CHAPTER ONE: SAD AND ANGUISHING FLIGHT

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Bordeaux, please keep your seat belt on until we land completely.

Annette read her book concentrated as if it were a life and death order. She didn't want to look out the window, he had been repeating it since they left New York this afternoon. She didn't want to look because she was afraid to see the city where she had shared so many beautiful memories, where she had felt loved and valued.

She had been trying for six months to forget, to start a life where she was the owner of her actions.

“Dear, are you okay? “ The woman in the seat next to him took his hand and squeezed it lightly. “ Fear to fly?

“What? Afraid to ...? “ Annette repeated, as she looked at the woman, puzzled by the question.

“It's what I imagine, poor thing, he hasn't dropped that book the whole flight. Have you never been to France? He speaks French very well.

“Yes. I ...” I didn't know that lady at all, and her father had always told her that even the most beautiful and innocent faces could be rattlesnakes. “ I'm French.

“Oh! You don't seem that dear. “The woman was surprised to learn that she was actually from there and that she was not a stranger arriving in an unknown country. “ I told my husband that you looked American. You have beautiful eyes. We saw you when we were going to board. You look like a model!

“Well ... I ... thank you “ she had never been able to respond to flattery, nor was it the first time they said that to her.

She had emerald green eyes, inherited from his parents, and her platinum blonde hair, which many thought was painted in a hairdresser, but in reality, she had inherited that from his mother.

Her mother.

How she missed his mother! Surely she would have told him what to do in situations like these.

"Is the novel good?" Asked the lady, while Annette felt that the plane had finished landing. “ You have grabbed it as if it were quite entertained.

There he realized that he had been all the trip with page twenty, without moving it, without turning it, without reading.

She had no idea what that novel was about, despite being one of his favorite authors, Agatha Christie on that occasion, had not been able to alleviate his pain, his unease, his uncertainty.

She looked at the woman in the red feather coat, a color that could be seen from leagues ten meters away. If someone were to kill that lady, she would make it easy for him to locate her.

“The novel? Well, good. “I couldn't answer anything else. The lady looked at her with brown eyes fixed on her.

Without understanding what he was coming to, her brain wanted to confess to the strange passenger, that she had returned to that city. Her green eyes couldn't hide the sadness. That's what his father told him.

“Well, here we are. I think that even if you are not afraid of flying, something worries you. These planes seldom crash. “ She smiled at him and pointed to the window. “Look how beautiful the day is. Our sky is one of the most beautiful.

“Thanks. That's right, every time I'm away, I think of my little town and I calm down a bit, although the nostalgia is always there.

“Which part are you from? “ Asked the lady as she took off her seat belt, since the cabin had already reported having landed without problems.

“ I'm from Eguisheim.

“Wow, a bit far from Bordeaux, right? “Curiosity could with the lady and Annette was glad to be able to distract herself and not think about the real reason why she had gone to the city that only gave her migraine and anxiety, for not thinking about the pain and the disappointment.

A failed marriage, that's what she had. A marriage that was still current and real.

Antoine hadn't wanted to give her a divorce. Even after six months of her wedding and of her having left.

“Yes. But there are times when it is good to face situations to get ahead “ at least that is what her friend Maya had told her.

Divorcing Antoine hadn't seemed so difficult months ago, but now that an opportunity presented itself, she had to take it yes or yes.

Her childhood friend had proposed to her.

She had accepted.

Two months had passed since she said yes to Pierre, and she still hadn't slept with him.

What a girlfriend she was being.

At twenty-four she was still a virgin. She had always believed in getting into marriage intact.

Boy, had she kept his word! And she was about to fulfill it twice.

Her wedding night would be etched in his memory for the rest of his days.

She unbuckled his belt and pulled out his small carry-on bag from the top, where the luggage was kept.

“Have a nice weekend. “ He said to the talkative lady.

“You too dear.

Annette headed for the exit, she wanted to get off the plane now. The faster he talked to Antoine, the better his life would be. He would have a better future, one without uncertainty, one without thinking about it.

Although she was sure that this was going to be impossible, he was the first man she had ever loved, desired.

It was a sham, a walking and living sham.

She had agreed to marry Pierre, when in truth she loved Antoine like the first day.

Her heart apparently didn't care that he had only used her to buy her father's company.

She had not realized that fact, until she heard Pierre talking about it with Maya, while she was taking off her dress, and entering the party to celebrate their marriage with her friends and family.

Pierre was not about speaking lies, he had known him forever.

“He doesn't really love her, he just uses her to buy Meltric's company. He has committed the greatest stupidity of his life.

"She's happy," Maya had replied. “ is happy and you must accept the fact that she does not see you the way you want.

"I've known her my whole life!" I would never take advantage of her! “ Pierre had raised his voice.

He never spoke in such a way that it was annoying. But in that moment, as she clung to the wooden door, she knew she had made a huge mistake.

At the time he had not thought about it. Two months ago, when he had barely seen Antoine for the first time, getting out of his limousine, in his tailored suit and his brown hair slicked back, he had seemed to him an angel escaped from heaven.

An elegant man who walked so sure of himself.

“He just uses her and she's haunted.

“Don't be silly. Antoine has not bewitched her! He has only known how to treat her, make her fall in love. “ Annette sighed as she tried to let go of the nerves that gripped her chest.

What if he really didn't know Antoine? Two months of knowing him and he was already married?

She shook her head trying to push away those evil and twisted thoughts, the ones that had made her suffer from a migraine for six months, six months in which she didn't hear from Antoine.

She knew he must hate her.

She left it on your wedding night!

But she was never going to regret leaving.

At least that's what he thought, as he got off the plane and headed for the exit, minutes after he was checking his bags.

“Coming home, Annette.“

That voice did not come out of her head, it tortured her at night, during the day, while she was showering, while she was trying to rebuild her life.

That voice was in her most intimate dreams, in which she did not even tell Maya.

She couldn't tell anyone that she had kept thinking about him, even though she herself was the one who left.

It could not be anything else, more than a product of her imagination and her nerves.

She stopped, closing his eyes, trying to keep her cravings calm.

“Look at me, Annette. I am right here. Don't you want to see your husband's face?