with someone who had just walked out on me. I looked
at the grey building that stood before me. Hmm, I remember this one. I was in a
bidding war with three other companies to re-build and renovate this apartment
block. I was all up for it, it was in a great location, the asking price wasn’t
out of my budget, and the profit would be almost three times as much. But I had
lost to Milo Banks, a young investment banker who was making a name for himself
and a whole lot of cash with the help of his father’s deep pockets. All I had
when I started was a dream and a suitcase. I shook
my head. This was clearly a bad idea. I had come out here for the wrong
reasons. I didn’t come out here to try and arrange things, I had come out here
with the intention to start another war, between me and my wife. Well, as I may
put it, ex-wife. As soon as I started to turn around I hear a voice calling my
name: ‘Richard?’
I turn around. It was
Christina, wearing a black body-con dress which hugged her body, a cream
Burberry coat which she probably bought from 5th avenue, black
tights, and black 5-inch stiletto heels which still didn’t do any justice to
her height. Her jet black hair hung on her shoulders in a flurry of beautiful curls,
with her olive skin and hazel eyes; you could count her a movie star. But
Christina was none of the sort. She had just given birth to her first child, Lola,
and was a stay at home mom, whilst her husband, Jack, directed films, right now
on location in Florida. ‘Um,
hi, Christina, I have to go. I’ve done a mistake coming here,’ I said. ‘No
Richard, come inside for a cup of coffee. Lola’s upstairs with her nanny, we
can have a little chat,’ said Christina, looking hopeful. I looked
at her, weighing my options. ‘Okay,
sure,” I said. Christina
nodded, and then smiled. I followed her into the building and into the one of
the three elevators which lined the lobby of her building. In a matter of
seconds we were at the 32nd floor. As we were making our way through
the corridor to her apartment, I couldn’t help but wonder what she would want
to have a chat with me about. A dawn of disappointment swept over me, this
could only mean one thing. Elisa was not here. If she was, Christina would not
have invited me in. So, where the hell was she? Christina
unlocked the door to her apartment. When walking in the first thing that hit me
was the strong smell of Italian antipasto in the air. Seems like her nanny was
a cook as well. Christina’s apartment is very much like mine, except she had
three bedrooms and a separate bathroom from all the rest. She had designed her
place with an old Hollywood theme in mind: dark sultry reds, brilliant whites,
sparkling silvers, and jet black all over the apartment. Except her daughter’s
room, that was sporting the Princess Theme as if you were in a Disneyland
Hotel. Christina
motioned for me to follow her, and we went over to the kitchen, where as I suspected,
Lola’s nanny was brewing up dinner in one of the most lavish kitchens I have
ever been in. ‘Sally,
is Lola alright?’ asked Christina. ‘Yes miss,
she is taking her afternoon nap, she should be up in a couple of hours. This dinner
is ready as well, ‘ said Sally, looking satisfied. ‘Thank
you Sally, you can leave now,’ she said. And with
a nod, Sally turned her heal, grabbed her bag and walked out of the apartment. After
we heard the door closed, Christina turned to me, a look of concern in her
eyes: ‘Roger,
what the hell have you done?’ Christina asked. I obviously
looked at her like she was crazy. ‘What have I done? Are you kidding me? How about you call your
sister to have an adult conversation and ask her why she had to interrupt one
of the most important meetings in my life, to come to my office declaring that I
had never put her as my priority and then simply walked out of my life?’ I said,
anger sweeping over me. ‘Roger,
I understand. But, why didn't you go after her? Can you explain that to me? Fine,
you came here looking for her, expecting her to once more find shelter in my
home until the fight is over. But Richard, that ship has sailed. She called me
telling me that she was going out of the country to Dad’s estate in the south
of France and she remained on staying there until she gets herself together so
that she can build a new life,’ she said. ‘Well,
I’ll go to the south of France if I have to for her. But Christina, you have to
understand me, I have always loved your sister blindly. I am truly heartbroken
with what she’s done to me. She’s literally thrown away our marriage without
trying,’ I said. ‘She
didn’t throw away the marriage without trying Richard. I’m the one who had to
stay by her countless nights trying to soothe her whilst she cried on my
shoulder. You have literally broken her and turned her into a woman with no
confidence because her husband is more interested in work than her. I mean come
on Richard: she is beautiful, talented, smart, a hardworking woman. I may seem
to boasting but hell to it, she’s my sister and I want the best for her. Coming
to the point, I want the best for you because at the end of the day you were
the best thing that ever happened to her,’ she said. ‘And
she was the best thing that ever happened to me. But I do not think it is
mature to run away to the South of France and from your problems back here in
the states. I’d love to run after her, but I have business here to attend to, very
important business that can make or break my company. I love her but I love my career
as well, giving her all the priority would mean me losing my career, which I was
never ready to lose,’ ‘Then
you should have never gotten married in the first place. You promised her that
work would never come first. Why go back from your word, Richard, why?’ ‘And
how should I know that success was just around the corner?’ ‘That’s
still no excuse, and you know it Richard Johnson,’ ‘So
the only reason you got me up here was to tell me what a fool and a loser I am
for letting her go? She didn’t even give me a chance to make things right. I had
to go to an empty house hoping that I would find her there and we could talk it
through. How did she decide that one fine day she would wake up and say: hey, I’m
not happy today, let’s end this marriage?’ ‘Richard,
I had another reason for wanting to talk to you. Now you know how much I love
Elisa, but in certain cases I do not agree with her decisions and all her bad
choices end up on my conscience because I know I could at least try to make the
situation better. Now I know what Elisa has been going through, hell my husband
is in another state for the next two months. So my situation is worse then hers
and..’ ‘Please
come to the point Christina, I’m just crushed,’ ‘ OK,
but, promise you won’t tell her I told you this, not to her not to anyone? ‘You have
my word,’ ‘ OK,
Elisa didn’t only go to the South of France to visit Dad and to have a break
from the states. She took Milo Banks with her. They seem to be really hitting
it off and have been great friends for a while now. I don’t think she was
having an affair, or if she is she hasn’t told me a word of it, but I thought
you should know,’ ‘You’re
not kidding are you?’ ‘Wish I
was. They met at this after-party of a fashion show and seemed to become
friends. They've been seen all over New York together. I thought you knew, and
that’s why I was so angry at you. She was crying out for attention, and I bet
she thought that if you saw her with another high end investor that you would
feel jealous and arrange things,’ ‘I’m
sorry I have to go,’ Christina
nodded and a sullen look fell on her face. I bet she was contemplating whether
what she had done was the right thing or a total mistake, especially if her beloved
and liar of a sister was making up her mind whether she would take me back or
not. ‘And
thank you, I’ll keep in touch,’ I finally said. I
turned on my heel, and walked out of the apartment and out of the building in a
haze of thoughts and disappointing feelings. So that’s where she was, or
perhaps were she was going. It’s very savvy, on a flight to the South of France
to be in the company of another man. Whilst
walking home one thing was going through my mind. The first thing I’m doing the
following morning is definitely calling my lawyer. © 2013 Maria MAuthor's Note
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Maria MZabbar, Catholic, MaltaAboutHi, My name is Maria. I'm an 18 year old University Student studying Radiography and Radiotherapy for the next four years of my life. I also live in the beautiful island of Malta. I've always loved.. more..Writing
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