Her Ravaged Life

Ch. -16-

 And there it is. 

 I have to give it to him. He is really good at this ballgame, and I was too occupied with thoughts about him deceiving me instead of really listening to him. And now I am a married woman with a husband that looks like God but acts like devil himself.

 I burst into laughter and he is just staring at me like I am some kind of lunatic but I cannot control myself, cannot stop myself. So I just laugh in front of him and it feels good. I’m not even sure why I laugh, is it this situation, is it him, is it the fact that I just got married or that I got played like a fool. 

 Little by little the laughter dies and I can slowly restore my composure. Barraza is watching me with a questioning look while propped against his car. 

 “You done?” he finally asks.

 “No, I’m not done. I am f*****g married. And to make matters worse, I am married to you! I don’t even know you. You promised to let me go, I want to leave for f***s sake. And not leave as your dear wife, to leave as a I arrived, FREE! I hate you! I hate your tricks! I hate your affect on me! You should have just killed me.” I end my rampage with a whisper, and I feel lighter. All the things I piled up inside of me are now out in the open. He probably already knew all of it, but I needed to say it.

 He takes a deep breath and looks at Jeremiah who nods and takes the driver’s seat. 

 Barraza looks into the distance for what seems like forever. Silence is not what I expected from him. As I am paralyzed by this silence, he takes something from his pocket and hands it to me. “Everything you came with will be on the aircraft, waiting for you. Your phone is equipped with Jeremiah, Callie and my personal phone numbers.” I take what he hands to me and lay my eyes on my passport. I feel tears making their way to embarrass me even more. “This will take you straight to the airport. Take care my wife,” he says, points to the white Mercedes parked behind his Escalade, steps closer to give a quick peck on my temple, then sits in his car and off he goes.

 I look at the Mercedes I didn’t notice to arrive and revert my eyes to his retreating car. I feel awfully empty and lonely, not the feeling I was prepared for. 

 Walking toward the Mercedes I can’t shake the feeling like I did something wrong. NO! I did everything anyone in my position would have done to survive, to get out, to leave and return to normalcy. He himself gave me the option to walk away so why would he act like he was the wounded puppy not me.

 I may not have the family or life I had yesterday, but I still have me. And I am worth more that this, to be wedded to someone I don’t love or care for.

 Sitting in yet another car and hoping the driver is taking me where he promised, not maiming and dumping me making Barraza a widower even before he makes it back to the villa.

 We arrive at the airport and the very same aircraft that brought me here, is waiting there like a little b***h. God, I hope the same chick isn’t serving me coffee, cause I will burn her smug smile off her face if I see her again.

 I walk up the stairs and same as last time, the flight crew is there to welcome me. To my relief, or maybe theirs, it is not the same crew as last time. Captain gives me quick nod and leaves for cockpit, same with the first officer and I am left alone with my personal flight attendant. 

 She smiles and shows me to the cabin without any chitchat, I really appreciated that, I don’t need the trained hospitality they usually stuff down your throat.

 Once again, I am sitting in this over the top fancy aircraft, only this time I know what is waiting for me on the landing strip – my demolished life.

 It serves me right to blindly trust people and to think I can protect myself, when the truth is I am a silly girl thinking I can win a knife fight with just my bare hands. I wish I could break something, a plate or a vase or Barrazas’ neck, something.

 “Can I get you something?” A soft voice shakes me from my thoughts and I am face-to-face with my flight attendant wearing nametag Paige. 

 “Do you have something I can break?” I ask jokingly, hiding my true desire to ruin something to see if it helps heal my own ruined life.

 She starts looking around like searching for something and it makes me laugh internally a little, then she leaves without saying a word. In a minute, she is back and hands me a handful of pencils, “Maybe these will work?” She waits for my reaction as I look from her to the pancils.

 This time I smile widely at her, “They’ll work perfectly.” 

 I c***k one in half. The sound and feeling of something fragile breaking in my hand does not heal my life, but it heals my soul. Pencil by pencil I snap them in half. 

 “I wish I could help you little more,” she says while watching me destroy what were probably her pencils.

 “If you could kill Barraza, that would help me.” There is no point being subtle. He knows I hate him and I am relatively sure he knows I want him gone. I want the earth to swallow him and undo everything he ever did to hurt other people. To hurt me.

 “Oh! So, you’re the new Mrs. Barraza who took the hottest badass bachelor off the market. Very pleased to meet you,” she stretches her arm to shake mine. 

 “Hottest bachelor? Tell me more please?” How can people say that when there are no public pictures about him? Is it the money and power that makes all the ladies go crazy over someone they have never met? 

 “Oh yeah. Well maybe not the People’s magazine hot hot hot, but in our circle, women are throwing themselves at him left and right.” I like how casually she is talking to me, not caring I am married to his boss and not pretending to care about me. She seems very unbothered and it is catching on.

 “Are you one of these women?” I ask blatantly. Not that I am jealous, lets say out of curiosity or to keep the conversation going. Lets just say that.  

 She starts to laugh and shakes her head, “Hell no. I am happily married to man I know will come home every night and is not being hunted down by every other gangster in the world,” she says with genuine smile and I realize that I know absolutely nothing about my brand new husband. How he makes his billions or what he spends it on. Who is on his payroll or who is after his life? 

 “I guess you are one of the lucky ones.” I envy her for finding what she was looking for and not being forced into it. She has what most women want but not everyone achieves.

 “Sometimes luck waits for you in the darkest of places.”