"So… what do you think?" Neil asked eager to hear the excitement in his wife's voice.
Hilary looked down at the tablet in her lap scrolling through pictures of the surprise Neil had just sprung on her. Unable to form words, she simply mumbled "Wow…" She scrolled to the pictures of the lake she dreamt of swimming in, the huge oak tree she pictured a swing hanging from, and the mass amount of land she envisioned roaming on lazy Sundays. All of it was exactly as she had described to her husband. It was perfection. So she was confused as to why she had an excruciating pain in the bit of her stomach.
"I knew you would love it!" Neil said excitedly overlooking the hesitation in her voice. "I have to admit, it took some doing to make all this happen without you finding out. Don't be too mad at me, but that trip to Hong Kong was a cover."
"A cover? What do you mean?" Hilary asked confused still focused on the pictures on the screen.
"Well, there were some contract disputes, but it was with the seller of the house. Between that, inspection and escrow, I had to think of a way to get it all done without you finding out. You're not mad are you?"
Hilary could barely hear Neil's question over her own thoughts of that night. The way he challenged her, the way he made her laugh, the scent of his cologne that she was so reluctant to wash off her skin. It was all Hilary could do to keep from blushing at the memories of Devon holding her in his arms as they danced underneath stars.
"Hilary?"
"I'm sorry, what?" she replied coming out of her daze and finally making eye contact with Neil.
"Are you mad at me for lying?"
"Um... no. Of course not" she said out loud while thinking to herself that she couldn't possibly be upset at him while she was lying to him every day of their lives.
"Good" Neil smiled placing a kiss on her cheek. "How about we go to the club to celebrate?"
Just the mention of the GCAC made Hilary light up. "Yeah, I would like that." She beamed. Anything to see him again.
"You know what she's doing, right?" Cane asked as he and Devon sat at the table watching Lily and Abby giggling at the bar.
"You mean the obvious double date we're on? Yes, I picked up on that." Devon smirked.
"Normally, I would prefer Lily stay out of this, but she might be on to something. Abby may be exactly what you need."
Devon gave a halfhearted smile, but didn't reply. He knew exactly what he needed. Unfortunately, he had also resigned himself to the fact that he would never get it. He stared at the glass of water on the table and flashed back to his stranded night with the woman who owned his every thought. She was possibly the most infuriating person he had ever met in his life with the power to drive him out of his mind in every way imaginable. And then on a drop of a dime, make his heart race out of his chest. The more he tried to deny the hold Hilary had on him, the more self-destructive he was becoming. He knew Cane was right. It was time to let her go and move on with his life.
He looked back to the bar to see Abby smiling in his direction. She was beautiful, he couldn't deny that. If he was going to make a conscious effort to get Hilary out of system, why not do so with someone he genuinely cared about? Devon didn't have time to ponder that question for too long before he saw his father walk into the dining room with the object of his affection on his arm.
Following Devon's eyes, Cane let out a sigh "Don't" he said.
"Don't what?" Devon asked.
"You know."
Devon shook his head and took a sip of his water "I'm not going to do anything. I'm on a date, remember?" he replied sarcastically.
"Good evening ladies," Neil said cautiously as he and Hilary reached the bar.
"Hey guys" Abby smiled.
"Yeah, hi" Lily scoffed.
"So… date night?" Abby asked trying to break the tension.
"I guess you could say that. We're celebrating, actually." Neil replied going on to explain everything about the house he had just purchased for his new bride. Never noticing her attention on the table across the room.
"Well that sounds great. Congratulations." Abby said lightly nudging Lily's arm.
"Yeah, good luck with that" she smirked.
"Well then... on that note, I think we should get back to our dates." Abby suggested. The word "date" made Hilary's head snap back in their direction.
"You go ahead. I have to talk to my dad about something really quick." Lily replied.
Abby hesitated for a few seconds before shrugging and walking back to the table and slinking down into the chair next to Devon. Hilary's eyes on her the entire way.
"Lily, if you're going to start in again…" Neil began.
"No. I'm not" Lily interjected through clenched teeth. "I just wanted to tell you about Charlie's baseball game this weekend. It's the championship, you know?"
"My man! I will be there with bells on. I miss my babies."
"Yeah they miss you too."
"Can we maybe arrange a sleepover soon?" Neil asked pushing his luck.
Lily looked Hilary up and down and simply replied "I don't think so."
Hilary, who would normally give back the evil eye Lily was giving her, didn't even pick up on the animosity as she remained fixated on Abby and Devon now alone at the table as Cane had wondered off. She watched as Abby playfully hit his arm and laughed at whatever bad joke he was telling her. Her legs crossed towards Devon and the upper half of her body pressed into his as if pretending to try to hear him better. Hilary felt nauseous. She held on to the barstool next to her to keep herself upright as Lily and Neil continued whatever conversation they were having.
"Ok ok ok. On to a more agreeable subject" Neil interrupted "It looks like your plan to get Abby and Devon together is working."
"Like a charm" Lily grinned looking back at the happy couple she had orchestrated.
"So they're dating?" Hilary asked slightly above a whisper. The first time she had spoken since they walked in.
"Yeah, well I'm determined to have at least one of the men in my family with the right woman."
"Lily…" Neil sighed.
"What can I say, force of habit. Anyway, I think I'm actually about to turn up the heat on that."
"Do I even want to know what that means?" Neil asked.
"Just arranging something a little more intimate for them on the roof."
"Are you sure this is a good idea? I remember Devon telling you not to play matchmaker."
"That was when he thought he was leaving town. He didn't want me to go through the trouble. But now that he's sticking around…"
"And what about Abby? I thought she said she wasn't ready to date."
"She did, but she also said that when she was ready, Devon would be her first choice."
Every word Lily said was like a dagger to Hilary's chest as she tried to steady her breathing.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Lily" Neil signed. "Abby just got out of an engagement. I don't want to see Devon hurt."
"Well ya know what dad, people ending engagements and marrying completely different people mere weeks later has become a trend in this town. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go check on the surprised I have for them." Lily sniped before walking towards the stairs.
"I guess I walked into that" Neil chuckled. "Hey you ok?"
Hilary blinked repeatedly and turned her attention to her husband's concerned voice. "Yeah, I'm sorry. Just a little tired."
"Is that really it, or did Lily get to you?"
"No. Honestly, I've gotten pretty good at tuning her out."
"Well, that's a good thing I suppose. How about we get you a glass of champagne to celebrate?"
"Yeah, sure" Hilary replied as Neil called the bartender over "So… do you think Devon and Abby is… a good thing?"
"I think so. They've been friends for years. Honestly, I'm kind of surprised it took them this long."
"Really?" Hilary whispered watching as Devon leaned into Abby and looked to whisper something in her ear.
"Yep. If there was ever someone I could see him finally settling down with, it would be Abby."
Neil's words hit Hilary like a ton of bricks as she quickly turned away and gripped the bar. That excruciating pain in the pit of her stomach was now traveling throughout her entire body. This wasn't right she thought to herself. Nothing about it was right. The question was, what could she do to stop it?
"Dammit" Neil said looking at his phone completely oblivious to his wife's demeanor. "It's the office. I forgot about an important conference call. Looks like we'll have to continue this celebration later tonight."
"Ok" Hilary managed to say.
"Do you want me to drop you off at home?"
"Um… no. I think I'm going to browse the boutique for a little bit."
"Going to buy something special for me?" Neil asked wrapping his arms around her waist?
Hilary just simply smiled "I'll see you at home."
"Ok. Love you" he said as he rushed towards the door to leave.
Alone, Hilary reached for her glass of champagne and downed it in one gulp. She took a deep breath to steady her shaking hands before turning again to watch Abby and Devon at their table. Something was different. This wasn't like Esmeralda. Hilary watched in misery as Devon looked genuinely engaged in whatever was being said between them. She knew what she was feeling was wrong, but at this point, she didn't know what was right.
"If looks could kill, Abby Newman would be a dead woman."
Hilary looked to her left to see Cane standing next to her with a concerned expression.
"I don't know what you're talking about" Hilary replied turning back towards the bar.
"Yeah ok" Cane said "Listen to me. I tried to warn you after the laundry room incident. You chose not to heed it."
"Cane, it's not that simple…"
"Actually, now it is. You made your choice. You want Devon to move on? Well that's what it looks like. You have to let him go."
Hilary lowered her head to keep him from seeing the tears forming in her eyes. The words "You have to let him go" began to beat in her head like a drum.
"Hilary, did you hear me?" Cane asked.
"Excuse me, sir?"
Cane turned around to see a 3 workmen standing behind him. "Yes?"
"Sorry to bother you, but there's a small problem upstairs with the penthouse renovation" one of them replied. "We were going to talk to Mr. Hamilton, but we didn't want to interrupt his evening."
"Ok… come with me." Cane said reluctantly leaving Hilary at the bar.
Hilary watched as Cane talked with the men for a few minutes before walking over to Abby and Devon's table. She observed as Cane explained whatever the problem was to Devon. He nodded, looked to sigh and rose to his feet. Abby stood up as well and wrapped her arms around Devon's neck before collecting her handbag and heading past Hilary towards the door. Devon followed shortly after exchanging a look with Hilary but never stopping to say anything to her.
Hilary remained still as if her feet were planted in cement while she watched Devon not even acknowledge her existence. And why should he, she thought to herself. After all the games she had played with him over the past several months. It was no wonder that he had clearly reached his breaking point. Hilary noticed Cane and Lily talking and saw the disappointment in her face. Whatever she had planned on the roof for Devon and Abby had clearly been foiled much to Hilary's relief. Realizing she was pretty much on her own to deal with the wrath of her not so friendly step daughter, Hilary decided to make a break for it. She downed another glass of champagne, grabbed her purse and walked towards the exit. She stopped abruptly before going through the revolving door. She couldn't describe what was going through her mind even if she wanted to. She knew she had to leave. She had to go home. To her husband and to the life she had chosen. He was waiting for her, counting on her. He loved her. She knew that in her head.
As she turned around and began to climb the steps of the GCAC, Hilary gave in to the fact that her head was no longer in charge of her actions.