The View From The SideWalk
320 Words
Lucas stood on the cramped balcony of their apartment, a mocking laugh bubbling in his throat. "A driver? Avery, your delusions are getting worse. Is it a tractor coming to pick you up?".
He followed her down to the curb, eager to see her "driver" arrive in a beat-up taxi so he could get one last jab in before Sarah picked him up in her entry-level Mercedes.
The street was quiet for a moment, and then the air began to vibrate.
A sleek, midnight-black Rolls-Royce Cullinan rounded the corner, followed by two identical security SUVs. The motorcade moved with a synchronized grace that screamed power. Neighbors peered out their windows as the heavy vehicles came to a halt directly in front of their modest building, effectively blocking the entire street.
Lucas’s jaw dropped. "What... what is this? An embassy visit?"
The door of the lead car opened, and a man in a crisp suit—someone Lucas recognized from the covers of Global Finance—stepped out. He didn't even glance at Lucas. Instead, he bowed ninety degrees toward Avery.
"Madam CEO, the Chairman has been waiting for your return," the man said, his voice echoing in the stunned silence of the neighborhood. "Your flight to the headquarters is cleared for departure".
Avery didn't look back at the apartment. She didn't look back at the man who had just traded a diamond for a piece of glass. She stepped into the plush leather interior of the car, the door closing with a heavy, expensive thud that sounded like the closing of a tomb on Lucas's future.
As the motorcade pulled away, Lucas stood on the sidewalk, clutching the divorce papers. He looked in awe and mounting horror at the retreating taillights, finally realizing that the "rural girl" he had looked down upon was the very sun his world revolved around.
- Writer
