Page 2 of Empowered
Sarah went to New York City at least once a month. Sometime twice, if her brain were particularly fried and her body begging for a break. Yet getaways to New York, even with her connections to cheaper accommodations and travel tickets, were not cheap.
Her getaways were escapes. Escapes that allowed her to explore sides of herself she desperately needed to embrace. Otherwise, incidences like the one Mr. Monroe found her in became all too frequent. Despair mounted. Depression returned. Determination to implode took over an already frayed mind. The flashbacks were the worst, and they were getting worse recently.
Sarah hurried to finish her work for the week, while still maintaining her outstanding level of quality. Occasionally her brother texted her.“Gonna bring home dinner from work. Carly’s coming over. You want anchovies or no?”
She bothered to send him one text before tuning her twin out indefinitely.“No pizza for me. I’ll make my own dinner.”No carbs or extraneous sodium before her big trip. She needed to fit into her travel clothes. Comfortably, even.
Finishing work early meant she could leave early. Anything her boss needed could be taken care of by Alisha Oduya, the other executive assistant on duty. She and Alice returned exactly ten minutes before Sarah hoped to clock out. The assistant sent Sarah a sour look. Not regarding her, no, since she and Alisha got along well enough, but due to the meeting they returned from.
“Is my husband in?” A pregnant woman in Valentino approached Sarah’s desk. Aside from the bulge announcing the impending arrival of the next great Monroe heir, Alice Monroe was as impeccably styled as Sarah’s desk. Straight blond hair brushed against her squared shoulders. A Cartier diamond tennis bracelet dangled from her wrist, an emerald ring as big as the woman’s eye twinkling on her left hand. The dress was so fitted to the new matriarch’s pregnant frame that Sarah added up the costs in her head.Five-thousand for the dress. Another five for the personal tailoring. A couple grand knocked off by the designer if she’s photographed in it. Even more if she shows up in the society pages clearly wearing a maternity dress of this caliber.No comment on the flats already kicked off so Mrs. Monroe could wiggle her swollen toes. “Thought I’d ask before I trek all the way over there. I need to sit down.”
“I haven’t seen him leave, no.”
“Good. Need to talk to him about what happened. Er, Alisha will fill you in.” No matter how much she avoided waddling, Alice still succumbed to the uncomfortable gait so many pregnant women before her had already embraced.
The other assistant slumped in front of the desk adjacent to Sarah’s.My brother used to sit there, when we worked together.He had been fired a few months ago. For pushing Alice down the stairs. By Russell Monroe’s command, but who was keeping track? “God! What a bullshit meeting. Glad you’re on the same page I am, girl, ‘cause I need to tell someone about that crackheaded lawyer.”
“Mr. Lowenstein is considered the best in the business.” Sarah would know. She was the one who put the Monroes in touch with the property and inheritance lawyer.
“I don’t care. He thinks that monster’s new wife is going to be entitled to half the Monroe estate when he dies. Yeah, right. That money is supposed to go to Mr. and Mrs. Monroe. Maybe his ex-wife, you know? Pay some of those medical bills. The new wife’s got money of her own.”
“And a boyfriend on the side,” Sarah said with a sigh.
“That too. She’s only marrying the monster because it’s good for the family business. Otherwise, who the hell would…” Alisha stopped. “Sorry.”
“No worries.” Sarah assembled her personal belongings.Need to get more tissues.“It doesn’t bother me.” That’s why she totally needed to swap work with Alisha, right? “Anyway, I’m heading out early. Have a good weekend.”
She thanked whatever angel following her that she was alone in the elevator. She needed some time to breathe and cry a little.
Sometimes shit was too overwhelming. Particularly when a survivor like Sarah did her best to store away the more painful memories of her recent history.
Russell Monroe was certainly the monster Alisha kept calling him. Sarah knew firsthand. So did Alice Monroe, but her father-in-law hadn’t succeeded in killingherbaby.
Nor had he fathered that baby in the first place. To think, that was one of the better memories.
Sarah knew it had been foolish to have an affair with her boss’s father, a man she occasionally worked for too. Back then, Russell Monroe had been somewhat charming. Handsome and fit for his age, too. While he wasn’t Sarah’s perfect type, the poor woman didn’t have much time to date, and rarely thought about it anyway.I should have said no. I should have walked away when he asked me to sleep with him.The Sarah of then had run out of logic. Having sex with a man who only made her feel special when he rolled over and fell asleep wasn’t her best moment.
The affair lasted weeks. Sarah knew it wouldn’t last, but it was a distraction from her stressful life. When she found out she was pregnant with who could very well be the second in line after Damon to the vast Monroe fortune and legacy, she took a couple of days to weigh her options, ultimately deciding to go straight to Russell to see what he thought.
He had promised her everything. Maybe not marriage, but recognition of their child on top of having all her medical needs taken care of by the best obstetrics team in the country. She would see enough child support to let her retire with their son or daughter to wherever the hell she wanted. All of this promised with that fake smile Sarah should have never trusted.
She had heard rumors that the death of Russell’s second child was because his ex-wife was beaten within an inch of her life while pregnant. By Russell’s own hands.
He didn’t beat Sarah. Not directly. First he knocked her out with pills andthenhad his bodyguard do the honors.
Sarah would never remember the event, and she was grateful for it. Still, waking up with a miscarriage was enough to scar her for the rest of her life. Scars she quickly bandaged up and kept hidden until the truth came out a few months ago when it also came to light that her brother was working with Russell to take out Alice. Because, as Nigel claimed, Russell threatened to hurt Sarah “again and again” if her brother didn’t cooperate.
Bonds were supposed to run deep between twins. Sarah had always thought so growing up. Yet not only had she never told her brother about the baby until it was too late for him to get used to becoming an uncle, they had grown even more apart since her disgust for him grew.
They still lived together. Sarah saw him the moment she walked into their apartment, his uniform still on his thin frame as the scent of pizza permeated the place. He waved his hand in greeting and went back to watching TV with girlfriend Carly.
She was a recent addition, acquired shortly after Nigel began working as a manager of an upscale pizza restaurant. She was nice. Sweet. Content to have a simple life with her British- descended boyfriend who spoke with an American accent. She also didn’t bother Sarah, which was a plus. Because when Sarah came home, she wanted nothing more than to eat dinner, take a bath, and hide in her room until it was time to come out again.
The pizza was beyond enticing to Sarah’s empty stomach. She almost stole a slice until she remembered her upcoming trip. “Travel clothes” was right.
“Hey, wanna watch ‘Better Call Saul’ with us?” Nigel asked as she walked by with her health-food she picked up on the way home. “We just started it. Now’s the time.”
“No, thanks. I need to pack.”
