In the evening Emilia left her mum's side with a promise to be back soon.
She took her time going to the stationary shop where she picked a planner, notebook, and an extra few pens.
She opened her wallet and hesitated. In the end, she didn't touch her new and shiny spending card as she felt that it was hard to justify using it. She still wasn't convinced that it was as simple as Patrick said it was.
Afterwards she walked towards the bus stop.
She felt particularly drained and emotional after the visit today.
Emilia sat on the bench of the bus stop, trying to hold back the tears. Her mum was deteriorating for so long and it hurt so much to see her fade away. Yet, she couldn't not see her. She couldn't just avoid the inevitable. Sometimes it felt like the end was close. Sometimes she still had hope.
Going back to her home was always dejecting. The rooms where she sang with her mum, where they laughed, where they played, were now filled with the low hum of the machines that were pumping a drug cocktail which didn't seem to be making her mum that much better.
Emilia took out the book and started reading it again, nearing the end now. She tried to distract herself before having a complete meltdown. But even then, a few stray tears escaped her eyes which she wiped with the sleeve of her cardigan. She missed having a mum that she could tell everything to and who always tried to make her laugh. She missed having someone she could rely on and fall back onto. Without her mum she had no one. She had no one.
Christopher was on the way back home after yet another long day at work. He had music playing quietly. It was his first moment of complete solitude in the day and he always cherished it.
He was humming to the tune when when he noticed a familiar face. He wasn't certain at first that he truly recognised her but as he drove closer to the bus stop, he was sure that it was Emilia.
He slowed down and then stopped as the traffic stopped moving because of the red light.
He looked at Emilia, seeing her more clearly now. He couldn't mistake her for anyone else. He remembered her face perfectly since the interview.
Emilia seemed to be engrossed in a book, putting a lose strand of her hair behind her ear. But then she wiped away tears off her cheeks. Christopher was instantly worried that something must've happened to upset her. He watched her more attentively. She didn't seem to be in complete distress, instead, it was a silent sorrow. He could see in her eyes that something wasn't quite right. But he was quick to dismiss it.
He didn't think Emilia would be the emotional type that cried over a book, but he still didn't know her at all. And he wasn't planning to get to know her.
He swore that he was never going to bother with his new wife. It was safer and easier that way. And then, one day, she might divorce him. Leaving him alone, as he always intended.
But now, he looked back at a person at a bus stop who was so focused on the book that it seemed that she didn't see the world around her, and he wondered if he should offer her a ride back home - their home. That was a startling thought. It was obvious to him to give Emilia a fair share of the assets. She was sacrificing her personal life for his sake. Not even once did he consider a prenup. She had an equal share of everything, besides only the company. That was the only thing he cared about enough to not want to risk losing it during a potential divorce. It was all in their contract anyways.
Christopher made sure that Emilia had sufficient funds available and yet she still chose to use public transport instead of a chauffeur. He wasn't sure how he felt about it.
A bus came past him in the separate lane before the traffic moved. Emilia stood up hurriedly just being snapped back to reality, she run up and waved the bus down, boarding it a moment later whilst trying to search for her bus pass.
He had a strong gut feeling that something wasn't quite right. But he couldn't put his finger on it.
Before he gave it any further consideration, the traffic started moving again and he soon he went past the bus where he saw one last glimpse of Emilia who leaned against the window as she read her book.