She Left Me Breathless (9 page)

“I just cannot believe she flaunts her lesbian sexuality around in the open for all to see. What do two women do together anyway? For the life of me, I cannot understand how they have sex. Do you think she straps one on or what?”

Carmen and Danielle laughed.

“If you don’t know how two women can have sex with each other, Victoria, that tells me one thing. You’ve never had an orgasm in your entire miserable life and when Allen’s dry humping your ass like a dog, you become nothing more than a human waste disposal, you know, like a fuck dump for all of his deformed little swimmers,” Karen said from behind the women.

The three women whirled around, their faces registering shock as they stared at Karen. It was obvious that they could not believe anyone, let alone someone like Karen would speak to them in such a manner. Victoria’s eyes took in Karen’s red, green, and black Goth outfit. She made no attempt to hide the smirk on her face as she looked Karen up and down from head to toe.

“Like anyone would ever take anything you had to say seriously,” Victoria said with as much dignity as she could muster.

“Like anyone in their right mind would ever wanna fuck you,” Karen said and then laughed as the women’s mouths dropped open. “By the way, I’m orgasmically endowed, how about you?” Karen said with a wink before walking away from the women.

Sydney smiled as Karen approached. She grabbed two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter and handed one to Karen. “I saw you talking with the triplets, learn anything interesting?” she asked.

“More like the
Hounds of Baskerville
,” Karen laughed. “Those bleach blonde-haired hoity toity bitches don’t have an interesting bone in their bodies. They don’t understand that without their “husbands” so called upper status at Welsh they wouldn’t be shit,” Karen said, making a finger quote her with hand.

Jackie looked at Karen and laughed.    

“I think you may be right. Hear, hear,” Sydney said, laughingly as the two of them clinked their glasses together. “Oh great,” Sydney sighed.

“What?” Karen asked, turning to see what Sydney was talking about.

Meredith walked in with a hot little petite blonde by her side. She ignored Sydney and crossed the room.

“I’m not even going to ask,” Karen said with a shake of her head.

This is a really nice party, Syd,” Jackie said and then took a sip of her champagne.

“So this is where we’re congregating,” Maureen smiled as she walked up to the group of women.

“I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it,” Sydney teased.

Maureen shook her head. “I told you I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Sydney looked at Jackie and then at Maureen. “I don’t think you two have met.”

The two women looked at each other and shook their heads.

“Well then, Jackie Christopher, I’d like you to meet Maureen Olsen. Maureen I’d like you to meet Jackie.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Maureen,” Jackie said. “Have you worked at Welsh for long?” she asked, taking Maureen’s hand in hers.
Damn this woman is hot
, Jackie thought as her eyes unabashedly took in the luscious curves of Maureen’s body.

“It’s nice to meet you, too and it will be ten years next month,” Maureen grinned.

“If you’ll excuse me, I see someone I’d like to say hello, too,” Sydney said, turning toward the foyer. She felt instant butterflies as she watched Caitlyn step into the foyer, followed by her stepfather and Rachel.

Caitlyn’s eyes lit up when she saw Sydney.

“Hi, Caitlyn, I’m glad you could make it, Merry Christmas,” Sydney said.   

“Merry Christmas to you also,” Caitlyn said as she took her parents jackets and gave them to the young woman doing coat checks. “Thank you,” she said to the woman before turning back to Sydney. “I would like you to meet my mom and stepdad.”

Sydney looked first at Edward Ashburn and then at Rachel. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest, the sound echoing so loud in her ears that she was convinced the others could hear it. She swallowed a lump that had suddenly formed in her throat.

Rachel was far more beautiful than she remembered. The photos didn’t do her justice at all. She wore a midnight blue ankle length gown that fit snuggly against the curve of her hips. On each side of the gown, a three-inch wide, thigh high slit ran down to her ankles, exposing long, and tan, shapely legs. Sydney’s eyes continued to travel up the length of Rachel’s body. Her eyes stopped at the plunging neckline and ample cleavage. The figure-hugging gown left little to the imagination. When her eyes locked with Rachel’s, she saw a cloud of confusion behind the long blonde lashes.

She forced herself to look at Edward. He looked exactly like she had pictured. Dressed in a black tuxedo, he stood approximately six-foot-tall and was ruggedly handsome with dark chestnut colored hair and blue eyes. Sydney thought she could describe him in two words—conceited bastard.   

“Mom, I would like for you to meet my boss, Sydney Welsh,” Caitlyn said, pulling Sydney from her thoughts.

Sydney held out her hand. “I’m pleased to meet you,” she said, looking Rachel in the eye.

To say Rachel was shocked would be the understatement of the year. Rachel’s eyes were full of questions as she held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Welsh,” she said, taking Sydney’s outstretched hand. “Caitlyn talks about you non-stop.”

Sydney smiled. “It’s all good I hope and please call me Sydney.”

“Of course it’s all good,” Caitlyn beamed and then said, “This is my stepdad, Edward.”

“I’m pleased to meet you as well,” Sydney said, taking the man’s hand in hers.

“Caitlyn never said a word about how beautiful you are. You’re quite the looker and I swear to God if I didn’t have a wife—”

“But you do,” Sydney said, cutting him off before he could finish the sentence.

Edward whistled loudly as he looked around the foyer. “This is some place you got here. What is it, six, seven thousand square feet?”

“Twenty-five-hundred, sixty feet,” Sydney said, thinking that the man reeked of arrogance and alcohol.        

“Only two-thousand, five-hundred, and sixty feet, huh, that’s not as big as I thought. Sure looks a lot bigger. My house is just a little under five thousand. That’s definitely bigger than yours,” he said, smugly.

His house?
What a total jackass,
Sydney thought. The only thing he owned was his 1996 Toyota Camry. Everything else was in Rachel’s name and that included the house. His name isn’t on the deed and she hadn’t given it a second thought when she had seen a copy of the loan papers. Now she understood why, because his name wasn’t really Edward Ashburn. A loan would have raised all sorts of questions, like credit scores, past job experience, references, etcetera, but why wouldn’t Rachel have questioned him on this? Did she know that her husband wasn’t who he claimed to be? Even if she did, she couldn’t see Rachel involved in anything shady.

He had to have told her one helluva story
and the plot continues to thicken,
she thought as she looked at Edward and shook her head. “I think you misunderstood me. It’s not twenty-five hundred, it’s twenty-five thousand, six-hundred square feet,” she said, grinning with satisfaction at the shocked expression on his face as the figures finally sunk into his tiny little brain.

“You’re not supposed to ask questions like that. It’s rude, Edward,” Rachel said, looking apologetically at Sydney.

“What’s something like this cost, three, four million?” he asked, undeterred by his wife’s admonishment.

Caitlyn and Rachel looked as if they wanted the floor to open up and swallow them. Sydney glanced at Caitlyn. She winked at her protégé before turning back to Edward. “Eighteen-million dollars,” she said and then added, “Cash.”

Sydney had caught Edward off-guard. If she had any reservations about the man before now, he had quickly solidified her opinion of him and her opinion was lower than she had initially thought.

“You got anything stronger than sissy-ass champagne?” he asked as a server passed by.

Sydney nodded toward the foyer doorway that led into the family room. “There’s a wet bar through there. Help yourself.”

Edward didn’t wait for a second invitation. Without a word to Rachel or Caitlyn, he left the foyer.
No doubt on his way to get a drink, as if he needed one
, Sydney thought as she turned to Caitlyn. “I need to go speak with someone. Why don’t you show your mother around? Get something to eat and drink. Have a little fun.”

Caitlyn looked at Sydney and mouthed a silent thank you. Sydney gave her a “you’re welcome” smile before turning to look at Rachel. “It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Ashburn, please excuse me,” she said and left the foyer. She had to put some distance between herself and Rachel. She had been waiting for this moment for so long that she had not given a second thought on how it would affect her when the time finally came. Her emotions were in overdrive. She grabbed a glass of champagne from a server’s tray and was not surprised to see that her hand was shaking.

She walked back into the family room and looked around. This had to be the largest Christmas party yet. The place was jam packed with bodies and from what she could tell; most Welsh employees were in attendance. She waved to the Mayor of Miamisburg who seemed to be having an animated discussion with Edna and Allen.
What a combination,
she thought.

“Well howdy, Sydney. Merry Christmas ta ya,” a voice said just over her shoulder.

She didn’t need to guess at whom the voice belonged to. She turned to see the smiling face of Jedidiah Saunders. “Hello, Jed. I’m glad to see you could make it and Merry Christmas to you,” she said. “This must be your lovely wife, Gerty.”

Jed smiled at the portly grey-haired, older woman standing beside him. “Yes it tis.”

“I am so pleased to meet you, Ms. Welsh. Thank you so much for inviting us. You have a very beautiful home,” Gerty said as she took Sydney’s hand and shook it soundly.

“Please call me Sydney. Ms. Welsh sounds so formal,” Sydney said, marveling at the strength of the woman’s grip on her hand. “Are you two having a good time?”

“Oh yes,” Gerty said, releasing Sydney’s hand.

Sydney looked at Jed and smiled. “I’ve been thinking about you.”

“Really? Why you wanna go waste your thoughts on that?” he grinned.

“Yep,” Sydney said and nodded. “I was wondering if you had a full-time job?”

“No ma’am, I don’t. I been retired from General Motors now goin’ on five years I reckon.”

“Would you like a job? I need someone who’s handy to look after things around here but I don’t want you up on any ladders.”

Jed scratched his head as he thought about the offer. “Well, Gerty here’s been tryin’ to get me outta her hair for some time now, says I’m always under foot.”

“Cause you are,” Gerty said, playfully shoving her husband.

Sydney couldn’t help but smile at them. They made a cute couple. “Why don’t you come by Monday evening and we can discuss the particulars.”

“I sure will,” he said, his mouth curving into a smile.

“Now that we’ve got that out of the way, why don’t you go ahead and show Gerty the rest of the house, after all, starting Monday, you’ll need to know the lay of the land too, and don’t forget to check out the dining room. We have a full buffet set up. Make sure you try the stuffed lobster, it’s to die for,” Sydney said to Gerty.

“I love seafood,” Gerty chuckled.

“I love seafood, too. When I see food, I eat it,” Jed said over his shoulder as he and Gerty headed off toward the dining room.

Sydney laughed and shook her head. She couldn’t help but like Jed. Her gut told her that he was a good man and in many ways, he reminded her of her own dad. Her eyes systematically searched the room looking for Rachel. She found her standing next to Edward, who was standing next to the wet bar with a drink in both hands. Their eyes met and Sydney felt heat rise from the bottoms of her feet and settle in her groin. She forced herself to look away.

Well now is as good a time as any
, she thought as she made her way to the stage. She leaned over and said something to the lead singer who promptly directed the band to stop playing.

Sydney took the microphone and walked over to the staircase. She climbed high enough that she could look out over the entire family room.

“May I have everyone’s attention please,” she said into the microphone. When the crowd quieted, she continued. “First of all, I would like to thank everyone for coming and I hope that you are all having a good time.” She smiled at the
whistles and oh yeahs
coming from the crowd.

“As all of you who work at Welsh know, we have had an awesome year.” The crowd erupted with a clap of hands. She held her hand up to quiet them. “And since we have had such a fantastic year, everyone’s Christmas bonus will be doubled to thirty-percent your salary instead of the usual fifteen.” The crowd went nuts at the announcement. “In addition to the bonus, which by the way will be reflected in next week’s checks, just in time for some last minute shopping, I have also decided to give everyone two additional days off before Christmas and none of you are to return to work until the third of January. I also know that some of you are workaholics and will still show up to work on those extra days I’ve given you off so you will be paid double-time.”