Chap.36- Decisions
Sydney walked into the house and headed for the telephone. She picked up the receiver and was about to dial when a large hand clapped onto her shoulder. Sydney jumped and quickly turned around.
"Hey, how was your day? You seem jumpy." Scott remarked as he leaned in for a kiss.
Sydney forced a small smile on her face as she replaced the phone.
"I'm fine. Just...tired. The usual."
"Yea?" Scott asked as he walked to the set of drawers in the kitchen and rummaged around.
"Yea." Sydney answered. She cleared her throat, "What are you looking for?"
"My beeper." He remarked. "I have no idea where I put it." He stood up to look at her. "Do you know where it is?"
"Yea, it's in my car."
"Your car? I don't remember putting it there."
"It was in your dresser. You forgot it this morning and it started going off. I was going to drop it off at the hospital for you..." Sydney paused, studying the reaction on his face. It was blank. Emotionless. Calm. "...but I was too busy at work. Sorry." She finished, walking over to the kitchen island and drinking a small glass of water.
"That's okay. I only had a few patients today. It wasn't a busy day."
"So, how did they contact you?" Sydney asked casually, silently sliding the drawer in the island open and gripping the handle of a knife.
"The head nurse was at the reception desk when I got to work and I told her about the situation. She just told everybody to page me over the intercom. It wasn't a problem." Scott shrugged.
"She seems nice." Sydney remarked; releasing her hold of the knife and pushing the drawer closed with a slight movement of her body.
"Who?"
"The head nurse."
"Oh, yea. She is. I'll introduce you sometime."
Sydney nodded.
"You know what I was thinking?" She asked him.
"What's that?"
"Well...since we're actually making an effort to socialize now, I think that we should go to that annual Fourth of July party that the hospital always has. I saw the invitation in the mail. It looks fun."
Scott leaned across the island and stroked her face.
"Okay, if that's what you want."
--
"Thanks for coming, Dad." Sydney said gratefully as her father sat down.
"It's not a problem. What's wrong? You sounded distressed on the phone."
"I was distressed. I AM distressed."
"Calm down, Sydney. Tell me what happened."
Sydney took a deep breath and told Jack everything.
"....and I'm POSITIVE that I walked into the right hospital. I remember when he told me that he was being transferred. We fought. He thought it was just because I didn't want to leave D.C. I tried telling myself that too, but I know that it was really because...."
"...that was where Danny worked." Jack finished.
Sydney nodded.
"Yea."
"Sydney, I don't want you to jump to conclusions. There could be a decent and logical explanation to all of this. His paycheck is obviously coming from somewhere and he has a valid medical and bachelor's degree."
"When did you check up on him?" Sydney asked.
"The moment you told me his full name on the telephone," Jack replied.
Sydney gave a small laugh and leaned forward on the table, holding her head in her hands.
"Dad...I don't know what to do." Sydney said, her voice wavering with emotion.
"Did you confront him yet?" Jack asked.
"Discreetly." Sydney replied. "I hinted that I almost went to the hospital to return his beeper and again when I suggested that we attend the annual Fourth of July party."
"How did he react?"
"He didn't."
"Did you give the beeper back?"
"Yes, but before that I gave it to Marshall. He implanted a tracker in it."
"Good."
She took a deep breath.
"Do you really, truly believe that there's a logical explanation?"
Jack looked at his daughter with a steady gaze. He could tell that she was already at her wit's end with the thought that the only normalcy in her life, her marriage, could have been another intelligent lie.
A scheme.
A plot.
Fake.
--
Vaughn sighed as he sorted through the mail. Placing the bills into one pile, he quickly eliminated the junk mail. As he was about to open an envelope, the door bell rang. Vaughn put down the mail and walked to the door.
"Mr. Michael C. Vaughn?" The deliveryman asked.
"Yes."
"Sign here, please." He said, thrusting a clipboard and a pen at Vaughn.
"Thanks." Vaughn said as he took the package.
"Take it easy, sir."
Vaughn nodded and smiled as he closed the door. He slid a finger through the flap and extracted the papers.
After reading them through, he sat down and signed and completed them all. Vaughn felt as if weights had been lifted from his shoulders.
He was divorced.
Getting up, he opened the refrigerator and fixed himself dinner. He carried his plate to the mail table and sifted through them. Picking up the envelope he had abandoned when the papers had been delivered.
He slit the envelope and unfolded the letter. Dropping his fork, he scrambled for the envelope and flipped it around. It had no return address.
He grabbed his suit jacket that he had shed coming home, the envelope that contained the letter, and his keys.
Driving from his house, he had an eerie feeling that he was being followed although there was no indication whatsoever. Shaking it away as his nerves and blaming it on the contents of the letter, he drove on through the dark night.
--
"What does it mean?" Eric asked.
"I have an idea." Vaughn replied. He accepted the cup on coffee that Lisa offered him. Noting her robe, he shook his head. "I should stop coming to your house in the middle of the night."
"Don't worry about it." Lisa replied.
A screaming blur of brown hair and blue fire truck pajamas flew down the stairs and attached itself to Vaughn's leg.
"At least we know somebody's glad to see you." Eric joked.
"Hey buddy." Vaughn said, ruffling his godson's hair.
Jake gave him a toothy grin before being unattached by his mother.
"Nooooo!"
"Yes." Lisa said. "It is WAY past your bed time. Say good-night."
"Bye..." Jake said sadly, his small hand waving frantically in the air, hoping for a savior.
"Good-night, Jake." Vaughn smiled, his problems escaping for a brief moment.
The mother and son disappeared upstairs and the attention returned to the letter again.
"Read it again." Eric instructed.
" 'Mr. Vaughn, it is of the utmost importance that my regards be sent to you. I sympathize with your divorce, as the relationship between a man and a woman is one of the most distinctive kinds in this world. I though, must say one thing. You made the right decision.'" Vaughn read from the flowing script.
"Wait...read the middle part again."
"What middle part?" Vaughn asked. "It's like 3 sentences."
"Work with me here." Eric instructed. He then added, "Thank you, Captain Obvious."
A small giggle escaped from the stairs leading to the second floor. The two men craned around to see Jake's face pressed between two railings.
"Is Captain Obvious a superhero?" Jake asked.
"Yes." Vaughn answered. "Where's your mother?"
"Shhhh!" Jake smiled, putting his index finger to his lips. "She's sleeping. It's past her bedtime."
"Oh, I see." Eric remarked. "Aren't you cold?" He asked, noting his thin pajamas and the cold air conditioner turned high to block the heat of a Californian summer.
"No!" Jake said as he shivered. "Annie likes the cold. She says that where she came from is really cold. Really, really cold." He explained, emphasizing with another shiver.
"Who's Annie?" Vaughn asked Eric. "Imaginary friend?"
"More like, new next-door neighbor best-friend in the whole wide world."
"Ahh...is she from the East Coast or something?"
"Try Russia." Eric remarked. "Annie is for Anya."
"Russia?"
"Russia."
"Oh my god." Vaughn exclaimed. He walked over to the table and picked up the letter. "I knew this sounded familiar. 'The relationship between a man and a woman'."
"Who is it?"
"I don't think you're ready for this."
"Come on, try me. I'm sooo ready."
"Are you sure?"
"Yea. Who is it?"
"Irina."
--
Hey! It's FINALLY up! Man, this chapter took me like, 5 hours to write. LOL. I'm not even kidding. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I know it's been forever since I've updated. And well, I'll try my hardest for the next chapter!
Thanks!
Jen
Sydney walked into the house and headed for the telephone. She picked up the receiver and was about to dial when a large hand clapped onto her shoulder. Sydney jumped and quickly turned around.
"Hey, how was your day? You seem jumpy." Scott remarked as he leaned in for a kiss.
Sydney forced a small smile on her face as she replaced the phone.
"I'm fine. Just...tired. The usual."
"Yea?" Scott asked as he walked to the set of drawers in the kitchen and rummaged around.
"Yea." Sydney answered. She cleared her throat, "What are you looking for?"
"My beeper." He remarked. "I have no idea where I put it." He stood up to look at her. "Do you know where it is?"
"Yea, it's in my car."
"Your car? I don't remember putting it there."
"It was in your dresser. You forgot it this morning and it started going off. I was going to drop it off at the hospital for you..." Sydney paused, studying the reaction on his face. It was blank. Emotionless. Calm. "...but I was too busy at work. Sorry." She finished, walking over to the kitchen island and drinking a small glass of water.
"That's okay. I only had a few patients today. It wasn't a busy day."
"So, how did they contact you?" Sydney asked casually, silently sliding the drawer in the island open and gripping the handle of a knife.
"The head nurse was at the reception desk when I got to work and I told her about the situation. She just told everybody to page me over the intercom. It wasn't a problem." Scott shrugged.
"She seems nice." Sydney remarked; releasing her hold of the knife and pushing the drawer closed with a slight movement of her body.
"Who?"
"The head nurse."
"Oh, yea. She is. I'll introduce you sometime."
Sydney nodded.
"You know what I was thinking?" She asked him.
"What's that?"
"Well...since we're actually making an effort to socialize now, I think that we should go to that annual Fourth of July party that the hospital always has. I saw the invitation in the mail. It looks fun."
Scott leaned across the island and stroked her face.
"Okay, if that's what you want."
--
"Thanks for coming, Dad." Sydney said gratefully as her father sat down.
"It's not a problem. What's wrong? You sounded distressed on the phone."
"I was distressed. I AM distressed."
"Calm down, Sydney. Tell me what happened."
Sydney took a deep breath and told Jack everything.
"....and I'm POSITIVE that I walked into the right hospital. I remember when he told me that he was being transferred. We fought. He thought it was just because I didn't want to leave D.C. I tried telling myself that too, but I know that it was really because...."
"...that was where Danny worked." Jack finished.
Sydney nodded.
"Yea."
"Sydney, I don't want you to jump to conclusions. There could be a decent and logical explanation to all of this. His paycheck is obviously coming from somewhere and he has a valid medical and bachelor's degree."
"When did you check up on him?" Sydney asked.
"The moment you told me his full name on the telephone," Jack replied.
Sydney gave a small laugh and leaned forward on the table, holding her head in her hands.
"Dad...I don't know what to do." Sydney said, her voice wavering with emotion.
"Did you confront him yet?" Jack asked.
"Discreetly." Sydney replied. "I hinted that I almost went to the hospital to return his beeper and again when I suggested that we attend the annual Fourth of July party."
"How did he react?"
"He didn't."
"Did you give the beeper back?"
"Yes, but before that I gave it to Marshall. He implanted a tracker in it."
"Good."
She took a deep breath.
"Do you really, truly believe that there's a logical explanation?"
Jack looked at his daughter with a steady gaze. He could tell that she was already at her wit's end with the thought that the only normalcy in her life, her marriage, could have been another intelligent lie.
A scheme.
A plot.
Fake.
--
Vaughn sighed as he sorted through the mail. Placing the bills into one pile, he quickly eliminated the junk mail. As he was about to open an envelope, the door bell rang. Vaughn put down the mail and walked to the door.
"Mr. Michael C. Vaughn?" The deliveryman asked.
"Yes."
"Sign here, please." He said, thrusting a clipboard and a pen at Vaughn.
"Thanks." Vaughn said as he took the package.
"Take it easy, sir."
Vaughn nodded and smiled as he closed the door. He slid a finger through the flap and extracted the papers.
After reading them through, he sat down and signed and completed them all. Vaughn felt as if weights had been lifted from his shoulders.
He was divorced.
Getting up, he opened the refrigerator and fixed himself dinner. He carried his plate to the mail table and sifted through them. Picking up the envelope he had abandoned when the papers had been delivered.
He slit the envelope and unfolded the letter. Dropping his fork, he scrambled for the envelope and flipped it around. It had no return address.
He grabbed his suit jacket that he had shed coming home, the envelope that contained the letter, and his keys.
Driving from his house, he had an eerie feeling that he was being followed although there was no indication whatsoever. Shaking it away as his nerves and blaming it on the contents of the letter, he drove on through the dark night.
--
"What does it mean?" Eric asked.
"I have an idea." Vaughn replied. He accepted the cup on coffee that Lisa offered him. Noting her robe, he shook his head. "I should stop coming to your house in the middle of the night."
"Don't worry about it." Lisa replied.
A screaming blur of brown hair and blue fire truck pajamas flew down the stairs and attached itself to Vaughn's leg.
"At least we know somebody's glad to see you." Eric joked.
"Hey buddy." Vaughn said, ruffling his godson's hair.
Jake gave him a toothy grin before being unattached by his mother.
"Nooooo!"
"Yes." Lisa said. "It is WAY past your bed time. Say good-night."
"Bye..." Jake said sadly, his small hand waving frantically in the air, hoping for a savior.
"Good-night, Jake." Vaughn smiled, his problems escaping for a brief moment.
The mother and son disappeared upstairs and the attention returned to the letter again.
"Read it again." Eric instructed.
" 'Mr. Vaughn, it is of the utmost importance that my regards be sent to you. I sympathize with your divorce, as the relationship between a man and a woman is one of the most distinctive kinds in this world. I though, must say one thing. You made the right decision.'" Vaughn read from the flowing script.
"Wait...read the middle part again."
"What middle part?" Vaughn asked. "It's like 3 sentences."
"Work with me here." Eric instructed. He then added, "Thank you, Captain Obvious."
A small giggle escaped from the stairs leading to the second floor. The two men craned around to see Jake's face pressed between two railings.
"Is Captain Obvious a superhero?" Jake asked.
"Yes." Vaughn answered. "Where's your mother?"
"Shhhh!" Jake smiled, putting his index finger to his lips. "She's sleeping. It's past her bedtime."
"Oh, I see." Eric remarked. "Aren't you cold?" He asked, noting his thin pajamas and the cold air conditioner turned high to block the heat of a Californian summer.
"No!" Jake said as he shivered. "Annie likes the cold. She says that where she came from is really cold. Really, really cold." He explained, emphasizing with another shiver.
"Who's Annie?" Vaughn asked Eric. "Imaginary friend?"
"More like, new next-door neighbor best-friend in the whole wide world."
"Ahh...is she from the East Coast or something?"
"Try Russia." Eric remarked. "Annie is for Anya."
"Russia?"
"Russia."
"Oh my god." Vaughn exclaimed. He walked over to the table and picked up the letter. "I knew this sounded familiar. 'The relationship between a man and a woman'."
"Who is it?"
"I don't think you're ready for this."
"Come on, try me. I'm sooo ready."
"Are you sure?"
"Yea. Who is it?"
"Irina."
--
Hey! It's FINALLY up! Man, this chapter took me like, 5 hours to write. LOL. I'm not even kidding. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I know it's been forever since I've updated. And well, I'll try my hardest for the next chapter!
Thanks!
Jen