Everything falls apart
Her day was turning into one major shit storm. That morning, she woke up bright and early with a job and a fiancée. That evening, while she sipped on her tea, she realized she had lost both. How could she have been so optimistic about everything, just to have life slap her in the face? She was exhausted beyond measure; she had a massive headache and all she wanted to do was curl up into a little ball and die. Maybe she just wouldn’t wake up, maybe her body would just figure it had had enough stress for a lifetime and she would just stay asleep. Or maybe she would wake up the next day and feel happy that the life she had for the past 6 years was over and she could start anew. Who knew? She certainly didn’t, and she didn’t want to dwell on it tonight. All she wanted was a warm bath and a good book to help her fall asleep. She probably wouldn’t have either and just fall asleep on the couch before even getting up to run the bath. Reality was a bitter pill to swallow. She mustered up the strength to stand up and go look at herself in the bathroom mirror. What she saw made her cringe, but she kept her gaze and tried to smile. That morning she had applied her makeup with such precision, she had been sure that it would help when she saw her boss to talk about her promotion possibilities. She remembered walking into his office, smiling, so happy to know that they were going to show their appreciation after six years of extremely hard work. Instead, she had walked out of the meeting with mascara running down her cheeks and a nose so red, she could have given Rudolph a run for his money.
To just make a horrible day worse, she had gotten home early and found out that her fiancée had been cheating on her with her best friend. Talk about life kicking you when you’re down. She had lost her mother in a car accident three years prior and Christopher had stuck with her through her spiralling depression and recovery. He had seemed like the perfect man, so she had agreed to marry him. Boy, was she wrong. She had not given him a chance to explain much, just enough for her to figure out that he had been seeing Michelle ever since she had lost her mom. He had turned to Michelle for affection because she hadn’t been able to give him any during a long time. And here she thought that she was marrying her knight in shining armour.
She had taken his suitcase out of the closet, thrown in the on the bed and told him not to forget a thing because she would burn it if he did. Her fiancée’s long-time girlfriend and her once best friend screamed and cried for forgiveness the entire time. Neither of them deserved any more of her precious time. She yelled at them to get out, and reluctantly, they both made their way to the door. When the door closed, she fell to the floor and cried out in anger. How could life do this to her? She tried to search her brain, looking for something she might have done that warranted this punishment. She didn’t see it at that very moment, but her life turning to crap was a blessing in disguise.
‘’Eleni Soriakis?’’
The clock showed four o’clock in the morning. Helen sat up and rubbed her tired eyes. Who the hell was calling her at this hour and who in the world knew her birth name?
‘’Yes, speaking.’’
She waited for the woman to speak some more.
‘’Your father has passed away, I’m sorry.’’
Helen laughed and brought her hand up to her throbbing head.
’’I haven’t spoken to my father in over ten years, it’s not a loss.’’
The woman on the phone sighed and continued, ‘’You need to come for the will reading in two days.’’
Helen sat up straight and tried to clear her throat. All that crying had done a number on her vocal cords.
‘’I’m pretty sure my father didn’t have anything of value to leave me.’’
The woman cleared her throat and added,
’He is leaving you something of value, but I cannot say until the reading.’’
Helen asked for the contact information and hung up. Talk about life throwing you a curve ball. What on earth could a deadbeat drunk leave his daughter who he hadn’t talked to in over ten years? She didn’t want to have to deal with this on top of everything else. However, she was curious to know if he had indeed left her something. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have the free time to go and she had never taken any vacations during her six years at the firm, so she had enough money saved up to stay for a long time without worry. While she thought about it, she realized that losing her job and her fiancée finally were not the worst things that could have happened. Her ex was a loser and her boss had been taking advantage of her hard work for too many years. She was way better off today than she was yesterday, however, she still needed to figure out the rest of her life. Going to Greece for the will reading was the first step in her new life search.
She was nervous as well as looking forward to visiting her father’s country. She remembered in his more lucid moments, he would talk to her about his love for the unique olive trees, the night sky filled with stars and the amazing food. He had always talked about going back to his home country, seeing what was left of his family and friends. He had decided one morning, after a night he could barely remember and a wife he had left bruises on, that she and his daughter would be better off without him. He had left, not once mentioning to either his wife or his daughter that they would never see him again. Helen decided after all the reflection that Greece was where she would be in two days. She couldn’t go back to sleep, so she woke up, took a shower and had a big cup of tea. She sipped slowly, thinking about what life could possibly have in store for her now.
