Page 9 of Curvalicious

Maite

The day had finally arrived. I had to be brave and face the music. I knew I was meeting my custody lawyer, the one which charged me by the hour. I had to get there on time for the meeting with my ex, Rick. My heart was beating out of control as I adjusted my black pencil skirt and blazer. They were too tight. I didn’t possess a suit of my own, but luckily, Lara, my best friend, was willing to lend me one. If things did go to court, then most likely I would have to wear it every day. Then again, if it went to court, I would need to sell a kidney to pay for my lawyer.

I ran up to the door, thinking about my babies, imagining a glow in their eyes every day and knowing I had to be a part of their lives. I’d left them once; I couldn’t do it again. I knew they were well looked after and had money, a lot more than I had to offer them. The one thing I had which was priceless, waslove.

“Ms. Maite Rodriguez to see Harvard Pickles,” I said to the receptionist.

“Mate. They’re expecting you,” the petite blond receptionist said as her eyes lit up.

I corrected her, “My name is Maite, you pronounce it Mytea.”

She ignored me as she stood and told her colleagues to cover her.

I watched her, frozen and unable to move, as she moved to the side. She pointed to one of the entrance doors, then pressed a button and it opened.

“Come here, and we’ll head up.” She smiled as I walked toward her at the back of the receptionist’s desk. I felt so intimidated standing next to her. She towered over me with her tall, slender figure. I’d never worried about my size. I was an average height, with an hour-glass figure, but here in the lawyer’s office, with women who most likely ate what I had for breakfast in pieces which would last them all week long, I felt out of place.

From my cheap perfume to my high-heels, which only made me a couple of inches taller, I felt…less than. She wore stilettos, and as she smiled at me, the same smile she seemed to give everyone that passed her by, I wondered what she thought of me. Back home, in Mexico, I wouldn’t care. I didn’t give a shit what anyone thought of me, but there was something about being in L.A. that brought about this type of insecurity. Lara, my best friend and savior in this big mess, said this was the issue with being a foreigner: you felt as if everyone was looking and laughing at you, when deep down, there was nothing of the sort going on. It was all in our heads.

“Right, follow me, and I’ll lead the way.” She didn’t wait for me to reply, and I followed her like a lamb being led to the slaughter. I’d lost my kids once, there was no option to do it again. If I did, my heart would sink and I would die of natural causes.

“Everyone makes mistakes,cariño. Doesn’t mean they have to spend the rest of their lives suffering for them.”

Lara’s words were ringing through my ears as we approached the elevator. The pretty blonde receptionist smiled, but this time, I was too nervous to return it. I couldn’t be bothered with fake pretenses, not right now.

I looked down at the floor. I couldn’t see my reflection in the pale tiles, but I knew if I could, I would see the tears which were about to fall.

“In we go!” she commanded, and I could tell she was going to say something to break the ice, but I felt defeated as she stuck her arm out and pressed the button to what seemed to be the top floor.

Mierda!

My vertigo was sure to kick in. As if I wasn’t nervous enough as it was.

“We’ll be there soon. This is the private elevator.”

I stuttered, “It’s so high up.”

Her face changed from being stone-cold to warm, as if she could see the fear in my eyes and she no longer gave me the fake smile she offered everyone as she wrapped her arm around me and whispered, “Don’t think of going up, just straight.”

I looked up at her, the tears which I held back for so long flowing freely. I didn’t care if I cried in front of her. It seemed silly to worry about such things in that moment.

“I used to suffer, too. It helps. Just close your eyes and think about it.”

I did as she said and took a deep breath. She was right. The higher we went, the more I felt as if we were going forward, not upward.

I giggled like a child as the doors chimed and I opened my eyes. “It worked!”

She held my hand, her fingers long and slender, but warm. Whereas mine were just sweaty from being high up. I avoided looking at the floor number, because I knew if I saw which floor we were on I would panic again.

As I stepped out, Rick was standing, smiling, with his arms crossed. Every reason I’d fallen in love with him was staring at me. I was trying to hate his big grin, emerald eyes, and dark hair—everything about him, really. He was someone else’s, not mine. I couldn’t think of him in that way, even if I wanted to.

“Well. Seems everything is all done.”

He brushed past me, heading for the elevator. The same one I’d just stepped out of, with the help of the receptionist. I spun around, but it was too late. The doors were closing, and I was left breathless. I spotted my lawyer, who’d been hired to help me with my custody battle through the glass door opposite the elevator.

“Oh good, you made it!” Her dark eyes spun around to me. She was Lara’s lawyer, as well, which was how I found her. Lara said that she helped win an impossible case, but she didn’t offer any more information than that. I didn’t know if it was her case or someone else’s.

She was in her forties, so I knew she had experience. She had dark hair, like myself, which she constantly wore in a bun. Like the receptionist, she was near to a size zero and she always seemed to be in a hurry, as if she was anxious. I’d seen her one time smoking in the parking lot and figured that was probably why she was always in a hurry, to get outside and smoke.

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