Lila applied her newest mascara to her lashes, admiring how the dark color complimented her wavy brown hair.
Jessica always looks like she's trying too hard with lashes this black, she thought gleefully to herself. Cheap, and desperate. But…. she blinked her lids and smiled in the mirror, it makes me look very classy.
Grace's boutique had ordered the product from London, and there was nothing Lila loved more than new, trendy international cosmetics. If there was anything she hated, it was cheap eye makeup. In fact, she hated anything cheap. Lila's face turned up in a smirk. Like Roger's tasteless running clothes for instance.
Why did I invite him to my party anyway? And why do I keep thinking about him? I don't even like him! Roger Barrett is still a geek! Although he is hotter than I remember.
Lila almost smiled, picturing Roger's expression several years ago, when she had congratulated him after he won a race. He used to be awestruck in her presence. He represented a time in her life when all she had to worry about was what color lipstick to buy, or if her father was buying her a new wardrobe from Paris or Milan. The time when she had a much better social life than the one she had now.
Speaking of Paris….. Lila's mother had just received a set of the finest designer gowns, flown in especially for the Fowlers' New Year's party. Lila had chosen a short, sexy silver number, that would go perfectly with her long dark hair and bronzed skin. The gowns had arrived at Grace's store on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, and were to be altered by her best seamstress Claudette. Lila wanted to know if the dress was ready, she was eager to try it on, just in case it turned out to be a flop and she had to resort to one of her back up outfits. She smiled approvingly at herself.
I'm going to be the best dressed woman there!
But... her face fell, what does it matter, when I have no hot guy to kiss at midnight? So much for your vow to have a boyfriend for the new year!
She rolled her eyes at her reflection. Stop feeling sorry for yourself Lila!
She went across the house and into her parents' wing, expecting to find her mother in her brother's room. His nanny Lena had the morning off today, and she knew Grace would be spending most of the day with the littlest Fowler. She walked towards the room, surprised to hear a voice singing in Spanish.
She peered in the room to see Lena sitting on the floor with George at her lap, reading a language book for toddlers. Lila walked away from the nursery, without disturbing them. If George saw her, he'd probably want a hug and kiss, which, Lila laughed to herself, meant sloppy wetness on her just powdered cheek and grimy little hands on her new suede jacket.
That's strange, Lila thought. Mom told me she'd be here all day. I wonder where she is?
She walked towards her parent's suite and opened the door to the master foyer. The door to the bedroom was ajar and she was just about to knock when she heard a muffled voice coming from inside.
We'll do it later….
Don't even think about it….
What do you want me to do?
My husband loves me. I don't want him to know about this…. or the other night…
Just give me some time… I'll get there…
The Valley Inn? I thought you were at the Sweet Suites? …
That's where we were last time. You deserve something classier?
Really? Alright. Not yet. I just want to get through the holidays… Alright, I'll be there in half an hour.
She heard the receiver slam down and her mother rise from her chair. Grace paced around the room for a while. Lila went to the door and knocked. She peered in to see her mother practically jump out of her skin.
Hey Grace, Lila greeted, as pleasantly as she could, trying not to arouse suspicion that she was eavesdropping on the conversation.
Oh Lila, her mother shifted her eyes guiltily. You need something honey?
I didn't think Lena was coming in today.
Oh…uhhhh, well, I was just on the phone with the store on Rodeo Drive. They need me to come in today, in fact, I'm leaving now to drive to LA.
She's lying!, Lila thought accusingly.
Why don't you have Morris drive you then,? Lila suggested, referring to the Fowlers' chauffeur.
Uhhhh, no, I think I'll just go, Grace replied uneasily. Your brother kept me up all night with his teething.
If you're tired, then maybe you shouldn't drive? I'll go with you, Lila offered.
No! Grace said sharply.
Lila shifted, taken aback by Grace's tone.
I don't mean to snap, it's just that Alana was adamant that I come right away, Grace explained. Alana was Grace's Rodeo Drive store manager.
I know you have to get downtown to go over your January joy menu. How's that going by the way? Grace said, changing the subject.
Pretty well, Lila said. We're working on an avocado pineapple surprise for next month among other things. But Mom…
No buts Lila, Grace insisted more firmly.
We both have businesses to run, and employees to get to. I need to get going, Grace said, grabbing her ostrich leather purse. Anything else I can help you with?
Lila flipped her hair over her shoulder. Actually I came in here to ask about my dress. It's ready isn't it?
How about I call Alana and have her bring it over,? Grace said distractedly.
But can't you just pick it up? Since you're going there now?
Oh yes, Grace said,running her hands through her hair. You're right. I'll just pick it up for you while I'm in LA. She picked up her keys and practically ran out of the room before Lila even had the chance to say anything else.
See you later Lila,! she called out from the hallway. Lila followed her mother and watched as she slammed the front door behind her. She heard her start up her vehicle and listened as the car drive out to the front gate.
She didn't even tell Lena she was going out…. she didn't even say goodbye to Georgie!
What's going on with Mom?
Lila was worried. This was not the first time she heard her mother on the phone like this. In fact, her mother seemed to be on her last nerves recently, and Lila attributed it to being a busy woman with a small child.
There was that unspoken distance between them, it was something they liked to pretend didn't exist. As much as she loved her mother, she never felt like she could be completely close to her. The excuses she had given for leaving Lila as a child, the ones that pacified Lila as a teenager, they just seemed very feeble to her now.
A horrible idea started forming in her head.
What if her mother was cheating on her father? Why else would a woman be meeting someone in a hotel room?
Why else would she say she didn't want her husband to know? The Valley Inn?
What if…..what if she's been meeting some guy at a sleazy hotel?
Her mother's tone certainly didn't sound romantic. If anything her mother seemed distressed, frantic almost.
The Valley Inn was certainly sleazy, although compared to the other dump she heard her mother mention, the one that called themselves the Sweet Suites, one would think the inn was five star opulence.
I'll just go there, Lila said aloud, grabbing her keys off the table at the entrance of the Fowler's high ceilinged foyer.
I'll drive to the Valley Inn and see if I see her there, she thought, as she entered her car. She sped down the road, and within twenty minutes, got off the exit to the seedier side of town. Grace was ahead of her, only by about five minutes. Lila looked around her, and pressed the power lock button in the car. One had to be extra careful in a neighborhood like this.
How could Grace come to a place like this? If she's having an affair, why do it here?
She saw a large sign up ahead and pulled into the parking lot. Sure enough, her mother's deep green Range Rover was sitting there, sticking out like a well polished thumb amid the mostly beaten up clunkers that surrounded it. Lila drove her car around and parked at a distance on the side of the street. She had a good view here of the hotel and the parking lot , and if her mother were to come out suddenly, she wouldn't be able to spot her.
Lila waited…..waited for something….. anything to happen. After about ten minutes, she found the silence unnerving and switched on her stereo. She glanced up at the right moment to see a door open. Grace's dark blonde head appeared at the entrance. Lila gasped as a dark figure from within grabbed her mother's hand and kissed the back of it.
She observed Grace walking out of the building and down the stairs, out of room 405. The shadows prevented Lila from seeing the face of the person who closed the door, but from the silhouette, she was pretty sure it was a man. Her mother's gait was full of guilt, her eyes were shifty as she got into her vehicle and sped away from the hotel. Lila sat for a moment, not quite knowing what to make of the current situation.
Should I go up there and confront him? Tell him to leave my mother alone? Should I confront Grace first? How could she do this? How could she do this to Dad? To Georgie, to me?
The Fowlers had just celebrated a marvelous Christmas, where Georgie sat on Lila's lap in front of the Christmas tree, having more fun tearing the gift wrap than playing with the actual presents. Even the servants got in on the fun, and Lila was proud to stand with her parents while they handed off Christmas bonuses to their loyal staff.
Lila put her head in her hands. Things were not going her way. There was no romance in her life, and her mother, her mother was juggling two men! Perhaps the reason they chose this trashy dive was because they knew that it was the last place one would expect a woman like Grace Fowler to ever set foot in.
A knock on the rear window suddenly startled Lila and she looked in the mirror, almost expecting to see her mother.
Can you spare some change Miss? A toothless vagrant shook a plastic cup full of coins and rapped on the window again. He started walking to the front of the car, and to her window.
I have to get out of here! Lila thought in panic. She started her engine and moved the car at full speed until she reached the freeway towards downtown. She got to the complex where her business was situated, and walked into the small bar. The place was full of customers, most of them middle aged women, probably the mothers who had children taking gymnastics classes next door.
Lila would usually be ecstatic about how well her enterprise was doing, but now…..now the jingle of money in the register did nothing to improve her sullen mood. She forced her facial muscles into a tight smile as she greeted the customers and opened her office door. She sat down in her chair and planned her next move. She needed to talk to her mother, to find out what was really going on. Lila grimaced at the beginning headache that was beginning to form. She had caught Grace red handed in a seedy den with her lover.
I'm going to get to the bottom of this! Tonight, she said to herself. I'll confront her tonight.
Todd gazed at the horizon as he felt in his pockets for his car keys. He had just signed his last basketball for the evening. The sun was already low in the sky, creating a warm glow on the planked wood beneath him.
Meet and greets were a normal event that was required for his league's players, and this time, it was being held on the Valley Boardwalk, a pier that jutted out into the Pacific Ocean, where there were numerous shops, small restaurants, and plenty of activities for the whole family. He was about to head to the parking lot and drive home, when he changed his mind and decided to walk along the water for a late stroll.
Todd stood on the pier, watching the waves gently lapping along the sand. He turned around and from a distance, a pair of slim, shapely, long legs caught his attention. His eyes moved upwards towards their owner's face. Todd almost gasped at the sight.
Is that?….. It is!
Jessica didn't tell me that Liz was here!
His eyes moved rapidly, up and down, taking in every detail of her appearance. Something was definitely different. She looked exactly the same, but at the same time, so dissimilar to what he was used to. Her skin was a lot paler, and her golden hair longer than he remembered. He moved and hid behind a pole, observing her every move.
She pulled her loose hair back into a braid and wound a rubber band around the end. Her face lit up suddenly, and she laughed as a small child ran and crashed into her legs. She bent down and picked up the little boy whose hands went straight to the piece around her neck. Todd recognized the child immediately.
He watched as Elizabeth gently moved the child's small hand away from the pendant hanging on the chain.
It was only then he saw Steven approach, with Cara behind him, a bag of blue cotton candy in her hand. Elizabeth and Steven each tore pieces off the ball of sweet fluff. Steven grabbed the piece out of his sister's hand, and Todd couldn't help but smile as she playfully started hitting him with the sleeve of the sweater that was wrapped around her shoulders.
The three of them appeared to be in high spirits, there was frequent laughter and lively conversation among them. Todd felt like he wanted to join them, to be in the embrace of old friends, to hold Elizabeth's hand and go back, to forget all the years they'd been apart. But he couldn't. He didn't want them to see him now.
How pathetic would he look, standing there, eyeing his ex girlfriend, who he now realized he was afraid of. Afraid of what she would say, or of what she wouldn't. She had moved away, she couldn't even bear to live in the same state as he did. Elizabeth handed her nephew over to Steven and Todd was struck by her simplicity.
She seemed so natural, like someone who knew she never needed to put on a show, never needed to put herself on display. The last time he had seen her was that day when she found out about him and Jessica. And then….then she sent him that box.
A box filled with memories of their relationship had arrived in the mail with no return address. But he only had to open the package to see who it was from. Everything he had ever given her had been returned to him, every card, every letter, the smallest of trinkets, all of his well thought out gifts.
She had torn every photograph that they were both in and sent him the pieces with him in it. There was no note, no dear Todd letter, it seemed like she was just trying to erase him completely from her life, to act like they never happened. And Todd didn't blame her.
He knew how much he hurt her. He thought about Jessica. He and Jessica never talked about Elizabeth, not like they used to. Jessica's hopeful remarks about Liz coming to her senses and being her sister again were seldom heard, she ceased to say anything, like she'd given up.
He watched as the trio walked along, moving towards him and the back of the pier. This was his chance to leave, unseen. He hopped over the railing of the boardwalk and landed in the shallow water below. He didn't care that his sneakers and pants were wet, he just had to get out of there, before they saw him. He scurried along the sand and gave a huge sigh of relief when he was safely in his car and on the way to Valley Crest Drive.
It's too bad we never saw each other in London, Elizabeth remarked, as Steven walked to the men's room with Nathan. She looked curiously at Cara. Are you ready to move back here?
Cara placed some cotton candy in her mouth. I know I'm going to miss London. The truth is Liz, I'm a little nervous to be living here again, but don't tell your brother.
I've been there since I was sixteen Liz. I've had wonderful experiences there, and it's going to be very hard for me to let go. I had a lot of growing up to do, and I'm so grateful that I got to live in and experience a foreign country the way I did.
London has become home to me. Of course, it does help that they speak the same language as we do, she grinned sheepishly.
French and Spanish were never my best subjects.
Elizabeth smiled genuinely. You would have managed eventually. I'm just so happy that you and Steve found each other again. I've never seen him so happy.
Cara nodded. We saw each other, and something just clicked I guess. You know, I dated around for a bit, and I never thought I would see Steven again. I do know all about his other relationships. I mean seriously Liz, you all let him go out with some chick named Billie?
Elizabeth giggled. Well, we did like her. She was pretty nice. She cocked her head. But she's not you.
They looked at the barnacles stuck on the rocks below. So when will you move back permanently,? Elizabeth asked.
I only have one more term at school, Cara responded. So I'm guessing, sometime in the summer? On one hand, I'm looking forward to it. On the other hand, London will always have a piece of my heart.
So enough about me. Cara's brown eyes twinkled. Tell me all about what you're doing in New York. And don't think I haven't noticed that gorgeous thing around your neck!
Ummmm, Elizabeth started.
Ummmm? Cara smirked. That sounds like a guy is involved and you don't want to talk about it. Am I right?
Ummmm. Elizabeth said again, as she played with her braid.
I just have one question Elizabeth. Did Ummm give you that necklace?
Elizabeth bit her lip. Maybe.
Mmmmm. Let me see it again?
Liz,! Cara exclaimed, examining the piece. This thing has twenty diamonds. Is this silver or white gold?
It's actually platinum, Elizabeth said.
Cara raised her eyebrows suggestively. I think I'll start referring to Ummmm as Uh huh. Something special must be going on for Uh huh to give you something like that. But I won't ask. You'll tell me when you're ready.
Well Cara, Elizabeth giggled. If I don't say his name, then you won't know if anyone asks you.
Cara looked at her seriously. I won't say anything to Jessica. Steve explained everything to me. I know what the situation is, and I don't want to pick sides. I love both of you and I don't want to get in the middle.
So if she asks…..I know nothing. We haven't seen much of each other since I've been here. Jessica's pretty busy, I only saw them the day after I arrived, and on Christmas day. And Nathan and I are going back on January third.
Thanks Cara, Elizabeth gave her a squeeze as Steven and Nathan approached them.
Nathan says he wants a corndog, Steven announced.
Hmmm, Elizabeth grinned, looking at Cara. I think Steven wants a corndog, and he's trying to put it on Nathan.
Yes he is, Cara said laughing. We're meeting your parents at the Christmas Village Steve. Remember?
So? Steven said greedily.
So, there's plenty of food there.
You're right, Steven conceded, linking his arm with Cara's. OK Let's go…
They headed to the parking lot and proceeded to the freeway. This was Elizabeth's last night in Sweet Valley and she was going to make the most of enjoying her time with her family.
As they drove along, she looked out at the scenery, wondering how long it would be before she saw the Pacific Ocean again...
