My name is Catalina I live in Manhattan, I am 75 years old, I just got back from my monthly check up today, my doctor tells me, it’s likely for my memory to begin to deteriorate, I should be prepared to start forgetting things,

before that happens I want to share with you my amazing story, a story I wish to never forget that is why I write it all down to begin with,

it was the beginning of my end

Do you ever feel like your life is on repeat?

At the age of 24,

I became the managing director of STBC Bank, with a monthly salary of $20,000,

I was doing really well for myself, although my father was a millionaire, I was pretty rich myself, I used to have this routine,

I go to work, when I am done for the day, i meet up with my boyfriend of 4 years, have dinner, have the same meaningless sex, talk about the events of the day, go to bed repeating the same thing over and over again or on some days i meet up with my best friend, mother, father or brother and there it is, the perfect life.

I literally had everything any human being could wish for, I had the perfect job, the “perfect” boyfriend, a wonderful best friend and a beautiful family, I mean what more could a girl need,

it was the kind of life most people could only dream about at least for those who didn’t need love In a relationship, aside that everything was perfect, at least so I thought.

When he came along everything I felt was enough for me suddenly felt useless and futile, because I was willing to give up my life if that was all it took to love him.

I fell hard, so hard, till this very moment although it’s been years I still remember his face, his voice, his smile, the way he walks ,his laugh, every damn thing about him, and I hope to never forget until my last breath.

Even his first words to me are still stuck in my head,

“hello, I am Stiliyan Dimitro and you must be Catalina Brooks”.

“Catalina!!” I hear my best friend Anna call out my name for God knows how long ,we are watching the news ,there was another shooting today downtown, the news is always depressing to watch nowadays, always one shooting or the other, I practically zoned off.

it’s my 4 year anniversary with Christian Montero tomorrow and judging from the call we had 2 hours ago , he said he is going to propose to me and he hopes I say yes, and then he ends the call, i am supposed to be going insane with so much happiness,

I mean, I am getting proposed to by one of the most eligible bachelors in manhattan or dare I say, one of the most eligible bachelors in the world ,he is the sole heir to “TECH M” the best tech company on the planet with a net worth of over trillion of dollars,

so why the hell am I not jumping up with excitement? I have known Christian for 4 years now, we met at a tech gala I was attending in place of my father, Sebastian Brooks, married to Natalia Brooks my mother,

My Dads company, “EMZA” deals with the production of drugs and medical gadgets. My father has his own fair of wealth but nothing compared to the Montero’s.

I and Christian hit it off immediately, we talked about the company, and how I just finished university with a bachelor’s degree in economics and majored in business, while he graduated a few years before me and he was 25 years of age when we first met,

Christian is absolutely divine, he is 6 Ft. tall, brown hair always neatly arranged, I don’t think I have ever seen Christian have a bad hair day actually, blue eyes, and a really nice fitted body,

, it was really alluring for like the first two months of the relationship, with the whole thrill of dating a multi billionaire and all, within that two months I realized he is a very proud, self-centered human, and really terrible at making love, I got seriously bored and lost any atom of feelings I ever had,

Why did I not leave the relationship you might ask? I felt like it would get better, I just needed to put in a little effort and with time I could change him, and besides my family is extremely happy about this relationship,

Wherever I go, I am treated with so much respect immediately they realize I’m the girlfriend to Christian MONTERO,

I guess I chose greed, fame and power over my personal happiness, call me stupid but I know most people would have made the exact same choice if in my shoes.

Anna looks at me with those sad eyes like she knew exactly what I was thinking, of course she knew everything, we both knew each other so damn well, we’ve been friends since high school.

I stand up heading towards the bathroom because somehow I felt dizzy all of a sudden and felt the need to throw up, as soon as I am done spilling my guts, I sit down and begin to cry,

“it’s going to be okay”, these are the words she keeps telling me ,but I know it’s the end for me,

“ how is any of this going to be okay Anna? I’m about to marry someone I don’t have feelings for, all because I ought to or because its comfortable, I know I got myself into this but getting out is somehow not an option, I kept telling myself things would change I should have patience, a year turned into two then into three now it’s been four years and I’m about to be engaged, I’m in too deep, feeling so damn pathetic,”

anyone listening to me right at this moment would think of me as an ungrateful bitch but call me all you want I still feel like I deserve better and Anna gets that and i am so thankful to her.

I am done being a cry baby, after lots of pep talk and alcohol I decide to accept it for what it is , I just need to accept that this is what my life is going to be like.

I begin to blast my favorite music, dancing and singing to my song, Anna has a really creepy taste when it comes to music, so as usual she goes upstairs to take a nap as she finds my taste of music weird, I continue to dance and scream till my body wears out,

I lay down, turn off the music as I quietly allow the alcohol do its thing my eyes beginning to feel heavy as I quietly drift off to sleep.

I wake up to the sound of Anna’s loud yelling, she is probably on the phone with one of her clients, I seriously don’t understand how this girl never seems to have a hangover I mean my head is spinning and there is this painful ache that won’t die down anytime soon, but there she is all dressed up and ready for the day like she didn’t down half a bottle of vodka last night.

My, back hurts from sleeping all night on the floor, I decide to make myself a hot cup of coffee,

I don’t need to head out until later in the evening for my date with Christian,

Tomorrow, I have dinner plans with my dad and some Bulgarian investors, my dad is trying to partner with this new tech company in Bulgaria, so he can start launching a new level of medical application, I have to be there because STBC has decided to partner in this new project too.

Anna drops her phone with a bang and goes all, “stupid fools, they never get their job right”.

Anna is on the tall side about 5 '9, afro hair, perky nose, black iris ,thin lips, nice ass and boobs not too big and not too small, brown skin.

I start laughing because she looks all serious and bossy, which looks funny to me because I always see her all goofy and playful, but I know she has her serious sides too, I mean she is the only child and the sole heir to B&R foods, these people make literally anything food you can think of and they are one of the best in the states too ,sometimes I feel bad for her because she gets to work a lot, unlike me I have an elder brother who gets to manage dads business and go on trips and all that.

“Honey you look like shit,” Anna says to me, I know I might look horrible, mascara smeared and all that but I know Anna is probably exaggerating.

“I promise I would be back before 6pm to get you ready for your date okay? Anything you decide I would be right here beside you, I love you babe” she says quietly and embraces me in a tight hug,”

“I love you too” I say to her.

“Don’t turn my house upside down” she yells and waves me goodbye.

Suddenly that familiar feeling of loneliness engulfs me,

I spend most of my time in Anna’s apartment , I don’t really like staying alone, growing up my parents were never around, my dad was always away and my mum was managing the affairs of the company, which led to late nights and early mornings, I spent a lot of my time with my brother, Ryan, till I met Anna, she understood how it felt, we became inseparable.

I am still really close with Ryan I sleep over at his place whenever he is in the country to catch up on his life and to tease him about Anna, I have always felt those two have an unspoken attraction, but they never acted on it so I guess it’s just a crush for now.

The coffee is not helping, so I take aspirin and decide to take a quick nap setting my alarm for 6pm just in case.

“Wake up, wake up!!” Anna aggressively tries to wake me up shaking and shoving me in all directions,

“its 6;30 pm you psycho, you need to get ready it's almost time,” now that jolts me up from my sleep, I began to panic, I check why my alarm did not do its job and realize I had set it for 6am and not 6pm, I hug Anna and thank her before rushing up to the bathroom, normally I would have gotten a bubble bath but I have no time at the moment so I settle for a quick shower, then shave my legs,

I quickly rush to the mirror to blow dry my hair , I am 5’8 in height, a fairly pointed nose, my skin is always tanned, long brown hair, green eyes with a hint of blue on the outer line of my iris, my lips are kind of full and naturally pinkish, round full breasts, I’ve got hips that most people spend millions of dollars to get and a really nice ass, I guess I can be regarded as pretty.

“Done yet?” Anna yells,

“ just a minute,” I tell her, I quickly tie a towel around my body, as soon as I open the door i see Anna with a dress, heels and a make up kit,

I quickly sit down and I let her work her magic, she curls my hair in waves and does the perfect make up, somehow making my eye color pop and brings out this beautiful dress,

it was a black long fitted gown, with a slit at both sides of the gown, a v cut showing just the right amount of cleavage, with long see through sleeves, the gown was perfect.

“I got this last week but it was not fitted on me, it’s a little loose on my hips but decided to give it to you because I knew it would be perfect on you,”

I mutter a thank you and begging to wear my heels, just then my phone buzzes indicating a message,

Anna picked it up and said it was from Christian, I tell her to read it for me and she clears her throat deciding to use a manly voice to read out the message,

“Hello baby, I’m at our favorite restaurant just head towards the back I would be waiting for you my love, love Christian.”

Well I am done dressing, I look at myself in the mirror and I am more than satisfied with my look, “thanks a lot hun,” I say as I embrace Anna, “don’t mention it” she whispers softly to my ears engulfing me in a tight hug,

On my way to the elevator I call Antonio my driver to get the car ready.

Anna lives in the penthouse of a twenty four storey building, as soon as I am outside the building I see Antonio, he is a middle aged man, chubby, round faced and always has that cheerful smile, he has been working with the family over ten years, and I’m grateful for him, I trust the man with my life.

“Good evening ma’am, you look beautiful as always” he says to me, “good evening Antonio, and thank you how is Martha and the twins?”

Martha is Antonio’s wife, met her a few times, he has really naughty kids but can be real cute too, “we doing really well” he replies me in his usual cheerful voice .

I get into the car, “where to ma’am?” “Head to Christian’s restaurant, the one we go to a lot,”

“Alright ma’am, would be there in no time” he says, “no hurries here though,” giving him a nervous smile, I begin to feel hot and nervous, tapping my feet, dreading what is about to come .

We are here ma’am!