RACHEL:
"How are you holding up?" Daniel asked after picking up on the first ring.
It has been a day since I left Austin's office. And right now, I needed a distraction. I needed comfort from the hollow ache in my chest lest it gets worse.
"Fine," I hesitated.
"You don't need to lie to me, Rachel. I know you're not fine," Daniel said, his tone soft.
I signed, sinking into the couch. "I just didn't expect him to sign the papers without a second thought. He didn't even read anything in it. Is that how much he doesn't want to be with me any more?"
There was a long pause before Daniel responded. "You knew he was going to act all insensitive."
"Yes. But it doesn't mean it hurt any less," I had to say.
"What can I do to get your mind off all of that for now?"
"Just talk to me."
And that was what we did. The conversation completely shifted from the divorce to work and then to very random conversations. I found myself laughing for the first time in weeks and for a fleeting moment, I let myself believe I could move on.
Reality wasn't that kind though. Because tell my later in the evening, my phone buzzed with a notification from an Instagram post which tagged my name. And when I clicked it, it had to be Chloe tagging me.
Yes, Chloe. The same Chloe that Austin has been spending time with.
Although I was initially skeptical about viewing the content of what she tagged me to, I eventually did only to see her leaning into Austin, a smugness plastered on her face accompanied with a sly smirk.
The caption to the post read 'Mine now'. How creative.
This was what I got for stupidly following her in return after she followed me some weeks back. I could have just ignored it but now I was letting myself suffer. And the comment section didn't help matters.
"Pathetic," I muttered, tossing my phone away from me. I didn't want to keep looking at it.
I needed to erase Austin completely from my life I wanted to be free of him. I couldn't jeep a trace of him around me if I wanted to close this chapter of my life.
So I ventured to looking for his things. Anything that belonged to him needed to be discarded as fast as possible. This was for my healing.
"Ma'am, are you alright?"
I was startled by that and I had to quickly turn around to see Miriam, my housekeeper, standing at the entrance of my bedroom with a concerned expression. I didn't even hear her come in.
"Oh yes, I am," I said, forcing a smile. I was certain my words hadn't been entirely convincing. "Do you have something to tell me?"
She didn't push even though concern was still etched on her face. "I just came her to tell you that dinner was ready," she said.
"Thank you. I'll be down in a bit."
She nodded and walked out of the room. I exhaled slowly immediately she did. It was a hard job trying to stay calm at this point.
I continued with what I was doing and before I knew it, I had a pile of Austin's things waiting in the hallway and ready to be discarded. Only then did I head down to get dinner.
__________
"A private auction in Paris..." I read out the most important part of the invitation I received from Austin earlier this morning.
The universe wasn't done testing me, was it? When I thought to find a way to clear this man's existence from my life, I had to receive this from him.
I would have ignored it if the organizer of the auction hadn't caught my attention — the very powerful Mr. Langley, a man I had admired for years. He only hosted private auctions for the elite and I had always dreamed of attending one.
This would be a way to get in touch with him and get him to collaborate with my plans to strength Daniel's company. Even though Austin's invitation wasn't out of kindness, I needed to use it to my advantage.
"You can't be serious," Daniel said when I called him to tell him. "You know it's a setup."
"I know," I admitted. "But it's a chance to meet Langley. Think of the opportunities we could get from this."
"It's not about the opportunities, Rachel. There's Austin you need to worry about."
"I don't care about Austin," I hissed.
"What are you going to do when you meet him there?"
"I know he plans to humiliate me. And it doesn't change the fact that I still want to go. Look, I need to do this for our best interest."
"While ignoring your personal interest. Great move there." I didn't miss the sarcasm in his voice when he said that.
"I'll be fine, Daniel. Trust me."
Although I said that with conviction, I didn't believe it. Still, I was willingly stepping into an inevitable storm.
