Rebuilding Ruins (BOOK 1)

1. NEW BEGINNINGS

THREE MONTHS LATER

ANGEL ROSE

I see my highschool friend Camille waving at me at the airport a huge smile on her face. We had been talking on f*******: and when I mentioned to her that I needed a fresh start she had mentioned she was looking for someone to assist her at the flower shop she owns. I couldn't turn down a job offer so I had accepted even though it meant moving to another city so here I am. Living in the same city as Carl was starting to suffocate me. I needed to put some distance between us.

"Oh Cami. It feels forever since I've seen you" I give her a bone crushing hug.

"I know right" she hugs me tight. Just what I needed.

I had to leave my matrimonial home when Carl sent the divorce papers a month after his parents' anniversary. I think he blocked my number cause I couldn't reach him and he wouldn't see me when I went to his workplace and it killed me inside. I couldn't bring myself to sign the divorce papers just yet as it would have meant I had to move out.

I had no idea what I would do next and moving back with my mother wasn't an option. My plan was to go away for a short while and return looking hot and when Carl saw me he wouldn't be able to resist me. I needed to fix myself mentally, physically and emotionally because I am damaged. I had only managed to fix myself physically after going on a strict diet and but still I feel ugly and my confidence is non existent.

"Wow. You've changed" Camille says when we pull apart. She takes my suitcase from me and wheels it to the exit.

"I hope it's in a good way" I smile.

"Trust me it is" she returns my smile.

"You pretty much still look the same. It's hard to believe you have three kids" I chuckle.

"You got to stay hot if you want your husband to stay" she grins.

"You sure look hot" I wink.

"Really? Thanks" she blushes.

"I should start looking for an apartment. Know any places I can rent out?"I ask.

"I'll need a few days to ask around" she pops the trunk open.

"Just hope it takes only a few days for me to get one. You know how my mother is like when she sees valuable things. She'll take my jewelry and sell it till there's nothing left" I lift the suitcase and put it in the trunk.

"You could move in with me"

"Cami I can't"

"And why not?" she closes the trunk and crosses her arms over her chest.

"You're-" I start to say but she cuts me short.

"My husband wouldn't mind trust me. Now come on" she opens the car door and gets in. Now what do I say to that.

I do as I'm told and Camille drives us to her house where I take a quick shower and eat something she prepared. She suggests I lay down and rest if I'm feeling jet legged but I'm so excited to see her after so long I can't bring myself to take a nap. We've got some serious catching up to do. I mean I haven't seen the girl since our high school days. After lunch we head to the flower shop where we find her mother behind the counter talking to a customer.

"Hey there Angel Rose" Hazel smiles at me.

"Mrs Cohen" I return her smile.

"I'm still Hazel to you dear" she hugs me.

"You don't look a day older than forty"

"Blame it on the genes. Look at my daughter over there, doesn't look a day past twenty" Hazel looks at Camille.

"Couldn't agree with you more" Cami and I giggle.

Hazel is Camille's mother and she's married to the politician Ronald Cohen. They were caught in a scandal when Hazel had cheated on her then husband who is also Camille's father during our teenage years, a scandal that left Camille a target to bullying. Her friends isolated her and that is how we came to be friends. Weeks later people moved on to more scandalous news like when another student almost killed another over a girl. After talking some more Hazel leaves and Camille shows me around. She tells me she has a helper a college student who comes a few times each week. The day goes by in a flash and when knock out time comes we drive back to her house. She introduces me to her husband and three kids. They look like the perfect family, making me wish I had my own. After dinner I make my way to my room to give Camille space to have family time with her husband and three sons. She had told me earlier she and her husband Michael were working on another baby and she was hoping for a girl this time around. The week goes by fast and I must say I like being back to my home town. On Saturday I drive to my mother's and don't find her.

"Angel Rose?" I hear someone call.

I look to see Kaito my mother's neighbor a Japanese old lady.

"Mrs Mac Ealair" I walk down the porch steps to her.

"It's really you" she kisses my cheek and hugs me.

"How have you been" I smile at her.

"I've been good. Just wondering how you were" she pulls away cupping my face.

"I've been okay"

Kaito treated us like family growing up. She was good friends with my grandmother and the two older women liked taking their grandchildren to Kaito's Japanese themed cabin she owns with her husband Logan Mac Ealair and my brother and I would have the time of our lives.

"Come on in for some tea Rosie" she grins.

"You haven't called me that in years" I giggle.

I'm doing my best not to recall Carl calling me that. I'm trying to get over the guy and right now I don't want to be thinking about him.

"That is because you don't visit your mother anymore" she leads me to her house.

"She's visited from time to time"

"I bet she has" she opens her front door.

After helping her prepare my favorite Japanese herbal tea we go sit in her beautiful garden which is blooming with flowers.

"How is Carlton?" she asks.

"Calton is good I guess" I sip on the tea hoping it'll calm me down.

"You don't sound too sure" she takes a bite from the yuzu tart.

"I haven't seen him in months"

"You two are still married?" she questions.

"Only on paper. He asked for a divorce" I take a huge bite from the matcha creampuff.

"That's a shame. Oh well it's his loss" Kai shrugs.

"He won't miss me trust me" I snot.

"Oh he will believe me. You wait and see"

Kaito invites me to her cabin just to get away from everything but I've been alone for too long. Maybe if I invite Camille for some girl time. Come to think of it Carl took the staff when he moved out last month. Of course he didn't come collect his clothes himself. He sent his assistant and that was like a slap in the face. After having tea we busy ourselves with feeding her parrots our leftovers. I can't help laughing every time the parrots repeat everything we say. I still find it funny. When I hear my mother's laugh I bid Kaito goodbye and head back. As I near the front door I hear moans and groans signalling she's in the house getting down and dirty with God knows who. I've walked in on her countless times growing up and she'd continue like I'm not in the room so whenever I'd come home to a scene like this I'd just go to my room and lock myself inside because the men she sometimes bought home would try getting me to have s*x with them when my mother is passed out from drugs. I knock on the door trying my best to ignore the sounds coming from inside the house. After knocking a couple of times and nobody answers the door I go sit on the porch waiting patiently for her. Almost fifteen minutes later the front door finally opens and a man exits followed by my mother.

"See you later" he pecks her on the lips.

"Are you coming back tonight?" mom asks.

"You bet I am. Now remember, I want you sober so stay away from any drugs"

"It's been a week already baby. I can do more" this is a first.

My mother has been hooked on drugs since I was fourteen after my dad ran off with his mistress. My father never stopped being a part of my life, I went to visit whenever I could. My brother Jackson on the other hand never bothered going to visit because he was still bitter my father had torn our family apart. I wasn't happy about dad leaving but I wasn't angry about it either. Maybe things weren't working between them. It's funny though that the same fate my mother suffered is the same one I'm going through. When my mother's buddy leaves she finally notices me.

"Angel Rose. What are you doing here?" she looks sober today which is a good thing because I'm not looking forward to having meaningless conversation with her after going for almost two years without seeing her.

"Hi mom. I'm doing good, hope you're doing well too" I say my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Your husband has been calling me none stop asking where you were for the past month. You need to go back there now, in fact let me go call him and tell him you're here" she walks back into the house and I follow her.

"He knows I'm here" I lie, anything to stop her from calling Carl. I don't want him to come searching for me knowing he'd demand I sign the divorce papers.

I knew it was only a matter of time before he starts pressuring me into signing so I changed the locks in the house after he sent his assistant to collect his clothes. I'm not ready to be a divorcee just yet.

"You know I thought Jennie was imagining things when she told me she saw you at that flower shop a few days ago. Why are you back in town, you're supposed to be home with your husband"

"He doesn't live at home anymore mom"

"What do you mean he doesn't live at home anymore Angel?" she c***s her head to he side.

"He has a mistress and an illegitimate child. He lives with them now"

"You are lying. Why are you lying. That man loves you too much to do that to you" she glares at me. You'd think Carl is her son the way she's defending him.

"I thought so too but he changed when he realized I was the reason why we couldn't have children" I make my way to the living room and sit on the couch.

"Did he stop giving you money?"

"Why do I keep forgetting that money is the only thing you care about?" I shake my head.

She wouldn't care if Carl beat me black and blue every single day as long as she got money from him which I'm assuming he still sends her like he's done since we got married. Carl cared so much about my loved ones that he did everything to make sure they were well taken care of and my mother doesn't want her cash flow to stop if I were to get a divorce from him. What she doesn't know is that I'm trying to keep that from happening too. The divorce I mean.

"I do care about you but that man is my source of income. You know this Angel Rose. If you stay here another day he might ask for a divorce and that can't do"

"Then go get a job or something mom"

"I raised you, the least you could do is stay with that man to make sure I have everything I want" she huffs.

"I don't know why I bothered coming here" I get on my feet "And just so you know he asked for a divorce" I say before walking out the room.

"What? He asked for a divorce? No no no. This can't be happening. You need to go back to him and get on your knees and beg him to take you back" she follows me.

"I will go ask him to stay with me when I'm ready" I open the front door and exit.

"It better be soon. I'm only giving you a week to make up your mind about going back because the next time he calls I'm going to tell him you're here" she says before I get into my car and drive off.

I knew she would get this way when I told her everything that's happened over the years but it doesn't mean it hurts any less she puts money before me. I drive to the lake where I find a couple of guys standing next to a car which has music playing so loud I don't know how they are able to have conversation, and beer cans in their hands. It's times like these that I wish I had my own apartment where I can go and be alone. The plan was to stay in Camille's house till I find a place of my own but she insisted I stay longer so I did. I had told her that I'd only stay if she gave me my space which she agreed to after I told her what happened between me and Carl. I was still healing and spending time around her perfect family isn't easy. I walk further away from the loud sound of music and go sit on a big rock right in front of the water and get lost in my thoughts.

Would Carl want me back when he sees how much weight I've lost. I'm not exactly a size zero but I love my body the way it is now. I'm not a fan of being stick thin, I have curves were they matter the most. I hope he remembers our love and give our marriage another chance. Maybe if I suggest we try for a baby again through a surrogate he would say yes this time. I sit there for a while watching the ducks swimming about. I start humming a tune and before long I'm full out singing like I have an audience watching when I hear a throat clearing from behind me. I look to see a beefy guy who looks around my age standing there with a can of beer in his hand. He must be friends with the guys I saw standing next to a car blasting music.

"Hi" he says.

"Hey"

"You are really good at this by the way" he comes and sits next to me.

"Thank you"

"My name is Mateo" he stretches out his hand and I take it.

"Angel"

"You surely sing like one. Where did you learn to sing like that?" he smirks.

"Thank you. My grandmother taught me" I blush.

"My father has a bar down town. You should come perform tonight"

"I would love that" I smile. I haven't sang in front of anybody since my in-law's anniversary, I'm looking forward to tonight.

We talk some more then I leave and head back to the house where I find it empty. I text Cami asking if I should cook dinner but she tells me they won't be back till after dinner. I guess I'll be going to the bar by myself but it's okay. I'm used to being alone anyways. It's taken years of living in my matrimonial home alone to get used to doing things on my own. And besides I don't want to cause problems between Camille and her husband taking her out with me at night. I spend the rest of the day picking a song to perform later tonight. After dinner I go take a shower and dress up in one of my favorite dresses Carl bought for me when we went to Paris one time and pair that with a pair of gorgeous colored wedge heels. I need to make a good first impression if I want to be remembered. When I'm satisfied with the way I look I leave the house and drive to the bar.