Jeremy smiled at his son; he looked pass the glass and saw Sydney in the reflection standing in the door. She turned and walked back to her bed. Jeremy didn’t stay to speak to Sydney, he did not want to disturb her, and he wasn’t up to an argument that would create problems. He had to meet Nadia.
Nadia had requested a meeting with him a week ago, and he couldn’t or didn’t want to see her. He didn’t think she would take him putting her off another minute. He asked that she meet at La Cirque, a well know restaurant, where the rich and famous held court. He was now part of that establishment and he knew he should make points with Nadia.
Nadia asked him on many occasions to go there, however, he didn’t feel comfortable. He had the money and his fame was growing because of the wonderful paintings he was able to create because of Sydney. His latest painting was of Sydney and the baby. He didn’t need her to sit for a painting. She was in his mind and soul and he could paint her portrait as if she was in the flesh sitting in front of him. She was alive in his mind and he knew no other way to express it other than the only avenue he had, which was in the stroke of his brush.
* * * *
Jeremy planned his outing with Nadia hoping to quiet her. He had things to tell her that she might take badly, so he planned a calm high profile atmosphere because he knew how Nadia detested a scene.
It took only a few minutes from the hospital to get to Beacon Court. He walked into La Cirque, and remembered that he needed a jacket. A jacket was brought, and because he was the fiancé of Nadia, he was immediately shown to his table. Jeremy had become famous by being Nadia’s boyfriend and later by his wonderful paintings.
Nadia arrived early but waited until she set eyes on him, then she joined him. They greeted with a kiss on the lips.
Jeremy requested a table in the main dining room to be able to tell her about Sydney and the babies. He didn’t want her to get upset and walk out on him with everyone looking. Had he requested a more private area as Nadia suggested, she would probably make a scene.
Jeremy stood until Nadia was seated.“You don’t have to stand.”
“When I see someone as beautiful as you I can’t sit, your beauty lifts me up.”
“You are such a bull shit artist, Jeremy.”
“What is wrong now?” Jeremy inquired.
“Can’t we eat and have a nice dinner before we talk about anyone or anything? I know how you love this restaurant and French food. I wanted to do something special for you,” Jeremy said reaching across the table taking Nadia’s hand in his. He held it and brought it to his lips and gave her hand a kiss.
He knew how to be a thief. He was stealing her mind and heart. He gazed at her and thought that he could love this woman if his heart hadn’t been captured and set inside a prison.
A prison he constructed for himself, where he couldn’t or didn’t want to be set free. Nadia didn’t respond. She gave Jeremy a blank stare.
“Nadia let’s forget the dinner and go to your apartment and order in.” Nadia looked into Jeremy’s seductive green eyes and revealed her weakness for him. Immediately she agreed to do what he asked of her. She found herself walking in a fog of confusion, getting into a taxi, and entering her apartment.
* * * *
“This is a better idea than sitting all night with strangers and people who do not care for you,” Jeremy whispered as he kissed her lips and cheek then her neck. It had been weeks since he made love to her. Too many had past that he could not remember the feelings he held for her.
He needed love in the worst way, but he wanted Sydney. He knew she would never agree to make love to him, and for now she was off limits. He knew she hated him and loved him and that she would never love anyone as long as there was a possibility that Danny would return. He would hold her, comfort her, and pretend that he was her man but that was the extent of their relationship. His body craved Sydney, his body craved sex, his body craved lust. So he took the next best thing.
Nadia was charming and pretty in her own way. She had a round angelic face with short black hair and large eyes that had a doe’s quality. She had a wonderful small body that looked like a child’s with soft skin and no signs of childbirth. She was a woman that most men dream about but she was not Sydney. All of these thoughts waltzed through his mind and left him weak.
The weakness crept through his body and caused him to envision Sydney as the woman that stole his soul.
He paraded Nadia to her room pulling at her arms as he led her through the hall and into her bedroom. She kicked off the high hills that kept her five foot three frame from revealing her diminutive statue. Jeremy was exactly six feet one, a towering body of muscles and good looks.
When Nadia took off her shoes, she had to look up to Jeremy. Jeremy disrobed with such immediacy that Nadia didn’t have time to warn him that this would be the last time she would have this kind of relationship. He would have to marry her or live with her, otherwise, she would not prolong their relationship, and it would return to a business arrangement and nothing more.
Nevertheless, how could she go from this hot bed of erotic desire to a cold arraignment with a man that could light a fire in her by looking into her eyes? She would take her life as it came and now it was full with Jeremy.
The sex was all that Jeremy wanted.
Jeremy was swollen with desire for Nadia’s body but not the person. Nadia’s body was only a vessel to receive the pent up desire he carried for months.
He created a movie in his head in which he played over again like a favorite movie that puts you to sleep at night because you know the words and the ending. He was sleep walking in his mind as he began to make love to Nadia.
He looked at her the way he looked at Sydney and pretended that Sydney was there. He kissed Nadia’s arm and smelled her skin. He finally realized that it was not the smell he had in his conscience and because of that his mind launched him upward in the bed.
“What’s wrong Jeremy?”
“I don’t know? I suddenly thought about my brother and Sydney,” he lied to Nadia and then to himself. It was not his brother that caused him to stop his love-making.
As Jeremy began to explain, there was a knock at the bedroom door. Jeremy looked startled. He jumped to the floor.
“Oh that’s just my brother Alan letting me know he’s in the apartment.”
“I didn’t know you had a brother. You never said anything about a brother.”
“Well get your clothes on and meet him because it appears nothing is going to happen now,” Nadia whispered as she reached for her robe, and threw Jeremy his pants and shirt.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a brother?” Jeremy said as he zipped his pants.
“What difference does it make? He’s never here. He’s an architect. He’s passing through to South America where he’s supervising the construction of a large resort hotel. I didn’t tell him about you either. You both are even,” Nadia stated shrugging her shoulders and laughing.
“My brother disappeared in Brazil. I wonder if he’s going to San Palo.” Jeremy said as he buttoned his shirt. Jeremy wanted a confirmation from someone else to confirm that Danny was dead. Then he would begin his work on Sydney’s affections. He would launch an all out attack for her love. With his baby and alone, she wouldn’t be able to resist, he reasoned.
“You can ask him sweetheart. I know that is why you haven’t been attentive to me and your painting. Maybe he can get a search party to look for him.”
Jeremy’s mind wandered. He stood thinking. He didn’t want Danny to come back. He was almost relieved that he didn’t have to share Sydney with him anymore. For a moment he questioned himself. How could he have become this dark creature? He had to have more in him than avarice, he thought.
His greed had permitted him to become the despicable creature that seduces his brother’s wife, impregnates her, and then wishes his brother dead. Jeremy didn’t recognize himself. What had become of him? Why had he become so shallow, so heartless, and so
meaningless? He felt lost.
At that moment Alan called out to Nadia, “Why is it taking you so long to come out of that room? We haven’t had a chance to talk and I’m leaving early in the morning, so come out little sister, come out.” Alan stood at the door coxing Nadia into the opening. “If you don’t come out I’m going to come in.” The door flung open. Alan stood with his mouth open.
“My name is Jeremy and you are her brother Alan.” Jeremy held out his hand. “Yes, it’s quite a shock. I didn’t know about you either.”
“Well I’m happy to meet any man that my little sister chooses to sleep…I mean likes to the point that she would have him in her apartment.”
“He’s not just any man, he’s my finance’ and we’re going to be married soon,” chirped Nadia.
“Well you know how to shock someone late at night.”
“It’s not very late. I have seen you sit up all night talking and drinking only a few years ago.”
“I was still in my twenties, now I am thirty something and I have to be a little more serious. I can’t stay up all night and carouse with women I have to work,” Alan stated studying Jeremy.
“What kind of work do you do?” asked Jeremy. Jeremy noticed the hint in Alan’s choice of words.
“I’m an architect. I build hotels around the world. I’m off to Brazil tomorrow, where I will oversee the biggest and fanciest hotel in the Southern Hemisphere.”
“My brother was lost in a plane crash near San Palo, and he hasn’t been seen since. His name is Danny McCloud he’s an actor.”
“Oh yes I heard about him and the plane crash. It was all over the news. He wasn’t just any actor, he’s famous. He won an Oscar a few years ago and some of his movies are magnificent.” Alan continued describing the effect that it had on him when he heard that Danny may be dead. “If there’s anything I can do to find out about him when I reach Brazil I will do everything I can to get you some news.”
“His wife will appreciate whatever you can do and I will be grateful,” Jeremy said trying to convince himself that he will be happy on his brother’s return.
“It was great meeting you but I have to get an early start,” Alan said as he extended his hand. He walked in the direction of the guest room, turned, and said, “Take care of my little sister, will you.”
“Sure,” Jeremy said without thinking.
Jeremy stayed the night with Nadia because he wanted Sydney to miss him. He decided to confide in Nadia about his plans. Nadia prepared Jeremy an authentic French breakfast early that Saturday morning. Her mother was a French cook for a wealthy family in Paris and she taught her everything about food. She was fond of saying that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. Yet she forgot the most important thing, which is, a man’s heart is fickle.
“Breakfast is ready Jeremy,” Nadia shouted to Jeremy in the bathroom. Nadia made sure that Jeremy had all the comforts of home, so she had razors and pajamas. However, Jeremy wore nothing to bed and only slightly used a razor to trim his slight beard.
Jeremy strolled into the small kitchen and kissed Nadia on the cheek; looked at her a few minutes then he sat down to eat. He put the egg soufflé into his mouth and said, “This is good, where did you learn to cook like this?”
“My mother was a chef in Paris and she had me help her since I was a little girl. Later she and my father opened a small bistro and the rest is history.” Nadia continued talking and Jeremy was caught up in his own thoughts. When Nadia looked up from her plate, Jeremy had wolfed down his breakfast and stood up.
“That was wonderful, but I have to leave now, Nadia.”
“To go where Jeremy?”Nadia said hiding her anger. She had plans for Jeremy. He promised her they would go to a wedding planner to start the process of their wedding.
“I’m sorry but I promised Sydney to take the kids to the park.”
“What?! You are going to postpone an important occasion to take children to a park?” Nadia questioned in disbelief.
“These are my children now because their father is dead! What do you want me to do Nadia?”
“Put me first Jeremy. I want to be first!”
“I can’t talk to you. I’m gone.”
The sight of seeing Jeremy dashing out of the door made tears swell in Nadia’s eyes and water started streaming down her cheeks, on to her shirt. She couldn’t fathom why Jeremy was disconnected from her. She knew it had to do with Sydney. She was trying to take over her man because she had lost hers or maybe she was just making a big thing out of nothing. She was insecure about Jeremy and it showed every time she was in his presence; even when they made love.
Nadia’s head began to hurt, maybe it was the missed coffee or her cycle coming on, so she cancelled her appointments for the day, called the planner, and crawled into bed.
Chapter 12
A Friend in Need
Another month passed and Jeremy put off planning his wedding with Nadia. He spent all his time with Sydney and his baby. He had become so attached to his son that he couldn’t bear to leave him anymore. Sydney refused to name their son Jeremy but named him Ian instead.
“Sydney you haven’t had time to yourself. Why don’t you go to the salon and visit the spa, everything is on me. I have more money than I know what to do with and you never let me give you anything.” He walked up to Sydney as she sat enjoying her morning tea.
Sydney had always been a coffee drinker but Danny introduced her to English and Chinese tea. She felt a connection to Danny whenever she smelled the aroma of the tea. It took her back to the time when they had returned to each other and married in Italy. They would enjoy tea early in the morning and watch the sunrise over the Mediterranean Sea when they lived in Italy.
Her mind wandered back to Jeremy and she gazed into his eyes and for a moment saw Danny. “Just be here for me Jeremy. I know you are spending a lot of time with me, time you could spend with Nadia; but I can’t take anymore losses. My friend Zack is missing. I can’t take anymore losses,” she repeated.
“I’m not going anywhere sweetheart.” Sydney didn’t respond to Jeremy calling her sweetheart, because it was as natural as breathing. She finally accepted that term of affection coming from him.
His words caused her to stand and move closer to him as if she was a robot answering her master’s command.
They both didn’t know what this new horizon was in their lives, but they began to embrace it and suddenly embrace each other. Sydney and Jeremy’s eyes met, she reached for Jeremy and put her arms around him the way she had done once a long time ago with Danny.
“Oh Jeremy, you have given me so much peace and love. I tried to blame you for that night,” but I would be ingenuous if I didn’t tell you that I knew it was you. I’m as much to blame as you.” “Forgive Me!”
“I’ve loved you from the moment I met you in Italy. I will never leave you but I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to tell Nadia?”
“I can’t tell you what to do Jeremy. I can’t decide for you.” Sydney gave Jeremy an earnest look. He made up his mind long before Sydney’s declaration. He wanted Sydney.
Jeremy gently took her hands, clasped them together, and kissed them ever so gentle, as she lost herself in his soft green eyes. He pressed his lips to her lips, he heard her breath, felt the heat from her body, and felt it vibrate. He knew then that she belonged to him. The kiss was everything they both desired. Yet they desired more but both would not go any further. His face embraced her neck and he took in her scent.
Jeremy felt complete. He had finally satisfied his craving and thievery. He stole Sydney from Danny. And in his mind he moved on. He felt he had to give Sydney the lifestyle his brother had given her, he had to accumulate more wealth then Sydney. What Jeremy did not know was that the life style Danny gave Sydney broke him, and Sydney never cared for all his riches. She would have lived in a cabin in the woods if Danny had wished.
Jeremy thought he needed money to claim Sydney’s affections. He had
a son with her, and his stamp was on their relationship. Now he needed the money and he would ask her to marry him. First, he had to convince Nadia that he wanted to marry her. She had connections to sell his work all over the world. Therefore, he needed to talk to her because he left her suddenly without showing her any affection. He knew Nadia felt abandon. Jeremy decided that when Sydney returned from the spa he would go to Nadia’s apartment.
* * * *
Sydney took advantage of the time she had away from her children. Tethered to her baby, Sydney had forgotten how to be more than a mother. She was a woman with needs and desires.
She enjoyed Steven’s company. He was a southerner just like her, by way of Atlanta Georgia. He came to New York to express himself and live a life he could not live in the South. He was a gay man and although it was accepted and tolerated, he grew tired of meeting men who did not embrace who they are. Steven was an artist and he felt that he had to go where the world appreciated artist and freedom—New York.
He left Georgia with no regrets and started his life anew in New York. He met young models before they became famous and would create hairstyles for them. Then whenever they went to auditions, they got jobs because of his hairstyles. That is when Steven started his salon business in Brooklyn Heights. Steven did all types of hair. He eventually met a rich sugar daddy that gave and lent him money where he could move to Manhattan.
Once Steven made the move to Fifth Avenue, he became a small celebrity. Then he traveled in the company of starlets, models, and young heiresses. However, he never forgot his friends in Brooklyn. Whenever he needed a good laugh or something to remind him of home he would hang out at Tracey’s apartment. It was there that he met Sydney. Sydney was able to help him when he was accused of killing his boyfriend’s wife. Because of Sydney’s warm friendship, Steven became close to Sydney. He thought that she had a lot of style and class. She had money and was never afraid to spend it on herself or her friends.
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