Discovering love after divorce

SOPHIE MADSON’S POV

I knock on the company director's office door, and he promptly permits me to enter. I walk towards him quickly, and the man looks at me impartially.

"Can I leave a little earlier, Mr. Hills?" I carefully ask my boss.

"I still need you to reorganize the contracts, Sophie," he replies thoughtfully.

"I promise everything will be ready by tomorrow," I insist.

"Okay, fine," he authorizes.

I leave there excitedly, eagerly anticipating the agreed-upon time to leave. I check the clock; I've lost count of how many times I've done that today. I'm anxious to go home.

Today marks one year of marriage with Hector, and I want to prepare a beautiful surprise. I've always been romantic, striving to keep the relationship alive and dedicated to him. I've always wanted to be a good wife and thought about building a family. I've been working hard to pay off the apartment we're living in so we can plan to have children, juggling work and the relationship.

After half an hour, I recheck the clock, and now it's time to go. I grab my belongings quickly, take the elevator down, and bump into some furniture because I'm almost running toward the exit. I need to buy some things before getting home.

I stopped by a store to buy new lingerie, wine, and chocolates. I want a romantic dinner and a special night with him. Furthermore, I'm now sitting in the taxi's passenger seat, swinging my legs out of anxiety, a habit when I'm nervous.

When the taxi stops in front of my apartment, I quickly pay the fare, and as I get out, I struggle to carry all those things in just two arms but miraculously manage to balance everything, though not easily.

After making the whole journey and reaching the apartment door, I make an effort to insert the keys and finally open the door. When I'm inside my home, I hear strange noises, furrow my brow in confusion, and slowly walk towards my bedroom, where the noises come from.

As I approach the room, I push the partially open door and witness the most depressing scene I could ever see there. All the things I still hold in my hands fall to the ground, and the wine bottle shatters into numerous pieces and dirties the entire floor.

Hector is on our bed, accompanied by another woman, and they are both undressed. My eyes start to fill with tears out of sheer anger, my body trembles, and I stand still, entirely shocked by the sight before me.

"Sophie, it's not what... Calm down," he jumps off the bed and moves towards me.

I look at him, but my eyes burn. The woman covers herself with my blankets, and he hastily puts on his underwear.

He managed to bring some woman to my bed, into my apartment, and they are intimate under my sheets. I'm about to do something crazy.

"Darling, let me explain..." he approaches.

Without thinking twice, after he approached, I slapped him so hard that my hand would be sore the next day. The precise blow stuns him.

"You bastard, disgusting... in my apartment? In my home?" I scream, going after him.

He tries to defend himself, and the woman takes advantage of the opportunity to escape, running and grabbing her clothes. However, I don't pay much attention to that woman because I focus on the scoundrel who is betraying me.

"Sophie, let's talk..." he pleads.

I deliver a precise kick between his legs, hitting his testicles, and he falls to the ground, writhing in pain.

"Disappear from here, you damn, wretched..." I scream even louder.

I go to the wardrobe and throw all his things on the floor; perfumes are shattered, and valuable objects that Hector kept are broken.

"Disappear from my house before I kill you right here, you... you... disgusting piece of shit," I lack words to curse him.

He struggles to stand up, looks at me, and opens his lips to say something but gives up immediately. My breath is heavy, and I feel my muscles trembling with anger and disappointment.

He gathers as many belongings as he can. I don't pay much attention to his actions because my mind is chaotic.

After a few minutes, I look around and find myself alone in the apartment. I put my hands to my face, running them through my hair. Tears flow copiously. Staggering backward, I sit on the bed, unable to contain the tears. But when I remembered that he was intimate in this bed, I jumped immediately, moving away in disgust.

How could he do this to me? Throughout this year, I dedicated myself to the maximum to make our relationship more promising.

I look at all that mess, but I don't touch anything; I don't have the capacity to do so at the moment. My head is more chaotic than those objects on the floor. To make matters worse, my phone rings and a message notification appears on the screen.

Sophie, please present the contractual plan on Monday.

"What the hell!" I complain, observing my boss's request.

There couldn't be a worse time to receive a work message. I needed to forget all this, and I won't be able to do so in this room, let alone by working.

I left the apartment quickly, got a taxi, and headed to a bar I had been to a few times before. When I entered the place, I went straight to the counter; the bartender asked what I'd like. I almost felt like answering: I wish a jerk named Hector would go to hell.

But he's referring to the drink I want to order, so I opt for a shot of whiskey because I want the most potent drink he can serve me.

*Hours later…

I had lost count of how many shots of the drink I had taken; at least, at that moment, I didn't feel so bad. I was numb. I had been made a fool for a year, living with a man without character.

I look at the glass, running my index finger along the edge of the glass, and hear a husky voice next to me:

"Are you disappointed and decided to drink... am I right?"

I look to the side and see a stranger staring at me with a simple smile on his lips. It's not a bad idea to talk to someone; it would be much better than drinking alone. I grimace and sigh.

"Is it that obvious?" I run my hand over my face.

"Yes, it is!" he affirms with conviction, laughing afterward. "What's your name?"

"Sophie, and you?" I ask, feeling a bit more relaxed.

"Steven!" he responds immediately.

I smile again and take another sip of the drink. I'm looking at him even though I'm not in my best state of perception, but the man's beauty is evident. The defined body is covered in formal attire, a buttoned-up shirt, and gray dress pants that must be part of a suit. He has dark brown hair and a short but well-maintained beard. His incredibly blue eyes caught my attention the most, which I could still observe even though I was drunk.

"And are you disappointed too?" I continued the conversation as if I needed company.

"No, it was just a tiring and stressful day at work," he responds, rolling his eyes. Such a beautiful woman is disappointed? Who was the idiot?"

I laugh at the compliment; it's been a long time since I heard a compliment from a man, not even from that damn "ex-husband" of mine. My hair was blond and long, not very tall, and my body had pronounced curves with a slim waist and slightly wider hips.

"I don't want to talk about it; I intend to forget," I affirm, looking away.

"Sorry, I promise not to talk about it anymore. But... where are you from?" He seemed interested to know.

"I was born here, in London!" I take another sip of whiskey, this time a generous one. "And you?"

"I'm from Brighton." He replies calmly.

"Everyone speaks very well about the colleges in Brighton." I get excited.

"I graduated from one of them." He rolls his eyes and drinks even more.

The conversation flowed more, and about an hour passed...

We continued drinking and talking. The more time passed, and the more the drink entered our bodies, the more animated we became. I didn't imagine having so much to discuss with someone like I was with him.

We laughed and argued about some topics where our opinions were divergent, but in the end, we agreed with each other. It was as if we had known each other for a long time, and I momentarily forgot about Hector's betrayal.

"I can't believe it... Steven, don't you have a girlfriend?" I asked more intimately.

"No, no girlfriend." He gestures, laughing.

"Married, married, you are!!!" I humorously point out. "Don't lie to me; you're a big, handsome guy and can't be single."

We were altered due to the drink, but it was so much fun that we didn't see the time passing.

"No, Sophie, not married either." He also denies the second option.

"Are you gay?" I ask but regret it afterward; damn drink.

"Also, no!" He laughed a lot.

I get up from the stool and approach the man; he touches my waist, pulling me to stick to his body, and I laugh. I wanted to get back at the jerk who betrayed me, even if I might regret it later.

Our faces get closer to each other, both laughing, and he slides his hand across my body, stopping at my hips. I stared into Steven's eyes, and he did the same. Even though the alcohol didn't allow me to have so much clarity, I noticed his looks at my body, and when he looked into my eyes, he showed how attracted he was to me.

"Poor thing..." I run my hand through his hair. "Not dating, not married, and not gay. So lonely..."

I know I was saying a lot of nonsense, but it would be the consequence of the countless shots of whiskey.

He listened intently, his gaze fixed on my face the entire time. I wasn't sure if I was hearing things, but I listened to a magnetic voice asking. "Would you consider marrying me?"