However, what neither of us knew at the time was that her big legal victory would be the catalyst for even more life changes. Changes which would reshape our lives forever.
***
We sat down together. She had just come home from work, and while she was still wearing her suit, she wanted to tell me something.
“I’m going on a short vacation at the end of the week,” she said happily.
“Really? Alone?”
“With people from the firm. It’s a small retreat. Women only.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that sexist?”
“It’s not,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “It’s a fun little thing organized by some of the women I work with. It should be fun.”
“Well that’s cool.”
“Should be. We’re going to a Southern California resort for a few days.”
“Nice. I’m a little surprised though.”
“Why?”
“You’re a workaholic. Taking a sudden vacation doesn’t seem like something you’d do.”
“It was my senior partner’s idea,” she smiled. “I’ve busted my butt for years for that law firm. And now my work is being recognized. Particularly after that big settlement I helped reach. I’ve made the firm a lot of money.”
“Nice.”
“I know, right? Anyway, me and a few other ladies are going at the end of the week. It’s only for a few days.”
“Well you deserve it. You work really hard.”
She smiled again. “Thank you. I feel good about things. I’m excited. It’s hard to explain, but I finally feel that everything is coming together for me.”
I nodded and agreed. It was good seeing her so happy.
***
The rest of the week was her time to relax. It looked as though a weight had been lifted from her chest. She finally got to loosen up. And she spent plenty of time shopping for the perfect outfits to wear for the trip.
I caught a few glimpses of her new stuff when I passed by her room and saw her packing. She bought a few pairs of bikinis, which seemed unlike her. She was always a prude when it came to showing her body. But I was glad she was excited and going to have fun.
When she finally left, I was happy for her, and also happy that I had the house to myself. Who doesn’t like living alone for a while? I got to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.
My mother constantly texted me. That’s just the way she was. She was worried about me. And she was probably more worried that I would do something crazy like throw a big party at home (which wasn’t my thing anyway). She also promised take a bunch of pictures and send them to me.
The day after she arrived, I got an email from my mother. There was no message or anything. Just a bunch of pictures of the Southern California view. Pictures of the resort. The ocean, the beach, trees, boats, things like that. No pictures of her or the colleagues. It looked gorgeous and I wished I was there.
On the next day, she sent even more pictures. More pictures from the beach and resort area. This time, there were some pictures of my mother taken by a colleague. She wore a bikini, but it was covered by a white tshirt. There were also pictures of her friends, as well as group photos. I had met some of her colleagues before. They’re very nice people. One of them was her ‘mentor,’ a lawyer in her 50’s. The other two were also lawyers, and the other person was a young paralegal.