Chapter 10 -
"Sydney, it's gorgeous," Francie exclaimed at first glace of the turquoise stone necklace Sydney brought back from South America. She knew it would be Francie's style when she saw it in the shop window while she browsed Barrio Norte. Sydney watched as Francie wrapped the silver chain around her neck. "Completely classic, where did you find it?"
With her normal swiftness, she lied, "I guess it's from South America, at least that's what was listed on the Website I went to. I'm glad you like it."
Francie had been surprised when Sydney made it home two days before Christmas. On occasion, she was completely aware, work would keep her much longer than planned, but this time the op was executed well. She of course had to alter the truth about the healthy glow on her tan face, changing it from sunbathing to semi severe wind burn caused by the frigid weather in Colorado. It was an easy sell given the time of year. What was unexpected, were the questions Francie had about Sydney's periodic moments of silence.
Although she had over a day of flight to think about her and Sark's interaction, she still found herself frequently in a daze during the past few days. Thoughts of happiness or sadness at times turning to confusion plagued her, knowing she wouldn't have any interaction with Sark until she returned to work after the holiday.
He didn't have anything pressing to do, deep down she knew that, but she also didn't need him to explain why he left. Equally as deep she knew that too.
To cease Francie's questioning, Sydney had blamed her distant spells on a minor case of jet lag, but with her flight supposedly a short one, it wasn't very convincing.
Now she sat in her living room with her best friends/roommates, opening each other's gifts and preparing for a post present paper war. It happened every year now, except this year they were all living together. Sydney ran her hand over the white cashmere scarf she received from Will, she had always loved the softness of cashmere against her skin, at the same time watching him open the cable knit sweater she bought for him
Holding it up for all to see Will was pleased with her choice. "I love it Sydney, thank you."
"Straight from the coldness of Denver to the sweat shop that is Southern Cal," Sydney joked about the unusually warm weather they had experienced this winter. Sydney crumpled up a piece of wrapping paper, "So, I guess that's it. Time to prepare for Christmas combat," she warned her friends.
"Actually, you still have one gift left," Francie stated, as she walked over to the tree, grabbing a medium sized Fed Ex box. "It was delivered the day before you came home." Francie handed it to her.
Inspecting the box, her heart automatically fluttered with recognition of the sender's name, Julian Binoche. After many hours of convincing herself she needed to stop pining over what happened in Buenos Aires, she was taken right back to square one. Carefully she opened the box, taking out the tissue paper. Deep inside, she found a medium sized red velvet box.
"Who's it from Syd?" Will asked as he spied the obvious present of fine jewelry.
She tried to conceal her enthusiasm while coming up with a cover. "Looks like it's from a business associate we helped with a huge fraudulent issue he'd been dealing with. I was told to expect something in the mail." Showing a small amount of hesitance, secretly savoring the anticipation, she slowly opened the small box and was overwhelmed to find the second greatest gift she could hope to receive.
Why would she expect anything less from him?
The lights in her house weren't strategically placed, yet she could still see the same colors of the spectrum. The three stones, melded side by side, dangled more beautifully than she had remembered. She wanted so bad to let the tears of happiness from behind her eyes fall, but couldn't overreact to what was supposed to be a meaningless gift from an associate. All the same, she adored the necklace she first laid eyes on in Buenos Aires.
Spying it from behind Francie boasted, "Good God Syd, that necklace is absolutely exquisite. You must have done a hell of a job for the guy." Francie's statement immediately brought up one question.
Could she accept the eleven hundred dollar necklace?
While she slid the white gold chain through her fingers, she explored her concern. Its splendor was of no issue, but the cost and sender were. Chances were no one else knew about the purchase, she reasoned, more than likely Sark covered up his tracks by paying cash. She could keep it after all it was a gift, albeit close to an inappropriate one.
No longer caring about the intentions or consequences, Sydney placed the necklace back in its box, closing the lid. "The job was actually quite entertaining. When you're faced with a difficult situation that needs the most delicate of handling, you tend to discover many things about yourself and others you normally wouldn't realize at first glance."
With that true statement, she threw the paper ball in her hand straight at Will, pegging him right between the eyes – initiating a war that went on for a good thirty minutes.
End first part of series. Second part is named No One Knows