AUTHOR’S POV
WHEN SYDNEY GOT home, to her satisfaction, neither Avery nor Gavin was home. She had forgotten Avery had a job.
She quickly did the laundry, excluding Gavin’s because Avery had sent it to the dry cleaners. Sydney wondered if Avery even knew how to use a washing machine.
She did the house chores and decided to make dinner for Ethan and Emily early since she was going out tonight.
Theresa’s favorite food was beef casserole, so, she decided to make some for her. Sydney never got the chance to talk to Theresa after what happened the last time. She asked Alfred if Theresa still came to the Country Club, and he said he hadn’t seen her for quite some time.
Although Sydney still didn’t have much affection towards Theresa, she was concerned about her.
She stopped by the antique store and bought a dolphin figurine. Then, she drove to pick up Ethan and Emily.
Sofia was right, Emily had become a bookworm. She was reading a book when Sydney picked her up from Sofia’s; she was reading a psychology textbook she got from God knows where at four in the morning.
Ethan, on the other hand, was a pain in the neck. Sydney wondered how timid Sofia was to take care of him. She owed her a lot. She had been a lot of help to Sydney over the past few months.
Maybe she’d love to go out with Sydney tonight. Sofia was twenty five and she had only been in one relationship. Sydney was bewildered to hear that Sofia wasn’t bad with her looks. She had a beautiful body and a lovely soul. Maybe, she’d go well for Blake or Gabriel.
Alfred would be happy to have a daughter-in-law like Sofia.
Sydney chuckled. Since when did she start playing Cupid?
She told the voice assistant to call Sofia.
When Sofia didn’t pick up her call, she knew Sofia was loaded with work, so she called the business line instead.
” Hello, you are calling Omnium-”
” It’s Sydney, Sofia.”
Sydney could tell Sofia’s eyes were wide with surprise.
” Mrs. Re- I mean Sydney, I’m sorry, do you require any services?”
” Yes, Sofia.”
” Oh, okay. Tell me, is it-”
” I need you to go out with me tonight. ”
Sydney remembered when she had been such a workaholic. She barely had time for herself, when Gavin advised her to take a week off, she’d disregard him. It caused her a lot of regrets and she didn’t want the same thing to happen to Sofia.
” I’m sorry Sydney, I have loads of paperwork to do. I don’t want Mr. Patel to get mad.”
” I’ll speak with him; he already commends your scrupulosity; one night’s rest from all that paperwork wouldn’t make him mad enough to bench you.”
” But- Sydney, I’m sorry, I have to take another call.”
Sydney said quickly, ” Stop by my house tonight and dress s**y Sofia.”
Sofia went silent for a while and then spoke. ” I’ll try.”
Sydney hoped she would.
Sydney picked up Ethan and Emily and drove to Theresa’s. She asked them how school went, Emily’s eyes didn’t leave the Chemistry textbook she was reading when she offered a short reply while Ethan just hummed a response with a naughty look on his face.
Sydney released a frustrated breath and said. ” Okay, Emily, drop that book, you’ve read enough, and Ethan, can you stop acting like you smelt shit.”
Emily remarked with a grimace, ” Euw, Mommy, that’s disgusting.”
Sydney glanced at her with a frown and chided, ” I said put that book away.”
” But I’m learning,” Emily whined.
” You are just in first grade what are you reading about chemicals for?”
” I’ll be in second grade soon.”
Sydney glared at her causing her to put the book away.
Ethan spoke with a commanding voice, ” Mum, I don’t want to go to Authur’s house. Can we go to the field instead?”
” No, Ethan, we could go some other time; I have to speak with Theresa.”
Plus, Caleb must have told Coach Axle to stop coaching Ethan. If Ethan found out, he would call Caleb.
Sydney didn’t want them to find out what happened, especially Gavin.
Ethan looked crossed. ” Do I have to follow you to that stupid house because you want to see Authur’s mum?”
” Say whatever you like, Ethan, but I’m not changing my mind.” Sydney retorted.
Ethan mumbled a bad word, when Sydney asked him what he said, he ignored her. Emily told her he called the principal a female dog.
Ethan scowled at his sister, ” Nobody asked you.”
Emily looked at him and stuck out her tongue. Ethan opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He crossed his arm around his chest and fumed.
________________
Theresa looked like the jovial woman she was when Sydney arrived. She took Sydney by surprise when she enveloped her in a grateful hug after Sydney handed her the figurine and casserole.
Emily, who saw Authur beamed, fled off with Authur after saying a mean word to Ethan.
Ethan flared inwardly, his face dark. He looked at Sydney, disregarding the fact Theresa was in the living room too. ” I’ll be in the swimming pool.”
Theresa looked at him, slightly bewildered, as he stormed out of the house. She looked back at Sydney who tiredly slumped into the couch.
” What crawled up his ass and died?”
” He’s been in a bad mood lately,” Sydney replied faintly.
Theresa knew Gavin was having an affair, but she didn’t know it was with Avery, and neither did she know Gavin asked Sydney for a divorce and told the kids about it. Or at least, that’s what Sydney thought.
Sydney felt tired of keeping it in, sooner than later, it would go public.
Gavin seemed to want everyone to know about it since he decided to bring Avery into their home.
Was he trying to hurt her, or was he actually in love with Avery?
After all, he and Avery had dated before. Avery used him for her father’s financial gain and to gain popularity while he loved her blindly.
Sydney felt a slight headache remembering how broken Gavin was when Avery dumped him. She’d been a fool to offer him s! x to console him.
Vanessa entered the living room with two plates of beef casserole.
She placed the plates on the table and acknowledged Sydney. ” Hello, Mrs. Reed.”
Sydney snapped out of her thoughts and replied. ” Oh, hi Vanessa.”
Vanessa mouthed thank you and left the moms alone.
Sydney had even forgotten she caught Vanessa in bed with a guy.
” So, you know the lumberjack.”
” Yes, how do you know?”
Theresa smiled nervously and said, ” Elizabeth took a couple of pictures of you guys and posted them on a WhatsApp group.”
Wasn’t there any limit to that woman’s gloating?
” Well, I hope the picture is a good one.”
Theresa chuckled. ” Undoubtedly… But, I also overheard your conversation with him while I was in the washroom that day.”
Sydney blew on the hot food. ” Oh, do you know him also?”
” Yes, he often supplies lumber for the pool house construction. We’ve talked once, he seems to be a nice guy.”
Sydney nodded. He definitely was. Her face sagged a little knowing he’d lost his wife to suicide. His wife had no idea what she had.
Theresa’s expression turned curious as she lowered her voice. ” I heard you both went to Arizona together. Alone.”
News flies like wildfire in the land of affluent people. Sydney wasn’t surprised Theresa knew.
” Yes, I had a couple of things to settle in Arizona. He was kind enough to fly me there. ” Sydney said, a small smile broke on her lips before she could stop it.
Theresa corked her eyebrows teasingly and smiled. Sydney looked at her and broke into laughter, ” What’s that face for? Why are you smiling.”
Theresa dropped her empty plate and straightened. ” It’s obvious he has a crush on you or vice versa.”
Sydney frowned, a hint of red coated her cheeks.
She opposed. ” You are being hysterical, he doesn’t have a crush on me.”
” Okay, maybe is not a crush. He likes you or maybe even more.”
Sydney raised a brow incredulously, ” How do you even know this when you haven’t even seen us together physically.”
Theresa answered quickly. ” The way he looked at you in those pictures said a lot, those were predatory eyes I saw there. Plus, you seem more happy and less gloomy than you were before you left for Arizona with him.”
Sydney lifted the jug and poured water into a glass cup.
Theresa was clueless. The only reason she put more effort into herself was because she didn’t want to make her mother worry about her. She was still very much unhappy, her life hadn’t been better since she returned to Arizona.
Regarding the way Gabriel looked at her, there was absolutely nothing affectionate about it. Maybe his eyes naturally looked so territorial.
Sydney drew the cup from her lips and said flatly. ” That doesn’t mean anything. Besides, I’m married.”
The word ‘married’ tasted like lime on her tongue.”
Theresa looked at her skeptically. ” I know what’s happening Sydney. I’m not blind.”
Sydney avoided her gaze. ” I’m not going to cheat on him because he cheated on me, Theresa. He’s still my husband whether I like it or not.”
“Then don’t cheat on him, Sydney. I’m not one to preach, especially since my own life isn’t perfect, but I genuinely believe it’s time to let Gavin go. Your relationship issues are not only affecting you but also your children.”
She was right but she couldn’t just let the enemy win.
Sydney looked at her with a hard expression. Her jealousy for Theresa took hold of her when she said tartly.
” Your life is different Theresa, look at you, you have a lovely home, a beautiful family-”
” I don’t Sydney, I don’t!” Theresa looked at Sydney with glossy eyes. “My life isn’t perfect, my home isn’t either and neither is my married life. I’m as f**ked up as you are.”
” No, you are not.”
” Yes, I am. Elizabeth knows, and I’m certain those ladies do too. I won’t lie Sydney, I used to envy you. When I watch the news and see you and Gavin together, how your life was so perfect, I would start taking notes, but I knew I could never match up to your standards.”
” So, I thought maybe we could be friends; maybe if we were friends, your life would rub off on mine, and I would know what I’m doing wrong with my life.”
Sydney stared at Theresa as she ranted. It took her minutes to realize how senseless they had been. They were two women who thought each other’s life was a bed of roses were and wad secretly envious of each other.
Sydney was shocked beyond words to find out Hank was cheating on Theresa. He slept with multiple affluent women to put food on their table. Their house was an inheritance from Theresa’s late mother and it was going to be taken away if Hank didn’t pay his debt. Hank had no idea what to do, so he decided it was best to train his daughter in the art escort service.
No wonder Vanessa was sleeping with that guy.
Theresa’s tears had dried when she concluded the story. She placed a hand on Sydney’s stiff shoulder and advised.
” You are still young and you can make corrections in your life. I’m not saying you should leave your relationship with Gavin and jump into something with anyone else. All I’m saying is you should take your kids and leave before it breaks them. I worry a lot about them, especially Ethan.”
Sydney felt stuck in catch-22. While her mother advised her to give her marriage a second chance, Theresa told her to do the exact opposite.
She had no idea what to do.
Should she give up and let Avery win or keep on fighting even though the chances of winning are very slim?