Be With Me

Chapter 56

Rafaela woke up the next morning with her eyes so swollen that she could barely keep them open. She looked around a bit lost and still trying to process the events in her mind. The woman's voice echoing in her head. She groaned loud and began to throw objects against the wall. He could have done anything to her, anything, but cheating on her. That was the only thing he knew she wouldn't forgive him, the one thing and still, he did it, or she thought he had done it.

She looked around her room lost and took her hands to her hair, pulling it and then fell on her knees crying a bit more.

"He couldn't have done this. He couldn't." She sobbed all alone and cried for some time.

Then she went to the bathroom to take a shower, under water she thought about what to do. Obviously, catching the plane to New York as initially planned, was out of the question. She wouldn't meet him; she wouldn't talk to him again. She needed to get away, but where? While drying herself, it hit her. She had a plan B, a plan she never considered it to be a plan, but she thought as of a blessing that moment. Rafaela ran back inside the room and put on some jeans and shirt and then turned her cell on. Dozens of messages began to arrive, all of James, and she decided to delete them all without even reading or hearing them.

"Tod?" She said as her boss picked up her call.

"Rafaela, hi." Tod said a bit surprised.

"How's that thing in LA?" She asked.

"You want to go?" He asked her.

"Yes." She said determined with tears falling down her eyes. She was broken. She felt her heart cracking into small pieces. She wanted to die.

"What happened? What made you change your mind?" He tried to know.

"Don't make me questions, just tell me what I have to do."

"Well, can you come here to meet me?"

"Give me an hour or so." She told him.

As she hung up the phone, her cell rang right away. James's name appeared on the display and she shuddered a bit, then she refused the call and turned the cell off again. Last thing she wanted was to talk to him. Going down to the kitchen, she grabbed some yogurt and fruit and had it as breakfast and then she grabbed her purse and went away. As she passed by her suitcases near the door, her eyes filled with tears once again. She looked horrible, she knew it, but still she had a goal and that was to go away from there as fast as she could and hopefully she wouldn't be found. She didn't want to be found by anyone. All she wanted to run away and hide.

Morning traffic was insane, it took her more than what she thought to get downtown, but eventually she got there. Tod received her with a smile.

"You look awful." He commented as he closed the door of his office. He could tell something horrible had happened to her.

"Please don't say a thing and let's go straight to business. What do I have to do?" She asked sitting on the chair in front of his desk. Tod looked at her strangely, she looked strange indeed.

"Are you sure, Rafi?" He still insisted. Rafaela looked really lost. She was far from being alright and he was sure her decision was not a sane one.

"Tell me the details..." She said again and he nodded resigned.

"The flight is tomorrow after lunch. Someone is going to be down at the airport waiting for you. After you called, I arranged everything and have talked to people down in LA already. There they will instruct you of what you must do and what they want. I told them you were one of our best architects, I am not lying, you are, and I know you won't let us down."