Chapter 10
The following Monday morning,
Jessica returned to her busy office,
feeling more focused,
and entirely more present,
than she had felt in a very long time.
Her coworkers noticed the positive change instantly,
commenting on her bright smile,
and her relaxed,
and completely easygoing posture.
She dove into her massive pile of paperwork,
tackling the complex spreadsheets,
and the detailed financial reports,
with an energy she thought she had lost forever.
During her scheduled lunch break,
she didn't hide in her car,
crying over cruel text messages,
or desperately trying to manage her family's endless crises.
Instead,
she sat in the bright breakroom,
chatting happily with her colleagues,
sharing funny stories about Emma,
and actually laughing out loud.
She felt like a completely different person,
a lighter,
and much brighter version of herself,
who was finally allowed to simply exist.
Her boss called her into his office,
later that same afternoon,
and praised her recent performance,
offering her a lead role on a new project.
Jessica accepted the challenge eagerly,
knowing she finally had the mental bandwidth,
to dedicate herself fully to her growing career.
She left the office at five o'clock exactly,
feeling a deep sense of professional accomplishment,
and immense personal pride.
She drove to Emma's elementary school,
to pick her up from the after-school program,
listening to upbeat music on the radio,
and tapping her fingers on the steering wheel.
Emma ran out of the school building,
waving a bright,
and incredibly colorful painting in her hand.
Look what I made today,
the little girl shouted excitedly,
climbing quickly into the back seat,
and holding the wet paper up for her to see.
It was a beautiful painting of a house,
with a big yellow sun,
and two stick figures standing in the green grass,
holding hands under a blue sky.
It's absolutely beautiful, sweetie,
Jessica said warmly,
studying the happy,
and completely bright colors on the page.
That is you and me,
Emma explained proudly,
pointing to the two small figures,
and this is our safe house.
Tears pricked the corners of Jessica's eyes,
but they were tears of profound joy,
and overwhelming relief.
Her daughter understood,
in her own simple,
and innocent way,
that they were finally safe from the storm.
We will hang it right on the refrigerator,
Jessica promised sincerely,
so we can look at it every single day.
They drove home together in the fading light,
stopping at the grocery store quickly,
to buy ingredients for homemade pizza.
They spent the evening in the warm kitchen,
rolling out the sticky dough,
and covering themselves in white flour,
laughing until their stomachs physically hurt.
There was no tension in the air,
no fear of saying the wrong thing,
just pure,
and completely unadulterated happiness.
They ate their slightly burnt pizza,
sitting on the living room floor,
watching a silly cartoon on the television,
and enjoying their completely perfect,
and utterly normal life.
Jessica knew that there would still be hard days,
May you like
but she also knew with absolute certainty,
that she was finally strong enough to face them alone.
