Chapter 7
Teri was sitting at home playing clue with her kids. It was Thursday night, almost a whole week since Sherri left. Even though she loved being with her kids Teri was craving some adult company. Since they finished filming the first episode everyone was on break until they heard something. So she couldn't even see the cast and crew. But as a thank you, Bradley and Peter were having a cast and crew party on Friday.
Teri has yet to reach out to Sherri because she seemed pretty mad and Teri was still a little hurt. Every time her phone rang she prayed that it was her but instead it was just Jeanie. Once Sherri left Teri replayed that morning over and over trying to think about what could have gone wrong. She finally realized what she said and she hated herself for it. She was even more upset with Jeanie for coming by and causing trouble to begin with.
Her phone buzzed again, but instead of it being Jeanie, it was Sean. He was a friend of Jeanie's husband. They met at their house one night when she was invited over for dinner. They ended up laughing and talking the whole night. He was very funny and extremely handsome. They would talk occasionally but never actually hung out. Mostly because Teri was always cautious of who she dated because of her past relationships. He was a professional baseball player and was texting her to see if she could go to one of his games on Friday. It was during the day so she would have enough time to get ready for the party that night. Part of her wanted to say no because she really wanted to find a way to make things right with Sherri. But then she knew that this would be a great way to get her mind off of her. Besides, she just wanted to feel happy. She smiled at the thought of a pleasant distraction and continued to text him for the rest of the night.
…
"Mama, I'm sure she loves you. There's no way in the world that she doesn't love you. Everyone does". Earlier that day Cierra got a call from Maia saying that something was wrong with their moms. After some convincing and a sad baby voice, Sherri finally gave in and told Cierra where she was staying. She spent the whole day lounging around the hotel room eating pizza and watching movies anyway. Some company may actually be good for her.
Cierra was trying to convince her that there must have been some mistake to what she heard Teri say. Sherri was getting more and more upset because she was making it seem as though she was the problem when clearly Teri was the one with the harsh words. "Cierra I don't want to talk about it anymore! I don't want to talk about love. I don't want to talk about her, friendships, relationships, and meanings, none of it"!
Cierra just waited a second until Sherri calmed down and for her breathing to level out again. "What happens when the show get picked up"? "Cie, we don't even know if it will". "No you don't know because you and Mom are in denial. We all aren't worried because we believe in it"! "I believe in the show too". "No Sherri, I mean in yourself. You don't believe in yourself or in you and Teri. Look at where you are and what you are doing. You are already giving up and running. Everyone else can see that you two love each other. It is so evident on and off screen. Even when you guys tried to hide the fact that you didn't get along at first. WE KNEW!"
Sherri was trying hard not to cry. She was tired of feeling weak and like the damsel. But as her eyes welled up with tears she tried to divert her attention elsewhere. "Sherri say something"! She took another second to gather her thoughts before speaking. "I don't understand what is happening," she said above a whisper. "Well for starters I'm becoming Mama and you are the little ditsy Marianna". Sherri chuckled and threw a pillow at her before wiping away a couple of tears that forced their way down her cheeks. "No. I'm in love with Teri. I didn't realize it until she said that she said she didn't love me. But I know that I'm in love with her and I'm afraid of what that means and what is to come with it. That is if she even feels the same".
Cierra's entire being just lit up with glee; completely disregarding the last statement. "That's the beauty of this day and age. No one is phased by any of this as much. And the few that are, are just annoying people with nothing better to do with their lives but to bring down other people. Love is such a beautiful thing because it has so many different definitions unique to everyone. You are the one that defines love and that is what makes life so beautiful. Life is an adventure and you two need to stop being so afraid".
….
It was Friday afternoon and Teri was finally having a great day. Sean stopped by early in the morning to take her and her children out to breakfast. She wasn't all for the idea because she wasn't into introducing her kids to random people. But he was already there and she didn't know what else to say. She reassured her kids that he was nothing more than a friend, but yet they still were standoffish and to themselves throughout the whole meal. Teri took them to their grandparents' afterwards for the weekend before heading to Sean's game.
Every time Sean would step up to bat he would smile at her, happy that she was there. Even though she was trying to be incognito with her hat and shades, she found herself jumping up and cheering with the rest of the fans.
She was having such a great time with her beer and peanuts; she didn't want the day to end. That and she was worried about what was going to take place that night at the party. Part of her could not wait to see Sherri while the other part dreaded the thought. She was having such a wonderful and relaxing day. She didn't want the hurt to come back and interfere.
Once the game was over Teri waited outside of the locker room for Sean to come out. When he finally emerged he smiled at her huge grin. "Hey Beautiful. You didn't have to wait out here the whole time". "I have an idea," Teri said jumping up and down in one spot. "There's a party tonight for my show. I want you to come with me!" "I don't know…" "Come on it will be fun!" Sean laughed at her excitement and said, "Sure. I would love to see 'Party Teri' anyway". Teri slightly winced at his last sentiment. She wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that. But she was just using him as a wingman anyway.
…..
Night has finally fallen and Teri was getting more and more anxious by the second. She was wearing a casual black dress that hugged the top of her body then slightly flared out once it reached her waist, but still snug enough to define her slight curvature. She already introduced Sean to everyone as her friend. Though Maia and Cierra were polite when they met him, they kept giving her very stern and disapproving looks. Sherri has yet to arrive. The longer she waited the more she drank.
Sean was watching her and could tell that she was nervous about something. He guided her over to the table with the rest of the cast. "Ter? Are you ok?" She tried to speak but couldn't bring herself to lie. She just smiled and placed her head on his shoulder. She got a text from Maia that read, "What the hell do you think that you are doing?!" She sat up and was about to reply when she saw Peter and Bradley's face light up from the other side of the table. She knew that look, she herself tends to make that look every time she sees Sherri too. But she refused to turn around; she wasn't ready.
Sherri walked in wearing a loose fitting sandy-olive dress with sleeves and a deep v-cut. Her hair was big and curly, just how Teri liked it. She wasn't ready to make direct contact with Teri yet. She knew if she started to hug everyone around the table she would have to hug her too. She said a collective hello before sitting in the empty chair between Bradley and Cierra. When she was settled she looked up and realized that she and Teri were sitting directly across from each other. Their eyes locked and they were momentarily stuck in the gaze.
Sean at this point was starting to question what exactly was going on. Thus he decided to interject. "Hi I'm Sean Patterson". Sherri didn't even notice the unfamiliar man sitting next to Teri. She furrowed her brow as she studied his appearance and how close and cozy they were sitting. Bradley gave her a slight nudge under the table indicating that she needed to speak. "Sherri Saum. So how do you two know each other?" Inside Sherri was mad. How could she bring someone? "We actually met some time ago. But she let me take her out today. We all went to breakfast this morning. She was my good luck charm at my game. Then we couldn't get enough of each other so we decided to spend the rest of the day together". Teri still couldn't find the courage to speak but she watched the anger grow in Sherri. Maia was sitting next to her making gagging expressions at Sean's little story. Sherri spoke again, "We all?" "Yeah, we took her little ones to breakfast".
Before anything else could be said Peter put his hand to his mouth and mumbled "Oh my God", as he looked at his phone. Everyone got quiet as they waited for him to continue. But he just showed Bradley the phone as tears filled his eyes. There was a long pause as he read wat was in front of him. "We got picked up for a full season!"
Everyone jumped up yelling and cheering, running around hugging each other. Teri was so happy she was on the verge of crying. She hugged Maia and Hayden who were the closest to her. She was so overwhelmed with the positive energy that she planned to go to Sherri. She wanted to hug her, to kiss her, to laugh and cry together. But then she felt hands on her back, then before anything could register she felt lips on hers. She tried hard to sober herself up and focus her eyes. But it wasn't Sherri, it was Sean. She shoved him away to see Sherri starring dead at her with absolutely no emotion. Teri reached her fingers to her lips and whispered, "What did I do"?
