Silent Exit by Julie Rollins Page B

common,
loneliness. He was a distinguished man, he wasn't overly tall and he certainly
wasn't athletic, but his eyes were amazing. They were dark blue and wolf-like.
His hair was thick, spiky, salt and pepper gray. He had wanted Tess from the
get-go and he got her.
         Things in Saudi Arabia became a
little too oppressive for them and they decided to get out and make a new life
somewhere else. An opportunity for David came up in Vietnam. They discussed and
agreed it would be good for them both, and Tess would leave her job. Even after
all this time Tess was sad to be moving even further away from Stefan, he would
always remain in the back of her mind. After receiving Stefan's email informing
her of his intention to get married, Tess felt like something inside her had
died. It stirred up her feelings for him, but she pushed them to one side. She
could not stand the pain. She replied to his emails out of courtesy, but could
not bring herself to physically speak to him and did not visit him on her trips
back to London.
         The taxi stopped outside the house
and she opened the large front gate, to reveal the front door open and two men
walking around inside.
         'Hello Miss Tess, we looking for
you.'
         Thankfully, she recognized one of
the men as her new landlord.
         'What are you doing walking around
my house?'
         'We repair house, it broken.'
         Apparently some damage to the house
from the previous rainy season had to be fixed. Not wanting to feel breathless
any longer from the humidity, Tess moved inside the house to the air
conditioning. She prepared herself for one of David's work functions. She
showered and put her shiny auburn hair into a beautiful chignon. She placed a
linen strapless maxi dress over her slim body and nodded to herself in the
mirror. She looked good. Not too over the top, but stylish.
         The repairs went on for a week. It
was messy, loud, and very intrusive. The work began at 7am every morning. As
the weeks went on it, became apparent that Tess would not be able to find a
job. Employers would only hire locals, because they could pay them a small
salary, which was just over a hundred dollars per month, on average. Having
been a flight attendant for the past few years, she was not qualified in
anything specific that could land her an executive position in a western
company.
         She had decided that not working
could be good and she could pursue all the things she hadn't had time for
previously. She messaged the woman who guided her across the road and was
eventually invited to a ladies expat lunch. Tess very quickly realized that she
had to conform or be alone in this place.
         'Ladies, ladies.'
         A rather portly woman began to
speak. She had fat hands, a red face and one of those little peak chins, that
protrude under the fat.
         'We have some newbies, so let's
introduce ourselves. We will go around the table one by one.'
         She was really loud and overpowering.
Tess raised her eyes a little, to look at the other women’s responses. They all
seemed happy to continue with this charade. This is a little odd, thought Tess.
It's like being at a work orientation. All the ladies conformed to their leader
and enthusiastically joined in.
         Tess looked around the bar. At this
time of day it was dim and uneventful. The place smelt of tobacco smoke and
alcohol. There were a few western men hunched over beers at the bar, sucking on
cigarettes, furiously flirting with the waitresses. Tess wondered why these
exotic, beautiful girls, bothered with these completely unfit, gross looking
men.  
         'Tess is new.' This brought Tess
back to the circle with a jolt.
         'Um …. yes.' She started to say.
         'Hi everyone, I'm Tess, my
boyfriend is the group training director for a mining company here. I'm not
working, but I love to read.'
         Everyone welcomed her. She realized
that they had made food and