Finding Solace

Chapter 5

Bella was at her desk going through Mr. Benson's schedule for the week. The past few days had been quite tough after her boss had been attacked. Bella had only ever seen a gun once. It was three years ago, when she had finally called the cops on her abusive husband and got him arrested. Her ex-husband,Liam, the pathetic excuse of a man had been hitting her and one day, when she refused to sleep with him, tried to force himself in her. Bella, in an attempt to protect herself ,hit his head with a vase as he lost consciousness. She had turned to her brother, who was a lawyer in L.A. ,for help. Liam was arrested and the legal procedures followed soon after. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Justin, Bella's brother asked her to move to L.A. with him to which she said yes.

Even after moving to L.A. , it had been extremely difficult for Bella to move on. She was extremely paranoid that Liam would somehow escape prison and come back. Therapy helped her with the panic attacks. But three months later, something happened.

She was pregnant.

Bella had always been a career-oriented woman. She had wanted it all. A successful career, maybe in business since she was a business major in college, a happy marriage and children and a beautiful house. She had married Liam soon after college, which in retrospect, hadn't been her smartest decision. But Liam had never shown any signs that he didn't want her to work. It was only after marriage, that he showed his true colours. He became controlling and wouldn't even allow her to leave the house, let alone going out and working. She couldn't believe that a person could change so drastically and so suddenly. It took a few months, but soon she realised that this was him. He had always been like this. The gentleman-ly act before marriage was a hoax. Their marriage hadn't even lasted a year. Eight months. The nightmare had been eight months long.

And now it was over.

But in the grand scheme of things, eight months wasn't that long. That's what her therapist said. And she agreed. She was still twenty three at that time. She still had her entire life ahead of her.

And now she had someone to share it with. And that's when she made a decision. To give herself and her child a life that they both deserved.

She moved back to New York with her mother. Her brother had helped her and she would owe her life to him but she couldn't keep depending on him. She wouldn't be dependent on men all her life.

After moving back to New York, she worked as a waitress for a while. And then, Mason was born. No matter where she ended up in life, Bella knew that the day she gave birth to her little boy, had to be the best day of her life. Nothing would ever match up to the amount of joy and happiness she felt seeing his face.

Waitressing was not the most difficult
job but it wasn't the most lucrative either. So, Bella decided to make use of her degree and get herself another job. And that's how she ended up working for the businessman, Steve Benson.

Bella had many regrets in life but ending her marriage with Liam or getting him arrested was not amongst them. She was relieved that she had ended it before Mason was born. She would protect her son from any evil that exists and he would grow up to be a good man.

She was looking at her son's picture on her phone with a small smile on her face, when a sudden knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.
She looked up and did a double take
at the sight of the deliriously handsome man that had made his way into her thoughts in the last few days. He was standing there, leaning against the door with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. She put her phone down and stood up as he started walking towards her.

" Smiling at your boyfriend's picture during work hours. I must admit, Miss Grace, I didn't expect such unprofessional behaviour from you, of all people." He said as he rounded the table and sat on her desk, just beside her.