The Rennillia Series: Volumes 1-5

by M. Sembera

  Pearl raised an eyebrow, instantly asking me, “So you’re pretty friendly with Jackson.”

  “No, no, he’s the boy Mrs. Roberts used to talk about her bringing over to their house,” Brooke said.

  Pearl argued, “That was Scott. Jackson’s the one she dated,” then looked at me, asking, “Isn’t he?”

  Shocked, I replied, “Um, Yes.”

  Pearl smirked at Brooke, saying, “See.”

  I sat there baffled, wondering why this was conversation worthy.

  Thinking to myself ‘well Erin was quite the little gossip’, until a guilty feeling reminded me she was more than likely just talking about Emerson and his friends like most mothers would. The question of why they were so interested in Jackson was quickly revealed once Nadine spoke up.

  “That boy is somethin’ else if I was younger…” she shared.

  Pearl laughed, saying, “Not that you’re married, huh?”

  “Oh, please!” Nadine replied, continuing to inform, “Like you wouldn’t.”

  Angelina broke in saying, “Ya’ll are both being tacky,” then glancing at me, she slyly questioned, “What about you?”

  I blurted, “No!” adding, “We’re just friends.”

  All five ladies stared at me for a moment.

  Nadine asked me, “So you and he never?”

  Wide eyed, I shook my head.

  “I’m surprised. I heard he has quite the reputation,” Pearl stated.

  Benetta who had been very quiet up until that point, said, “Remember how Mrs. Roberts used to go on and on about her and Emerson.”

  They all looked at each other nodding.

  How on earth could anyone think I was the rude one? These ladies were unbelievable. If the Jackson conversation wasn’t bad enough, now they were moving on to Emerson. No wonder Erin advised me not to be friendly. However, I was a little curious about what she used to say about me.

  Looking directly at Benetta, I asked, “What about me and Emerson?”

  “Oh you know, she thought for sure you and he would get married,” she replied.

  Angelina chimed in saying, “She also thought Emerson would be running the company.”

  “Ha, that’s what she gets for what she did to poor….” Nadine sneered, stopping as Angelina said, “Shhh, here they come.”

  Incredibly interested, I was disappointed to see Hert and the other men coming out to collect us. Hert walked up to me, placing his hand on my shoulder. Smiling through my disappointment, I looked up at him. He gave a nod and a smile to the ladies at the table then to me after all five of them smiled back. As I stood up, Hert placed his arm around my shoulders.

  Walking back through the hotel, he removed his arm from around me as we continued out to the car.

  As he opened the door, Hert informed me, “Jackson is going to ride home with you. I have to run to The Office before I go home.”

  “Oh, okay,” I responded, hoping my sadness wasn’t noticeable.

  Leaning forward I reached my arm up, wrapping it around his neck. Hert gave me a slight hug then kissed my cheek, before turning and walking away. Thinking, ‘what the hell was that?’ I opened the car door and slid in. Really wanting to get back out and yell at him for not giving me a proper goodbye, I crossed my arms and pouted.

  The Society, Erin and the brunch ladies were all their own unique experience, but they had one thing in common. As Hert’s wife I should act appropriately so my husband could do his job. My next thought was interrupted by Jackson.

  “Well, are you gonna talk to me or what?” he asked.

  Shaking my head, I said, “Sorry, I was just…”

  Jackson interrupted me, questioning, “What’s going on with you?”

  Shrugging a little, I answered, “I’m trying to do my part. I’m supposed to be making Hert’s home life as pleasant as possible so he can do his job.”

  Narrowing his eyes at me, he said, “What? Ren, Hert’s never once had a problem doing his job, no matter what’s going on. I’m not saying you need to be all crazy with him or anything, just don’t be somebody else.”

  Pretending to agree, I nodded, quickly changing the subject, “You know you’re really popular with the wives.”

  Smiling wide, he informed, “Too bad I’ve changed my ways,” with a wink.

  “Ewe Jacks!” I griped, kicking his foot with mine.

  Jackson had a way of cheering me up that was funny and a little disturbing at the same time.

  We laughed a little before Jackson’s face grew serious. I was worried at first then I realized he was trying to be sweet.

  “Ya’ll are good together. Don’t let all this come between ya’ll, okay,” he imparted.

  Smiling at him, I nodded saying, “I won’t Jacks.”

  He smiled his smile and I knew if I ever had a friend, a real friend, it was Jackson. Despite the years of flirting and hidden motives, he was right. The day I was trying to avoid having a feelings conversation with him, he said ‘you can still love someone without being with them’. It was true. We could and it took me until this exact moment to realize the real feeling behind the way I felt about Jackson after our run in with HIM.

  Nudging him as we pulled up to the house, I declared, “You’re a good friend.”

  “Yea, I’m the greatest,” he laughed.

  I laughed with him as we got out of the car.

  Stopping the minute we walked to the back door, I saw Emerson sitting in the garage and wrapped my arm around Jackson’s. For a second, I thought we would be able to ignore him and go inside. In the next second, I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

  Emerson spouted, “Awe, the perfect little wife’s home.”

  Before I had a chance to respond, Jackson snapped, “Don’t talk to her like that.”

  Emerson stood up, walking towards us, he questioned, “What? You’re going to defend her like you did when I kicked your ass?”

  “Put your hands on her again and you’re gonna be the one in the hospital,” Jacks informed.

  The closer they got to each other, the more I started to worry.

  Standing in front of Jackson, I looked up at him reminding, “Jackson your mom is here.”

  “That’s right, your mommy’s here,” Emerson antagonized.

  Jackson snapped back, “Where’s your mom? Oh, that’s right she left. Hert’s not here to save you this time either.”

  Things were quickly getting out of control. Already feeling Jackson pulling me to the side, I was no longer between them. I gave one last attempt to stop them.

  Hoping it would work, I stated, “That’s enough. Neither one of you will get to see Sophia again if this doesn’t stop right now,” then they both glared at me as I ordered, “Jackson go inside and you find somewhere else to go, Emerson.”

  Surprisingly, they both obeyed.

  Walking in behind Jackson, I caught the door before it slammed shut. He was red faced and furious.

  Standing close to him, I rubbed his arm saying, “It's okay.”

  “That’s not okay, Ren. Why the hell would you put up with that? And how is Hert letting him stay here when he treats you like that?” he asked.

  I had to confess, “Hert doesn’t know. He’s gone a lot and Emerson doesn’t act like that around him.”

  He quickly asked, “Why aren’t you telling him?”

  With a sigh I replied, “I can handle it myself and I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell Hert. I don’t want him to know.”

  Shaking his head, Jackson questioned, “And what happens when you can’t handle it?”

  “If that happens, then I will tell Hert and have Emerson move out,” I assured him.

  Before Jackson could say another word about it, I heard Sophia crying and darted out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

  The second I walked in Mrs. Thomas motioned for me to step back out. Quietly stepping back, she followed me into the hallway.

  “I just got her back to sleep, poor baby. She slept for a while after you
left. You can give her some more Tylenol in about two hours. Oh, and her teething ring is downstairs in the freezer,” she said.

  Thanking her again, I replied, “I really appreciate you staying here with her.”

  Smiling, she said, “Oh, it’s no problem. She is just so sweet, even when she’s crying.”

  Nodding, I walked downstairs with her.

  Jackson walked into the living room asking, “Mom, am I bringing you home?”

  With a laugh she replied, “Well, I wasn’t planning on walking.”

  Smiling slightly back at her, Jackson handed her the car keys saying, “I’ll be out there in just a minute. I need to talk to Ren real quick.”

  “Alright son,” she replied as she walked out of the room.

  Not wanting to explain myself or my reasons for putting up with Emerson to him, I was hoping to avoid finishing the conversation.

  “Will you be at the dinner tomorrow night?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

  He quickly answered, “No,” then continued to say, “I don’t understand why you are putting up with Roberts.”

  “It’s really not that big of a deal and besides if I tell Hert then he’ll be concerned and his job…” I replied before Jackson cut me off saying, “His job is what? It’s not more important than his wife. He should be concerned. And why do you do that?”

  I questioned, “Do what?”

  “You’ll pick the stupidest things in the world to get upset about but when there really is something, like this, to be upset about you just ignore it,” he replied.

  In an effort to shut him up I said, “Well, I don’t know why you’re minding my business when you need to be minding your own.”

  I could instantly tell, by the look on his face, that I had hurt him.

  Nodding, Jackson assured, “You’re right.”

  “I didn’t mean it to come out like that,” I said trying to take it back.

  “Yea, you did,” he said with a wounded look as he turned to walk away.

  “Jacks!” I urged, wanting to make it right.

  He continued walking away saying, “I’ll see you around Ren.”

  He slammed the door hard and I heard Sophia start to cry again.

  Back upstairs in Sophia’s room, I tried to console her while watching the clock. Impatiently waiting for two hours to pass, I heard Hert calling me. I didn’t answer, figuring he would eventually find me.

  He walked in Sophia’s room, saying, “Is she still not feeling good?”

  Shaking my head, I said, “Go downstairs and get her teething ring out of the freezer and bring it here.”

  Hert walked back out quickly returning with the frozen ring.

  “Will you be alright with her? I’m going to take a shower,” Hert asked.

  I nodded and watched him walk out of the room. The teething ring helped as Sophia sniffled and bit down on it. My heart went out to her. Mrs. Thomas was right she was sweet even when she was crying. Thinking about how happy she usually was, I thought of Jackson.

  Jackson was usually happy too. I didn’t like feeling responsible for his unhappiness. The more I dwelled on it the more I decided, maybe it wasn’t about me. I hated thinking he was overreacting where Emerson was concerned but he was. All Emerson was doing was talking mess and to be fair, I had caused a lot of trouble and he had every right to be angry with me. If they were still friends Jackson wouldn’t think it was such a big deal. He would smile and say ‘give it some time’ just like he did when I found out about my parents. As much as they seemed to dislike each other, they both seemed to be concerned about the same thing. How either of them thought it was better for me stay the same was beyond me. Jackson was different and I was happy for him. Just like him, I wasn’t pretending to be someone else. I was just being a better more controlled version of myself. I made a commitment to be Hert’s wife and that meant that Hert was more important than my old friends having their old Ren.

  Hert stepped back into Sophia’s room. He spent the next few hours with us. When I realized how late it was getting, I assured him Sophia and I would be fine and he should go to bed. Hert smiled and told us both goodnight. When he left the room, I decided the next time I saw Jackson I would apologize for being mean to him and leave it at that. The rest of my evening was spent alternating Tylenol, the teething ring and trying to get her to eat a little bit.

  Chapter 4

  Around two in the morning, I had given up putting her in her crib and settled on holding her in the rocking chair. Throughout the night, she slept less than two hours. Finally, my sleepless night came to a close as I noticed the sun peaking through Sophia’s curtains. I carefully laid Sophia in her crib. Waiting to make sure she stayed asleep, I stood next to her crib watching her. When it appeared as though she would stay asleep for more than two minutes, I quietly left her room.

  Sleep deprived and covered in drool, I walked into my room ready to take a shower.

  Already dressed for work Hert asked, “Why didn’t you come to bed last night?”

  I quickly answered, “Because I didn’t sleep.”

  Appearing surprised, he suggested, “If you didn’t sleep how are you going to handle Sophia today and go to the dinner tonight. Maybe Roberts can help you out so you can get some rest.”

  So irritated by the importance placed on the dinner over anything else, I was almost at the point of outrage. I stared at him for a moment before I decided to stick to my ‘good wife’ plan.

  With a forced smile I assured, “I’ll be alright. She’s sleeping now so I’ll just take a quick shower then sleep until she wakes up.”

  Knowing his precious dinner was no longer in danger, Hert smiled saying, “Okay, see you when I get home,” and left the room.

  There was no need for me to get upset over an improper goodbye this time. I didn’t get one at all. All I got was a see you later.

  I took my shower and checked on Sophia. She was still sound asleep so I headed downstairs to eat some breakfast then maybe take a little nap. Walking into the kitchen, I saw Emerson sitting at the table. Refusing to acknowledge him, I walked to the counter and poured myself a bowl of cereal. I could feel him staring at me, turning around I glared right back.

  “What?” I griped.

  With a patronizing tone Emerson said, “Looks like perfect wife is having trouble being so perfect.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I questioned.

  Leaning back in his chair, he shared, “I’m just sayin’ if Hert has to ask me to help you, well then…”

  I stopped him, yelling, “I never said I was perfect! And believe me, you are the last person I need help from!”

  “Oh, did you want to call your little boyfriend over? I bet he’d love to help you out,” he replied.

  Wanting to defend Jackson and myself brought me close to my breaking point.

  I shouted, “Shut up! Just! Shut! Up!”

  “Temper, temper,” Emerson cautioned with a smile.

  Being just steps away from assaulting him, I dumped my bowl of cereal out in the stink and stomped out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

  My head was pounding as I lay down on my old bed in Sophia’s room. I spent a few minutes thinking of different things to shout at Emerson before deciding if I could sleep for a little while I would feel better. The second I closed my eyes, Sophia woke up crying. Dragging myself out of bed, I walked over and picked her up out of her crib. Resuming my position rocking her, I couldn’t help myself and started to cry.

  After about an hour of us both crying, I got Sophia to fall back asleep. I was able to sleep for around fifteen minutes before she woke up. The day continued on the same way. I did get to sleep off and on. Although it did not help with my exhaustion, I was able to function. Hert made it home from work just as I finally got Sophia to eat some cereal.

  Walking in the back door, Hert asked, “Is she any better?”

  Nodding at him, I continued feeding Sophia.

  Smiling, Hert offered,
“I’ll do that. You can go ahead and get ready.”

  He might have been being nice and I could have taken it the wrong way but I felt Hert was being thoughtless. It did not matter. I was having a difficult time keeping my eyes open. Close to tears but too tired to really care, I headed upstairs.

  In an effort to be as alert as possible, I showered with cold water. Pulling a dress out of my closet, I made sure it wasn’t too revealing but gave little thought to anything else about it. With my makeup on and my hair fixed, I grabbed my heels and headed back downstairs. When I made it down, Mrs. Thomas was standing in the living room.

  Walking up to her, I said, “Thank you again. I bet you’re ready for a break after this.”

  Smiling at me, she replied, “Oh, no. I love watching her.”

  Smiling back at her, I asked, “Is Jackson here too?” hoping he was and I could apologize.

  “No he just dropped me off,” she answered. She must have noticed my disappointed expression because she then said, “He’ll get over whatever it is he’s mad about. Jackson never stays mad for very long.”

  Nodding at her, I said, “Thanks.”

  Hopefully she was right.

  Hert walked into the living room smiling. He handed Sophia to Mrs. Thomas as I told her goodbye. I thanked Mrs. Thomas again and we left for the dinner. Following the same routine as the previous two days, it was a long ride. I caught myself falling asleep a few times and decided talking to Hert might keep me awake.

  “So all these meetings are going good?” I asked.

  He nodded, explaining, “Yea, they are. It’s hard for people to change the way things are done sometimes, even if it’s a better way.”

  “Will I be sitting with you at dinner?” I asked.

  I could already tell I would be banished with the other wives by the look on his face.

  He replied, “Sorry, the dinner is really for the wives. This is the last meeting and after the vote we’ll see what happens.”

  Confused, I questioned, “The vote?”

  “Technically, changes have to be voted in,” he answered.

  I asked, “So what if the vote is no?”

  Scowling at me, he said, “It shouldn’t be, but if it is, Jackson and his department will stay at The Office they just won’t handle all the accounts.”