His Paris Affair (The Albury Affairs)

by Christina OW

He picked it up and slipped it onto his ring. “This doesn’t change anything,” he declared before opening the door and stepping into the suite to his mother standing where Melody had left her. “Mother, what are you doing here?”

  * * * *

  I really don’t need this right now, he thought as he stepped aside to let Melody in before he closed the door behind her. It surprised him when she held out his ring. He’d shoved it into his drawer after Cheri broke the clasp after pulling it from around his neck. He believed the broken clasp was a good thing because if he couldn’t wear it around his neck anymore. No longer having it close to his heart, it would help him get over Melody faster. But now he wore it on his finger to keep up pretences for his mother and it was scorching the skin under it. Why was he even going along with Melody’s charade?

  “What kind of question is that? I haven’t seen my only child in close to two years and now I know why,” she glared at Melody before she turned back to him with a sweet smile.

  Ruiz wasn’t sure who got it worse, Melody with the glare or him with the smile. The glare was genuine and the smile was as fake as all the smiles he’d received from her growing up. It hurt then when he realized his mother didn’t care for him as much as it hurt at that very moment. Sometimes he wondered if she could even stand his presence in her house let alone the mere sight of him near her. She despised his father and he got the distinct feeling that what she despised even more than having a child by the man who used her was the fact that Ruiz looked just like him.

  Ruiz preferred to think he looked just like his big brother and ignored the rest, like where Reno got his looks.

  “Mother, we both know that’s not true, what do you want?” he asked with more bite than he intended. He didn’t want to expose his hurt to either Melody or his mother.

  “A welcoming hallo and a kiss on the cheek would be a start,” she chastised turning up her cheek.

  With a tired sigh Ruiz went to his mother and kissed her cheek. “Welcome mother, now, tell me why you invited yourself to our temporary home and how you found me.”

  She slapped his chest. “Ruiz! I see you’ve lost your manners along with your concern for your poor lonely mother. This wouldn’t be her doing, would it?” she asked with a sneer and dismissive wave in Melody’s direction.

  Ruiz gave Melody props for not letting the smile on her face slip even though her eyes reflected how livid she truly was. She was right, she and his mother were made from the same type of cloth just not cut from the same rim. Melody would never be so openly rude to anyone—except him of course.

  “No, Mel is all about manners or you would be receiving a tongue lashing of your own and a boot out the door for your rudeness. Don’t let her docile smile fool you.” Melody smiled at that and he couldn’t help, but think it was her way of saying ‘thank you’ to him.

  His mother scoffed. “She has manners? If she did she would have introduced me to my grandchild already.”

  Melody’s smile slipped as she stared fearfully at him, and with good reason. “Your grandchild?” he repeated feeling that familiar anger build inside him.

  “I’ll just go get her,” Melody announce before scurrying away into her room like a frightened mouse.

  He rubbed his fist over his mouth. “Unbelievable!”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  Hell he needed a drink, a strong one. But if he poured himself one right now his mother would ask more questions he wasn’t willing to answer.

  Melody walked out of her room with the baby held over her shoulder and his heart tugged again at the sight of the baby. He didn’t understand what it meant. God knew he’d tried explaining it to himself a number of times and when he couldn’t come up with an answer he’d down play it but…what explanation could he give as to why his heart soured each time he saw her, why his arms itched to have her in them, why he had this insane craving for her that sometimes made him think he was losing his mind. For the past two days, every time he heard her cry he would go and stand by Melody’s door and he just listened to Melody calm her down. It was at those times he found himself wondering what awing image they portrayed as Melody nursed her. Would he fit in that picture? Would they look like his family? He found himself wanting to do a number of things with that sweet little girl that he normally did with his niece and nephews.

  Melody turned her in her arms so that she faced Ruiz and his mother. The baby stared at them with big beautiful brown eyes, as she suckled on her fist in her mouth.

  “Clarissa, I’d like to present to you our daughter, Esmeralda Mélodie Albury.”

  “What?” Ruiz blurted out.

  “You sound surprised dear? Why is that?”

  Ruiz caught the tone in his mother’s voice. His reaction made her suspicious and she was never crueler that when she thought there was a secret to reveal. Melody looked worried, scared even. As she should be.

  “Yes, I am. Melody, you never told me you named her after yourself,” he said with complete control even though he felt anything but.

  She smiled hesitantly. “Well since I did all the work I didn’t see why not. Men barely do anything, but have sons named after them.”

  “Mélodie. Well, it does sound prettier with a French accent,” his mother commented dryly before her tone got harsher. “What I would like to know is why you named her after your nanny, Ruiz?”

  Yeah, I would like to know that too.

  “Oh, I did that too. Ruiz has told me so much about her and how much she means to him that I was under the impression she was his grandmother?” She turned an accusing lifted brow in his direction.

  He fisted his hands tightly. How dare she? She’s the one who has a lot to explain.

  “No, she was just his nanny and advanced in age, like your nanny. I couldn’t have his father being attracted to the help. I see we are of like minds when it comes to that.”

  Father? Ha! He was tempted to ask which one she was referring to out of spite. None of the men she married, including the man who sired him acted like his father. They all treated him like a pest, something to put up with to stay in his mother’s good graces. If they paid enough attention they would have noticed she didn’t care a lick about him except in the eye of her wonderful social circle. God forbid they shunned her for being a bad mother.

  Jackie marched forward clearly offended by his mother’s remark and Ruiz couldn’t blame her. She took baby Esme from Melody and left the room as she mumbled in French. He wasn’t fluent, but he caught a few words and Melody’s wide eyed stunned expression was all the translation he needed for the rest. He pressed his lips together to keep from chuckling out loud. This trip to Paris was turning into worse of a nightmare than anticipated.

  Ruiz didn’t know if his mother spoke or understood French but she was clearly offended when she screeched, “I believe she just insulted me. Ruiz, do something!”

  “Yeah. Mel a word.” He grabbed Melody’s arm and led her to his room. Once the door was closed trapping her alone with him, he turned on her. “What the hell was that Melody?”

  She shrugged. “Jackie was just upset. She didn’t mean—well she probably meant—”

  “Not about that and you know it!” he hissed cutting her off.

  “Oh.” Her face blanched then she quickly added. “I don’t know what you mean.” She nervously backed away from him her fists opening and closing at her sides.

  He kept advancing on her. “Don’t play dumb with me. Esmeralda Mélodie Albury, my daughter? What kind of bull is that?”

  “Would you not curse when you are talking about Esme?”

  “Melody!”

  She jumped running around him towards the door. “Look. I’ll explain later, right now we shouldn’t leave your mother alone. It’s rude.”

  “Melody, don’t you dare—” he reached for her when she opened the door, but she quickly slipped him dashing out of the room. She drove him nuts especially with this new stunt. She knew it hurt that Esme wasn’t his and n
ow she was rubbing it in with this new story. Ruiz weighed his fist wishing he had a body to pound out his anger. He was going to lose his mind if he stayed in Paris any longer. The best thing to do would be to call Matthew or Allan, have one of them come and take over. Ruiz had done most of the work all that was left was hiring a new general manager and publicity. He knew he was being a coward, but he needed sometime away from Melody. First, he needed to get away from his mother. Melody could figure out what to do with her because at that point he was beyond caring.

  He stepped out of his room and Melody came rushing to his side visibly rattled. Now what?

  “Ruiz, I was just suggesting to your mother that we visit Les Champs Elysées. It’s a large boulevard that runs through the eighth arrondissement spanning from the Arc de Triomphe down to Place de la Concorde. There are so many boutiques, bistros and restaurants—L'avenue des Champs Elysées is the main attraction if you ask me. And the best part is there are so many boutiques with top designers like Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Benetton and many others! We’ve been there before remember how much we liked it?”

  Her voice had gone a pitch high and she was turning red—she was nervous, worried and scared—signs that she was about to have a panic attack if he didn’t do something about it. He placed his hand behind her neck and rubbed gently. That used to calm her—it worked like magic when they were going to Allan about their new role in Red Roses. Reno made broaching that subject easier by speaking to him before hand. Ruiz’s big brother also made it easier on them when it came to formally announcing their relationship to the rest of the family. Melody was panicking about what Allan would do and how he would change his mind about them travelling alone on visits to the hotels. He sighed to himself. He could really use his big brother right about now.

  “Yeah mother, you’ll enjoy yourself.”

  His mother rolled her eyes. “Fine, but if the baby is coming the nanny should come along as well.”

  Melody looked up at him desperately for some direction. Ruiz wondered what she wanted him to say. The child was hers so it was her decision whether or not she came. That irked him that he had no say.

  “That’s fine as well. Melody, go tell Jackie she’s coming along to our family outing. Just make sure whatever restaurant we are going to eat at serves alcohol at midday.” He lowered his head and whispered in her ear, “You’ll be doing yourself a favor if you don’t tell her which Sinclair you are.”

  * * * *

  Why the hell did I agree to this? Ruiz asked himself that for the umpteenth time that afternoon. They’d walked down…whatever street Melody had brought them on for what felt like hours, his mother stopping them countless times to step into a boutique and buy clothes, shoes and hats just because she did have them in that color or design and by design she meant it had one button or bow more or less that what she had at home. Countless times he’d been seconds away from dragging her out of the boutique only to have Melody swat his plans. She was trying to make nice with her mother-in-law she said, dragging her out of a boutique would make her efforts futile she said, never interrupt a lady having a conversation about Gucci and Armani she said. And to all those fun facts he reminded her that Clarissa wasn’t her mother-in-law. The first few times he said that she would turn away from him with hurt in her eyes but in the fifth or sixth store she found clever come backs. It became a game for him after that, threatening to drag his mother out of the boutique just to see what Melody would do or say. Then she caught on and began giving him the silent treatment and his only form of entertainment was over. So he did the only thing left to him, he called Jon Luc to discuss the things he’d left pending at the hotel.

  Jon Luc was in the middle of updating him of the new applicants for general manager when Melody yanked the phone out of his hand, turned it off and slipped it into her purse with a lecture on how rude he was being. And to make matters worse, his mother supported her! So he was back to dragging behind the new friends as they talked the nonsense rich society women did. If it wasn’t for Jackie who was as miserable as he was, he would have gotten into a cab and gone back to work.

  He was so grateful when they got to the restaurant and he finally got a whiskey in his hand despite the glares from the ladies at the table. He needed it like a druggie needed his next fix, especially with the crowd he was rolling with. He didn’t know how, but he found himself in the middle of his mother and Esme’s stroller. He didn’t want to be next to his mother, especially next to a baby that was ‘pretend’ his. His mother drove him nuts and the baby…it hurt too much knowing that he wasn’t her father, that her mother had her with a despicable man and that he was a masochist for sharing a suite with the wife that was no longer his, for agreeing to go along with this charade of being her father and for pretending to be a happy family with a family that wasn’t his in the first place. Which made him wonder again why the hell did he agree to this?

  Why was he pretending to be married let alone happily to Melody? Why were they lying to his mother when there was no need to? If he knew his mother well there was only one reason why she was here and it had nothing to do with caring for her only child. She wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if Ruiz was happily settled or doing twenty to life in a maximum-security prison. She had only one goal in life and that would be looking out for number one—herself. So aside from making fake friends with Melody what was she doing here?

  “Mother, you never did say what brought you to Paris.” Ruiz interrupted whatever comical conversation his mother and Melody were having with his question.

  She turned to him with a thin smile and chilly glare. “Ruiz, it’s rude to interrupt people while they are talking.”

  He nodded, taking a sip of his whiskey. “Yes, but if I remember my etiquette classes right, it’s also rude to stop by without a forewarning phone call, especially if the trip is from Argentina.”

  “You had etiquette classes? I never would have guessed!” Melody hissed through one of her well-rehearsed smiles.

  God it was like he’d been dropped into the twilight zone and he was seeing into his future with Melody and his mother sitting side by side. Well, it was no longer his future because they were getting a divorce and she was staying married to Antonio. He swallowed the remaining whiskey and lifted his hand to signal a waiter for a refill. He was going to need help getting into a cab when the lunch was over.

  “Oh yes, Ruiz did have etiquette classes as short as they were. They only lasted a few weeks because no teacher could tolerate his abhorrent behavior. The rudest child they’ve ever met, all three of his teachers said and they made sure everyone else knew that and I could never find another teacher to tutor him.”

  Ruiz lifted his glass up and yelled, “Refill, now!”

  Melody gave him a wide eyed gaze that matched his mother’s smug look. Why was he putting himself through this again? To his immediate relief, a waiter rushed to their table, a bottle of whiskey in his hand. He poured Ruiz a tot, but nodded for him to keep pouring until the glass was half full.

  When the waiter stepped back Ruiz grabbed the hand that held the bottle. “Leave it.”

  “Oui monsieur.” He placed the bottle on the table and retreated with a slight bow.

  “Like I said, abhorrent behavior,” Clarissa said with a sad sigh. “It was my husband Jorge who suggested military school.”

  “That would be husband number two,” Ruiz mumbled taking another gulp on his way to oblivion.

  “We’d barely been gone two hours from dropping him off when the school called to say Ruiz had run off to God knows where! We searched for him for hours, well into the next morning.” She made a grand gesture of fluttering her hand over her chest.

  “If you’d taken a look in the front seat of your limo you would have found me,” he commented dryly with another gulp of whiskey. “And if I remember correctly, you and Jorge went to the mountains while others searched for your nine year old truant son.”

  With wide eyed surprise his mother said, “You surely didn’t
expect us not to go? We were honored guests it would have been rude—”

  The rest of her words were drowned out by Esme’s crying. He was glad too because he wasn’t sure how well his whiskey soaked mind could have tuned her out. He’d learnt to turn her voice off in his head at an early age. With listening to nothing but critics, scolding and campaigns against his biological father every moment of his waking day he had to learn or he would have been committed to an asylum by the time he was a teenager instead of joining a gang.

  Why was he going through this again? He thought about that as he watched Jackie fuss over the baby and Clarissa and Melody pick up their conversation like he was no longer there and reached the conclusion that he had no reason whatsoever to be putting himself through any of it.

  He took several more gulps from his glass and stood up, shakily at first before he centered himself.

  “Ruiz, where are you going?” Melody asked panicky.

  Ruiz stared at her and watched as she grew uneasy. She didn’t want to be left alone with his mother. Well too bad. He’d reached his limit of self torture for the day. He couldn’t stay one more minute with the three things that caused him the most pain in his life—Esme for not being his daughter, Melody for no longer being his wife, and his mother who would pick a Prada bag over him any day of the week. He’d had enough and all he wanted to do at that moment was take the rest of the afternoon off to wallow in his miseries before he built his shield up again and this time, it would be impenetrable.

  He took out his wallet and dropped a few bills then, turning a deaf ear to Melody’s calling he walked out of the restaurant and into a free cab.

  “Ou? Where to?”

  He leaned his head against the window and watched as the world walked by him, a hell of a lot happier than he was at the moment. “A bar, where normal people go to.”

  Chapter Nine

  Melody paced the living room in a panic. It was well past midnight and Ruiz hadn’t gotten back to the suite. Going out to lunch with his mother had been a bad idea, a really bad idea. She’d been too eager to please the woman she completely forgot about Ruiz.