Urth Caffe Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills Drive

“I am getting a divorce.” Michelle said, her eyes sad, voice determined. She was looking out the glass window of Urth Caffe, watching cars and pedestrians pass by in the busy Beverly Hills Drive that afternoon. It was gloomy that day but it was no match for whatever Michelle was feeling that moment, or even for the past few years.

It has come to an end.
Her relationship.
Her marriage.

“Time alone… I need that too. I have to find myself.” She added, not shifting her depressed gaze towards her sister who on the other hand kept her silence, “I want to fulfill my dreams. Mine. I lost them.”

Still, no one talked. Her sister fiddled with her phone, alternately sipping her macchiato. She didn’t care much. Tiffany can only lend her ears to her Unni who obviously made up her mind a long time ago. She knew Michelle’s relationship with her husband was doomed from the beginning. Tragically, no one in the family ever believed it was going to last anyway.

Michelle got pregnant barely three months when they just started dating. Both their parents, Michelle’s and Tom’s (her husband) forced them to get married for the sake of the child. And in the course of their four-year marriage, Tom was caught cheating three times, was forced out of the house at least a total of eleven months. Michelle even had to go back home to Atlanta to her parents, with her kid in tow. They were supposed to call it quits a year before, but she got pregnant again. She loathed it. Michelle loves her baby, but to share another offspring with a man she doesn’t trust, she began hating herself too.

“Tiff.” Michelle straightened up, “I am leaving for now. Somewhere far away.”

“The kids?” Tiffany had to ask. Michelle was talking ‘me, myself and I’. Who is going to take care of her nieces? Their parents are currently travelling with friends around the globe. And besides, the little girls are not their responsibility. They have their own parents.

“Please.” Michelle pleaded.

“What?” Tiffany’s not supposed to hear that word, is she? She is her own person. She has her own career and dreams. In fact, she is successful and slowly and surely becoming more and more successful each day.

Tiffany Hwang is an architect- all of her family are. Her parents, Michelle, her older brother Leo. They’re all architects. They own an architectural firm which not only designs and builds houses, buildings and properties but is also involved in construction. She has been travelling the entire United States to sign deals and new projects have been pouring in. The Hwangs, needless to say are very rich and they continue to grow rich.

And Tiffany has been so passionate about work, everything else takes a backseat. She works morning till night, every day. The girl rarely gets a weekend off. Her work is her life. Time with her parents and her siblings still involve work- they talk about projects, expansion and everything else.

“I just need some time by myself.” Michelle pleaded.

“How about your kids?” Tiffany sounded impatient and worried. Worried because she knew what her sister might say. And it’s something that she might not like.

“I can’t give them to Leo. At least for now.” Michelle reasoned. “Her wife and I have misunderstandings in the past and they’ve got three too. They can’t have two other babies to take care of- “

“And I can get them?” Tiffany shot. Suddenly she felt outraged. If you didn’t kids, does that mean you have lesser responsibilities in life?

“Tiffany!”

“No.” Tiffany had tears in her eyes. “I don’t care if I seem like ‘I don’t care’. These are your kids, Mich. They’re going to look fo