A shrill sound broke through the quietness in the office. Kathleen picked the landline on her office desk and the secretary's voice came through.
"Kathleen, you are needed at the director's office now for an urgent meeting."
"Hope there is no problem, Jenny?" Kathleen asked
"None that I know of, but I'm sure you'll find out soon."
"Ok, I'll be on my way then."
About twenty minutes later Kathleen came out of the director's office beaming with smiles.
She was elated on learning that she has been chosen to accompany the director to the annual conference held each year by the pharmaceutical company she works with. This year's conference was going to be held in Los Angeles.
Jenny congratulated her sincerely and she returned to prepare the final reports on the project she was working on.
It was already Friday so she had just two days to prepare for the conference as they were scheduled to set out by Monday the following week.
She was so immersed with her task, ensuring that everything was set for the trip that she didn't notice how time flew by.
At 5pm she got off work and was on her way home when her phone beeped. It was a message from Shawn asking her to meet him for dinner at a private room at the Golden Club.
She was excited about dining out with him since he rarely had time from his busy schedule to socialize except for business purposes, she also felt it was the perfect opportunity to inform Shawn about the upcoming trip to LA and immediately made a detour from her route to the club.
On arrival she knocked on the door according to the room number in the text. The door had hardly opened enough for her to enter when she was knocked out by someone.
She opened her eyes a few minutes later to discover that she was half naked and in bed with a total stranger. She was shocked beyond words and didn't need to be told that she had walked into a trap.
She quickly checked her body and was greatly relieved to discover that nothing happened between them.
She threw back the covers and quickly scrambled out of the bed and was in the process of putting her clothes on when the door was suddenly kicked open and Shawn rushed in with Linda Beazell close behind his heels.
Kathleen's face paled in an instant and she looked down in guilt unable to meet his gaze.
On seeing Kathleen half naked, Shawn halted in his steps so suddenly that Linda who was following closely behind bumped her nose right into his back.
"It's … it's…. it's not what you think, I.. I can explain," Kathleen stammered in panic.
When she didn't get any response she summoned courage to look up.
What she saw was a speechless Shawn whose eyes were about to drop from their sockets. Like a slide from a PowerPoint presentation, the shock was swiftly replaced with a dark, and furious expression. It was obvious from the way he was clenching and unclenching his fists, that he was desperately trying to suppress his surging emotions.
Shawn didn't utter a single word the entire time: from when he stepped into the room till he left, but the hurt and betrayal in his eyes was unmistakable.
Linda also left with him but the cynical grin on her face didn't escape Kathleen's watchful eyes, and she knew at that moment that Linda had something to do with the incidence.
She was jolted back to the present by a knock on the door.
Before she got to the door, it was opened from outside and her friend, Lauren Holmes came in, looking angry and impatient.
"Kathleen, what's going on with you? I've been knocking for a while now, I even called you several times before coming over but you didn't pick your calls."
"Wait, you look terrible, are you sick?" Her nagging was replaced with concern when she saw Kathleen's pale face.
"Shawn is asking for a divorce," Kathleen uttered, abject despair saturating each word, causing Lauren's eyes to widen in shock.
"This is the greatest joke I've heard this year. You can't be serious, right? The last time I checked you guys were one of the best loving couples I ever saw. What happened to change that?"
"It's unbelievable, right?" Kathleen sighed dejectedly and proceeded to recount her ordeal from yesterday to what transpired between her and Shawn just a few minutes back.
"I always knew that green-eyed witch was bound to do something sooner or later, but how could Shawn believe you'd cheat on him after all what you've been through with him?"
"I don't really blame him considering the state I was in when he saw me at the club, but he should have at least carried out a proper investigation before making such a harsh decision." Kathleen said solemnly.
"So what are you going to do now, are you going to sign the papers and let that green eyed witch have her way?"
"I wish I knew, Lauren. Right now I can't even think properly. Lauren, do you think I am cursed?"
Lauren was alarmed and quickly rebuked her, "stop that right now Kathy! What has gotten into you? Why would you imagine such nonsense about yourself?"
"But I keep losing everything and everyone that matters to me," Kathleen cried out in frustration.
"First, the person I've always known and taken to be my mother and only family all these years had to leave me suddenly due to cancer after informing me I wasn't her biological child and was picked up from an orphanage gate."
"It is clearly obvious my biological parents felt I was a nuisance and abandoned me. Now Shawn wants nothing to do with me either. Maybe I'm destined to live a poor, lonely and miserable life for the rest of my life."
She broke down in tears, letting lose all the emotions she'd held in place before now.