AUTHORS POV
” I was so glad when my husband contacted AIDs. He returned home begging for my forgiveness; I barked a hard laugh right in his face and threw him out,” Angelica shared her story, causing all the women sitting under the gazebo on Theresa’s patio to laugh.
Theresa had asked Sydney in front of the women to join them for evening tea. Sydney couldn’t let these women think she was a coward because of a man, so she accepted. She made sure to sit a good number of seats away from Theresa to show her displeasure.
They had been gossiping about celebrities when Sydney joined in and they diverged wickedly to failed marriages.
“I wouldn’t blame your husband, though, ” Veronica hid her disdainful smirk behind the mug of coffee she had in her mouth. “Samantha is one fine speck of a woman.”
Samantha, who sat next to Theresa, gritted her teeth and forced a fake smile. ” You should learn to shut your windows when committing adultery sweetie.”
Sandra, who was sipping Chinese tea, choked at Samantha’s words, causing her to disgorge the tea on Sydney, who sat next to her.
All of them fell silent, trying to hold their laughter. Veronica mumbled, ” Serves her right.”
Sydney stood, looking disoriented, ” I’ll um… Clean up.” Theresa flashed her a sorry look. Sydney ignored her and walked away.
She was glad Sandra ruined her clothes. If not, she’d have to continue listening to those hypocritical women. Didn’t she used to be one of them?
.
She sighed and looked for the bathroom. Authur and Emily weren’t partners anymore but they enjoyed learning together. It took Emily her tears to convince Sydney to let her continue practicing with Authur. Sydney felt a tad happy when Gavin took Emily for dinner to celebrate her win and got her a book of words asked in spelling bees.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry!” Sydney winced and closed the door behind her. She heard the rustling of sheets and quickly walked away.
She wondered if she should tell Theresa her daughter was sleeping with some boy who wasn’t her boyfriend just to make her stop trying to meddle in her life. A smirk broke on her face, and she scoffed, thinking how naive Vanessa was. She reminded Sydney a lot about her younger self. She prayed Vanessa wouldn’t make a mistake like she did.
Sydney locked the bathroom door. She scrubbed off the coffee stain. Sighing, she rested on the vanity and took out a cigarette. She lit it and watched as it burnt.
She wanted to call Ashley but she got the hint from her last message. Her phone rang, shrill in silence and she quickly threw the cigar into the toilet and flushed.
It was a private line.
With a brow raised she answered the call. “Hey, who’s this?”
“Take a guess?” The husky British voice teased.
Sydney’s eyes widened and she stood straight, ” How did you get my number?”
He ignored her question slyishly and said, ” I was worried about you. You weren’t quite well the last time I saw you.”
She frowned her brows, ” Gabriel answer me.”
” I met a friend who knew a friend, and the next thing I knew, I had your number.” He answered enigmatically.
Sydney rubbed her brows, pulled down the toilet lid, and sat on it. ” What do you want?”
“Nothing, Sydney; I just wanted to know if you feel better now.”
“I do Gabriel. Please, don’t ever call this line again-”
“Or else what?” His voice dared.
“I’ll barr your line.”
” I’ll just buy another phone and call.”
She thought he was joking. ” Please, Gabriel, stay away from me; you helped me once, thank you. You’ve had your laugh; please just stay away.”
” Sydney-”
She ended the call and threw her head backward. The last thing she wanted was more drama in her life.
She waited for her clothes to dry and left with Emily to pick up Ethan.
______________
Gavin leaned on his car parked in front of Beverly Hills hockey center. The field was barricaded with thin irons so he could see Ethan practicing with the coach Caleb hired for him and a kid that looked his age.
He frowned when Ethan missed an easy goal. Coach Axle looked non-pulssed; he stopped by the goalpost and asked Ethan to try again. Ethan moved the puck with the hockey stick and tried to dribble the kid. When the kid continued cornering him, Ethan fumed and gave him an elbow jab in his stomach.
The coach scolded Ethan and told him to apologize, but instead, he crossed his arm around his chest and marched to the bleachers then buried his face into his leg.
The coach’s eyes met Gavin’s. Gavin gave him a gesture to leave the field with the boy. The coach nodded obediently and left.
Gavin waited a while before he entered the field. He picked up the puck and hockey stick. He asserts, ” Why don’t we play together?”
Ethan gasped softly and raised his head, his blonde hair obscured his vision. His fingers clenched and he said, ” What are you doing here?”
” Just came to play hockey with my son.” He replied, shrugging.
” I didn’t know you had another son.”
” Come down here now,” Gavin instructed authoritatively.
Ethan rolled his eyes and went to him. A smile couldn’t help but play on his lips. He never meant what he said to Gavin but he wasn’t going to tell him.
Gavin grinned at him, ” You play like a girl.”
Ethan frowned feeling insulted, ” I don’t play like a girl.”
Gavin raised his eyebrow challengingly, ” Oh yeah?” He handed him the hockey stick. ” Prove it, I’ll be your enemy.”
Ethan took up the challenge head-on. He lost the first three times and looked frustrated but Gavin edged him to keep on trying. When he played the fifth, he scored a goal.
He chuckled happily and looked up at his daddy, who was sweating tiredly, ” You pushed me to the edge on purpose, didn’t you?”
Gavin’s smile fell, he picked up Ethan and ran a hand through his curly hair. ” I’m sorry you lost your best friend because of me.” Gavin apologized earnestly.
” And what about for shouting at mommy?” Ethan frowned his brows.
Gavin gritted his teeth but forced a smile, ” I’ll apologize when I see her. ” He said knowing he wouldn’t unless she showed up right then. But then…
Emily ran into the field giggling, ” Daddy!”
She threw herself on Gavin excitedly. He muttered a vile word under his breath when he saw Sydney’s sexy silhouette standing next to the gates.
Ethan looked at his mommy and back at Gavin with wide, expectant eyes, ” Mommy is here; you said you’ll apologize.”
Gavin looked at him and forced a grin, ” Change your clothes and stay with Emily, I’ll go talk to her.”
” No fighting?”
Gavin shook his head obediently, ” No fighting.”
Sydney’s heart lurched when she found only Gavin’s tall frame approaching her. Alarm bells went off in her head. What was he planning to say now? She stood firmly prepared for any slander from him.
To her mortification, he seized her by the waist and pulled her into a short kiss. She let out a slight gasp. When she tried to kiss him back, he pulled away, but not too distant. His forehead rested on hers and her cupped the back of her head.
Her eyes grew moist, why did he have to do this? She was just healing and he had to just rip open the wound in her heart all over again. Her voice quavered when she said, ” Why don’t you just leave me alone Gavin.”
She wanted to cry when she couldn’t see a bit of emotion in him. ” Trust me, I wouldn’t kiss you if I wanted to.”
She pushed away from him and stumbled back. She tried to run away but he held the gate and forced it short. In a voice of forced calm, he said, ” I told Ethan I’d apologize to you, if you want him to get mad at me again, you can continue acting like a child.”
Anger burned in her, but she held herself back; she could see through the corner of her eyes that Ethan was watching them.
” Are you going to keep up with this pretense forever?”
His face looked like he tasted something sour, ” The earlier you sign the divorce papers the better.”
Something flashed in her eyes, ” I’ll keep ripping them off if you continue leaving it on the bedroom table.”
His anger rose, and he gave her a punishing kiss, causing her to press against the gate. She panted when he pulled away; her eyes gazed over the hickey on his neck, and she gripped the gate before she could fall from the shock.
His lips moved to her ear, ” Since you continue being stubborn, don’t be surprised when I bring another woman to my home. Save yourself the humiliation and sign the papers.”
He moved away and cleaned the tears sliding down her cheek. He forced a smile and said, loud enough for Ethan to hear, ” I know, Sydney, I love you too.”